Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.
As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor; let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.
Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and Let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.
While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.
- Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838 Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln
I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. - Abraham Lincoln
Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. - Abraham Lincoln
I freely acknowledge myself the servant of the people, according to the bond of service - the United States Constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible to them. - Abraham Lincoln
If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government. - Abraham Lincoln
The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. - Abraham Lincoln
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. - Abraham Lincoln
Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. - Abraham Lincoln
Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. - Abraham Lincoln
Peace is a thing which a person must be willing to fight for. - Abraham Lincoln
I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. - Abraham Lincoln
My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth. - Abraham Lincoln
While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government, in the short space of four years. - Abraham Lincoln
I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. - Abraham Lincoln
The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. - Abraham Lincoln
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Abraham Lincoln
There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one. There is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. - Abraham Lincoln
My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. - Abraham Lincoln
Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. - Abraham Lincoln
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. - Abraham Lincoln
Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure. - Abraham Lincoln
I laugh because I must not cry. That is all. That is all. - Abraham Lincoln
I have borne a laborious, and, in some respects to myself, a painful part in the contest. Through all, I have neither assailed, nor wrestled with any part of the constitution. - Abraham Lincoln
We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot. - Abraham Lincoln
It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong. - Abraham Lincoln
Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. - Abraham Lincoln
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. - Abraham Lincoln
When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion. - Abraham Lincoln
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. - Abraham Lincoln
If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. - Abraham Lincoln
I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. - Abraham Lincoln
I had been told I was on the road to hell, but I had no idea it was just a mile down the road with a dome on it. - Abraham Lincoln
These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people. - Abraham Lincoln
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. - Abraham Lincoln
There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite. - Abraham Lincoln
Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed. - Abraham Lincoln
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. - Abraham Lincoln
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. - Abraham Lincoln
I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground. - Abraham Lincoln (Reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest.)
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. - Abraham Lincoln
Worse than traitors in arms are the men who pretend loyalty to the flag, feast and fatten on the misfortunes of the Nation, while patriotic blood is crimsoning the plains. . . and their countrymen moldering the dust. - Abraham Lincoln
Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. - Abraham Lincoln
Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. - Abraham Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. - Abraham Lincoln
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. - Abraham Lincoln
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. - Abraham Lincoln
Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. - Abraham Lincoln
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. - Abraham Lincoln
A house divided against itself cannot stand. - Abraham Lincoln
I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the Declaration of Independence, that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. - Abraham Lincoln
The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. - Abraham Lincoln
The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. - Abraham Lincoln
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. - Abraham Lincoln
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. - Abraham Lincoln
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Give him an Oscar
I finally saw it today. I'm still stunned. I didn't expect to be stunned, but it happened anyway. That was... Heath Ledger? I spent half the movie in disbelief.
Please: give the man an Oscar. That was the performance of a lifetime -- however short. Actors have lived to be 80 without ever giving a performance as riveting... and have taken home Oscars.
Heath Ledger became the Joker. And that should be the very definition of an Academy Award winning performance.
Mr. O'Reilly: Didn't 'hate radio' also spawn the Rwanda massacres...? Mr. Savage and Mr. Hannity: do you really think that just because you're 'only talking,' you aren't inherently responsible for the murderous actions of those you are encouraging?
You're all part of a long, proud lineage of hate promoters. You're no different than the KKK or any other hate-promoting organization. Its a dangerous business... and sometimes your successes are rather bloody, aren't they?
Have fun trying to wash the blood of little children off of your hands.
Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter's reading list 4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of 'liberal movement'
Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show.
Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the Levy Drive home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children's musical. More...
This from the ACLU; the guys who keep fighting for our Constitutional rights in the courts -- while Congress is lunching with lobbyists:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is demanding that Congress issue a new declaration of war so that anyone that this president or the next one declares to be an "enemy combatant" can be held indefinitely without a trial.
The new declaration of war would make the entire globe — including the United States itself — a “battlefield” where the president decides who will be locked up forever.
With only five weeks left in the Congressional schedule and only six months left in the Bush presidency, Mukasey’s ridiculous power grab should be laughed out of town. But given this Congress’ track record, the Mukasey proposal is no laughing matter. Especially because it also includes a cover-up of the Bush administration’s systemic torture and abuse of detainees.
We can’t take for granted that Congress will reject this outrageous proposal. We have to meet it with an immediate wall of protest that says to Congress: “Don’t you dare.”
Once again, I contacted my Representative and told him to reject this latest power grab by Bush and Mukasey.
Let every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the revolution never to violate, in the least particular, the laws of the country and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of '76 did to the support of the declaration of independence, so to the support of the constitution and laws, let every American pledge his life, his prosperity and his sacred honor.
Let every man remember that to violate the laws is to trample on the blood of his fathers and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in the legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.
- Abraham Lincoln
I have enormous respect for this man, Dennis Kucinich. And for the law. And for the sanctity of the Constitution: the piece of paper that guarantees our rights and our freedom.
And I have enormous respect and reverence for all of those patriots - everyday men and women who came before us - that risked everything they had to build this nation, this 'bastion of freedom' for future generations.
