We all need to read this glorious charter on a regular basis to remind us of the deep tap roots that anchor our country. Our founders didn't blow innocent people up to gain power. They opened with a quick line of explanation of what they were doing and followed that with the clear and profound words of what they believed. They were taking on the most powerful nation on the planet. They had no navy at all. They had little more than an armed group of hearty fellow patriots. They did have those touchstone beliefs and proposed to create a new form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. They also set down in this same document the right of the people to change this new government if it didn't meet their needs or overthrow it if required! Some feel we may have reached that point. There is no doubt in my mind that some changes need to be made. I hope and pray, on this anniversary of our country's founding, that the required changes will come peacefully. God Bless America!

Goldwater was the best of the best! He had a keen mind, a sense of humor, and unshakeable beliefs! Do you know anyone like that? Let me rephrase that. Do you know anyone like that who is in their right mind? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Search out the Goldwater visits to Carson's Tonight Show.

But we control the roads! Instant siege if required. I would move the UN to St. Helena or Pitcarin. Let's sort out the serious players on this bloated farce.

John D. Rockefeller is one of my heroes, so I take offense when some snot nose lays down an observation such as this. He created the Standard Oil Trust in large part due to the lack of an existing structure for what the business he envisioned required. That was vision. That he took steps to preserve the wealth his vision created should be no surprise. That he did do a few nasty things along the way is no secret. He also created an industry and brought oil and its by-products to the public at a reduced cost. The Rockefeller foundations have done much good in the world. What good can we associate with the author of this quote? This is the first I've even heard of him. As a pundit he is little more than a parasite attached to the productive world!

The liberal media pretty much ignores this as they do so many things that the public expects them to report. Freedom of the press, indeed!

Here's a fact that matters. Social Security, Medicare, and interest on our national debt taken together exceed the revenue coming in to the federal gov't! Think about all the departments that are not included in that group including Defense, Labor, Commerce, Energy, Education, etc. Yes, both parties are responsible for this problem, but BHO is doing his best to ignite class warfare and rioting in the streets. How will we behave when we face the cut backs the Greeks are facing? Think it can't happen here? Pray it doesn't!

LIAR! pretty much covers it. This half-breed is the worst thing since King George III! He needs to campaign in Dallas.

TJ is ever a puzzlement. He can be profound as in this quote or simply without morality or responsibility as in too much of his life. Great minds are ever such I fear. So, I salute this quote! It is the truth we believe and subscribe to in the USA which owes so much to his efforts. Where would he stand in the DC of today?

I agree with one significant, divine exception.

I enter this discussion a bit late. Truth be told, when I saw the quote I had to see where the players lined up. Living in a pure, tribal state - both meanings - may be the intellectual idea; until some other tribe attacks, which history shows will happen. The feudal system, key root 'feud,' became the answer to the problem and the game has been afoot for ever after. Blame Eve, the snake, or the devil, we lost The Garden of Eden. Until one has had the opportunity and responsibility for 'running' something, it looks easy. It never is. Been there, done that. Be thankful for the many, many good people in gov't who do the tasks with a good heart and all the honesty they can bring. You won't read much about them, but they are the sinews by which we survive as a free people.

Putting things in the congressional record has destroyed the usefullness of what was an actual record of things said in Congress while it was in session. This quote may or may not be true. JPM may very well have done this in the time when he and his cronies bailed out the USA as too many forget. Read "The Creature from Jekyll Island." It's a horror story, but not the kind you might expect from the very creative title. And never forget William Randolph Hearst if you want to understand the media. The news media in all forms ultimately lives or dies based on advertising revenue. Some things never change. Remember that and you will be fine. You also do not want to watch sausage being made.

A curious selection of quotes which have an interesting tack. Cheney echoes the Roman. When we are attacked we must be men first and defeat the enemy. War is never pretty and rules are observed at your mortal peril. Korea and Viet Nam should have taught us that but did not. Iraq remains an expensive, bloody, experiment in progress. Afghanistan is echoing the path of Korean War errors. To those who dislike Bush, begone! After 9/11 he drew the line in the sand and said to the world, you are with us or against us! Remember the Alamo, Crossing the Rubicon, etc. If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. The third quote ties up the nasty package of war with the reality of the foot soldier. The ever noble young who fight and die as the diabolical games are played. Semantics is not a manly art any more than war is pretty. During peace you may debate, during war it is ever, "My country, right or wrong, my country!"

