I'm with J on this one. The government uses tragedies such as war to grant itself all sorts of new powers.

As usual, Jefferson was right. It's sad to note that we've come from giants like Washington and Jefferson to pygmies like Carter, the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama.

As to the last line of this quote, the "significant segments of the people" would be those who can think. Unfortunatley, most people don't do much thinking and most of them vote.

Good quote from the man who used a war to centralize power in Washinton. To all those souls who love the "great emancipator", he only freed the slaves in 4 states, the ones that wanted to secede.

Whether good or evil, it's not determined by one's economic status.

Wrong ,J Carlton, you have the "right" to do as you're told by those wonderful people in Washington.

Reston, A lot of this money "kept" and lines the pockets of our friends in the congress.

Ben was usually right on and this is no exception.

I agree with one significant human exception.

I'm with J on this one.

And every 2, 4,and 6 years we get to choose new masters.

Well said, Mike.

I'm with cal on Lincoln. Read " Lincoln Uber Alles", (Over All) for a good look at Lincoln.

Remember the cliche, " it's a free country". This hasn't been true since Lincoln initiated the war of Northern aggression against the South, and is getting worse with every election since. For some reason you don't hear that much anymore.

J summed it up well.

Kudos to Mike on this one and how about those wonderful congress people getting rich on insider trading. You, however, better not try it.

From C.S. Lewis: "Of all tyranies, a tyrany sincerely exercised for the good of it's victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber baron's than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with approval of their own conscience".

Mike and Lysander Spooner said it well.

While you can hardly call him a tyrant, good old born again Jimmy Carter was our 2nd worse president since Obama knocked him out of 1st place. He has , however, since leaving that office, cozied up to every left wing tyrant on the planet.

Mary-Mi, while I rarely agree with Reston, I don't think you know whether he seeks truth or not, unless you are a mind reader.

Tell a big enough lie often enough, and lots of people will believe it, and never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.

We may be seekers of the "Truth" but we are not always eager to hear it.

I agree with Reston on this one. As to the Bible, from whence came this quote, here's some good advice from the Buddha. "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense".

If logic was the defining factor instead of emotion, we would not have this 41 year old "War on Drugs". Almost everyone knows that it hasn't worked, has made matters worse, and has cost billions, and yet it continues. Where's the logic in that.

" Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure." A great quote by L. Neal Smith. Our liberties are being "Vanquished" and mostly by our own government, and we punish the malefactors by reelecting them over and over.