United Liberty
Help Wanted: Seeking the Washingtons and Jeffersons of Today
Tue, 05/25/2010 - 11:34am | posted by Louis DeBroux
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge; I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.” - John Adams, Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1756
This week I had a discussion with a new friend about politics and the state of our nation. I was commenting on the corruption so rampant in government and he replied that we can no longer expect politicians to have integrity, and must be content to pick between the least corrupt of the candidates, or the ones that will direct the fruits of that corruption towards us.
Such cynicism is certainly understandable; just look at the politicians of our day. Bill Clinton’s legacy will forever be linked to a stained blue dress and what the definition of “is” is. Al Gore is a billionaire, becoming the false-prophet of fear mongering with the junk science of global warming (or “climate change” as it is now called). Charlie Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful committee chair in government which controls tax policy, is under investigation for tax fraud. Our Treasury Secretary is an admitted tax cheat, and many in Obama’s cabinet and senior staff have also had tax troubles. Ted Kennedy was a notorious drunk and a womanizer.
The list keeps going though. Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal is running for a Senate seat and was forced to admit that he had lied repeatedly about serving in Vietnam and being captain of the Harvard swim team. In true political doublespeak, Blumenthal writes it off as a few “misspoken words” that should not mar his long record of service. In other words, I am a liar but that should not be held against me because of some other good things I did.
Then we have “Countrywide Chris” Dodd (accepting mortgage favors for political favors), William “Cold Cash” Jefferson (hiding $100k or bribery cash in his freezer), Barney Frank (allowing a gay brothel to be run out of his home), James McGreevey (NJ Governor hired gay lover to work in his office), Elliot Spitzer (hiring prostitutes), John Murtha (pork king, implicated in Abscam sting by FBI), Gerry Studds (having sex with teenage male page), Alcee Hastings (impeached and removed as federal judge for bribery, but later elected as a House representative from FL), James Traficant (accepting bribes and kickbacks)…I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Republicans are not without blood on their hands either. They have Mark Foley (sending sexual messages to interns), Bernie Kerik (adultery, hiring an illegal immigrant), Larry Craig (solicitation, lewd conduct), Duke Cunningham (bribes and kickbacks), David Vitter (hiring prostitutes), Ted Stevens (charged with corruption but later acquitted), Mark Sanford (adultery), Rudy Giuliani (adultery) and Newt Gingrich (adultery). The only saving grace for the Republicans seems to be that, in general, Republicans have the decency to resign when exposed (or be forced out if they refuse to resign), whereas Democrats tend to circle the wagons, re-elect and promote.
If my friend’s assertion is true, that we must accept having to elect the least corrupt of the candidates, then the last few grains of sands in the hourglass of our republic’s life are about to pass, and with it the freedom that made this the most unique experiment of any government institution in history. However, recent events at the ballot office are giving me renewed hope.
Big government Democrats are resigning rather than face angry voters (Chris Dodd, Bart Stupak, Byron Dorgan, David Obey, Eric Massa, Bill Ritter), being defeated or facing defeat in the primaries (Alan Mollohan, Arlen “The Defecter” Specter defeated and Blanche Lincoln is facing the possibility of defeat), or are incumbents facing very difficult general election races (Boxer, Snyder, Markey, Ellsworth, Moore, Melancon, Driehaus, Gordon). Republican Bill Bennett has lost, and John McCain is facing a primary defeat against J.D. Hayworth. The GOP establishment candidate in Kentucky lost to TEA Party favorite Rand Paul.
It would seem that the American people are finally waking up and realizing that when we elect corrupt, big-government politicians, we get a great big, corrupt government. Citizens are seeing the damage done to this country and are finally reading the Constitution and becoming involved. They are showing up at rallies and town hall meetings. They are asking hard questions of politicians, questions that needed to be asked long ago.
America is the greatest, freest nation the world has ever known. We need better than what we have gotten, but we have gotten what we deserve. We have been apathetic and complacent when it comes to government, enticed by flattering politicians saying what they need to in order to be re-elected, who then go back to playing the same old game.
Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Henry, Franklin, Hamilton, Mason, Paine…these were men of tremendous integrity, who sacrificed mightily while pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in defense of their fledgling nation. These were men who stood for liberty when, if the revolution failed, they would be tried for treason and killed in painful and ignoble ways. Many of the Founding Fathers suffered life-long health problems from the effects of their sacrifices.
And what did they ask in return? Very little. Washington was pleaded with to accept the title of king, but he declined. He served two terms as president, both with unanimous votes, before returning home to Mount Vernon. John Adams served one term and Jefferson two terms before returning to their homes. There were no riches to be made from speaking fees after serving, no book deals. Serving was a sacrifice.
