by Lesley Swann
“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.” –Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
The American dream has been a part of humanity long before there was ever an America. History is filled with stories of how people, once enslaved and oppressed, sought freedom for themselves and their loved ones. From the Israelites prayers for freedom from their Egyptian oppressors in the Bible, to William Wallace’s fight for Scottish independence in the 13th century, to the Boston Tea Party to protest taxation without representation, to the songs of freedom by African slaves working in fields here in the United States, the human soul cries out for freedom in a deep and primal way. Freedom is in our DNA.
Pilgrims didn’t come to the New World for welfare handouts or government-run health care. Instead, they risked their lives and everything they had for just a shot a freedom – a shot at being left alone by an abusive and meddlesome government. They knew full well that starvation, disease, or any number of cruel fates could befall them, but for freedom they came anyway. More and more people flocked to the New World for the same reason. It is this unwritten right to be left alone by one’s government, sink or swim, that permeates the U.S. Constitution. No human document can be perfect, but this dream the Founders gave us in the form of the Constitution is the closest humanity has come to fully unleashing the power and splendor of true freedom in this world.
Our Founders had a profound understanding of human nature and of the burning desire for freedom that is planted in the very essence of who we are as human beings. This is why the Constitution was written so as to allow that yearning for freedom to flourish and grow. Our Founders knew that each person would have the best opportunity to achieve their potential when not chained by an oppressive government. Barack Obama’s statements that the Constitution is a “deeply flawed” document only serve to reveal his deeply flawed and naive understanding of human nature, and what it means to be a truly free people. Not only that, but he has completely missed the point of the Constitution, and the precious American dream that our Founders bought for us with their sweat and blood.
Assaulting the dream left to us by our Founders, we now have proponents of a nanny state who would have us give up our freedoms because they say it is too hard to be free. It is too hard being free to make a living, so instead we should have the government take from those who do earn and redistribute it to us. It is too hard to be free raise a family on our own as we see fit, so we should abdicate our roles as parents and let the government school systems and day cares raise our children as they see fit. It is too hard to be free to provide for our own health care and retirement in the best manner for us as individuals, so we should just abandon personal responsibility and choice, instead settling for a blanket one-size-fits-none health care plan that tells us what is best for us. Would Americans really rather be lazy than free?
We’ve been told for far too long that it is too hard to be free. Our Founders showed us how to be free in far more difficult times than we are facing today. They were willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary so that we would have precisely these choices that nanny state proponents tell us are too hard for us. The Founders weren’t willing to sacrifice their freedoms just because times were tough and they would be appalled today that some Americans are willing to lay down their hard-won freedoms because of sheer laziness. Welfare, government-run health care, and a cradle-to-grave nanny state is NOT freedom, it is the essence of captivity and tyranny.
We are beginning to see the pendulum swing and Americans are beginning to fight for their liberties and the American dream. The Tenth Amendment movement is one of the latest manifestations of the age old fight for freedom. We can press on knowing that we have the weight of human history behind us as we fight for the American dream. Tyranny may win for a season, but in the end the human “yearning to breathe free” will rise. This encoding of freedom into humanity’s DNA is why tyrants can never truly win.
Lesley Swann is the state coordinator for the Tennessee Tenth Amendment Center and founder of the East Tennessee 10th Amendment Group. She is a native of Anderson County, Tennessee.
Copyright © 2010 by TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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Ms. Swann has it exactly right!
While I hate to use the term, and anyone who is a UT fan will understand, "It is time" for patriots in this country to rise up and take our country back. The wisdom demonstrated by the country's forefathers in writting the Constitution is as true today as it was when they wrote it. I don't want the government in my personal life. I am near retirement and have never taken government handouts.
I put on the uniform of our nation and fought in Viet Nam and would do so again if called by my country. I love the USA, but the USA that I love is dissappearing at a truly frightening rate. We must vote the rascals that are running this country out of office and put in new representation that will listen to the people and do the peoples will.
Gary, while I would wholeheartedly agree with you that "it is time" to take our country back (or rather our freedom), I would have to respectfully disagree with you about Vietnam. I would proffer that there has never been a righteous war in the history of the U.S.A. except for the war that set this country free from tyrants on our soil.
