The words of a Founding Father
November 9th, 2012
This was posted by a friend (and verified to be accurate)… Very powerful words from a Founding Father that have me thinking a lot this afternoon.
God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The past which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive; if they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.[...] What country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure.
~ Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William S. Smith (13 November 1787)
So are you suggesting a revolution? In what way would that help our country? The majority of the country went against your will in spite of the all the lies and voter suppression you all tried to do to steal the election, is that reason enough to further tear the country apart? I believe the will of the people have spoken loud and clear. What is needed now is a willingness to work together. When Bush was elected and was proven to steal the election was there a revolution by the Dems? NO When Bush lied us into an unnecessary war, was there a call for succession and revolution by the Dems? NO. You know I hated Bush probably more than most people, I hated that my son was sent to war on his treasonous lies and will never again be the same person that he was. Did you ever hear me call for a revolution? I complained, sometimes very loudly. I also went to work, I gathered like minded people and we worked very hard to see to it that the policies that were put into place to elect (what I consider) a horrible group of people never happens again.Sometimes we were sucessful sometime we weren’t. That is the American way: that was my revolution, no guns, nobody hurt, very peaceful.
I normally love Thomas Jefferson and I normally agree with just about everything he says, but we can not take up arms every time we disagree with our government or the way an election went. Who is to say that my opinion that I know you disagree with is any more valid than your opinion that I disagree with. What is great about the country I love is that our two opinions are equally valid and we need to come to a compromise without violence.
Tony you and I both know there are policies we will never agree on, but has that stopped us from working together and accomplishing some amazing results? You know how I feel about your blog. I don’t go on it unless I am told about something on it that is really bad (in my opinion) I really think this entry is really bad. I really believe this “call to take up arms and revolt” in this day and age is very dangerous. There are some people out there that are crazy enough to read your blog and say “Yea that is what I am going to do” and start shooting people. Haven’t we had enough violence? Organize your people together, work on changes you can live with, runs candidates that you agree with. I welcome that, that is what America is about, but please, please do not call to take up arms for a revolution. It just might happen.
Here comes the Thornton’s own leftist drama queen ready to find fault with everyone but herself. Linda might go back and look at public comments she and her socialist buddies have made in the past. Jefferson’s writings and anything found on this blog pale in comparison.
Me thinks you read a bit too much into it, Linda. The words are powerful yes but they are largely symbolic today. Like many, I am disheartened to see the turn our country has taken and if the words of a Founding Father can serve as a FIGURATIVE call to arms for like-minded individuals, then they serve a purpose. To twist it into a call for violence is a stretch.
While many of your party would like to simply discard the past and the principles of these patriots I for one will not. They fought the battle against tyrannical government so that we could be free and it is our charge to ensure they are not forgotten. Should we choose to forsake that which they have entrusted us, our nation will wither and die. I do not wish to see that happen not will I sit idly by and allow it.
Ignorance knows no bounds. What Jefferson said that was the rulers needed to be reminded – that does not necessarily mean that it has to come to violence. But armed citizens saying “NO” to bad law and enforcement stems the tide of trangressions against our freedoms. In the last several decades our Bill of Rights has been wholesale trampled under the war on drugs, and frankly we want those freedoms and security against government intrusion back in proper place.
Bush’d election wasn’t a stolen election – it was a case where the voter fraud committed by Democrats wasn’t quite enough to steal it. This last election, and I am sure going back to 2008 we’ll see similar irregularities (like the New Black Panther club wielders at polling places). 141% voter turnout? Statistically impossible and that entire district should have had a re-election when they had 41 extra voters for every 100 registered. As Rep. Allen West said, our government no longer governs with the consent of the governed – a direct result of placing officials thru fraud and not legitimate elections. This is why Democrats have opposed very reasonable measure to ensure integrity of the voting process – because it would have jeopardized their plans to rig elections in various places (FL, OH, PA etc). Showing an ID to vote is COMMON SENSE – you have to show it everywhere else just to cash a check – or collect your government voter payoff, err benefits.
Congratulations, your side won. But we all lose in that case since you won by any means necessary, and the left is not content to leave the opposition’s lives, property and liberty alone. What we have going on right now it not too dissimilar to that in Russia in the WWI era. The USA fought off the Bolsheviks then, but with the ACLU & countless other socialist agenda groups they are much stronger and organized this time around. Too bad they can’t learn from history – socialism has failed everywhere its been tried. Rewarding indolence and punishing diligence is a path to ruin, not prosperity.
Linda, let’s keep in mind that this quote was made over 220 years ago and hope that sheds some perspective on it. I think all TJ and his crew had back then were arms and revolution. Things aren’t quite established and in order like they are today. I can appreciate your interpretations but let’s ratchet back the revolution and bloodshed talk and not take this so literally.
The fallacy in all of Linda’s logic is that she sees this election as one like any other when, in fact, it was not. This was an election with enormous consequences for the soul and liberty of our country. The policies of Obama and his administration will forever change the role government plays in our lives. The cost will forever change how much of our money is going to be sucked out of the private sector and consumed by the government. The quality of our lives and the lives of our children and future generations will be subpar – if we are lucky. His election truly does fundamentally change our country from a capitalist, free market republic to a socialist land. His inexperience and incompetence on foreign policy will significantly change the balance of power throughout the world, having dire consequences for the security and safety of our beloved country. What Linda cannot see – what she won’t see – is that THIS election wasn’t about Bush, it wasn’t about lady parts, it wasn’t about whites and minorities or rich and poor. No, this election was about the one thing that keeps us free from government control and tyranny and has made the US extraordinary: liberty. Because Linda, like so many others, refuses to look beyond the small stuff, beyond Bush, at the bigger implications of this election, liberty and freedom will never be her priorities. And if they aren’t, then there is no reason to expect Linda would be able to understand Thomas Jefferson or comprehend his writings and relate to the purpose and conviction of a revolution. Those of us who cherish these rights – hold them dear to our very being- and humbly accept they were graciously granted to us to be protected, can, even unwillingly, fathom the will, need and desire to ensure they are never abandoned – by any means necessary. Do we wish or seek revolution? No. Are some of us willing to die for these principles? Yes. So is it a real possibility. Yes.
Linda, our country is more divided now than it has been since 1865. The policies of taking from those that work and giving to those that do not and inciting class warfare has hurt us as a nation more than anything. Until people are free to disagree and speak their mind without being called racist of boycotted thoes divisions are only going to grow. I can easily see a scenario where it would be beneficial for everyone for our country to divide, preferably peacefully, and allow the conservatives and liberals to go their own ways. The tree of liberty must from time to time, be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Better watch out folks.
Homeland Security Report Lists ‘Liberty Lovers’ As Terrorists
http://www.infowars.com/homeland-security-report-lists-liberty-lovers-as-terrorists/