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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| V for Vendetta... an excellent film, baring the weird lesbian scene
which I might add, did absolutely nothing to whet my normally rapacious
appetite etc etc...The scene appeared out of place to me, outside the
pale of substantive writing. The strange alliance between the hippy
wannabe-gay comedian and the the anarcho-capitalistic-crazed-government
created wunderkiller is indeed at times over-taxed. The message is
clear though... it pays to look beyond the obvious. Attempt to delve
beyond the apparent, past those who would obviously gain, past those
who would obviously lose, and seek to discover motive.
The tendency here in this late republic to place unbridled power in the
hands of a small elected oligarchy protected by campaign finance laws
troubles me. I do not fear conquest, I do not fear Iranian sabatours or
North Korean sappers, I fear subversion. The great bulwarks of
resistance to federal hemogeny have been weakening dangerously for 40
years. Federalism has been almost crushed beneath the combined weight
of those who would use the federal government to propel the future, to
compel progress through the arm of an all-encompassing, all-devouring,
insatiable state.
If there is a job to be done, it is not the job of government, surely
not the federal regime. No, this is the realm of the people, of
individual enterprise, of innovation, of entrepreneurship. We must not
look to some rider on a white horse, be he from Texas or Arizona. The
answer lies within. It lies in the rekindling of those sacred flames of
personal responsibility, individual freedom, of federalism, and in the
enforcement and rule of a just system of laws under the letter of the
U.S. Constitution.
As Goldwater wrote all those many years ago, in another century, in
another age, I to "have little interest in making government more
efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote
welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws,
but to repeal them. It is NOT to innaugurate new programs, but to
cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution. If I should be
attacked for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply
that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that
cause I am doing the very best I can."
Liberty is the highest political end, and its pursuit is nothing to
scoff at. The sword is indeed mighty, but principles laugh at swords.
Force may overwhelm and crush truth to earth, but crushed or not, truth
is still truth.
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| How is a cause lost? Is it merely because of an opponents superior
strength? Dicipline? Dedication? Or is it perhaps lack of will or
perserverence on the part of the loser. In warfare, retreat is often a
worthy strategem, it allows for mobile defense, where the lines between
offense and defense are significantly, if not completely blurred. It is
possible to apply the asiatic lessons and strategies of warfare, the
lessons of Alexander at Granicus River, or Jackson at Chancellorsville
to an individual's life. To use that knowledge directly to struggle for
a personal cause, a cause mired so deeply in emotion that logical
argument scarcely is allowed a moments glance... is difficult. I
am attempting to apply this rational calculating methodology and
strategy to love. In order to perservere in military affairs, all
realms of action must necessarily be considered... affairs of the heart
must not be an exception.
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| The United States were solidly founded on
the principles of individual freedom, free markets, private property,
and limited government. As the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution reflect, individuals have the natural and God-given right
to live their lives any way they choose, so long as their conduct is
peaceful. It is the duty of government to protect, not destroy, these
inherent and inalienable rights.
For over half a century, the
Americans rejected such anti-free-market policies as income taxation,
Social
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, immigration controls, economic
regulations, drug laws, gun control, public schooling, and foreign
wars. Despite the tragic exception of slavery, and the almost complete
destruction of the American system of federalism, the result was
the most
prosperous, healthy, literate, and compassionate society in all of
human history.
Unfortunately, in the 20th century, our country has moved in an
opposite direction. Operating through a horde of bureaucracies, the
government of the United STates of America has waged a series of
immoral, unjust, unconstitutional and wholly destructive wars on our
freedom, our property, and individual
well-being.
Many have followed the sirens of
socialism, believing that a modern society cannot exist without some
form of
political paternalism. As a result, the moral fabric of this nation has
been erroded, along with a decline in the individual's respect for such
charater traits as
self-reliance, voluntary charity, and individual freedom. By doing
this, families have been crushed, the poor alienated, and foreigners
transformed from business associates into horrendous enemies.
Furthermore, this government expansion has trampled unceasingly on our
beloved Constitution and it's enumerated limits on government. Finally,
by unwaveringly supporting intervention, domestically and abroad,
activist government
has undermined the citizenry's commitment to the moral foundations of
liberty and the boundless benefits of laissez-faire.
Timely Articles of the Day:
It Didn’t Work, how the war in Iraq has failed. by William F. Buckley.
Trust the President?~by Jacob Hornberger
Magnificent Quote of the Day:
Our ancestors all came here to isolate themselves from the social
burdens and inherited errors of the old world. When the others are all
over ears in trouble, who would not be isolated in freedom from care?
When the others are crushed under the burden of militarism, who would
not be isolated in peace and industry? When the others are all
struggling under debt and taxes, who would not be isolated in the
enjoyment of his own earnings for the benefit of his own family? When
the rest are all in a quiver of anxiety, lest at a day’s notice
they may be involved in a social cataclysm, who would not be isolated
out of reach of the disaster? What we are doing is that we are
abandoning this blessed isolation to run after a share in the trouble.
~Willaim Graham Sumner
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| I've been accepted to a couple solid law schools! Granted, they're
back-up schools, but they're the first schools I've heard from, so I'm
quite positively excited about the prospects. 
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| Interesting article here by Sidney Blumenthal, how President Bush gave a speech so
morally stagnant and devoid of principle that it would have made the Politburo proud.
Another magnificent article describing the one of the original "compassionate conservatives"....
Timely Quotation of the day:
America seeks no empires built on
blood and force. No ambition, no tempation, lures her to thought of
foreign domination. The legions she sends forth are armed, not with the
sword, but with the Cross. The higher state to which she seeks the
allegiance of all mankind is not human, but of Divine origin. She
cherishes no purpose, save to merit the favor of Almighty God. ~Pres Calvin Coolidge, March 4, 1925
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