We started by driving out to Indianola to see Rick Perry. The event was held in a private dining room at The Sports Page. The crowd was about 100 people (my guesstimate). The first thing I noticed is just how many media types are there. Cameras of all kinds are everywhere so we needed to be prepared to be filmed and photographed.

Sheriff Joe

The Warren County Republican GOP chairman Rick Halvorsen started the meeting by introducing someone we had not expected to see: Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona who has made headlines for his unique handling of inmates. The Sheriff mostly spoke about Perry’s stance on illegal immigration and his policies to handle illegals.

After a couple of minutes Sheriff Joe introduced “the next President of the United States,” Gov. Rick Perry. His speech emphasized his record on taxes, immigration, his faith, as well as a few barbs at other candidates. He declared himself the true conservative in the race.

Governor Perry Speaks to the crowd

During the question and answer portion, a woman forgot her questions to which Perry quipped “I have that problem sometimes, too.” His good humor revealed underlying humility, a rare quality in politicians at this level.

The crowd was mostly subdued and those I spoke to were interested but not yet decided if Perry was their man. My informal and unscientific survey agreed with recent polls that Evangelicals like Perry but are also considering Santorum which explains why Perry called out the former Senator’s earmarking past.

After the official part of the program was the meet and greet. I managed to get Perry to sign the one of the stickers his campaign passed out. Two days later I happened on a video of this on MSNBC. We were just watching TV to catch up on what the liberals were saying and there I was! Everyone is entitled to 15 minutes, I guess.

Ron Paul speaks to his supporters

The same evening we decided to catch the Ron Paul event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Now that we had a little experience we thought we knew what to expect but Paul’s event had a different flavor altogether. The first indication we had that this event would be different was the people outside selling buttons. Freelance vendors don’t show up unless there are going to be a good crowd. The second was the fact that you had to have pre-reserved passes to get in before 6:30 PM when the event was scheduled at 7:00 PM.

I passed the time until the event started by chatting with two gentlemen sitting nearby. One was a solid Paul supporter. The other was still undecided but from Chicago so his vote does not have to be decided so quickly.

When the event was close to starting we saw Ron Paul slip in the door behind the stage. The crowd, which by now had grown to nearly 500 people, erupted in cheers. The pre-event music was very patriotic and a graphic on a large screen to the right of the stage declared that Paul received more military donations than the other candidates.

Once the rally started two odd things happened. First, the crowd was led in singing songs like “America, the Beautiful” which made it feel like a worship service complete with a designated song leader. The crowd sang along but it was awkward.

Iowa State Senator Kent Sorenson looks on during a campaign stop for republican presidential hopeful U.S. Rep Ron Paul (R-TX) at the Sioux Center Public Library on December 30, 2011 in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Second, a man was introduced as a “special guest” who turned out to be Kent Sorenson, an Iowa state senator who until about an hour before was working on Michele Bachmann’s campaign as her Iowa campaign chairman. This was big news and no one outside the hall had heard it yet. Sorenson defected from Bachmann’s campaign to Paul’s apparently because Paul had endorsed him and helped his own campaign in the past. Why he waited until a week before the caucus remains a mystery.

Finally, Ron Paul got up to speak. What interested me is that Paul never seemed to look at his notes. In fact, I’m not even sure he had notes. He simply spoke and every line was designed for applause. The crowd was raucous and mostly made up of young people which is also consistent with the book on Paul’s support.

My favorite moment came when someone from the Occupy movement began shouting something indistinguishable interrupting Paul’s speech. He handled it perfectly by looking stoically at the crowd while the loudmouth was escorted out. “Isn’t freedom of speech wonderful?” Paul asked? The crowd roared in agreement.

I often hear from conservative pundits that Ron Paul is a little far out there on some of his positions. During his speech I discovered what they mean for myself. Paul insists that “America cannot be the world’s policeman.” Perhaps the United States cannot deploy troops everywhere but some of those deployments are valuable and not simply carryovers from past wars. Paul railed about the number of bases the U.S. keeps around the world but it takes only a moment of intelligent thought to realize our military commanders must see some strategic purpose in keeping a base in Germans or South Korea and other places as well. I found his foreign policy statements short-sighted, naive, and unequal to the reality of a dangerous world.

