Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. -Thomas Paine And so it appears that the Illinois governor is one ruffian that is now proving his true worth
Category Archives: Current Events
On Bailouts and Economic Panic
“‘Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them.”-Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No age or epoch of humanity has not eventually found itself the victim of its own base instincts. Fear, greed, and panic spread through the body politic like a virus, …
On the Politics of Resentment
“There are two distinct species of popularity; the one excited by merit, the other by resentment.” -Thomas Paine Too often it seems as if our political leaders and those seeking power pander toward the worst in people – intolerance and resentment, fear and prejudice. Achieving popularity by inciting the darker passions in people may win elections, but …
On Redefining Torture
“An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”-Thomas Paine …
On Cheap Energy
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly”-Thomas Paine True for any aspect of our lives, but particularly significant today with the rising cost of energy, in terms of dollars as well as the social and environmental consequences of our energy culture. For decades we in the developed world have enjoyed an abundance that …
On Dodging Bullets in Bosnia
It is easy to tell a lie, but it is difficult to support the lie after it is told.-Thomas Paine How easy it is to be swept up in the moment and find yourself stepping over the line between fact and fiction. How hard it is to explain it after the moment has passed and …
On When the Only Right Thing to Do is Get Mad
“There are men who have not virtue enough to be angry.”-Thomas Paine But that isn’t you – you’re mad as hell and you aren’t going to take it anymore. Tags: mad+as+hell, anger, thomas+paine+quotes+interpreted
On Voting for Change
“When moral principles, rather than persons, are candidates for power, to vote is to perform a moral duty, and not to vote is to neglect a duty.”-Thomas Paine When it is necessary for a nation to change its course, as it surely is now, it is not only a right but also our duty to vote for the …
On the Campaign Primaries
“A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation”-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man Capturing the imagine of a nation, inspiring its citizens to unite and rise above petty grievance and intolerance, is what we need. Instead we get the primaries. Tags: thomas+paine+politica+party, thomas+paine+politics, thomas+paine+primaries, 2008+presidential+campaign, thomas+paine+quotes+interpreted
On Talk Radio and Rush Limbaugh
“Among ridiculous things nothing is more ridiculous than ridiculous rage.”-Thomas Paine There are those that don’t know which battles to choose in life, those that do, and those that charge into an invented battle with indignation and rage, obscuring, to the casual observer, the twisted deficiency of the invention. For whatever reason it is done, …