From Lew Rockwell.com:
Rally for Your Republic Now…or Lose It Forever
by Susan Westfall
Recently by Susan Westfall: The Relevancy of Ron Paul vs. the Coming Irrelevancy of the Status-Quo
“A watched kettle never boils.” A sage piece of advice for cooks or anyone waiting for something to come to fruition. Unfortunately for us, we seem to have applied that advice to ourselves and ceased watching the governmental cauldron that is Washington, D.C. Bad move – a very bad move. Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Wendell Phillips have all reminded us, at one time or another, that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Would that we had listened better. Perhaps we would not presently be hurtling into the Keynesian abyss on a FED powered train from hell. This of course after having been groped (for our own safety) prior to forced boarding.
However, we are. So, it’s time to stop lying to ourselves and each other. We, the people, have been complacent and apathetic too long. Blind far, far too long. The crisis we find ourselves in today is our own fault. The peoples’ fault. We forgot to be vigilant. We prospered, we got comfortable, and we decided to leave governing to the well-intentioned politicians and ‘experts’ who knew best how to run the country and maintain our prosperity. At least – that’s what they told us and apparently what they thought. Look around…how well has that worked out for us? Daniel Webster warned long ago, “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” And master they did, but they were not “masters” of anything except a slow, insidious destruction. Time to admit and correct the mistakes.
America was founded on a vision of liberty and protection for all individuals. Each and everyone of us is an individual. Sovereign to none but God. Equal one to another in liberty and sovereignty – if we but believe it. Government does not give us liberty, nor can government raise or lower us in any truly meaningful way. Under the Constitution, the sole purpose of government is to protect the liberty of each and every one of us regardless of race, gender, or party. So throw off the yoke of assigned groupings used to perpetuate strife and divisions. Have confidence in your worth. You, me, WE are the REAL power. Stand up, stand together and let your voices be heard. Our country is too big, our population too diverse for us all to agree on everything. However, we can agree on a few big issues which we all hold dear. What could be dearer than the ideals of liberty? It’s time to remember that America is a Republic, not a democracy. Time to remember that the government our ancestors created – as sovereign peoples of their respectively sovereign state(s) compacting together – was formed to restrain the government and never the people.
Our ancestors did not fight and die for the debauched city, drunk on the blood of illusionary slain dragons, that now masquerades behind its tattered carnival mask as our seat of government. Nor did they give their precious lives and blood to ensure that the wealth of one half of their “posterity” would be stolen by government agents and redistributed, through charity programs deemed “necessary and proper”, to provide for the “general welfare” of the other half. They would sob with misery at what we have allowed to occur. “A democracy,” was not the answer provided by Benjamin Franklin, when asked what kind of government had been given to the people. Instead he admonished, “A Republic, madam, if you [the whole of the people] can keep it.” We have not kept it. We allowed, and even encouraged, it to become the ravenous leviathan of democracy that seems intent on swallowing us whole to increase its own power and size. But proper defense requires knowledge and vigilance. If you don’t have a copy of the Constitution in your house…buy one, read it online, or download it from the Internet for free. But read it – once, twice, many fold – till you are at least passingly familiar with it. Then educate others and rally together to defend your liberty and your Republic.
Do NOT rally together to fight for the sake of party. Political parties will not save us as claimed, nor have they ever. Parties divide and weaken the power of WE the People to restrain our government as is our duty. Through party, control is wrested from all of the people of the Republic and given over to either the “blue team” or the “red team”. I mention here only two controlling forces, since the other parties (libertarian, green, independent, etc.) are barely given the most grudging of places on voting ballots, at a prohibitively high cost I might mention, and almost never a place at the debate table. To pretend otherwise would be not only hypocritical, but ridiculous. George Washington had this (among other things) to say about parties, “They serve to organize faction, to give it [one party or another] an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party.” Political parties keep us focussed on controversial issues that will NEVER be agreed upon by all. Tune into any talk radio show, already conveniently divided into left and right, (two more team terms) and listen to the hosts rant and rave at and about the “other side”. Finger pointing, blame assignments, and name calling are main staples of these shows. The format is mirrored in television and print media as well. In this way the opposing “teams” are kept stirred up, angry, and arguing about various emotionally charged positions. Thus ensuring that both teams don’t come together in a coalition strong enough to not only restrain, but reform and reduce government back to its Constitutional size and role. Perhaps the most offensive thing about party politics is that after successfully dividing the people and achieving victory for one team or the other, BOTH teams then work together (while appearing not to through more media finger-pointing and name-calling) to “reach compromises” that not only increase the scope and size of governmental over-reach, but decrease the freedoms of the very people who employ them to do otherwise. It’s time we stopped pretending the defense of liberty and protection of our Republic is a team sport of some kind. If we want to wave a pennant, place a bet, or cheer on a team we should attend a real sporting event. When it comes to politics we better damn well forget the idea of team and start backing individual candidates who will uphold their oaths to the Constitution. Letters are for high school sports apparel, not for determining the best political candidate.
