foflmao !
tell me about it - i was headed back to the shop a half hour ago ... 
Posted on 09/06/2002 8:17:16 AM PDT by BADJOE
History teaches some very good lessons. They are hard to learn but our forefathers did a great job.
From the beginning of time man has overthrown one form of centralized government only to re-establish another one in its place. Our forefathers understood this far better than anyone ever had. They said governments are the eternal enemy of free men. They said that in order for man to remain free it would take a bloody revolution every other generation, unless you bound down (bastard) government with the chains of the constitution.
On another site this week a poster asked if anyone else hated government as much as he did. I replied to him
"Hell !! I thought you were not a good American if you didn't love our country and hate our government.
At least that is how I have always felt about it"
I think our forefathers had the same attitude that I have now. And I think it is inherent in the average Americans attitude to distrust and have disdain for any government, including ours. One of the hardest conclusions I had to arrive at as a young man, after having been a product of the public school system, was that our government was not on our side. As James Forrestahl, former secretary of the Navy, who suffered a mysterious death, once said about our State Department's foreign policy, " Stupidity is never a mark of consistancy. If they were merely stupid, they would occasionally make a mistake in our favor".
Newt Gringrich put it in a humourous manner when talking about the attitude of Europeans. He related the following story. If you go to Europe and drive on the Autobahn, you feel pretty good cruising down the highway at 100 mph when some some German passes you doing 140 mph. Now he said if the Bundestag passed the 55mph speed limit law, every German would dutifully obey that law, untill the next election. They would vote the 55 mph crowd out of office and the no speed limit crowd in. In America Newt said "A speed limit sign is a benchmark of opportunity.
It is obvious that Yankees and Euros have entirely different attitudes about government's edicts. There are darn few Americans who do not break the speed limit laws everyday.
Now we come to the Free Republic. Once a free wheeling, joyful site for news and discussion of politics, economics, philosophy, ethics and morals. I could not understand the transformation that has taken place in the last six months. Camaraderie, the sense of family, and cooperation seems to have disappeared. Are the Freepers exhibiting the same disdain for the new FR as Americans have for our government?
The fact is that this place is meant for debates and opinions and at times it gets ugly, and not all threads are ugly, for the most part they're quite civil and reasoned. There is no better place on the net than Free Republic and you're a large part of the reason for this. Get on the phone with Jim and work this out, You're to big a person to handle it this way
My 2 cents
MJY
Finally, it was a badge of honor to American Colonists who hated England.
It's interesting you had to use totalitarian or semi-totalitarian examples to make your point. Let me know when the U.S. Congress decides to criminalize, by fiat, being a Jew.
I think Badjoe's got different ideas of how this Forum could be run, but could you please clarify your knowledge of this alleged "agenda"? If you have evidence that he is Trollin', it would probably be applicable to this thread...if not, ain't you doing the same sorta character-assassination that we're decrying on this thread?
FReegards...MUD
foflmao !
tell me about it - i was headed back to the shop a half hour ago ...
Oh Please .. is there ANYTHING you don't blame on folks who support our President
FReegards...MUD
Me neither...looks like Joe posted and left, perhaps he'd do us the honor of coming back and explaining hisself.
FReegards...MUD
evens.(We go with evens)
If not less.
ALL money to FreeRepublic.
Maximum $500
Takers?
Must be paid by October.
BTW. Admin Moderatoes can't delete this thread :-)
Have you moved up from your coloring books?
Sunshine Laws (open records) is a great disinfectant for all kinds of creeping molds and slime.
What? Does posting on other boards somehow make one disloyal or something? Wait a minute. I thought this was a news and opinion board, not a cult!
Naw, FDR did that with Japanese-Americans back during WWII. What we have today is the Bush Administration saying it can declare someone an "enemy combatant", and then detain them indefinitely without trial - and they are even going so far as to claim the judiciary has no right to review the matter - a de facto claim that they wish habeas corpus to be suspended for those people.
I'd say that's the best we can ask. The rest is up to us.
For the record, I will concede that there are way too many Bush Kool-aid drinkers here for my taste.
That reminds me, time for my afternoon smoke....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.