We left without plunging into the multitude of admirers waiting for photographs with the candidate.

Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, and Chris Christie enter the crowd

The last event we attended was a Mitt Romney event two days later at a local grocery store. It was freezing and rainy. We arrived early to find the cafe full but ordered breakfast anyway and were surprised when it arrived quickly.

We learned of this event from a robocall from the campaign and were excited because Chris Christie was the special guest campaigning with the Romney’s. It had to be held outside because of the crowd coming. This was easily the most exciting of the three events we attended and garnered the most national media because of Romney’s front-runner status.

It was clear, too, that this was the most organized and professional campaign we had seen. Perry’s event was organized but its intimacy siphoned the grandeur of meeting a man who would like to be president. The Paul event felt unwieldy in spite of the crowd’s enthusiasm. Romney’s, by contrast, was polished down to every detail. I realized this when some staffers pulled out paper towels to wipe the small stage set up for the appearance. They were taking no chances. Intangibles are an imprecise way to evaluate candidates but the whole thing felt presidential.

Govenor Christie Addresses the Crowd

About 20 minutes late Romney, his wife, and Christie appeared from their tour bus. Romney was standing at the door of the bus as it pulled up. He was ready to engage the audience.

Romney greeted the crowd and then introduced Christie. He spoke for only a couple of minutes with the highlight coming as he said he’d be back “Jersey-style” if Iowa did not show up for Romney. The crowd cheered the possibility of the New Jersey governor coming back next fall to stump for Romney when he mentioned it. Some have speculated that Christie would be a good VP choice for Romney. If he wins the nomination, Romney could do a lot worse. It would also make this appearance one of the first of the ticket together. (Politics, like life, is full of what-if’s and possibilities. Who knows if this ticket will happen?)

Ann Romney said a few nice things about her husband’s character and career and introduced him as “the next president of the United States” (where have I heard that before?).

Romney gave his short stump speech mostly knocking Barack Obama and emphasizing the need to return to the founding values of the country. He encouraged people to come out to the caucus on Tuesday.

Mitt Romney Shakes Hands

Once his speech was over the three worked the crowd. Mrs. Romney shook hands until she could get to the bus and climbed aboard. Christie was a bit more sociable and worked one side of the crowd while Romney took the other.

It was at this point that I realized the caliber of the event. I turned around and saw none other than Chris Matthews plodding through the crowd trying to get to Romney. Let me tell you he is a tall man, much taller than I expected. And he looks way older in person than he appears on television. I asked him how he liked the Java Joe’s coffee because he had broadcast his show from there the previous evening. He mumbled something about drinking Starbucks International that morning and having too much sugar.

Chris Matthews looking bleary-eyed

Matthews eventually came back around and started barking questions at people. “Who is supporting Mitt Romney?” “Don’t you want to be on national television?” “Why do you like Romney?” As if he couldn’t believe anyone would. A woman who I had been chatting with there urged me to jump into his spotlight which I declined. I’m no match for a liberal gun like that and too irresolute in my support so far. I did not want to say something that could be misinterpreted, as media sharks like Matthews are known to do. Or maybe I was just chicken.

Romney chats with Andrea Mitchell

Later we stood in the background as Mitt Romney sat for an interview with Andrea Mitchell of NBC. What I like about Romney is his unflappability. I know some who think this is a liability but he really does look, sound, and come across as a potential president. Should the externals be as important as they are? Maybe not but the subconscious messages a candidate sends make or break their campaign. As Romney was questioned by Mitchell he did nothing but smile that grandfatherly smile of his. It would be condescending if it did not seem so sincere. We could not hear the questions nor the answers but we caught it later on MSNBC and Mitchell was grilling Romney trying to get him to commit to releasing his tax returns. Romney was having none of it and deftly deflected her barbs while staying on message.

Romney and Christie on Fox & Friends

The Iowa caucuses are a time when candidates can be seen up close and personal. They can be inspected and often asked questions directly. The people you normally only read about or see video of are right in front of you wanting to shake your hand, asking for your vote.

