“From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms!
Through the land let the sound of it flee;
Let the far and the near all unite, with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree.”

From the East to the West theis really helped!!!!!!!

u were the best thomas paine!!!!!

The Tree of Liberty is under seige by a government gone mad with power!

One of the best ever

What a guy!

Made great quotes. Not sure how he would be taken today. I wonder if he would be such a Libertarian if he saw what the world has become.

Compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, theft of the noble laborer's fruits, forced charity-ID-insurance, ponzi scheme retirement programs, information gathered by torture, notes of credit, vilification of religions and races, incivility, suspension of habeas corpus, etc. are all killing freedom's concepts and language and the substance that is the liberty tree.

I am so sick of evoking the "founders"...founders this, founders that...It's 2007 for god's sake. We have more relevant wisdom to draw on for relevance to our current crises than romantically going back to the 18th century when they only had flint lock rifles.

EGL complains that quoting the Founders isn't relevant wisdom, which demonstrates his lack of historical understanding of economics and govt tendencies. It was BECAUSE the Fathers knew their own world history so well that they formed the govt and concepts of 1776 & 1789. They were trying to steer us away from that constantly repeated history of despotism and violence. It has not worked, leaving us a return to the same pre-1776 problems of rampant socialism, heavily centralized govt, military adventurism, fiat currencies which only enrich bankers and ennable despots to spend our wealth on their own visions of grandeur. No, EGL, what the Founders thought is still HIGHLY relevant for today, for, as Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun..."

If it weren't for people like Paine, EGL would not be enjoying the fruits of the American Revolution (particularly within the hearts and minds of the American subjects of the Crown). The Founding fathers were without a doubt a hell of a lot smarter than Americans today, including especially our Congressional representatives. Shame on you, EGL, you don't know the ground upon which you stand.

ARCHER-the number of times I could have said shame on you I cannot count. At least I have respected the nuances of your observations.

And Paul, you may consider that politicians today, who do not have the wisdom of ability to defend their opinions with sound argument and logic, consistently and romanitcally evoke the FOUNDERS as a smoke screen of double speak. It is like quoting the bible, you can use it to justify anything and everything "under the sun".

Speaking of trees...."There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."--Henry D. Thoreau. EGL, you sound suspiciously like every college student that has ever lived (and I have no idea if you are such or not), each of which had an epiphany of wisdom in their youth that somehow transcends the wisdom of their parents. What they all forget is that their parents were once young and had their own "brilliant" flashes of enlightenment and that time has its way of proving true wisdom. Human nature is timeless. What was true in the 18th century is still true. Human beings lie, cheat, steal, and murder their way through history. You are quite correct about smokescreens, though. It is also human nature to prevaricate and lie.

EGL, I do not recall ever being offended by any of your previous comments, and I am not sure what nuance I am apparently missing this time, but to lump all the Founders into one and say we've had enough of it, is to me no nuance at all. Attack the argument, not the man. It had been thousands of years since European 'man' could be counted as freemen and not subjects to a crown or lord. It is a revolutionary idea, even today.

Climb The Mountain Reap The Reward.
I climbed the mountain one time to see,
Behold, aTall Stout Tree
Our Tree of Liberty,
Behold, " I see men as trees walking."
rvp.
With a call to arms, let us rally around, our Tree of Liberty.
God Bless and Semper Fi

All I can say about EGL is that their manner of thinking is absolutely beyond nauseating.
If you don't learn from the great mentors and spokespersons of the past, then you will surely be placed under the boot of the current and future despots.