| Author | Message | ||
     Two_seasons |
Thought you might like to read Michelle Malkin's take on rights and responsibilities. Rescuing citizenship and civic virtue by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2013 As we celebrate our nation’s 237th birthday, a crucial facet of American life has all but vanished. We have forsaken, in a systematic and deliberate public manner, one of our most fundamental duties: fostering civic virtue in each and every one of our citizens. What does it mean to be an American? Politicians in both parties keep pushing to create a new “path to citizenship” for millions of illegal aliens. But if sovereignty and self-preservation still matter in Washington, citizenship must be guarded ferociously against those who would exploit and devalue it at every electoral whim. The pavers of the amnesty pathway think illusory requirements of paying piddling “fines” and back taxes will inculcate an adequate sense of responsibility and ownership in the American way. Other fair-weather friends of patriotism satisfy themselves with shallow holiday pop quizzes on American history to fulfill the “well-informed” part of the “well-informed citizenry” mandate of our Founding Fathers. But Thomas Jefferson said it well: “No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and … their minds are to be informed by education what is right and what wrong; to be encouraged in habits of virtue and to be deterred from those of vice… These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure and order of government.” John Adams said it better: “Liberty can no more exist without virtue … than the body can live and move without a soul.” And Thomas Paine said it best: “When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.” Civic virtue cannot be purchased with token gestures or passed down in perfect form like a complete set of family china. A life of honor, honesty, integrity, self-improvement and self-discipline is something you strive ever to attain. Being American is a habit of mind, but also a habit of heart and soul. Abraham Lincoln spoke of the “electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world.” Calvin Coolidge, profiled in “Why Coolidge Matters,” a terrific new book by Charles C. Johnson, echoed the Founding Fathers’ emphasis on virtue, restraint and work ethic. “If people can’t support themselves,” he concluded, “we’ll have to give up self-government.” The failure of public schools to impart even rudimentary knowledge of self-government principles, natural rights theory and the rule of law is compounded by the suicidal abandonment of civic education. As Stanford University education professor William Damon notes: “Our disregard of civic and moral virtue as an educational priority is having a tangible effect on the attitudes, understanding and behavior of large portions of the youth population in the United States today.” Add militant identity politics, a cancerous welfare state, entitled dependence and tens of millions of unassimilated immigrants to the heap, and you have a toxic recipe for what Damon calls “societal decadence — literally, a ‘falling away,’ from the Latin decadere.” Civilizations that disdain virtue die. Independence Day sparklers will light the skies overhead this July 4th, but George Washington’s “sacred fire of liberty” belongs in the breasts of Americans every day of the year. How to rescue citizenship and civic virtue? Let’s start by sending a message to politicians in the nation’s capital who imperil our sovereignty. Citizenship — good citizenship — is not just a piece of government-issued paper. It is not merely a bureaucratic “status.” It’s a lifelong practice and propagation of founding principles. A nation of low information is just half the problem. A nation of low character cannot long remain a free nation. Have a great patriotic day everyone...two_seasons | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Are you missing us yet?  Happy 4th of July to all my Colonial friends. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Yes we miss you! Hard to believe that years ago we had a Revolution for a mere $0.01 tax/pound on tea. Could we do it again? Would we be as brave as our forefathers? Would we have the stamina to see it through? Risk our lives, our fortunes, our standing in society to return to the values that made this country great? It all begins at home. We reap what we sow! Don't ever let the schools teach your children their values you teach them and let them know what it means to be a US citizen and how much has been sacrificed to secure their liberties. Never lose the will to fight for your country! | ||
| Kenm123t |
No Grumpy we don't and we are going to delouse the Byzantine nuts out our country! | ||
| Oldog |
I miss the country I grew up in, where politically correct was considered absurd. Happy Birthday America, I hope that those who truly love you can see you back to the greatness that you had. Yeah Grump we miss SOME of our European brethren. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. Charles Dickens It is that time, again. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
A Sale Of Two T... | ||
| Fb1 |
Heroes one and all. http://youtu.be/TSNT5BCP04o  (Message edited by fb1 on July 04, 2013) | ||
| Strato9r |
Happy birthday, America. Don't let the bastards abuse your hard earned freedoms to achieve their greedy goals. Dont let petty tyrants abuse your might to fulfill their corrupt ideals. Never forget you are the most free country in history. And yes, all around the world, people are STILL doing flips and twists just to fit into a pair of American blue jeans.... | ||
| Glitch |
Sadly I'm afraid "most" Americans are celebrating Dependence Day. If all Americans were offered true Freedom, too many would be scared to death. |