Our wars have been created (not responded to) by the globalists to enrich themselves and solidify their power. Vietnam has never been free – it has always been the puppet of France, or China, or the U.S., etc., (read globalists). Democratic nations are functionally no more free than socialist nations because democracy ultimately results in slavery for a good percentage of the population. The only path to real, worldly freedom is through a republic, a constitution like ours, and a vigorous and educated population. Anything else is just a futile and costly struggle.
This is the problem with the majority of the population now – they are ignorant of the who is really in power now, and what their plans and intentions really are. If people would put down their "trivial amusements" and concentrate on the important things of life, the globalists would not be in the position they are in. People must stop blindly answering the call of their "country" for more, and start exercising Godly wisdom in their choices and determinations.
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I hope Ms. Swann is right. I've heard the frustration out of my own mouth and from my friends and neighbors – so I decided to do something about it. I'm running for office for the first time. Not for Congress but for State Representative, because the states SHOULD be the foundation of our democracy.
If you're truly sick and tired of the socialist-leaning establishment, like I am, please PLEASE find a candidate or 2 that you can support with your dollars as well as with your time – someone like me. It's like the old saying "put your money where your mouth is". I can tell you, the folks putting their lives on hold to run for office and secure our liberties – fighting against politicians with the tools our Founding Fathers gave us through the Constitution – would be immensely grateful.
Beth Lear
Candidate for the 2nd Ohio House District
http://www.learforliberty.com
what IS that document found in a dumpster behind the capitol? huh?
Its been replaced by a living constitution that grows and grows depending on the imagination of those in power.
With a living document you may as well have no document. We have to interpret the Constitution as it was written and with the same definitions used at the time of the writing. A great place to start learning this is Publius Huldah’s great article at:
http://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/category/defin...
I believe that adherence to the 10th Amendment is about the only institutional remedy for the Chicagoland power grab going on in Washington (ever heard of the play: The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui? by Bertold Brecht?) the divinizing of the Constitution as the bulwark of freedom actually plays into the hands of the statists.
Historically, it can be argued that the U.S. Constitution was the single biggest peaceful centalization of power ever. That is why Patrick Henry said about the call of a conference to 'rewrite' the Articles of Confederation-"I smell a rat".
I would like to know where you got the term divinization of the constitution from? I have done some reading about divine right of kings and the french revolution and starting to understand that the left has divinized the constitution as some kind of holy thing that embodies the political values of the community which seems to be the center of all living constitution arguments.
My own term to indicate an excessive, almost worshipful attitude toward a momentous but still human and quite flawed document. The Constitution gives us nothing, only our own willingness to live a life of character and virtue (ultimately impossible without a commitment to God) allows for freedom. To the extent that the Constitution embodies and encourages such attitudes, great. Just remember that everything in the Constitution can be used for statist purposes and has been.
"The Constitution gives us nothing, only our own willingness to live a life of character and virtue (ultimately impossible without a commitment to God) allows for freedom."
wow, things look real bad for those Americans that don't define god the same way as the majority doesn't it?
The big demand for government services is out of control, that
gives cause for take over by, big government.(nanny state)
We are over run by immigrants, they came to fast to assimilate.
A continuation of previous comment: The reprehensible manipulation of the commerce clause (Article 1, Section 8, clause 3 of the Constitution proper combined with the The Progressive movement's successful attempts prompting an income tax (to soak the rich) and direct election of U.S Senators has severely restricted the ability of both the people and the states to actually act in a free manner.
The 10th Amendment movement will die without the repeal of the 17th Amendment (direct election of US Senators) so that the states actually have a voice in Washington.
One would hope that providing a limited sufferage in Federal elections to those who actually pay taxes and/or a voters fee would help restore some level of sanity to our political process.
Of course, none of this will do much good without a return to the promption of character and virtue (religious or otherwise) that the statists abhor.
"Voter's fee" = poll tax. That would require repeal of the 24th Amendment. Then make the fee/tax proportional to govt. spending (example: $1 per $1 billion) and credit income tax paid against it. How long would Leviathan last if those who paid little or no tax had to cough up >$2000 every 2 years before casting a federal ballot? (Note: Contact me at strider1955@gmail.com to see a document I've created along these lines.)
