and this is one of the best justifications as to why unlimited gun ownership is so foolish and down right dangerous... no private citizen NEEDS a glock or a bazooka or a rocket launcher or any fully automatic rifle or ...(the list goes on).

... or at least that is the idea/ideal...

The two really are unrelated... bad laws destroy the respect for the law... bad leaders who ignore the laws destroy the respect for the law (and here I'm talking about illegal acts in the leader's official roles, not oral sex which is really immaterial to the offical role)... regulations can be numerous in reasonable ways (e.g. covering a wide variety of areas) or in bad ways (e.g. covering a narrow slice of life)... there is no clear corelation here to respect for the law, especially when most people are unaware of regulations in their daily life.

There are too many ways to interpret this to be a good quote... some would make it a good quote with good insight, and others would show it to be just babel... and when there is not clarity, it is not a good quote.

... and the only thing worse, is when the executive branch decides to just ignore the laws of the land!

Sure, it shouldn't be left to irresponsible action, but that only occurs thru the inaction of the people (as we have since since Jan 2001)... this does not make it troublesome or fearful... no, that is the role of the Radical Religious Right and Governing Oil Powers (GOP), as aided by the inaction of the bumbling middle (that some have mislabeled a lazy liberal left only because they have no understanding what a true leftist really is).

If it is too late to work within this system, then the control freak Radical Religious Right and Governing Oil Powers (GOP) have won and the rest of us should only be shot to put us out of our misery of this horrible fate we have allowed to befall us...

While the problem is real, the quote is way off base (can you say "Training Day", etc). More important are the pseudo-comfort moves (such as the (un)Patriot Act) and that so many fall victim to belief that the media (which is lazy) is liberal... people in the US do not have any idea what liberal is even, they have been so brain washed by the radical right and religous right, both of which represent an ultra-conservative, control all around them slant that is destroying both the US as well as any chance for world peace.

And one we've heard too often since 9/11...

And we've not been vigilant... and it is occuring... and will continue as long as we let pretenders such as King George rule us.

Good insight from David, for as far as it goes that is... hum, James Madison... hum... perhaps he was talking about the political system in use in the United States of his time, eh?

While I don't know when this quote is from, it is a perfect description of both McCarthyism and Bushism...

While I agree with Joe's statement, the quote still gets a thumbs down as I do not believe that this is an accurate definition of politics... but this does not mean I agree with David, as the only lawlessness going on these days is by those in power and applying force against the majority!

... but it need not be that way, nor do I believe that it is always that way...

As stand-up comedy this is not bad, but as a meaningful quote it is nothing more than... well... stand-up comedy...

And the above comments show how dire the problem is... that such fear exists of change and growth... that there is an apparent belief that the "United States of NORTH America" is inherently an evil and unconstitutional when the reality is that it is neither. How do we educate those who revel in their lack there of...

The point is that it is all about taking control of the language... framing the very dialog such that the desired result is achieved... sigh...

I respect and agree with most of what this man did in his business life (his personal life is clearly a mess, but I can separate my views on these two sides of the man). However, he is 100% wrong on this one. This is best evidenced by the fact the extreme polarization we see in politics today... and our government is all about politics, not just its idealized format, but its everyday working reality. I am puzzled though by the comments above that seem to be 100% against this post and then give it a strong positive rating, seems that the posters here are as confused as the electorate in general... perhaps they are from Florida...

and yet, dispite King George having done more to gut the 1st & 4th amendments, and his minions to make a complete mockery of the 2nd amendment... we see that slowly the people are realizing his insanity, and thus his authority is slowly (and thankfully) slipping away...

Freedom of thought is no guarantee against anything... while it is a necessary ingredient, it alone is not sufficient.

Respect and fear are inherently incompatible... but the sentiment is right.

And the worse violator of this today is not Congress who is simply not performing their duties, but the great upsurper King George who is acting far beyond any granted set of power and responsibilities.

That's not fascism, that's socialism. And its not liberalism, but rather libertarianism. Liberalism is far more about finding the middle ground of meeting individual's needs as well as societal needs. Fascism is all about power to the few to control the many.

The key phrase seems to be "preemptory adhesion unto authority", with the key word being "preemptory", which seems to indicate that not all "adhesion unto authority" is bad, just that one should "question authority", eh?

"Binding" is too strong a word, but the basic jest is valid.