'Facts Are Stubborn Things'

During the heat of last summer's presidential campaign, Senator McCain's senior economic adviser (fmr) Sen. Phil Gramm said that the American people were 'a bunch of whiners'. Mr. Gramm was promptly thrown under the 'straight talk express'.
After doing some research on our great founding fathers I can't help wondering if Mr. Gramm was right. You decide...
(I include everyone from Jefferson to Adams discussing various aspects of Liberty. I even threw one in from William Pitt who served as Britain's Prime Minister from 1783-1801 and again from 1804 until his death in 1806. *see last picture)

"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer." Benjamin Franklin

"... 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.... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson

"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? Thomas Jefferson

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Thomas Jefferson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson

"You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe"
John Adams

"We have a government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest chords of our constitution as a whale goes through the net. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they can not alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington

"We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." James Madison

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves." William Pitt

Faithless Conservatives?

For those of us that embrace liberty there has been little for which to be cheerful. When our friends and neighbors so willingly grovel at the feet of the 'nanny state' I can't help but wonder what's next for those who claim the birthright of freedom.
We've elected a new president who seems to be quite enamored with the notion that the state controls all things so well that perhaps they should try their hand at health care. In Congress The controlling party sees at as their prerogative to tell good American folks what talk radio shows are acceptable.
So how can we as conservatives win against the tide of environmental tyranny, greater access to abortion, and a foreign policy run by 'Amnesty International'? Speaking to the graduates of Christendom College in 2003, then Senator Rick Sentorum (R-Pennsylvania) said the following; "I want to challenge each and every one of you to be a radical, to be a rebel, to rebel against the popular culture. Your task will not be an easy one. You must overcome the temptation of silence." Mr. Sentorum went on to state that "God hasn't called us to be successful, He has called us to be faithful."
Can we expect to be successful rolling back a rising socialist tide? The answer is probably not. Someday however we will stand in the arena surrounded by a strangely familiar host. I hope to God that those words ring clear in my ears. "Well done good and faithful servant!"

A Humble Critique of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Hollywood seems to be undergoing a midlife crisis. Indeed the box office seems to be yearning for the day gone by with 'recent' pictures such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', 'The Poseidon Adventure', and the upcoming montage of horror flicks including the new 'Friday the13th'.

The recent Christmas season brought us another Hollywood 'remake' titled "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which is loosely based on a very intriguing short story by the great F. Scott Fitzgerald. Now for those of you folks that are still eager to see this you may want stop reading now!! Last Warning!!

At the risk of sounding like that pretentious friend that we all have (let's call him Howie) that says "Oh the book is so much better!", I have to agree with Howie.

The Premise of the story is that a man is born old and ages backward until he passes as an infant. The movie is set at turn of the century in New Orleans where Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is deserted by his father onto the steps of a nursing home with a small wad of cash. Benjamin undergoes all the hardship that may be expected of a young man in his eighties. He naturally has a difficult time relating to 'youngsters' his age. He falls in love with a young girl 6 years his junior (he appeared of course to be much, much older than she). He falls out of love with her, ends up in Europe, and decides to have an affair with the wife of an English diplomat. After a while he goes back to New Orleans looking much younger still and rekindles the love of his youth (enter Cate Blanchet). The movie goes on at a slow and very predictable pace until Benjamin dies as a baby with a keen sense that he has been there before. The film tries to make us sympathise with Benjamin but I felt nothing but complete indifference. The directors try to tug -nay yank at our emotions, but all I felt was boredom.

I've also heard certain 'gushy' critics compare Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. What is it that we loved about Forrest? We didn't love him for his handicap. We loved him because he overcame his handicap to achieve amazing feats and did so without a touch of malice.

A much better version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is Mr. Fitzgerald's. The story is hardly recognizable and much more comedic with a touch of whimsy.