We did not see all the candidates. I would have liked to see Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum but they were both stumping in the farther reaches of the state and we couldn’t make it. By the time I caucus in Colorado one or the other of the two may not even be in the race. Much depends on what happens today.

Get out and caucus, Iowa! Vote for the person who best represents your view and recommend a few to the country. It’s your moment in the spotlight and it won’t come around for four more years.

Long have I heard about G. K. Chesterton and his amazing writing. Finally, I picked up his book Orthodoxy at the suggestion of my cousin and found this passage:

The democratic contention is that government (helping to rule the tribe) is a thing like falling in love, and not a thing like dropping into poetry. It is not something analogous to playing the church organ, painting on vellum, discovering the North Pole (that insidious habit), looping the loop, being Astronomer Royal, and so on. For these things we do not wish a man to do at all unless he does them well. It is, on the contrary, a thing analogous to writing one’s own love-letters or blowing one’s own nose. These things we want a man to do for himself, even if he does them badly.

I am not here arguing the truth of any of the conceptions; I know that some moderns are asking to have their wives chosen by scientists, and they may soon be asking, for all I know, to have their noses blown by nurses. I merely say that mankind does recognize these universal human functions, and that democracy classes government among them. In short, the democratic faith is this: that the most terribly important things must be left to ordinary men themselves – the mating of the sexes, the rearing of the young, the laws of the state. This is democracy and in this I have always believed.

It is plainly obvious people ought to be left to govern themselves in the “most terribly important things.” Love that. Nice, Mr. Chesterton. We still believe it in America, too…for now.

photo credit: Abeeeer

Tonight is my favorite moment in American politics: the President’s annual State of the Union address to Congress. There is something regal about the moment when the Sergeant-at-Arms loudly announces, “Mister Speaker, the President of the United States!” I am always proud no matter the party affiliation of the man who enters the chamber. The President is warmly greeted by applause and handshakes as he makes his way into the chamber. It is one of his most majestic moments. The President always looks triumphant no matter what kind of rhetorical abuse he suffered the previous year.

State of the Union night is his night. It is his best chance of the year to communicate to the people – to us, the governed whose consent he must secure in order to lead. That makes this speech very important.

I have watched most SOTU speeches since I was a kid. I remember Ronald Reagan’s stately presence and grandfatherly voice. He defined the office for many. I remember seeing George H. W. Bush standing at the podium but can’t remember anything he said. Bill Clinton’s speeches were always too long but usually interesting even if I fundamentally disagreed with them. George W. Bush gave some great speeches mostly bookending his term. Of course, he had the great (which is to say large in significance) events of 9/11 and war to lend weight. I remember the exultant atmosphere of his last SOTU looking like he was starting the final mile of a marathon, joyous to see the finish line.

Tonight’s event is news because it is a special annual event, not because Barack Obama is giving another speech. His bully pulpit is worn out after two years of heavy use and abuse. I will be watching, though. Can Obama capture the magic again as he has on past occasions and win people over? Or will his speech be full of platitudes, half-truths, and bad policies? I guess we’ll all learn the answer together.

Lately, I tweet articles that I find interesting but since I have so many, I’ll link them here.

• Dennis Prager notes what you won’t see tonight. You won’t be surprised to learn it is religious in nature.
• Five dos and dont’s of SOTU.
• Peggy Noonan, who I respect and admire, thinks Obama stands a good chance of hitting a home run.
• Ever wonder how to decipher what the President really means? Fred Barnes has the key.

I’m curious. Do you watch the SOTU? Do you have any enduring memories of the political ritual? Share your thoughts below.

Palin finally responded. Here’s her video:

Sarah Palin: “America’s Enduring Strength” from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

Most of the MSM attention is going to either the fact that Palin responded (see this piece at ABC’s The Note that claims Palin “once again, has found a way to become part of the story”) or focused on her use of the term “blood libel” (see Andrea Mitchell trying to be charitable). Nevermind that within hours of the event the media started to try to pin her for causing it. Others have defended Palin on this count better than I could so I’ll leave it to you to find them.

