All governments that come with trust me in one hand have chains in the other. Is this what our government has become? Your views regardless of party.

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All governments that come with trust me in one hand have chains in the other. Is this what our government has become? Your views regardless of party.

by Silverback Posted August 17, 2009 19:04:28

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DeCaf August 20, 2009 22:57:30

The first steps to big brother were taken back in the early part of 1900s by Progressives; they pushed their "we know better for the public attitude"; big brother really grew under FDR, then again under Eisenhower, Kennedy, and especially Johnson. It picked up regrowth under Carter and surged under the Clintons. Bush, Jr. helped it along with the Patriot Act. But Obama has shifted the debate from we know better to we want to control.
Dionysus August 17, 2009 21:04:53

I think the Patriot act was a first step to Big Brother
BronxBob August 17, 2009 20:44:37

I think there has always been a tension in our socio-political culture around those who understand liberty as freedom to become and others who understand it as freedom from. The freedom-to-become people are now in power and make the freedom-from people suspicious and uncomfortable. But both understandings are different sides of liberty. And our conservatives, libertarians, and liberals are all cut out of the same cloth. All of which is to say, freedom remains the underlying value of our rulers and government. For those willing to find common ground, it's there. The problem is few people seem willing to try to find it in our culture of sound bites.
FLBabe August 17, 2009 19:51:34

I feel that it has. When representatives hide from their constituency because they disagree, then it becomes being ruled by the political class, rather then representatives abiding by what their constituency is asking them to do.
Headhunter 13 August 17, 2009 19:45:19

As Gerald Ford said

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
patt August 17, 2009 19:27:29

Who made up that bs statement? ALL governments?? Get a life.
Poppy - don't come here wit... August 17, 2009 19:17:43

It's absolutely a fact of getting oneself elected. The main difference now is that the promises vs. the reality of the lies has never been more of a renege than it is with the current phonies!
BIG $ GOON August 17, 2009 19:17:11

There is no more Government we are the Government and now we are close to being eliminated!!!!
Dan D August 17, 2009 19:11:06

Unfortunately yes. And they do all they can move you from self-reliance to government reliance. Resist it - you're better off looking after your own affairs and helping your neighbors directly than letting the government do it all for you.
☼ Homeward Bound ☼ August 17, 2009 19:07:27
The Sane One August 17, 2009 19:06:48

Anything that a government can give you they must have taken from someone else, usually under a threat of force, either explicit or implied.