A great thread! I'm no theologin, but I recall that when Christ was baptized by John the baptist, as set forth in the KJV, God spoke from the heavens to say, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." And the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him...etc. Matthew 3, 16 and 17. That's pretty much the Triune God as I understand it as an LCMS Christian.

A great thread gone somewhat astray as I read the posts. I am an LCMS Christian. I don't always share the dogmatic belief. I believe faith is a personal bond between the individual and Jesus Christ. As to the quote and its importance, our founding fathers saw the danger of church state linkage. Henry VIII had made a shambles of the ties involved in divine right monarchy and the pope as the vicar of Christ over marriage and divorce. England is still sorting that one out. So is Rome. Now, go back further to a time when a priest hood began keeping track of the various repeating cycles that took place in any given part of the world. Stonehenge as a "computer" to mark the pivotal changes marking the seasons. Did the priests build it or was it a leader trying to throw off a leaching priesthood? I haven't ever heard that question raised! I understand that there are these stone circles all over the place. Once one is built, the town idiot can handle the job of catching when the sign is "given." Even if he misses it by a few days, it's no big deal. There are Egyptian temples that mark a day when the sun reaches a special "holy mark" via a long corridor to let a key point be known. Some are so old that the modification of that point can be seen to have been changed via a significant structural modification. It's a quick step to a priesthood notifying an upcoming leader of their ability to signal events in "the heavens" to help him rule. In some places the priests could even predict eclipses. That gets the folks attention when the leader demands a sign from the gods! A personal favorite that Paine may deserve some credit for was the show Napoleon put on where the pope was to crown him as emperor. Except at the last instant, Napoleon took the crown from the pope's hands and placed it on his own head all by himself. I expect the people got the message. If things didn't turn out all that well for Napoleon, like Hitler, he had a good time while it lasted.

The three Adam's quotes were initially a surprise to me. I must also confess that I have not read as much about him as I should have. He comes through with some truths in an unexpected way. He seems to have always existed on a cloud of his own. While respected as a founding father, he appeared at the French court without an ability to speak the language and without a translator. He was only given one term as POTUS. He fell out but later reconciled with TJ. So he remains somewhat of a puzzle.

WOW! This has become a take no prisoners environment and I'm glad to see it. I'm guessing that "Waffler" is a name taken to define a stance that is rarely a stance in the classic sense. When you face off, first, you must plant your feet, assume the stance, etc. "Archer" could be a name or an approach. I'm guessing the latter. "Logan" brings to mind "Logan's Run" and I make no guess. As to Tom Paine, we all know who he was. Our "Che." He didn't hang around here very long before he was off to France. Sound at all like Che to anyone? Paine spoke of the "sunshine patriot," and knew whereof he spoke. In that long, long journey from "The Fertile Crescent" to Lexington, MA; we study the march of Western Civilization even as it continues this very second, in some ways, in this blog. The USA is the current experiment in progress. There are others, but "the shot heard round the world" was fired here and the echoes remain. Initially, I was going to simply suggest that Paine was making an obvious, fundamental statement and draw a parallel to what G. W. Bush said following 9/11; that other nations were either with us or against us. I still feel that way. That's why I said it. I will be interested in any thoughts that come my way. For the record, my name is Wulff and it traces back to somewhere in Germany and there is an official there who shares that name and I have no idea if we might be related. God bless America!

I'm surprised he left out the 5th amendment as that also has been gutted by our gov't. One can be forced to testify if given a grant of immunity. Sorry friends, that's not what it says. The first ten amenments - The Bill of Rights - was a requirement to be added to the Constitution in order to gain its approval. It was to make sure that there was no mistake about the delineated rights it contained. That is why the erosion of those rights is a curse which must be fought by all Americans. George Washington was the tall, strong hero on a white horse who could have been king, but refused. He also limited himself to two terms, setting a precedent that survived until FDR opted to end it. I'm not sure the amendment that eliminated that option was correct, but it was passed and we are stuck with it. We live in a time when the wisdom of our founding fathers is trivialized by too many people who should know better. The current swing to the far left may be the death of our whole system. I'm old. I can only pray to the Creator for our continuance in His good humor.

Sam Adams was the spark and the quote is absolutely right on as this discussion shows. I think we might call him a "purist" who lit the candle so others could see. The others had to move over a bit to be "realists" regarding what could be done within reason. Now, at long last, his heritage is celebrated in a beer! I'm not joking about that. It is an inspired brew aimed at the highest ideals of craft and loved by a devoted following. He is finally getting some recognition 235 years after the DOI was announced to the world!

