"THAT which you believe"---"An open letter to Republicans"

Go here when you get some time. Hopefully this will clear up any misconceptions that you have about the Second Amendment.

We'll work on the Fourth another day. ;-)

"Again, if you have nothing to hide, why is it a violation of your freedom..."

If you have nothing to hide then I presume you would not object to your neighbor peering through your windows or having the sheriff rummaging around in your hard drive or paper files without a warrant or probable cause.

Given the fact that everyone is a potential criminal, think where the path of prevention leads.

Regards

J.R.

Heh. You're talking to someone whose home was mistaken firebombed by a Mexican gang...

Thanks for your posts. You've given me some things to ponder.

"Heh. You're talking to someone whose home was mistaken firebombed by a Mexican gang... "

Thats one way to have your files cleaned out.

Regards

J.R.

Thanks for being open to pondering. See, some extreme idealists ain't so bad. :-)

Should I just throw those Beliefs and Values away...and close my eyes....just so the Republicans can win???

No...you should join The Constitution Party and win or loose on the merits of principle only.

Hehehe. And we Bushbots aren't so blind either. :-p

Well, you might be the exception. I guess that makes you exceptional. ;-)

Don't let your friends see who you're talking to. I'm one of the "bad guys." hehe

You know Luis you make a compelling argument and believe me it is one that raged within me for quite some time. Continued in FreepMail.

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.''
--Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

....twilight's last gleaming.

Regards

J.R.

I would somewhat agree that we have not been entirely successful at the installation of Pro-American regimes in all cases - but this is not to say that we have been entirely unsuccessful either. Our primary successes have been with regard to the Soviet block, Japan, and Germany and Great Britian (to some extent). Each of these countries was once a rival, and now each of them has adopted a decidedly pro-American stance.

Such overwhelming successes have come in the face of the isolationist right, and the dovish left. We have not been successful in convincing fellow Americans of the inherent superiority of the American system, and, as such, we have not been able to entirely implement the Reagan brand of foreign policy. However, this does not detract from the fact that it works everytime it is tried.

From the right,
Adam D. Elrod

Well in answer to your question I have been consistant in this belief. A person or rather canidates stand on the issues, their record, and their character is what qualifies them for my vote and not their party. It's strange you will find many such as myself who vote 3rd party if needed will also vote GOP to give support of a better canidate despite the odds. An election or rather a persons vote should vote for the canidate that best reflects their beliefs and not waste it on a political party who could care less. I'll vote for an Independent or GOP canidate based on that canidates merrit will you do the same especially if the Republican has a bad record?

I've said all along there is no party or person I agree with completely. But over the long run I do hold a high opinion of Howard Phillips. I've listened to him for years and he is both a good man and one who is dedicated to better goverment. I respect him. He out of any party best represented my political and moral beliefs as to how this nation needs to go. The GOP in the past 6 years has left me with little choice with persons like Viagra Bob and Oprah Libby along with the side show of Whitman, Malarini, ect. I will not support the Ford/Rockerfeller sect of the GOP as I think it like the Liberal agenda will lead to this nations demise. Good Republicans I support others I will not.

The GOP is a dying party the next Whiggs. Either it changes drastically from it's swing left in the past 6 years or it will just be a subsidy of the Democratic Party. Yes I would like to see the GOP change but it's leadership has other plans and they don't include Conservative issues.

I could say Jefferson is wrong, but as long as he thinks he's lost his freedom, there isn't anything that I can say to change his mind.

How can you read what I posted and NOT see it as a loss of freedom? Is the Kool-Aid that strong???

Let me try it this way:

OK

I can no longer live in the state of California - I left in 1988 - because of guns that I own. Plus, after 1994, the type of guns that I like to shoot can no longer be imported into the US - that's an infringement on the 2nd Amendment.

What type of gun would that be?

Doesn't matter. It was legal. Now it's not.

If I speak against the Federal Government's "War on Terror" in public, the attorney general of the US has said - and the so-called "Patriot Act" states - that I might be considered a terrorist. So there goes freedom of speech, the 1st Amendment.

Have you even spoken out in public? Isn't FR.com considered a public forum? I think you might be over exaggerating on this one. If what you say is true, then everyone on FR.com has 'breached' the patriot act in some form or another.

Indeed. And I have made it a point to not go too far in what I say. It's no longer safe to speak freely in this country.