Where, in either party, are the Washingtons, the Jeffersons, the Adamses and Madisons of today? If we are to remain a free people, unshackled from the burdens of crushing debt and meddling regulations, we had better find them, get them in office and support them. Otherwise this shining city on a hill will become dim, foreclosed upon, and crumbling like the great empires of the past.
What is with you people holding the Founding Fathers up as pillars of integrity and selfless politicians? They were every bit as immoral, selfish, and corrupt as today’s politicians are.
Let’s start from the top.
Washington: a slave-owning president (who possibly fathered a child with one of his slaves) who called for stronger central government and then used that stronger central government to prove how strong it was by using military force to quell a rebellion;
Jefferson: heck, we don’t even have to go into his presidency. This guy fathered at least one child with one of his SLAVES; this guy makes John Edwards look like a saint;
John Adams: here’s a guy who makes Nixon look like a naive fool. He used the Presidency as a weapon against his political opponents; his Alien and Sedition Acts set the standard for things to come (which are now things that are);
Madison: this guy isn’t quite so bad. He at least wasn’t out there talking about individual rights and equality while enslaving people. Unfortunately, though, his political views and actions leave, to say the least, much to be desired. He was as much a flip-flopper and smooth-talker as John Kerry and Obama ever were. At one point in time he talks about the rights of states and the importance of the 10th Amendment while in the next he talks about the lack of rights of states and the unimportance of the 10th Amendment. Add to that his willful ignorance of - or outright lying about - the economic and political realities of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and complete dismissal of the possibility of the growth of the federal government under the new Constitution into what it’s become now and you have a guy who really doesn’t deserve any admiration;
Patrick Henry: I know, I know…Mr. “Give me liberty, or give me death!” can’t be a bad guy, right? Well, not if you don’t consider supporting state-sponsored religion a bad thing he isn’t. You know how libertarians and liberals are always talking about how bad it is for the government to be pumping money into religious organizations and how tax-payer supported churches is a bad idea? Well, here’s one guy who wouldn’t exactly fit in in those crowds. Add to that the fact that he’s another Founding Father whose talk about slavery and rights didn’t, to put it lightly, match up with his actions and who was much a fear-monger as Bush and Obama and you have another guy who ought not be admired;
Benjamin Franklin: Ben Franklin is a likable guy…if philandering nepotists are your thing. From what I read in your piece, they don’t appear to be, so we’ll just move on;
Alexander Hamilton: THE big-government philanderer. I can’t BELIEVE that you had the nerve to include his name in a list of Founding Fathers that people should think more highly of than any of today’s politicians;
George Mason: what is it with libertarians and right-wingers admiring Founding Fathers who say it’s wrong to do something but do it anyways and who then talk about how horrible modern-day politicians are for saying it’s wrong to do something but then go on to do what they’re against themselves? And why do libertarians and right-wingers constantly brush aside the whole slavery issue as though it’s an unimportant issue, especially when they’re talking about Founding Fathers who themselves talked a pretty good talk about natural rights, freedom, and equality?
Thomas Paine: ahhhhh, the Glenn Beck of the Revolutionary Era. Sure, he was a gifted writer, but the accuracy of his writings makes one wish that Glenn Beck could be transported back in time to take his place. Like others, he was as much a propagandist and fear-monger as anybody in that day or this day. Why modern-day libertarians and right-wingers continue to ignore that fact is beyond me.
If you had gone on, I would have as well. It’s quite possible that there were no men worth idolizing among the Founding Fathers. None of them, in my opinion, were “men of tremendous integrity”. Sure, they risked their lives and fortunes, but not because of any deeply-held beliefs in equality and justice and all that. These men were politicians, propagandists, and opportunists; they were as shrewd and calculating as today’s politicians, propagandists, and opportunists are. I would go so far as to say that they were little different than Sarah Palin, Arlen Specter, Glenn Beck, Chris Matthews, Obama, and a whole host of other unsavory people that some people rightfully-recognize as politicians, propagandists, and opportunists. Unfortunately, because of a public school system that is used as an indoctrination mill, corporate-controlled media, and a historical society that drools all over big-government that also happens to be the gate-keeper when it comes to publishing anything about American history, most people don’t recognize the Founding Fathers for what they were. Many, if not most, people don’t even know about the horrible things they’ve done. Most people certainly don’t know about the effects of their actions on the then-future (which is today’s present and past).
