Walter Goodman Quote

“Corruption is no stranger to Washington; it is a famous resident.”

~ Walter Goodman


Ratings and Comments


David L. Rosenthal

He also said "The idea of all-out nuclear war is unsettling." It seems he liked to simply state the obvious.

E Archer, NYC

If it is so damn obvious, why do we let Washington steal our money and our rights?

EGL, LA
  • Reply
    EGL, LA    12/13/06

    Why? becasue they eliminated the draft.

    Mike, Norwalk

    Or it could be said; The residents of Washington are corrupt, being strangers to the once famous sovereign(s).

    Anon
    • Reply
    Anon    12/3/08

    To E Archer. Because of fear of men and the power they have.

    Scoot4par, Ruston

    pithy quote on the obvious.... anyplace where they mete out power and money by an unrestricted majority vote will attract all sorts of homesteaders

    jim k, austin

    And the family is growing.

    Waffler, Smith, Arkansas

    He could have been less narrow by adding: New York, Paris, and Rome! It is not Washington that it is corrupt, it is man, universally and internationally.

    Logan, Memphis, TN

    Government is merely an abstract entity and institution; it does not exist "naturally" but must be artificially created, exercised, enforced, and pushed forward by man. How exactly can man then maintain government correctly? What is "correctly" anyway? What makes one government better than another? What makes one government more or less corrupt? Humanity has stipulated a certain codex of reasoned human abuses, but where did the idea of "abuse" even come from? Is it human emotion and feeling, or the divine edicts that first placed within man the thought of "abuse" and "protection"? If there is no God then there is only what "works" and what doesn't (science) -- there is no absolute "right" or "wrong," only what happened and what didn't happen, what worked and what didn't work; if there IS a God, then there most likely is a correct way of doing things -- but that puts us back onto the question of what "correct" is. If there is no God, how does society figure what works good for me and not for my neighbor? What legitimacy should we give to one man's stipulation over another man's idea? Under this premise it can be argued that Hitler should be praised rather than condemned -- after all, if there is not God, then all thought is arbitrary (no absolute right or wrong) -- Hitler simply rose to the top of his specie better than the next man. Hitler then was the ultimate manifestation of natural selection in his day (this was neither "right" nor "wrong" -- without God -- but only what happened and what worked at the time). So, what is corruption? Be all this as it is -- according to the principles upon which this country was built (divinely given or arbitrarily fabricated), the quote is accurate. However, as Waffler said, our stipulation to "corruption" is not monopolized by our government alone.

    RBESRQ
    • Reply
    RBESRQ    12/3/08

    Yes, it could be said of any central government - Logan, please forgive me, can you wrap what you just said into one sentence? Hitler was a stupid painter from Vienna - cream rises to the top but it kills you. No, Anon, its because of our ignorance and greed, what is the fear you refer too?

    Anonymous
    • Reply
      Anonymous    12/3/08

      Our 20th president, James A. Garfield was shot shortly after he said: "Whoever controls the volume of money in any country (or world) is absolute master of all commerce and industry." Private bankers spuriously known as the "Federal Reserve" say they control the volume of money, page 3, Modern Money Mechanics where they admit that they operate a confidence game and that the history of banking is a history of fraud.. It matters none what they admit if less than one per cent read it and the few who recite it are ridiculed. The ideal means of controlling the volume of money is to use money that exists only in the mind and then control minds to control the volume of money. Those same bankers say their system "works only with credit" that would keep its value "if there were fewer people bidding against each other."---booklet, Keeping Our Money healthy. Library of Congress catalog number 60-14368 revised Jan.1979

      Logan, Memphis, TN

      How you rate this quote should depend on how you define corruption, and you cannot define corruption unless you define other terms and conditions; once you define your terms you are left with two sources for thought -- divine inspiration given through reason, or arbitrary/accidental thought. If thought is itself accidental, then there really is no absolute corruption because it is an arbitrarily reasoned idea.

      Anon
      • 1
      • Reply
        Anon    12/4/08

        RBESRQ. The fear perpetuated by those who enjoy our ignorance and greed and so through fear of an economic collapse we were told we had no choice but to take "extraordinary" measures for "extraordinary" circumstances. If that isn't instilling fear in someone I don't know what is. All this "collapse" BS was just that. The purpose of it was to further centralize power. And it worked.