Also repeal the 23rd Amendment, which gives 3 electoral votes to the parasites infesting Rome-on-the-Potomac. The Founders never meant for anyone to permanently live in the federal capital; it was to be a place for govt. offices, foreign embassies and the President's *temporary* residence. If DC can't be depopulated, require all residents to be legally domiciled in their home states and vote absentee there. Such a system works just fine for military personnel, the President and VP.
Agree 100% with scrapping the 17th Amendment. Before that abomination, the Senate was the states' main check on federal power. Not to mention the billions of $$ that would be saved by not having campaigns for that chamber.
See Nullification, and interposition. you are correct that the 17th amendment was a very serous blow to the day to day ability of our system to enforce and maintain itself in ballade.
But the senate in question is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what our States can do to protect themselves.
The vast majority of our practical options for nullification come from the intentional imbalance of practical power and forces in favor of the states and the people.
Unfortunately as many correctly noted the Federal government has grown very strong with a large contingent of practical forces. this + the polarization of the states against each other has serves to give the Federal Government a tool to crush nullification efforts. But that tool is still a limited and finite tool, a tool we can still overwhelm if we get enough states working together we can bleed their enforcement resources out of existence.
There is of course anther important reason our States at the ground level need to work together, we need to prevent each other from being used against one anther, such as ultimately happens in the civil war and very nearly happen in other cases.
There are many ways to do this, but it all comes down to the basic fact that the Federal government has been dominating us by means of divide and conquer, which is to say set us against each other so that it can uses each other to impose its will/control on the others thus bypassing the need to itself be strong enough to control all.
This is a standard tactic among tyrants to maintaining power, it fails if ever the people begin to realism they are being gamed and establish a 2ndary line of commutations between each-other in order to avoid being payed against one anther to the determent of all. Fortunately for dictators, that rarely if ever happens because people are generally ignorant, shortsighted, and greedy. A good dictator need only to keep them that way in order to continue to uses against each other them to maintain power over them all.
This is what the Feds in both federal party's have been doing to we the people, and thus our solution is clear.
The whole 'say no to drugs' slogan is true because they are harmful to you but it also implies you are the one making the choice.
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Great post. However, I think that freedom is in the DNA of Christians. I think tyranny is in the DNA of reprobates. Tyrants will never win here. This is a country founded by God Himself as His own Christian nation and it is a land of liberty and freedom. TYRANTS will never succeed here. In fact, they'll go down in flames… and a free nation will rise. Too many Christians here have GOD'S DNA!!
I agree with you, but yet, a problem arises when Christians do not know what they are doing. "My people parish for lack of knowledge." When Cyrus Scofield was writing his new 'Scofield Reference Bible, he was funded by a Samuel Untermyer. Untermyer payed Scofield's rent for twenty years while he wrote 'his' bible. In so doing, he did a grave injustice to God and His Word, and promoted a false doctrine that is promoted today by a vast group of Christians including Pat Robertson, and John Hagee.
Although there is a core of Freedom lovers left in America–many like me who are first generation. Most of the population has a slave mentality. They only want to be saved. When the balance tips towards more Freedom lovers than slaves, we have a chance of winning.
But I believe it will come to snipers to bring fear to the slaveholders.
"punch back twice as hard" _White House
"what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." — Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787
The first intent is apparently to fine us for resisting the unconstitutional mandate. Firing up the IRS as the punitive arm to do the dirty work of the progressive dhimmicrats.
Don't fine me, Bro.
The Progressive founder, Woodrow Wilson, had no problem with sending out folks to beat those who said the wrong things, which was OK since he had decided that the things he was foisting were God's work. SCIU-time. Look out all you Kenneth Gladneys-wannbes out there.
Don't beat me Bro.
If we continue to resist, say, the unconstitutional fines, will we health-insurance-deniers then get incarcerated? Apparantly a pretty good precedent there also. Mr. Wilson threw 150,000 Americans in jail for either their initial temeritry, or because they just plain wouldn't get with the program.
You vill get health care, und pay, and you vill LIKE it!