With the Internet easily accessible to all, there is absolutely no excuse not to research each candidate to whom we consider giving our vote. If time is a factor, and it will be for many, then form study groups and lessen the time burden. Voting is not something you should do based on how a candidate looks and sounds, or what the media says you should know about them. Research their past records, listen to old speeches, and find out what they have done in their daily lives. You can Google anything today and get answers. It’s not enough that candidates say they follow the Constitution. It doesn’t matter how patriotic or religious they sound when telling you they love the Constitution – have they upheld it through actions or not? Have they kept their promises? These people will represent our interests and if we choose poorly we will end up with more of the same. More spending, more borrowing, more inflationary printing, more cronyism, and more unaffordable wars. We will extend our time in the abyss substantially. We’ll not only disembark and set up camp, but wave good-bye as the status-quo cronies use what’s left of our wealth to power themselves and their train along a little longer. We, however, will be left to stumble about in poverty and tyranny for years to come.
I have never voted in any election, but I have been watching them for years. Since 2007, I have been listening and researching. In all that time I have found but one presidential candidate (in both this and the last election) for whom I would and will give my vote, my money and my time. That candidate is Ron Paul. Decades of upholding his oath of office, voting only for Constitutional legislation, and standing on his principles – often completely alone – proves to me that he will do his best to achieve his stated goals for our country. An astoundingly long record of consistently saying the truth – again, often completely alone, as well as in the face of extensive ridicule – convinces me that he is deserving of my trust, my time and efforts, and my hard-earned money. I give all of them freely to a candidate who would be president in order to restore my liberties, not usurp more of them to enhance the powers stubbornly perpetuating “business as usual” and driving our country to ruin.
Ron Paul will restore America. Rally with him. Rally for your Republic. Rally for love of this amazingly beautiful and bountiful land, that has for so long been a shining beacon to so many in the world. Rally for the precious freedom that has sustained this country since it’s inception, but so many around the world still struggle to attain. Rally for the glorious gift of liberty that burns in the hearts of men and women everywhere, but has had the best chance of survival in America since the day our founders declared their independence and pledged their lives, wealth, and sacred honor to establish it. Rally for the love of everyone, past and present, whose lives and actions have all played a part in the building of America.
For the love of God – unite. Come together.
Rally and fight for your Republic before it’s too late. Rally with us to defend liberty. Rally with the Champion of the Constitution, Ron Paul. Rally and defend liberty, for liberty’s sake – for all our sakes.
Reprinted with permission from The Weasel Radar.
September 8, 2011
Susan Westfall [send her mail] is a mother, a libertarian, and an educator.
Copyright © 2011 Susan Westfall
Rally for Your Republic Now…or Lose It Forever
by Susan Westfall
Recently by Susan Westfall: The Relevancy of Ron Paul vs. the Coming Irrelevancy of the Status-Quo
“A watched kettle never boils.” A sage piece of advice for cooks or anyone waiting for something to come to fruition. Unfortunately for us, we seem to have applied that advice to ourselves and ceased watching the governmental cauldron that is Washington, D.C. Bad move – a very bad move. Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Wendell Phillips have all reminded us, at one time or another, that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Would that we had listened better. Perhaps we would not presently be hurtling into the Keynesian abyss on a FED powered train from hell. This of course after having been groped (for our own safety) prior to forced boarding.
However, we are. So, it’s time to stop lying to ourselves and each other. We, the people, have been complacent and apathetic too long. Blind far, far too long. The crisis we find ourselves in today is our own fault. The peoples’ fault. We forgot to be vigilant. We prospered, we got comfortable, and we decided to leave governing to the well-intentioned politicians and ‘experts’ who knew best how to run the country and maintain our prosperity. At least – that’s what they told us and apparently what they thought. Look around…how well has that worked out for us? Daniel Webster warned long ago, “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” And master they did, but they were not “masters” of anything except a slow, insidious destruction. Time to admit and correct the mistakes.
America was founded on a vision of liberty and protection for all individuals. Each and everyone of us is an individual. Sovereign to none but God. Equal one to another in liberty and sovereignty – if we but believe it. Government does not give us liberty, nor can government raise or lower us in any truly meaningful way. Under the Constitution, the sole purpose of government is to protect the liberty of each and every one of us regardless of race, gender, or party. So throw off the yoke of assigned groupings used to perpetuate strife and divisions. Have confidence in your worth. You, me, WE are the REAL power. Stand up, stand together and let your voices be heard. Our country is too big, our population too diverse for us all to agree on everything. However, we can agree on a few big issues which we all hold dear. What could be dearer than the ideals of liberty? It’s time to remember that America is a Republic, not a democracy. Time to remember that the government our ancestors created – as sovereign peoples of their respectively sovereign state(s) compacting together – was formed to restrain the government and never the people.
