Because we have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. — John Adams

My Take – President Adams could have been describing how our political process has been running for the past decade or so.  Our republic is in trouble because of the desire by a sizable part of our population who want something for nothing, who want to profit without risk or sacrifice, and who use the political and legal process as a bludgeon against their foes.  If we have any hope of pulling ourselves out of this spiral, we need to remember that the government serves to benefit all of our citizens, not just those with connections or are part of a special demographic.  Failing that, we need to steel ourselves to the inevitable slide into tyranny.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. — Thomas Paine

My Take – If you want to benefit from the blessings of this country, you ought to take part in keeping the wheels on.  You don’t have to be a soldier to defend our nation, just be involved.  Vote, speak out, be informed, and continually remind the government that it works for us.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. — James Madison

My Take – It is incumbent upon us to limit the scope and power of our government to only that which is absolutely necessary.  Every time we give a new power to the government, it takes what we think we are giving it and then expands it into every nook and cranny that it can find.  Did the people who supported RICO legislation or the Patriot Act think they would be used as cudgels to beat down the people?  Probably not, but that is what has happened.  When we give more power to flawed humans, we should expect them to misuse it and be watchful for when they do.

A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one. — Alexander Hamilton

My Take – We have to be able to risk ourselves to protect what is important to us, or we risk giving everything we hold dear to those who want to take it away from us.  If we will not stand up for our rights when it is easy, how will we fight for them when we are at a disadvantage?

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them. — Thomas Jefferson

My Take – What is life if liberty is not a part of it?  If you take a free man and unjustly take his freedom, is he any better than a dead man if he does not fight to keep it?  Someone who puts little value in your freedom puts little value in your life, and should be treated in an appropriate manner.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.  — James Madison

My Take – When we elect a person to a position of great power, what do we trust them to do? When I place my vote for a candidate, I want to be able to say “I trust this person to do what is right and to not betray their duties”.  That’s really all I want.  The problem is that we are electing flawed human beings into power, and their flaws and weaknesses keep them from fulfilling that ideal. So what do we really trust them to do without us watching their every move?

I think our smartest move is to trust them in no matter that we cannot see in the light of day.  We should assume that every action taken by someone who craves power of that magnitude is not worthy of our trust.  That’s not saying that they may prove us pleasantly wrong, but a healthy distrust of those who would like to hold power is a good thing.

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution. — John Adams

My Take – The founders feared the creation of political parties for the reasons that I distrust them now.  The two major parties exist to provide a place for their benefactors to feed at the trough and to count coup against the other party.  Very rarely do they do something that is good for the country yet not advantageous to themselves.  We have always seemed to be best served by leaders who were unpopular with their parties leadership, and I’m beginning to see why.

I say, the earth belongs to each of these generations during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and incumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence. — Thomas Jefferson