Founding Fathers, Contemporary Careerists, Clueless Civilians
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated….There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both. ”
Thomas Paine, Dec. 23, 1776, at the height of public outcry to end the war
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“There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful.”
So Pelosi.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:30 am“It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object,”
Truer words can not be said and it seems it’s always forgotten.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:44 amso true-the founding fathers were a great roup of men-where are the people like them today?
July 9th, 2007 at 3:03 amMindy…those people you are looking for are working to pay taxes so Al Gore III can go to state-funded rehab. lol…but not really that funny.
July 9th, 2007 at 3:32 ammindy they’re on the front lines fighting terrorist. nothing but snakes and leeches in dc sucking the life out this country. the contempt for this gov. and media is going be overwelming when 155,000 or more truth tellars finally come home and tell how they were undermined. the games being played with the lives of these brave men and women is…. there are no words to describe my anger and contempt for these low lifes in dc and the media!
July 9th, 2007 at 3:48 amTrapper, your outrage with the traitors in Washington is like mine. No words can tell how low I think these worms are.
July 9th, 2007 at 4:03 amI had to read the caption/quote above a couple of times to really grasp it. Not being an American, I have not been raised on the founding philosphy of the US, but the words written so long ago resonate through the centuries and are as relevent in the 21st century as they were 230 years ago.
July 9th, 2007 at 4:07 am“Tyranny, like hell is not easily conquered,yet we have this consolation with us,that the harder the conflict the more glorius the triumph”
What more need be said,what was relevant then is relevant today, perhaps more so when the quote of” The sunshine soldier and the summer patriot will,in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country”.
I could not have said it better.
The trouble seems that the sunshine patriots have got the ear of the MSM and the Democrats and the 1960’s mantra of “My country…always wrong” is alive and well.
Not on this site anyway.
Dont think that you have it all there either, Australia has the same rot, The UK has it even worse, and the EU has passed the point of no return.They couldnt even get up the gumption to stop the genocide in Kosovo and the glorious Dutch army stood back as the serbs took away all the people in safe custody and slaughterd them.All for a couple of sips of slivovitz.Thats all it needed.
Mark Steyn’s new book is a must read. “America Alone” is the title.
Every member of congress should have to read it before they are allowed to vote again.
The book is an eye opener to say the least.
July 9th, 2007 at 4:45 amexcellent -
never get enough of the wisdom of the founding fathers
July 9th, 2007 at 5:45 amPaine advocated deism and an early form of socialism, in The Age of Reason and Agrarian Justice respectively. When he said what you quoted, it was on behalf of a “nation” rebelling against a foreign ruler. Some years later he spoke out AGAINST invasion/imperialist type tactics.
What I’m trying to say is that even if the man weren’t two hundred years dead he probably shouldn’t be your first choice for spokesman.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:35 amWow, that quote was pure common sense.
July 9th, 2007 at 9:29 amAnd one of my favorites:
“We should never despair, our
July 9th, 2007 at 10:24 amsituation before has been unpromising
and has changed for the better, so I trust,
it will again. If new difficulties arise,
we must only put forth new exertions and
proportion our efforts to the exigency of
the times.” - George Washington
Whta an apporpiate quote, Thomas Paine was a vital part of uniting this country at our inception.
Oh boy do we need his like stoday. He printed a book that sold hundreds of thousands of copies in a day when not a lot of people could even read.
He inspired those people to embrace freedom and when they’re spirits flagged and lost their way he re-inspired them. Bravo, maybe his works should be updated and re-printed today.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:38 amOn July 4 while watching fireworks, I had a fantasy that Reid, Pelosi and Murtha were marched out at dawn, given a cigarette and shot. It seemed like exactly the appropriate thing to do. The next day, I felt really bad when I realized it was only a figment of my imagination.
July 9th, 2007 at 3:25 pmBetter yet, Iraq will not be successful until an Iraqi Thomas Paine emerges. The question is not where are these men now in America (They exist in every person who wears a US uniform) but where are these men that are Iraqi. This is the question of the day!
July 9th, 2007 at 6:32 pm[…] this over at Pat Dollard and thought it very […]
July 10th, 2007 at 10:39 amCommon Sense can be heard, along with the Federalist Papers and the US Constitution, at Americana Phonic.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:04 amhttp://www.americanaphonic.com