Don' lock me up, Bro.
And if we continue….. to resist, to protect our God-given rights, that the lovely Constitution was founded to keep the usurpers of power in our government from taking away…
will they kill us?
We legaly resist until were forced! When you fall into a river.You do not try to swim upstream. No! You swim with the flow at an angle until you reacha point when you can grab on to something to pull yourself out. If you try the swim up? You most likely will drown! We the People holds the cards now. They have flaunted it to our faces ,We are the majority.I think we can change this.Moving strongly in this direction. It seems to me that ,it reminds one ,paitnece is a virtue!__
Chuck
"will they kill us? "
To quote Samwise Gamgee, not if we kill them first. That, after all, is what the 2nd Amendment is all about. The massive re-arming of average Americans over the last 2 years is the best news our side could have asked for. Our enemies are ultimately cowards at heart — they assume we will roll over for their dictates because that is what they would do in the same situation. Just the *threat* of armed resistance may be enough to keep them in line.
Excellent post Lesley, very well pointed and written.
Lou Riccio
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Egyptians enslaving Israelites? Hmmm, my info indicates it was the other way around.
Flaws in the Constitution? I find none, I find flaws in abundance in Americans thinking, both religiously and constitutionally. Probably the greatest flaw in Americans constitutional thinking is that government (Officials) is obligated to do what citizens want or demand be done. Probably the greatest flaw in Americans religious thinking is that government (Officials) are obligated to be religious, or obey God, in official acts.
Allan
There really is no part in the constitution that forbids laws being created that were derived from religious thinking. I believe this is a good thing because it allows for society to enact laws like thou shall not murder or similar things. The most important thing is that the first amendment was meant to stop the creation of a state church or forbid a religion from being practiced. This keeps religious institutions in the private sphere of society where individuals can choose what religion they can practice and allowed the government to enact laws that could be based on the dominant religious thinking. This may seem dangerous but as long as any minority religion was free to attend whatever church they wanted no matter what religious laws were passed.
In 1908, Franklin Pierce wrote an interesting book entitled: “Federal Usurpations ” The book addressed many of the usurpations of power being perpetrated by the federal government during Pierce’s day. In the final chapter, “How to Restore the Democratic Republic,” he wrote:
"The sore spot is right here; do the people really wish good government? Is there sufficient public virtue among our citizens to demand and appreciate good government? If the legislature passes a bad law you can repeal it, if the constitution is defective you can amend it, but if ‘the people themselves are lacking in public spirit there is no remedy.’”
“There is no such thing as an individual securing his rights unless he is willing to insist upon them at all times; and there is no such thing as a people securing their rights unless they are ready to fight for them at all times.”
“Until [the] spirit of indignation is stirred to action all over the land and the people are ready to fight for the vindication of their rights, there is little hope of effective reforms. We need the spirit of old Peter Muhlenburg, who, in the Revolutionary days, to the astonishment of his congregation, flung aside his surplice, disclosing a Continental uniform, and explained: ‘There is a time for all things―a time to preach and a time to pray; but there is also a time to fight, and that time has come!’”
The jury is still out.
A few years ago here in Georgia we had an issue concerning the state flag. The Georgia State Legislature had voted overnight not to allow Georgians their right to vote (referendum) on this issue. I questioned our local state senator about this. He told me the issue was "too controversial" to allow a vote. Guess what. He is now a federal judge here in Georgia, thanks to US Representative Charlie Norwood who nominated him for the position.
This judge, Randy Hall, is an example of what is wrong with our political leaders. They tell us that regardless of what we think or want, they know better than we do.
Lately I've started to think that the tyrants are winning.
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But, but, requiring effort and sacrifice to succeed is unfair! Social justice will get rid of all that.
The American Experiment of individual liberty and economic freedom was dependent upon each individual being knowledgeable about human hature and Natural Law, and being moral and virtuous. Jefferson said the latter did not come naturally but needed to be learned and reinforced throughout one's life.
For a quick and easy read about what the Founders knew that led them to implement a Republic form of government (and not a Democracy) and a written Constitution, go to http://www.weloveourcountryonline.com and consider purchasing the book We Love Our Country. The book covers the basic concepts applied by the Founders and lists the Freedoms of Liberty.