Our ancestors did not fight and die for the debauched city, drunk on the blood of illusionary slain dragons, that now masquerades behind its tattered carnival mask as our seat of government. Nor did they give their precious lives and blood to ensure that the wealth of one half of their “posterity” would be stolen by government agents and redistributed, through charity programs deemed “necessary and proper”, to provide for the “general welfare” of the other half. They would sob with misery at what we have allowed to occur. “A democracy,” was not the answer provided by Benjamin Franklin, when asked what kind of government had been given to the people. Instead he admonished, “A Republic, madam, if you [the whole of the people] can keep it.” We have not kept it. We allowed, and even encouraged, it to become the ravenous leviathan of democracy that seems intent on swallowing us whole to increase its own power and size. But proper defense requires knowledge and vigilance. If you don’t have a copy of the Constitution in your house…buy one, read it online, or download it from the Internet for free. But read it – once, twice, many fold – till you are at least passingly familiar with it. Then educate others and rally together to defend your liberty and your Republic.
Do NOT rally together to fight for the sake of party. Political parties will not save us as claimed, nor have they ever. Parties divide and weaken the power of WE the People to restrain our government as is our duty. Through party, control is wrested from all of the people of the Republic and given over to either the “blue team” or the “red team”. I mention here only two controlling forces, since the other parties (libertarian, green, independent, etc.) are barely given the most grudging of places on voting ballots, at a prohibitively high cost I might mention, and almost never a place at the debate table. To pretend otherwise would be not only hypocritical, but ridiculous. George Washington had this (among other things) to say about parties, “They serve to organize faction, to give it [one party or another] an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party.” Political parties keep us focussed on controversial issues that will NEVER be agreed upon by all. Tune into any talk radio show, already conveniently divided into left and right, (two more team terms) and listen to the hosts rant and rave at and about the “other side”. Finger pointing, blame assignments, and name calling are main staples of these shows. The format is mirrored in television and print media as well. In this way the opposing “teams” are kept stirred up, angry, and arguing about various emotionally charged positions. Thus ensuring that both teams don’t come together in a coalition strong enough to not only restrain, but reform and reduce government back to its Constitutional size and role. Perhaps the most offensive thing about party politics is that after successfully dividing the people and achieving victory for one team or the other, BOTH teams then work together (while appearing not to through more media finger-pointing and name-calling) to “reach compromises” that not only increase the scope and size of governmental over-reach, but decrease the freedoms of the very people who employ them to do otherwise. It’s time we stopped pretending the defense of liberty and protection of our Republic is a team sport of some kind. If we want to wave a pennant, place a bet, or cheer on a team we should attend a real sporting event. When it comes to politics we better damn well forget the idea of team and start backing individual candidates who will uphold their oaths to the Constitution. Letters are for high school sports apparel, not for determining the best political candidate.
With the Internet easily accessible to all, there is absolutely no excuse not to research each candidate to whom we consider giving our vote. If time is a factor, and it will be for many, then form study groups and lessen the time burden. Voting is not something you should do based on how a candidate looks and sounds, or what the media says you should know about them. Research their past records, listen to old speeches, and find out what they have done in their daily lives. You can Google anything today and get answers. It’s not enough that candidates say they follow the Constitution. It doesn’t matter how patriotic or religious they sound when telling you they love the Constitution – have they upheld it through actions or not? Have they kept their promises? These people will represent our interests and if we choose poorly we will end up with more of the same. More spending, more borrowing, more inflationary printing, more cronyism, and more unaffordable wars. We will extend our time in the abyss substantially. We’ll not only disembark and set up camp, but wave good-bye as the status-quo cronies use what’s left of our wealth to power themselves and their train along a little longer. We, however, will be left to stumble about in poverty and tyranny for years to come.
I have never voted in any election, but I have been watching them for years. Since 2007, I have been listening and researching. In all that time I have found but one presidential candidate (in both this and the last election) for whom I would and will give my vote, my money and my time. That candidate is Ron Paul. Decades of upholding his oath of office, voting only for Constitutional legislation, and standing on his principles – often completely alone – proves to me that he will do his best to achieve his stated goals for our country. An astoundingly long record of consistently saying the truth – again, often completely alone, as well as in the face of extensive ridicule – convinces me that he is deserving of my trust, my time and efforts, and my hard-earned money. I give all of them freely to a candidate who would be president in order to restore my liberties, not usurp more of them to enhance the powers stubbornly perpetuating “business as usual” and driving our country to ruin.
Ron Paul will restore America. Rally with him. Rally for your Republic. Rally for love of this amazingly beautiful and bountiful land, that has for so long been a shining beacon to so many in the world. Rally for the precious freedom that has sustained this country since it’s inception, but so many around the world still struggle to attain. Rally for the glorious gift of liberty that burns in the hearts of men and women everywhere, but has had the best chance of survival in America since the day our founders declared their independence and pledged their lives, wealth, and sacred honor to establish it. Rally for the love of everyone, past and present, whose lives and actions have all played a part in the building of America.
For the love of God – unite. Come together.
Rally and fight for your Republic before it’s too late. Rally with us to defend liberty. Rally with the Champion of the Constitution, Ron Paul. Rally and defend liberty, for liberty’s sake – for all our sakes.
Reprinted with permission from The Weasel Radar.
September 8, 2011
Susan Westfall [send her mail] is a mother, a libertarian, and an educator.
Copyright © 2011 Susan Westfall
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