An Opportunity Of A Lifetime

Even a casual study of the writ-ings of those who framed our govern-ment persuades one to believe that the Founders, without question, viewed the people as the ultimate and most reliable restraint upon it. It was their hope that the American people would appreciate and cherish their rare form of government enough to nurture it, watch over it and, most of all, to protect it from the corrosive affects of mischievous and self-serving office holders who for one reason or another might decide to ignore and circumvent the Constitution--the sacred agreement that binds us together as a nation, and which our elected officials are sworn to uphold.

But alas, the Founders’ hopes were not fully realized. It turns out that their confidence in us was largely misplaced. Decades ago, Americans began forsaking their birthright and going off this way and that way in search of the “good life.” We have had neither the time nor the inclination to look after our government. Indeed, many of us don’t even know how it is supposed to work or what is so extraordinary about it. We all have been too deeply engaged in the highly addictive activity of acquiring things, things we thought we needed to have in order to be happy.

But the sad irony of it is, we may soon lose all those things we’ve accumulated through hard work and easy credit, and become downright unhappy. For while our eyes were directed elsewhere, our once limited government expanded itself well beyond its intended boundaries. And now the unwieldy monster wants to control everything and everybody in its sight. We allowed the camel to get its nose under the tent and now it’s trying to do what the Founders feared--push us out.

So is it too late to do anything about it? Perhaps. But personally I don’t think we should go down without a fight. We are, after all, the sons and daughters of patriots. We may have temporarily forgotten that, but we are blood-kin to daring men and women, bold risk takers who came to this country with little or nothing and created the best damn nation in the history of the world. All we have to do is get that noble blood pumping in our veins again.

Let’s face it, most of us know deep in our hearts that what our government is doing in the name of social and economic “reform” is wrong. Dead wrong! The government’s policies, whether calculated to do so or not, are backing all of us into a corner. Our government, let me repeat that, our government is gradually and methodically enslaving us. There’s no other way of putting it.

Daniel Webster once wrote: “It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

Dear friends, that is precisely where we’re at. We have in the highest levels of our government men and woman who are promising, in effect, to be good masters. They say they want us to have affordable health care, better schools, cleaner air and safer cities. But there’s just one catch, they want to take away our liberties in exchange for those things, things they won’t even be able to deliver.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not going to be able to accept their terms. So, like a prodigal son, I’m going to return to my civic responsibilities. I’m going to begin taking less interest in my stuff and a lot more interest in my government, the government that was created and bequeathed to me at great cost by my forefathers. And I’m going to fight tyranny, just as they did, with every legitimate means and tool at my disposal.

And I invite any who may read this to join with me in what is certain to be an exciting and glorious adventure, an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. --Samuel Adams