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To: FreeLibertarian
I prefer this guy's government, my Randite friend:

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.  The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.  It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?  If men were angels, no government would be necessary.  If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.  In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
James Madison, Father of the Constitution

70 posted on 03/05/2003 9:37:39 PM PST by unspun (I'm really ticked off, tonight. But I love you all, I'm sure.)
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To: unspun
Madison knew what he was talking about.

You "talk to the hand". - Whatta weirdo phrase.
74 posted on 03/05/2003 9:53:54 PM PST by tpaine
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To: unspun
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

The basis for this thought was excellent but sadly in the last 200 years the vision of the founding fathers has been corrupted to the point that the governments control of the governed is becoming dictatorial. The very meaning of Freedom has been warped to the point that it is now limited to however the latest regime in Washington defines it.

Obviously you are more comfortable in an environment where your life and libertys are dictated to you by the federal government. You are willing to give up your own freedom in return for making certain that others have to surrender their freedom. Misery loves company.

I'm not willing to to surrender my freedom for any reason and I have no desire to tell you how to live your life. I also will not accept you or anyone else telling me how to live mine.

Political tags -- such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth -- are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort. -- Lazarus Long

Include me as one of the latter.

78 posted on 03/05/2003 10:12:42 PM PST by FreeLibertarian (Freedom begins when you tell Mrs Grundy to go fly a kite - Lazarus Long)
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