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Interesting debates: Like John, I am also sworn to "Serve and Protect." And like John, I am wary of all the knee-jerk reactions to this terrorist mess. It is very hard to fight an enemy who moves among you with the freedoms our country provides - damn near impossible. A low tech assault can wreak much havoc - ala 9-11. The only way to beat these people is to seek out and destroy! Not "understand" and sympathize with - but destroy! That's what they wish to do to us. That said - be very careful in application. More freedom is lost "for your safety" than any other cause. Try arguing with the FAA's overbloated bureaucracy -- You can't - because any court will rulefor them when -- "it's for your own safety and that of others". (ask Bob Hoover) You can't counter an argument like that. With that in mind - here are some quotes to consider as you enjoy the Fourth!! - and please READ - really read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights - these were the works of geniuses! Stay Free!! "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." (H. L. Mencken.) "In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, 'Make us your slaves, but feed us.'" (Dosteovsky's Grand Inquisitor.) *** **Read this over and over! "Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." - - Julius Caesar "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Alexander Tyler If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." --Samuel Adams Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion- in the long run, these are the only people who count. -- Robert Heinlein Many thanks to all the vets out there for your time and service and to the police - fire - and emergency services - who protect as best they can!! Happy Independence Day! Rick Green N93686 South Haven Michigan ====================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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