People erroneously believe that the growth of the central government is a modern phenomenon and that the Founding Fathers were opposed to it and supported individual rights (the expansion of the franchise (of individual rights) to various groups throughout history came about DESPITE politicians’ actions, not because of them). Their belief in limited government and individual rights existed only insofar as those beliefs didn’t interfere in their pursuit of power and wealth at the expense of everyone else. They’re no different than any of today’s politicians. Unfortunately, people today fail to see that and fail to see how their actions led to what we have today. Any movement that is based upon the the ideals and actions of the Founding Fathers will fail in bringing about a limited government that protects free markets and individual rights because that’s not what the Founding Fathers wanted.
So… they were human and couldn’t solve all the country’s woes at once? Those bastards.
What are you talking about they weer the best men in the history of the united states!
The same could then be said of today’s crop of politicians. It’s either okay for today’s politicians to act like yesterday’s politicians or it’s not. If it is, then it’s hypocritical for Mr. DeBroux to complain about today’s politicians when yesterday’s were doing the same things. If it’s not, then it’s hypocritical for Mr. DeBroux to ignore the fact that yesterday’s politicians were doing the same things that today’s politicians are doing. Either way, his complaints smack of ignorance of history or hypocrisy.
Personally, I find the whole lot of them to be disgusting. I’d much rather have a politician who lived up to his own set of principles, even if they were what I consider to be bad principles, than one who says one thing and does another. At least the former is honest about who he is and what he’s doing. I have much more respect for the honest criminal than any politician.
Justin,
With all due respect, that may be one of the most foolish responses I’ve ever read. The Founding Fathers were not perfect and had flaws like any other men, but to try and erase any distinction between men who sacrificed all they had to establish the first country in history that codified into law the concept of individual sovereignty as children of God, who were willing to be charged and tried for treason against the Crown to establish this nation, to suffer through the war and with the health problems that they endured because of it, the separation from family, all of these things…you honestly see no difference between those men and politicians today? I’ll let your comments stand on their own merits and let others draw their own conclusions.
What a bunch of crap about Senators scared to run for reelection.
Some, but not all, are just plain old retiring. If you look at their ages,
how long they’ve served, and consider what else they might want out of life,
it’s just stupid wishing that they’re afraid of being beat. It reminds
me of bullies that used to brag that someone wouldn’t wait around to fight them after school. In truth the person that was supposedly cowardly didn’t know they had been challenged. If no one is looking for you, you can’t brag about not being found. So, cut out the nonsense. Report what is known. No more wishful thinking.
Joseph,
I suppose it is just coincidence that all of these Senators just happened to decide that they needed to spend more time with their families as they saw their poll numbers deteriorating. Dodd was disgraced when news of his cozy relationship with and special mortgage arrangements with Countrywide Mortgage, a company with which his committee had an oversight role. Stupak saw his poll numbers plummet after his deciding vote for the disastrous health care bill. Dorgan claimed that he wanted to retire to spend more time with his family (apparently it did not occur to him to spend more time with them when the kids were young), but, I am sure it by sheer coincidence, he announced his retirement less than one week before popular Republican governor John Hoeven announced he was challenging Dorgan. Obey, in Congress since 1969, was facing a tough challenger and was receiving sharp criticism for his role in the stimulus bill passage and his repeated calls for higher gas/transportation taxes.
So, is it possible that these guys suddenly remembered that they had a family that they needed to build relationships with? Sure, it’s possible. And it’s possible that Obama will tell Congress that the deficit needs to be brought down with spending cuts and tax decreases…I just wouldn’t bet the house on it.
You are a serious anus. You are so dumb—you’re probably intelligent, which is funny, but you obviously lack critical thinking skills.
Also, you should seriously shut the fuck up. You do not deserve a blog. You’re a dumb person with, I’m assuming, a good enough education to write well. That does not a qualified pundit make.
Damn the internet for bringing people like you to voice.
Stay classy.
I hope we can still see Washingtons and Jeffersons today… I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Anonymous,
I’m delighted to see that I’ve elicited such a passionate response from you, even if the wording was juvenile and profanity laced. When I am attacked with profanity, instead of being angered, I always remembered what a wise man once told me…that profanity is a feeble attempt of a small mind to express big thoughts. Luckily, such ignorance can be diminished with prolonged exposure to intelligent thought. Might I suggest you turn off the pro wrasslin’ and pick up the Constitution, the Declaration or other inspired documents?
p.s. - Congratulations on your knowledge of the word “anus”…I assume it is something you’ve gained familiarity with? And I do not have a blog. I was invited by the administrators to be a contributor to this website. I also see you disapprove of those you disagree with having a forum in which to disseminate their views. Why does that not surprise me?