Maybe its time for a "living" Constitution. Or a "living" Bible, or even Queran. Forget all those hassles about doing what a bunch of old people say. Maybe killin' should be OK if they really need killin' . And speech should be free as long as no one is ever offended. Then the speaker should be locked up. (I know a Speaker I'd like locked up.) And we should be having sex with whatever available orifice we please without any of that guilt stuff. Or anything that might cause a guilt flair-up. And it has to be sanctioned and blessed by society. Pretty much anything goes as long as we can get away with it. Or the government can get away with it. (It's legal. It must be right.)
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of any other.” Jefferson
Hey. There's yer prablem. No wonder.
At some point the moral and religious people will need to shake off the parasites and depraved and take our wonderful Constituion and our country back.
291 days
But who's counting?
See, there's your problem right there, Rick. There ARE no moral and religious people! Never were, never will be … just various varieties of self-righteous ones. The current lot in charge is the PC-Green-Progressive denomination/cult.
Allan H;
What's with the weird comment about "your info" indicating Israelites enslaved Egyptians? When and where was that, prezackly?
Doesn't the Bible story about Joseph, and his tribe, articulate they enslaved the Egyptians and Joseph's God told his tribe run off with all of Egypt's gold? That story repeats in America today.
Allan
The depth of youir misinformation (= ignorance) is too painful to discuss. Bye!
The Founders intended for the document not to be a flexible moving target. They intended it to be the "BEDROCK OF A FREE PEOPLE" with the least possible interference from any form of Government.
We in Texas will have a golden opportunity to elect a governor who will help us free ourselves from federal and state slavery. Perry and Hutchison are more of the same-old RINO do-nothings. Forget the Democrats, of course. They are only interested in turning Texas completely over to the illegal aliens and Mexico. Constitutionalists have a hard fight ahead, but we can do it. Send money to Debra Medina and vote for her. Especially, VOTE for her!
Vote is correct – but don't waste your vote on an "Incumbent". However, forget about money because money does not Vote; only the U.S. citizenry/People can use the ballot box.
Allan
A very comprehensive expression.
In my research, I've found that there is real cause for joy!
Those who founded our great nation through the Revolutionary War were a rather small group.
Today it seems that those objecting are also a small group…
The interesting part in all this is that statistically, 3% of the population actively participated in the Revolution.
Today we are between 10 & 15% !!!
As everything unfolds, we might find that this is the very reason we are being heard.
And exactly why we are winning and will win this.
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"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…" II Tim 3:16
I don't recall reading anywhere in the Bible that the United States was divinely inspired, or founded by God as his own nation…Let's just forget that his covenant was with Israel…Not only WILL tyrants succeed here, they already have. And will to an even greater degree (Revelation 13:8).
Tyranny is not JUST in reprobates, but in every human being that walks the earth. "There is none righteous, NO, not one."
We call ourselves a Christian nation, and sneer derisively at communism, which killed at least 100 Million of its own subjects during the 20th century. Yet, no one talks about the 50 Million innocent unborn children murdered since Roe v Wade (only 36 years ago) legalized the sacrificing of children to the god of secular humanism (we're murdering people at a faster rate than the commies).
The only thing that will save our nation from ruin is "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." II Chron 7:14
But the chances of that are slim, as Christians seem eager to appease those who hate them.
Christians entrust their children to a lying, hateful, murderous state in order to educate them…and call it a good thing. Christians seem to support the forcible theft of property from one, and giving it to another…in the form of education, health care, retirement, subsidized housing, welfare, WIC, bank bailouts, farm subsidies, sugar subsidies, etc, etc, ad nauseum…all because it's "compassionate." Never mind that God said "thou shalt not steal."
As to "God's DNA"…"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1:27 seems to indicate we were created in his image…out of dirt. Not God's DNA. But, Believers ARE joint-heirs with Christ, which would make us…adopted, for lack of a better word.
