Ask those Jewish women in the Seattle Jewish Center who were gunned down by an Islamic madman if they needed a gun. Well, you can ask five of them, the other is dead.

If only this were true. Seat belt laws, helmet laws, sugar taxes, fat taxes, tobacco taxes, and on, and on. If only people wouldn't demand an allowance from Uncle Sugar, Uncle Sugar wouldn't be tempted to treat us like children.

...and you create cynicism toward all of the lawmakers.

If someone has good morals, there is no need for laws to enforce them. The law is there to deal with the immoral who would impose their immorality on the rest of us. Conversely, if a law is not based on the morality of society, we have no obligation to observe it. They are simply means of controlling otherwise free men and are, therefore, immoral laws.

Rousseau believed in the "noble savage." That is that human beings are naturally good and moral beings, in other words "born free." This is prima facie incorrect. Human beings will naturally take advantage of one another by lying, cheating, stealing, or what have you. It is only by applying moral reason to ones own life that one can free himself. One must reason that moral behavior is more beneficial to himself than the natural instinct of immediate self gratification.

Isn't it funny how Greek (or Western) civilization has been inventing and creating for millenia, while the Eastern civilization of Persia, then Islam, has been trying to conquer and destroy it?

This is a meaningless statement. One's convictions are simply one's beliefs. One can believe in a truth or a falsehood. The fact of truth or falsehood does not change depending on how strongly someone believes. Validity cannot be given to a conviction. Either the conviction is valid or it is not.

That's right, Archer. If you're looking for someone to bribe, find the real power. Look for the secretary.

Might as well give whiskey and car keys to teen age boys. They're gonna get them one way or another anyway. Not really, but that is the attitude most people have toward taxes and government.

The ultimate bureaucracy is Communism where everyone is a full time government employee.

George Washington said government was like fire. Fires, if not used correctly, can burn you until you die; it can maim you, taking away liberty you once had; and it can destroy your property. Government or fire is most dangerous when it becomes too big to control. Just try stopping a wildfire and you'll see how hard it is to stop government.

This is more than a kernel of truth. It is the whole ear of corn, cob and all. In fact, if you don't give them enough of your kernels, they'll come after you with the cob.

"Arbitrary" is the operative word here. The best way to keep people unsure of themselves, in fear, and under control is to apply random, arbitrary punishment to them.

When everything is illegal, we're all criminals. Who better to control us than a jailor?

Robert believes in the fallacy of the noble savage. If only we could "educate" the children before they are corrupted, then all would be well in the world. The fact is that human beings are naturally thieving, murderous creatures, who want to control the lives of their fellows. Just let someone cut you off in traffic during rush hour, look in the rear view mirror, and you'll see human nature. Anonymous believes that ever larger government will lead to perfection. Ever larger government is simply a larger collection of flawed thieving, murderous, human beings. The only difference between small nations and one large superstate is that there a fewer places to run when they come for you.

Maybe it was true in 1920's Spain, but it is not true now. The greatest danger to civilization today is a weak, politically correct response to nihilistic Islamic Fascists.

A grave waits for everyone.

The right of free speech does not mean that there will not be consequences for foolishness demonstrated through words. The first amendment restricts the governments ability to control speech. It does not limit a private employer's ability to do the same.

Govern is synonymous with control. The less moral, self-controlled, and considerate a population is, the more government is required to control humanity's baser instincts. It is in the interest of governments to create a population of selfish, childish citizens because that makes government more necessary and the jobs of politicians and bureaucrats more justified. It is the reason those who love government hate religion, freedom, and responsibility.

The Tenth Amendment died in 1861, when the Federal government told the states that they could not voluntarily and legally leave a union they had voluntarily joined. All the pontificating on states rights will never change that. Government never gives up power once gained voluntarily. That is why a Constitutional Convention will never be allowed to happen.

When a certain segment of society begins to behave like terrorists, to give aid and comfort to terrorists, and to propagandize for terrorists, then they ought to be treated like terrorists. I don't recall Jefferson advocating the beheadings of infidels in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson et. al. were engaging in rebellion without terrorism-an effort to be left alone. That is risky enough behavior, nonetheless. I think Cobb might choose some other word than terrorism if he were writing today.

I find the desire to control others beliefs and ideas very straightforward. Human beings, by nature, change and control their environment to their liking. Other human beings are simply viewed as a part of the environment, not other human beings. To change them one can either use force or persuasion. The use of force is the easy path, for it takes no intellectual effort.

He is, of course, using the original meaning of liberalism here-classical liberalism-which phrase was coopted by socialists because socialism was so unpalatable to Americans. The true liberalism of the Founders was closer to libertarianism than anything else. Now that liberal has become a dirty word, Progressive is in vogue. So-called progressives have more in common with fascists than liberals. FDR and Mussolini could have been almost interchangeable if Hitler had not come along.

Quite right, Mr. Anonymous from Reston. It is easy to automatically defer to authority. It takes no thought and it is never punished.

I would disagree. The greatest restraint upon human actions is neither law nor custom. It is conscience. That is why, to have a free people, we must also have a moral people. One of the biggest problems with society today is the lack of personal morality which guides the individual to do the right thing, i.e. to love one's neighbor more than oneself. Despite all of the flaws of organized religion (flawed, of course, because it is made up of men) it is that more than anything else which has established the morality of conscience in individuals because the source of the morality is greater than capricious human beings. That is why the religion of liberalism will never instill moral values in men. Liberalism worships men.