What I want to say is that I like this format for Palin. One writer noted that she comes across presidential. You might even say it is her most presidential moment yet. Whatever the accusations, Palin resisted the urge to attack back and instead focused on the tragedy and why America’s greatness will overcome it. That’s exactly the tone a public figure should ring when the unimaginable happens. I have to wonder if this might be a moment that proves pivotal convincing some – or maybe planting the seed – that Palin might, just might, have the inner qualities to occupy the Oval Office even if her resume doesn’t convince them.

I didn’t see Obama’s speech. I stopped listening to him somewhere around the 49th “major speech” on health care. I hope he was as presidential as Palin.

UPDATE: Rich Lowry liked Obama’s speech.

As I read the speech, I had the same reaction as usual that BO is lecturing us to be better. Lowry heard this as a subtle rebuke to the Left. Maybe it was and maybe merely reading it does not do it justice.

photo credit: ginsnob

Merry Christmas, everyone! I love the decorations, the tree, the gifts, and the lights. Even those annoying Christmas songs are wonderful a few weeks of the year. But there’s one thing I love even more and that’s the meaning of it all. God, while we were still sinners, reached out to reconcile us with him and he did it in the form of a baby. Maybe it’s just because we have an eleven week old baby boy in the house but it’s amazing to think of God is such a small, sweet package. When that boy grew up and became a man they nailed him to a cross and shook their head at the disgrace of it all. Thank God it didn’t end there but God raised Jesus from the dead conquering sin once and for all. Now we have peace with God because of his great love for us.

My dad goes to a big church here in town and this year he went to the Christmas Eve service. When I asked him how it was he said it was the best he ever saw. The Good News was preached to thousands of people in person and more online. What a wonderful time of year!

Here it is for you if you’d like to see it.

Christmas Eve 2010 – Illumination from Lutheran Church of Hope on Vimeo.

The other day I went to a job fair that was held in a building where I work. Almost all of the employers there were from one government agency or another. Out of 60 employers, only 4 were from the private sector.

Anyway, I went around heckling the representatives from the various agencies – one of my favorites was when I walked up to the INS folks and asked, “So… what do you guys do?” And they responded, “We help people stay in America.” To which I retorted, “You mean you help illegals stay in America.”

For the most part it was an enjoyable experience for me – going from one booth to the next asking for a job that pays a ton of money without me having to do any work, asking if they had any jobs for a person with absolutely no skills except the ability to call in sick, etc… it was fun.

But one booth actually made me angry. I can’t remember the name of the agency, but when I asked what they did, the man said that it was their responsibility to regulate and oversee the disbursement of TARP funds.

I got angry, “They’ve created a whole new agency just to oversee bailout money?”

I got angry because this comes on the heels of me learning that the Air Force chaplaincy is getting cut by 1/3. At a time when their workload is at a record high, they’re doing away with a third of their chaplains.

It really pisses me off that whenever a conservative says, “We’ve got to stop spending so much…” The liberal responds with, “You’re right… let’s look at the defense budget to see where we can make some cuts.”

It is true that the defense budget is the “single greatest” category in the Federal budget. And I think it should be. Why? Because every political scientist since Plato wrote The Republic around 380BC, everyone who has thought about it has understood that one of the primary purposes of government is the defense of it’s people and the protection of it’s land. Having a people who are secure in their land is essentially to literally every other aspect of societal and cultural development. Thus in the Constitution, when the Framers specifically discussed the military for the defense of the people, they weren’t being novel. They simply understood that a nation cannot develop and thrive if they have the specter of potential invasion hanging over their heads.

Incidentally, the Constitution doesn’t make provision for entitlement programs, federal law enforcement agencies, or agencies that want to see you naked before you can get on a private business’ plane. (By the way, I made that jab to the folks from the TSA – If I come work for you, when can I start making people get naked?) This is why conservatives typically are “pro military” – national defense is actually prescribed by the Constitution and is fundamentally prerequisite to the society being able to flourish. This is also while leftists, in the name of being “world citizens” and decrying the nation state as a relic of the past, typically wish we could just open our borders and disband our militaries.

So if cuts are to be made – and they need to be made – then start with bogus agencies started to oversee the distribution of a bogus bailout and move down the line… cutting funds from national defense, the one area actually spelled out in the Constitution, should come only as a matter of last resort.