The government, both federal and other, have shown how much they like to confiscate property - simply because you *might* be committing a crime. And it's damned hard to get it back - plus it will cost you a lot of money. Go to www.fear.org (Forfeiture Endangers Americans' Rights) if you want to see stats. That's the 5th Amendment.

Might be committing a crime? Sounds a bit nutty to me. Admittedly, I am not that familiar with the 5th amendment. But, if you haven't comitted a crime, isn't your fear unwarranted?

Why don't you visit fear.org and then you tell me? Many many people - thousands of people in the last 10 years - have lost everything from thousands of dollars in cash (might be drug money, you know, even when taken from little old ladies) to nice cars (I know about one guy's new Corvette - might be from drug profits {it wasn't) that he's spent thousands trying to get back). Go visit the website. It's an education in itself.

The federal government in many, many ways has taken away the rights of the individual states. Just one recent case is when Bush signed the Education bill a few weeks ago. That's the 10th Amendment.

And yet, the Philadelphia school district is now run by a private company. We have a sh!t-load of charter schools here in Michigan. I fail to see how holding school districts accountable takes away a State's rights.

Have you seen what the curricula is that the fedgov is requiring? Ever heard of the NAEP test?

Using Echelon, Carnivore, and God only knows what other tools, the government surveils our phone calls, email, etc. That's the 4th Amendment.

And you have undeniable proof they are listening and monitoring you?

Only if you consider their actual official admission proof. It's not that they're listening to me specifically - it's that they're capturing ALL phone conversations and/or email and then scanning for keywords. Without probable cause. That's unconstitutional.

People are being locked up without access to an attorney and without even being accused of a crime, especially since 9/11. There are people now behind bars that have been there for months - even years - who have never been charged with a crime. That's the 6th Amendment.

And they are not American citizens. This is a catch-22 because no matter what the gov't does, it can't win. Detain questionable people and possibly prevent further terrorist strikes, or, release them and be the scapegoat when an attack occurs. If these were Mexican illegals who were being held, would you still feel the same?

BZZZZT! Wrong answer. Many of them ARE American citizens.

Bush's comment about Padilla the other day was classic - "He's a bad guy and he needs to be behind bars." No evidence. No proof. No actual crime committed. All required by the Constitution, by the way. Just "he's a bad guy" so it's OK to lock him up. Don't you see the precedent that sets???

I would be very interested in hearing what your solutions are to the above 'loses' of freedom.

Simple. Restore the Constitution that they all swear to uphold and defend.

Admittedly, I am not that familiar with the 5th amendment.

This is why you people make me want to effen scream for God's sake.

You're truly a nice and sweet person, I mean that. But it's because people like you that we've drifted so far from the freedoms that were promised us in the founding documents.

I just got done this month working every single day of 2002 just to pay off government, now the rest of the year is mine. Every day I woke to an alarm, every day I sweated, every aggravation, every problem at work, every one of my customers I went out and sold so far this year ..........were all for THE GOVERNMENT. I'm not being far-out either. All of it, until June was soley to pay off the government. This is infuriating and a bastardization of our right to liberty and the pursuit of happines.

Then you ask "what freedoms have we lost". I could make you a list rintense that would make your head spin, but why should I waste my time when you ask such questions?

You're probably under the impression that I don't like you but that's very far from the truth. What I don't like is when reasonably smart people don't "get it" when it comes to what it means to be a constitutional FREE REPUBLIC. To "get it" and argue about how to accomplish it is one thing, to not get it at all is another.

The Bill of Rights is a very plain spoken easy to read document. If you go and read it and familiarize yourself with the first 10 amendments I promise to never again come into one of those absurd pic threads and say anything mean about GWB. You have my word on that.

Thanks for the ping.

I love it when you can't sleep! (Put some caffeine in this man's toothpaste.... :)

You hit a gram slam with this one (even quoted Joshua Chamberlain....you can never go wrong doing that....)

So I've got a question for you, when are you going to work to make the party better by either running for election or helping to elect those whithin the party who support your beliefs

This is a common theme for Bushbots.

Yes, conservatives are going to work within the Republican party. What we're looking for is a conservative to run against 43 in the next presidential primary.

In four or eight years, will this nation's budget be smaller? Will our education system .....? Will .......? And most importantly of all, will ....? Will .....? If the answers to these questions is no, or you aren't sure, then Houston, we have a problem

There is an old saying: "The destination at the end of the road is not as important as the quality of the journey".

In this respect "Houston we have a problem".