Honor: We wish we could find noble and patriotic citizens of the highest caliber, determined to honoring the intent and letter of the constitution for the near and far future of our nation. But you don't find these types of citizens cohorting and schmoozing with the likes of todays politicians. How many of us would trust the average politician to park our car? Noble Americans, properly qualified to lead our country, do not want to stoop to the level of politics. They will not make the sacrifices and put their families through what they must to do the job.
Danger: Who gets to decide what “virtuous” means when we start soliciting leadership? The left is far better than the right at defining what is “good” in a person and for America. Would the left agree that George W. was virtuous? I bet not. What about Bill Clinton? In the end, the very picture of what a “virtuous” character would look like would be defined for America by the left. It would not have anything to do with honesty, core values, constitutional adherence, manners, experience, etc. The left would define “virtuous” to mean a leader that is looking out for the poor and minorities, wants to give peace a chance, is fair, and listens to the people. A virtuous person would come to equal a liberal or democrat.
Nothing will have changed but the label.
Without the 14th and 17th Amendments, or better put, without the ‘penumbras and emanations’ from the 14th that wrecked the 10th, we wouldn’t be having this thread.
Whomever on this thread wrote the words:
“The only virtuous thing about government is its limit”
should come forth with his real name so that it can go down into a book of famous quotations.
There wasn’t much virtue during the 1700’s either. I’m reading the Federalist Papers right now, and the ENTIRE EXPERIMENT pivoted around the idea that people were other than virtuous.
When we gutted the 10th, which sadly ended up at the end only because it enumerated the limited powers in the previous nine, else it may have been the 0th, or 1st, the Experiment was at an end.
It has been downhill from the 14th and the 17th. I see more cool-headed thinking coming from the house these days than the Senate, which is a collection of narcisistic sociopaths.