That’s my take on it.

What do you think? Should Williams still be employed at NPR?

If this election cycle is anything, it’s strange. Incumbents on both sides of the aisle were either defeated in primary contests or facing general election battles like they have never seen before. Talk is getting serious of Republican victories for seats in long held, blue state strongholds like Wisconsin, Washington, and even California. As the mud starts to fly, I noticed an interesting trend. Social issues – you know those issues that define the Evangelical voting bloc – are nowhere to be seen.

Nowhere, that is, except in liberal ads aimed at smearing Republicans. In Colorado, Michael Bennet is running ads accusing  Republican nominee for Senate Ken Buck of being extreme because he is pro-life. Of course, he is but the people in the ad who are supposedly concerned about the potential for governmental overreach neglect to mention the ways Obamacare  – which Bennett voted for – will reach into their lives. The ads are having little effect and Buck has turned to a positive approach figuring people care more about jobs and the economy right now.

All of this begs the question, do social issues matter anymore? This election cycle promises to be the most lopsided in perhaps 100 years and social issues have nothing to do with it. Are the issues Evangelicals care most about dead?

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Call off the coroner. It would be premature to declare issues like abortion and same-sex marriage obsolete. This year is different for two reasons. First, people are reacting against the frightening policies passed by the Pelosi-Reid Congress and signed by President Obama. Democrats complained bitterly about the expenses and deficits of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars but promptly spent trillions of borrowed dollars upon assuming the power of the pursestrings. Americans are rightly more concerned about the effect of policies like the failed stimulus and Obamacare than other issues. Ken Buck, at least on this, has a better pulse on the American people.

Second, cultural issues are now fought more in the courts than anywhere else and because the president appoints judges to the Supreme Court social issues are more prominent during presidential elections than midterms. For the time being, little can be done about Barack Obama’s court nominees. Of course, if the Senate changes hands along with the House, then Republicans will have more influence in the entire process. Then, I suspect, social issues will come raging back to the political landscape.

So, fear not, my fellow Evangelicals! Fight now for fiscal restraint and sanity and enjoy the spectacle of true conservatives winning elections across the country. The cultural civil war started with social issues and will not be finished until that battle is won.

What do you think? Are social issues important in 2010?

*****

Making headlines yesterday is the YouTube video of President Barack Obama answering a “spicy question” about why he is a Christian. (HT: Hugh Hewitt) His answer is very interesting. The question and answer are spread over two videos. Start this one at about 6:10.

and

Let’s start with the positives:

• The President expressed faith in Christ to save him from his sins. Sure, it wasn’t the first thing out of his mouth as it would have been for an Evangelical but it was part of his response. We should not expect Obama to sound like an Evangelical because he is not one. He spoke of the need for God’s grace to “achieve salvation.” The language of achievement to describe salvation makes Evangelicals everywhere squirm but when connected to grace is acceptable. He highlighted the essential points of the Gospel. That’s good.
• He is familiar with at least some of Jesus’ teaching. The passages cited by Obama were those expected to resonate with someone of as liberal a mind as he. He cited “being my brother’s keeper,” and the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”) as ways he lives his life.
• We now know that the President prays daily. While we do not know the extent or nature of his prayer life – only that he prays everyday – this is a positive revelation and I’m glad to know it.
• The President thinks of his public service as an expression of his faith. We expect this kind of talk from Evangelical politicians (like George W. Bush) but not from Obama.

Now the negatives:

• The President seemed reluctant to discuss the matter of his Christian faith. He hemmed, hawed and paused awkwardly before answering the question giving the impression he was uncomfortable going there so publicly.
• His answer is very pluralistic. While he made a decision to be a Christian, he does not think it the right path for everyone. We should, Obama says, do our best to help others “find their grace.” This is followed by an admonition that the United States is a country “that welcomes people of many faiths and of no faith.” His faith is fine but others are cool too. “Their own path to grace is one we have to revere and respect as much as our own. That’s part of what makes this country what it is.” Earlier he called it a “bedrock principle.” Ignoring the obvious misunderstanding of our history, Obama can be given the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he thought it his duty to give a shout out to people of all faiths so they didn’t feel neglected. Which leads me to…
• Obama never mentioned truth. He didn’t sound like one who has come face to face with Jesus. I’m not questioning his profession of faith but it seems to me people who believe in Jesus do so because they believe his death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God is the Truth, capital T. He was quick to elevate other religions to the same status. That bothers me.
• Some have noted that this is not the first time Obama put his faith on display recently. I hadn’t noticed but he is apparently making an effort to appear Christian after a survey revealed a large percentage of Americans though him a Muslim. Once you notice a little fact like that it’s hard not to be a bit more cynical.

