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Do you think that the founders really believed that only certain people were deserving of liberty? The only founder that you quote suggesting this is Franklin. James Monroe had a similar concern–that of mob rule more associated with direct democracy. But Monroe’s concern had nothing to do with whether or not those people had the right to liberty. It had to do with the appropriate structures of government to protect everyone’s freedom. The others (Jefferson) you quote are showing concern over the extension of government power over the people’s lives.

The overwhelming record of the founders is that “All men are created equal” and that they ALL have the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness given not by government, but by God. Yes, an individual can give up any of those rights (e.g. it is possible to give up your right to life by taking another’s life), but “we” (collectively) cannot give up those rights. That is simply not possible.

Saying that we (collectively) can give up those rights makes them not unalienable, but rather conditional.

If Tehran escalates its meddling in embassy business (in a 1979 kind of way), I pray that our leaders will do the right thing give you the support you need.

Not sure I am capable of threwing conservative or republican in anywhere on that list.

But of course, I still believe it anti-American to be a democrat.

See the link above.

Thank you.

http://dallasteaparty.org/2009/07/live-video-stream-of-americas-tea-party/

Thank you.

fight ever endless fights for a bunch of people who don’t much like us anyway? I got my fill of that.

I challenged him to a book reading endeavor so we could have more focused discussions. I’d read one of his recommended books, he’d read one of mine, and then we’d discuss. Funny, he could never come up with a recommended book. (I surmised he never really ever read any books, other than those throughout his life he had been assigned to read by his teachers.) I recommended to him Rose and Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose,” among others. But, he never gave me a title for what I was to read.

One morning he came into my office for our morning political discussion. He was very solemn. He quietly and seriously announced he had read “the most remarkable document” and that it had had a tremendous impact on him. He was “blown away” by it. It was one of the documents I had recommended to him, and he admitted to me that morning he had never before had an occasion to read it from start to finish in one sitting. By now you know: he had never read the Declaration of Independence.

Of course, he had never read The Federalist Papers, either.

Or the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

But, he was a Harvard Law School grad.

Enough said.

Thank you.

Thank you for recognizing what America has stood for in the world previous to Obama’s administration. Please pray along with us that we will stand for freedom and the spread of democracy once again.

Posh!

Thank you once again.

…do you?

Who are you (or me, or Obama, or whoever) to declare if someone is “virtuous enough” for anything. What our founders were saying is that God has given us the right to our life, our liberty, and the right to pursue happiness–among other rights.

If we choose not to take advantage of those rights, that is our choice. If our government refuses to give us those freedoms, it is time to alter or throw off that government. But our virtue has nothing to do with the rights.

Second, to say thank you for every sacrifice you have ever made, and every gift you have ever given, to ensure that the nations of the world remain free and prosperous, and to say sorry that so many of us seem to forget this.

And finally, may the members of RedState and patriotic Americans of all political stripes be successful in your efforts to secure freedom. It is not a responsibility you asked for, and I’m sure it is not something you enjoy, but if there is one thing I know for sure, it is this: the world is an immeasureably better place because of the Founding Fathers and their children. God bless you, and God bless America.