        Ryan Elder, Lubbock

        Great quote. No one can deny the truth of it.

        RBESRQ
        • Reply
          RBESRQ    12/4/08

          Thanks Logan and Anon

          Mike, Norwalk

          The de jure States united's originating jurisprudence was to be: "the laws of nature and of nature's God" (Declaration of Independence) — a limited form of natural law. A line through the defining tapestry(s) of natural law (science, math, relationships, etc.) by all philosophers on the subject of natural law describe a regularity of action sufficiently similar as to determine a rule.

          The term "God" in the Declaration of independence was understood to be an extra human intelligent design by the founders. By way of legal application, the term "god" is simply a reference to that which is outside the control of corporeal man (by example for insurance purposes, damage by tornado is an act of god). Above, Logan's expressions are spot on. At natural law, man can not make or create laws. Law already exist so corporeal man can only create codes, ordinances, regulations, rules, statutes, etc. to define the law that already exists for justice and administrative purposes ONLY. The natural law (regularity of nature's God — again, science, math, relationships, etc.) intended by the founders was each individual was sovereign with inalienable rights and liberty at natural law.

          A “right” is: tangible matter’s eternally omnipresent warrant; A right is an enabling conveyance of nature’s inherent rectitude; A right is the congenital prerogative to act without restriction at/in each and every, any and all way(s) harmonious at, of or with organic justice - just locutions (non-infringement of/on another’s rights); peculiar to each and every specific person, identified by law, equity, life, liberty, property and happiness. Right(s) more closely associate with the domain of justice than law.

          Liberty is: “The power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature.” (Bouvier’s Law Dictionary) Liberty is the “exemption from extraneous control.  The power of the will, in its moral freedom, to follow the dictates of its unrestricted choice, and to direct the external acts of the individual without restraint, coercion, or control from other persons.  Liberty is the right which nature gives to all mankind of disposing of their persons and property after the manner they judge most consistent with their happiness, on condition of their acting within the limits of the law of nature, and so as not to interfere with an equal exercise of the same rights by other men.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1st ed.). Clarifying original fact, natural law intent, and de jure jurisprudence: “Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” (Thomas Jefferson) “The Natural Liberty of Man is to be free from any Superior Power on Earth, and not to be under the Will or Legislative Authority of Man, but to have only the Law of Nature for his Rule.” (John Locke - second most quoted source for creation of the Constitution) “Personal liberty, or the Right to enjoyment of life and liberty, is one of the fundamental or natural Rights, which has been protected by its inclusion as a guarantee in the various constitutions, which is not derived from, or dependent on, the U.S. Constitution, which may not be submitted to a vote and may not depend on the outcome of an election. It is one of the most sacred and valuable Rights, as sacred as the Right to private property ⋯ and is regarded as inalienable.” (16 C.J.S., Constitutional Law, Sect.202, p.987). Liberty, under “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” (Declaration of Independence) – natural law, is the state of exercising all inalienable rights. “All men are created equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing the obtaining of happiness and safety.” (George Mason)

          Corruption is an act done with an intent to give some advantage inconsistent with official duty, liberty and the rights of others.

          The guaranteed representative “republican form of government” (Article IV, Section 4 U.S. Constitution) was to be a body politic to enhance and protect individual sovereign’s inalienable rights and liberty at natural law; recognize all else to be corruption. AND, because I am a hard core believing Christian, I here set forth that the LORD'S law of inalienable rights and liberty is good. Thank you Logan for setting up an opportunity to define and explain.

          RBESRQ1, Sarasota

          Wow! 2006
          There is no left or right when it comes to corruption. This government, like so many others, has fallen for the brown-bag syndrome. There is no correcting a fallen enemy other than putting it out of its misery. I see no silver lining unless we have total war on the parasitical class. C-19 is a total hoax invented for global dominance — the great hoax ever perpetrated on the haman race. And now they want to keep the money train going with perpetual booster shot for which have no intent of ever stopping.  Orwell must be turning in his grave knowing that 1984 came true and beyond. Technology was meant to give humans freedom to create, instead it has given us a perpetual nightmare. John Conner, we need you back urgently.

          Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown

          I think we should evict corruption from Washington. 

          @

          Get a Quote-a-Day!

          Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box daily.