I was glad to hear the President express that he has a Christian faith even if it quite clearly is tainted with a liberal dye. What do you think? Are you satisfied with the President’s answer to a spicy question?

Countdowns

Election 2010 is rapidly approaching, less than 100 days away, and something is stirring. A movement is afoot, a tide is welling up just below the surface so you can see the evidence but not yet the waves. Nothing less is at stake than the very bedrock principles upon which this fine country was founded. Americans sense it. To inspire and further the return to our great ideals, I offer the following 100 days of quotes. Many are from our greatest presidents and dignitaries. Come back every day for a new quote.

1. God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part 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 lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and 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 and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to William S Smith, November 13, 1787

2. I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death. Patrick Henry

3. Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. – George Washington, letter to James Madison, March 2, 1788

4. This is America! How many of you people want to pay your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills? Raise your hands? [Boos from the crowd.] President Obama are you listening? -Rick Santelli, father of the Tea Party Movement

5. The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name — liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names — liberty and tyranny. -Abraham Lincoln

6. I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. – Thomas Jefferson

7. In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. -Ronald Reagan

8. [A]ll power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty and the right of acquiring property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purpose of its institution. – James Madison

9. We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. -Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

10. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. -The Declaration of Independence

11. That, to secure these right, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. -The Declaration of Independence

12. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -The Declaration of Independence

13. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. -The Declaration of Independence

14. When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. -Daniel Webster

15. How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how to you tell an anti-communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin. – Ronald Reagan

16. Do you think I want to take a shower every hour? The last place I’m ever going to live or work is D.C. -Rick Santelli, father of the Tea Party Movement

17. Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have. – Ronald Reagan

18. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. – George W. Bush, after the attacks of 9/11

19. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. -Alexis de Tocqueville

20. Posterity – you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you make good use of it. -John Quincy Adams

21. You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. -Ronald Reagan

22. A Constitution of Government, once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever – John Adams Letter to Abigail Adams (July 17, 1775)

23. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments into one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just  estimate of that lover of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. -George Washington

24. We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. – John Adams

25. As to those just causes of war which proceed from direct an unlawful violence, it appears equally clear to me that one good national government affords vastly more security against dangers of that sort than can be derived from any other quarter. -John Jay, Federalist #3

26. Let us by wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties. -James Monroe

27. Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. – John Quincy Adams

28. This government is acknowledged by all, to be one of enumerated powers. -John Marshall

29. In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. -Benjamin Franklin

30. Thank God! I – I also – am an American! -Daniel Webster

31. Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the “latent spark”…If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sens of this difference? -John Adams

32. It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own. -Thomas Jefferson

33. Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable. -Daniel Webster

34. Liberty – The quality or state of being free: a) the power to do as one pleases, b) freedom from physical restraint, c) freedom from arbitrary or despotic control. -Definition of liberty in Mirriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition

35. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -United States Constitution, First Amendment

36. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both.Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. -James Madison

37. The people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. -Daniel Webster

38. The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. -James Madison

39. An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation. -John Marshall

40. The Constitution requires that Congress treat similarly situated persons similarly, not that it engages in gestures of superficial equality. -William H. Rehnquist

41. This is not the time for political fun and games. This is the time for a new beginning. I ask you now to put aside any feelings of frustration or helplessness about our political institutions and join me in this dramatic but responsible plan to reduce the enormous burden of Federal taxation on you and your family. -Ronald Reagan

42. A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law. -John Marshall

43. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in the United States where men were free. -Ronald Reagan

44. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. -Abraham Lincoln

45. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. -Abraham Lincoln

46. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. -Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787 (Happy Constitution Day!)

