Here is Ron Paul's Farewell Address to the U.S. House of Representatives. It presents a carefully constructed and well-reasoned minority viewpoint in Today's America, and consequently it is essential for all citizens to listen to it. I have regarded his philosophy about government as an ideal which is impractical and unachievable in a complex society like that of the USA. I believed that putting his ideas into practice, as exemplary as they are of an ideal society, could only result in the outcome he would hope for if most citizens approached ethical perfection and were well-educated. Since the white man's arrival on this continent we have never achieved anything close to that in our society-- though perhaps we came a little closer to the ideal among the ruling, propertied class in the 18th century. I therefore generally dismissed many of his ideas, though not all, as impractical. Now, with this speech, I am stunned to find that Paul himself recognizes that to achieve the society he would want requires a virtuous and moral people -- he is not so naive as I had assumed. And he tells us that that should be our goal. We should work toward becoming more virtuous and moral so that we can have our liberty back. Please listen to: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/TXF ________________ note: I generally prefer the word "ethical" to "moral" because I am rather repelled by the hypocrisy of the religious right who have co-opted this otherwise perfectly good word, "moral".
Of course if we were all ethical and moral, we would have little need for government and the judiciary. Where do the standards of morality come from. It is either set in law and regulations or sourced from a religious context. In some cultures it is ok to marry 4 wives, marry at 14 years old. The religious right is just trying to put some universal beliefs into a culture. Beliefs that have formed the base of western civilization. They have been successful for western civilization.
One of the freedoms that may still be enjoyed in the USA is the freedom to express one's opinion, particularly when that expression is inconsequential. Had you instead of stating your innocuous, incorrect opinion above, been stating in 1917 your opposition to the draft, and speaking eloquently in a public forum in support of someone who refused conscription and was jailed as a consequence, you would have discovered that your First Amendment rights were not what you had thought they were.
worst offenders were (he finally got whjat he deserved ) lincoln and liberal Wilson. Wilson is the SOB who ran on a ticket of staying out of the war but almost immediately reneged . Also wilson established a policy of racial segregation for federal employees and the military. sorry fvcker should have died from his stroke, essentially his wife ran the presidency for him , which led to the 25th amendment.
These are, IMO, astute and accurate comments with regard to both these Presidents. I wouldn't want to wish a stroke on anyone however, but no question about it, Wilson was evil from the standpoint of protecting the Bill of Rights. And Lincoln, with his Emancipation Proclamation, only freed slaves in belligerent States. Lincoln's motive was to deny the Confederacy the slave labor it depended on. Congress later freed them all by passing the 13th Amendment. To Lincoln's credit, he did support passage of the 13th Amendment. Lincoln, to my mind, was rather Clintonesque in his chameleon-like abilities. Actually I wouldn't put Lincoln in Wilson's league with regard to trampling on the Bill of Rights, but some later Presidents might be right up there too. Obama should get at least honorable mention in this regard. When it comes down to Trampling on the Constitution in General, it would be hard to find any recent presidents to leave off the list -- Carter maybe?
You don't know jack shit about the dictatorship of abe ( finally got what he deserved ) lincoln. It's no contest he was our worst president, right up there with stalin as a piece of shit not worthy of his brains splattering my steel toed boots as I kicked'em to hell.
You're right! I know relatively little about the Lincoln Presidency, he was already dead by the time I was born. Now do you want to tell us what you really think of him?
Bump. I'm bumping this because of my personal view that this may well be the most insightful speech given in the House this year.