Stolen from http://www.freerepublic.com/
Once upon a time there was a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the premise that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. And that among those rights were the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which those men deemed the ownership of private property to be.
That nation no longer exists.
The trappings are all still present, but the heart and soul have both been sucked right out of her. The people have gotten so comfortable on one hand and so busy on the other that they have forgotten from whence they have come, and, more importantly, of the price that was paid by some for them to be able to live those comfortable and busy lives. We speak with reverence of a few, such as Washington and Jefferson, and rightly so. But we also forget that there were many, many more men and women of the everyday variety who made it possible for those two and others like them to carve out nation. Their equivalents in modern society are scorned and shunned, to a large degree. The word patriot has somehow become dirty, and is used derisively rather than with honor. Were Patrick Henry to give a speech in modern America, he would no doubt be publicly humiliated for his backwards views on freedom and liberty. After all, in a modern society, we must all give up some of our freedoms and liberties for the greater good of all.
There were men who were willing to stand in open defiance of tyranny, knowing full well that it could cost them not only their lives, but the lives of those they held dear. Now, we have a difficult time getting a majority of the people to the polls to select our leaders. How pathetic we have become.
We deserve what we get.
Thomas Jefferson once said, When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. But when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
We live in tyranny.
How many of you cringe at the thought of a phone call from the IRS informing you that they will be conducting an audit of your tax returns?
How many of you hold your breath when you see a police officer in the rear view mirror, for fear that you may have committed a small infraction of the traffic laws?
How many of you dread the day that the BATF agents will arrive at YOUR door and demand that you turn over your firearms?
These things happen to our countrymen on a regular basis, and we allow it. In some instances, we stand and cheer for the government! Stop and ask yourself if someone, somewhere, will be standing and cheering when they come for you and your possessions.
We deserve what we get.
We are not a nation governed by servants, but rather one ruled by masters. George Washington spoke of government being force, and he should have been heeded. Where the people slumber, evil men flourish. So it is with us today.
And we have no one to blame but ourselves. The person most at fault is the one who stares you and me right in the eye each morning at the bathroom sink.
We deserve what we get.