Our Revolutionary War was not a terrorist operation although we didn't always do the staged field battles that were often the case in Europe. Please, don't argue with "staged." They were real and brutal, but they did line up in a pretty formal way facing each other across a field of battle and folks did come out from the city to watch them from a vantage point and bring "picnic lunches" with all the fixin's, etc. Technology, all too often fed by the military led us to what has been called total war of which WWII was the best and worst example. The power of the atomic bomb brought us face to face with the possibility of wiping out our species on the planet. We haven't sorted that out yet. We don't do "duck and cover drills" where students hide under their desks any more. We are thankful that another A-bomb has not been used in 66 years and WMD has become the scarey threat of our time. The conspiracy school evidenced in some of the comments is a troubling idea for me. I've looked at some of the videos on You Tube showing the signs of conspiracy in the events of 9/11 and I'm at a loss. I'm left with the quote that goes something like: "Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? If it prosper, none dare call it treason." The right amount of Scotch and I will get some sleep. Just bought a jug of Ballantine's today. I prefer Glenlivet, just not when I'm thirsty.

It's a great quote and reminds me of some of the quotes we relish from President Reagan. Too many fail to understand that America is an ongoing experiment as Lincoln put it in his Gettysburg Address. His lines were required to be memorized when I was in grammar school. Fifty-five years later, they still echo in my mind and remind me of that truth!

I'm guessing these comments are cumulative over a long time as suggestions to impeach are somewhat dated. I support the man. He made a clear statement to the world. That is the mark of a leader. Our system allows you to disagree, and you have. Here's the fun question. Does it make you a terrorist? Ponder that. Is that a knock on your door? NO! This is America! Just where do you stand?

First, my hat is off to John F. Di Leo for this quote! I know the role of petty tyrant, how easy it is to become one, and how difficult it is to resist. I must add that in many cases the behavior is either requested or arises from a felt need. How many times have we heard, "There should be a law against that!" All too often, that call is answered. Sarbanes-Oxley (sp?), Dodd-Frank, the Federal Reserve, just to name a few among thousands. Now that we have them, and are bound by them, we know they were either wrong or over done. Until the individual, whether in a club, public board, commision, etc. has been called upon to "write a rule," can the individual begin to understand the complexity of doing so and the understanding that it might be better left alone. I've been there more than once. Done the deed with all the care I could muster. Heard the criticism. At times ignored it. At times revised the "rules." At times added a bunch more with misgivings. Always carried the scars and tried to learn from them. The Law of Un-intended Consequences is known to all who have labored in that vineyard. There is blame enough to go around on this. TJ had it right when he said, "That government is best which governs least." He had experience with the process. We have drifted away from the founding fathers' vision. I've always questioned the change on the method for electing US Senators as it neutered some/all of the rights given to the states. Texas' Gov. Perry's suggestions for changes to our Constitution should at the very least ignite a serious debate on the subject.

GBS has been a guiding light for much of what transpires in the delightful heritage that we all consider to be mainstream. This is not to say that he has not produced some controversy. If he hadn't, no one would pay attention to anything he said. What constantly amazes me about our heritage is how smoothly it is portrayed. Generally it starts in "the fertile crescent" and progresses through Israel, the Phonecians, Greeks, Romans, Dark Ages, The UK, The USA, and now. Not to suggest that the USA is over, but to hint that another change is in the works even as we speak. Hopefully, it will not be the UN!

This pretty much says it all for me. The key line in the 'preamble' that the Liberty of the individual is limited by the equal Liberty of all has to be understood. Ray may have missed this even as he described perfectly in a physical sense. Big government cannot grant or enforce this, it can only get in the way of it.

Mike has it exactly correct. Dealing with the necessities of life is the first focus for most people. Left alone, the vast majority if not all, will do their absolute best to survive and keep their family together. The problem begins when some agitator suggests that the problem they have can be blamed on someone else. This is appealing. It is how revolutions begin. It is the very reason that "fair share" is such an evil tactic today. When the people are incited to protest, riot, etc.; society is in trouble. Playing the blame game, as Obama delights in doing, cannot turn out well. Castro in Cuba is a tragedy we all watched. There was great popular support for the overthrow of the dictator Batista. The end result has only made things worse for the people of Cuba. Now we watch to see how the transition of power will take place. After the people fighting for the revolution bring it about by shedding their blood in the streets, some one else shows up and hijacks the revolution for different ends. Russia and Lenin is the classic.