Freedom has a price tag, you always have to fight to keep it. Even though Our Lord and Savior bought and paid for real freedom for all true believers, we still have to fight our old nature to keep it in place and powerless, but we are not alone in our spiritual battle,we are not alone in the battle raging in America for Jehovah God is still the One and only Potentate, so for me it is settled in my spirit, we have already won for Jesus is coming soon, and He said to occupy till he comes, we have our orders fight the good fight t of faith. Also as the things we see coming together is just another sign it want be long until we take a flight out of here when the trumpet sounds and when he shows up they can fight between themselves for a while, then we will be back with our Lord to settle the whole issue and he will rule and reign and we with him!!!
Some will see the following comment as sexist, though with luck the author will not. It's refreshing to find that this article was written by a woman. Apart from a few well-known conservative columnists, there seems to be a real dearth of women on the side of freedom. The majority, plus some, appear to be either passively uninterested (which, admittedly is true of most men as well) or lean Left, and usually farther left at that.
So, though it may just be a personal quirk, I'm very happy to see one woman for whom freedom is not just a value, which would be unusual enough, but a real passion.
Thank you, Ms. Swann.
Respectfully,
Jeff Perren
No, you're not a sexist, you're a realist. Whether as a result of genetics or indoctrination, the vast majority of women will surrender their freedom for security at the drop of a hat. (That applies socially as well as politically — witness how many women marry chiefly for money.) And we all know what Ben Franklin had to say about that particular deal with the devil. Lesley Swann, Claire Wolfe, Star Parker & Liz Michael are the exceptions, not the rule.
Note that the nanny state started in earnest after women were given the vote in 1920. (Women's groups also played a large role in getting Prohibition ratified the previous year.) In an earlier post here I advocated repealing the 17th, 23rd and 24th Amendments to help restore the 10th Amendment. If this female bias for security over liberty is indoctrinated, then it can be reversed with education — something a lot of feminized men equally need. But if it is grounded in genetics, then the 19th Amendment also must go.
well, I sure didn't see too many MEN in this country while Bush was in office. All I heard was frightened little girls crying about how the evil terrorists were coming to get us all and that we should just trust Bush with a little extra power – to violate the 4th amendment, the 1st amendment, the war powers of the Constitution and more.
I'd like to see a little more of what you're referring to here. Trading freedom for security is what this country has been about for the last decade and longer….
Your comment is not sexist at all. I too have wondered why there are not more women in the freedom movement. Thank you for the compliment Mr. Perren.
Outstanding Article! This is really the heart and soul of the matters we now unfortunately must face for me. Freedom, Individualism, liberty!
All theses things go to the very heart of who and what we are as Americans!
To give them up or allow them to be usurped from us in this or any other way is and should be unthinkable to any true patriot!
This is the the truest and most noble of struggles for all mankind, this is the true common good, its not in subjugation to an all knowing all controlling State or "collective" its individual liberty! its freedom!
We were not born on this earth whether by the hand of god or the acts of nature to be subordinate slaves to a "all knowing and all controlling collective whole". We were born on this earth to be individuals, to think and act for ourselves and to face the consequences of our own artist.
To each according to his/her Merits, his ability, his choices and his actions as determined by nature and natures god NOT other men!
That is the American way! That is Individual rights! That is what freedom is all about!
This is far too important a thing to abandon for anything! This is who and what we Americans, what we humans are, this is why and how we exist! The right to choose for ourselves and face the consequence of that choice!
[...] Why the Tyrants Can Never Win Pilgrims didn’t come to the New World for welfare handouts or government-run health care. Instead, they risked their lives and everything they had for just a shot a freedom – a shot at being left alone by an abusive and meddlesome government. They knew full well that starvation, disease, or any number of cruel fates could befall them, but for freedom they came anyway. More and more people flocked to the New World for the same reason. It is this unwritten right to be left alone by one’s government, sink or swim, that permeates the U.S. Constitution. No human document can be perfect, but this dream the Founders gave us in the form of the Constitution is the closest humanity has come to fully unleashing the power and splendor of true freedom in this world. [...]
[...] Lesley Swann Hat tip: Tenth Amendment Center “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.” –Thomas Paine, Common [...]
Ms. Swann, thank you for such a succinct, shooting-straight-from-the-hip artiicle. I find in it my heart and my passion.