47. Liberty exists in proportion to wholesome restraint. -Daniel Webster

48. We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. -James Madison

49. Little strokes fell great oaks. -Benjamin Franklin (Wink at Delaware.)

50. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. -John F. Kennedy

51. God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it. -Daniel Webster

52. We start with first principles. The Constitution creates a Federal Government of enumerated powers. -William H. Rehnquist

53. An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation. -John Marshall

54. Coercion, afterall, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him. -Ronald Reagan

55. Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain. -John F. Kennedy

56. May our children and our children’s children to a thousand generations, continue to enjoy the benefits conferred upon us by a united country, and have cause yet to rejoice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us by Washington and his compeers. – Abraham Lincoln

57. A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government. -Thomas Jefferson

58. They considered that the Congress was composed of many wise and experienced men. That, being convened from different parts of the country, they brought with them and communicated to each other a variety of useful information. That, in the course of the time they passed together in inquiring into and discussing the true interests of their country-they must have acquired very accurate knowledge on that head. That they were individually interested in the public liberty and prosperity, and therefore that it was not less their inclination than their duty to recommend only such measures as, after the most mature deliberation, they really thought prudent and advisable. -John Jay

59. 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. -The Constitution of the United States, The Fourth Amendment

60. I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American. -Daniel Webster

61. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity. – John Quincy Adams

62. A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law. -Alexander Hamilton

63. Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. -Abraham Lincoln

64. America will never run…and we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders. -George W. Bush

65. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow. -John Jay

66. All men having power ought to be mistrusted. – James Madison

67. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” -Ronald Reagan

68. Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world; it is God’s gift to humanity. -George W. Bush

69. There are persons who constantly clamor. They complain of oppression, speculation, and pernicious influence of wealth. They cry out loudly against all bands and corporations, and a means by which small capitalists become united in order to produce important and beneficial results. They carry on mad hostility against all established institutions. They would choke the fountain of industry and dry all streams. -Daniel Webster

70. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it. -Abraham Lincoln

71. The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. -James Madison

72. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. -The Constitution of the United States of America, The Second Amendment

73. I believe freedom is the deepest need of every soul. -George W. Bush

74. A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law. -Alexander Hamilton

75. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity. – John Quincy Adams

76. Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. – John Jay

77. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. -The Constitution of the United States, the Ninth Amendment

78. They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose. To consider the latter phrase not as describing the purpose of the first, but as giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please … Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given them. It was intended to lace them up straightly within the enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into effect.
 -Thomas Jefferson, Opinion on National Bank, 1791

79. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. -Woodrow Wilson

80. A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. -Samuel Adams, 1779

81. I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth. -John Adams

82. There, I guess King George will be able to read that. -John Hancock, Remark, July 4, 1776

83. Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. -Thomas Jefferson

84. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. -The Constitution of the United States, the Tenth Amendment

85. There is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners, yet shall, before you taste of death, show itself equal to the whole of the commerce which now attracts the envy of the world. -Edmund Burke in his Speech on Conciliation with America, March 22, 1775

86. The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally stacked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. -George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789

87. The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men. -Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, 1775

88. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. -Thomas Jefferson

89. . . .In defense of the freedom that is our birthright. . .we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before. -John Hancock,
 In his pamphlet, Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of taking up Arms, July 6, 1775.

90. Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit — appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free. -Joseph Warren, 1775

91. Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. -Samuel Adams, essay in The Public Advertiser, 1749

92. As far as an army may be considered as a dangerous weapon of power, it had better be in those has of which the people are most likely to be jealous than in those of which they are least likely to be jealous. For it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion. -Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Number 25

93. Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principles. -Edmund Burke from Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

94. Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. -John Adams in a letter to Mrs. Adams (July 3, 1776)

95. We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power…The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. -Patrick Henry

96. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. -Thomas Paine

97. Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. -Thomas Jefferson in his First Inaugural Address

98. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. -Edmund Burke

99. Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last; but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. -Benjamin Franklin

100. Where law ends, tyranny begins. -William Pitt

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