It is up to us to defend it now from rampant corruption; from the darkness that is closing in on it, and on us.
As I've always been told - since I was a small child - patriotism is love of country.
This would also include respect for all of those who came before us and left us this legacy of freedom, democracy and basic human rights; the people who died for these ideas we tend to take for granted (because we've never had them taken away.)
This Independence Day, take a moment to read the Bill of Rights... your rights, as an American. Then take a moment to call or write to your Senator, and tell him or her that you have read and understand the Forth Amendment; and that you'd like to keep it.
It doesn't belong to your Senator... it belongs to you.
Fourth Amendment to the Constitution
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Your phone records, your phone calls, your emails -- all are protected by this basic right. Our founding fathers considered this protection a basic right - the right to privacy. Those of you who are waving flags and celebrating the military today should remember, that generations of Americans died for this text. The total collection of these basic rights drew our ancestors, our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, to this country in the first place.
Democracy... in more than just name. A goverment of the people... not controlled by a dictator or controlling organization (or corporation.)
Call your Senator. Tell your Senator that you don't believe anyone - your Senator, or this current president - have the right to bargain away your Constitutional Rights. They've already been paid for by American blood.
Posting a link to an excellent essay... true, and terribly poignant this week.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to celebrate Independence every year, as more and more of our rights are bargained away in Congressional back rooms. Or right out in the open; as though we're not even here. As though we are of no consequence.
We are here, aren't we? We are paying attention... aren't we?
Time for a little vigilance on our part. Our forefathers counted on us - we the people - to be paying attention to our rights, and to hold our representatives feet over the fire if they deviated from true representation of our basic rights as citizens.
Early next week the US Senate will vote on an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with a few small amendments intended to immunize telecommunications corporations that assisted our government in the warrantless and illegal wiretapping it has grown to love.
That such a gutting of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution even made it out of committee is yet another stain on the gutless and seemingly powerless Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
That a majority on both sides of the aisle - not least of them the presumptive nominees for president of both political parties - intend to vote for such a violation of Americans' right to privacy and of the sanctity of their personal communications is a stunning surrender to those who want us to live in fear forever.
... while State Department publicly said such a deal could undermine Iraq's Petroleum Law.
And its not about the oil. W thinks we're all as bright as... well as he is! Fooled us again, George! Gosh... we're such dummies.
Bush administration officials told Hunt Oil last summer that they did not object to its efforts to reach an oil deal with the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, even while the State Department was publicly expressing concern that such contracts could undermine a national Iraqi petroleum law, according to documents obtained by a House committee.
Last fall, after the deal was announced, the State Department said that it had tried to dissuade Hunt Oil from signing the contract with Kurdish regional authorities but that the company had proceeded "regardless of our advice." Although Hunt Oil's chief executive has been a major fundraiser for President Bush, the president said he knew nothing about the deal.
Yesterday, however, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released documents and e-mails showing that for nearly four months, State and Commerce department officials knew about Hunt Oil's negotiations and had told company officials that there were no objections. In one note, a Commerce Department official even wished them "a fruitful visit to Kurdistan" and invited them to contact him "in case you need any support."
Go Waxman go. Dig it all up.
You never know: maybe someday we'll have a government willing to prosecute. Someday... we may have a Congress with just a tiny bit of courage; enough to outweigh their greed.
I teased some of my colleagues and said we can celebrate the Constitution on July 4th and maybe when we come back you'll decide not to tear it up. -Russ Feingold on FISA
I didn't write when the House passed their unthinkable FISA capitulation to Bush and the telecoms - so unthinkable that even my own Blue Dog Congressman opposed it:
On June 20, 2008, the House voted on the FISA Amendments Act. This bill passed the House by a recorded vote of 293 - 129. I voted against this bill, as it contains provisions that would allow for retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies and allow the President to declare what is lawful and what is not. I have strong reservations against removing the checks and balances currently in our government by effectively removing the judicial branch from the decision as to whether or not the warrantless surveillance program was lawful.
- Baron Hill, in a letter to concerned constituents
I didn't write about this Constitutional horror when it passed the Senate - even as Feingold and Chris Dodd tried to block it with a filibuster.
I have come to the conclusion now, that it is really useless to write. They own us, guys.
We are now owned - lock, stock and barrel - by corporate America. The Constitution, as King George himself was purported to have said, is "just a piece of paper."
While our troops are supposedly fighting for 'freedom' and 'democracy' overseas in Iraq - and Iraqis call it an occupation - no one is defending our own freedom and democracy here at home. From tyranny.
Well, no one save a few: Kucinich, Feingold and Dodd.
Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have sold out. It appears a great majority of the Democrats in power have sold out.
They have sold out to the thousands of lobbyists now working right next to them in D.C., and with much more access and money than we will ever know. These days, representation costs money. We apparently don't have it, so we are of no consequence and the looting of our public coffers will continue - along with this war, the spying, and the corruption - unabated.
This administration's crimes are already much worse than Watergate - everybody knows it, and no one will touch it. The newspapers won't even write about it. Is that a democracy?
The Government of the People, by the People and for the People has perished from the Earth.
The only questions now before us are how the whole thing is going to cave in around us... and when?
