Have you ever noticed some of the pearls of wisdom that folks have stuck onto the rear of their automobiles? Our brother/friend recently imparted a gem that he noticed on his morning commute to an appointment while supporting his small business. The bumper sticker read, “Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.”
After letting James Madison’s words sink in, we exchanged several emails throughout the morning expressing to each other what the quotation meant to us and to our Nation today. Of course, Madison’s words then were aimed at a different target (the oppressive British monarchy) but in our opinion, at a similar scenario (big government’s overwhelming presence in our daily lives). The sad truth is that this Administration is tiptoeing along a dangerous tightrope daily. Every day our government grows, and everyday it gets closer and closer to the form of government that Madison feared centuries ago. A few examples of President Obama’s overwhelming big government moves include: Obamacare, cap and trade, and the takeover of GM, banks, etc.
In his State of the Union address on January 28, 2010, the President used the word “crisis” 11 times. After discovering this, the quotation mentioned above took on a new light, and our President’s actions thus far convey a whole different image for us now. To be blunt, we see our situation as a much scarier one than previously estimated. Of course, we do not fear that President Obama will be named King anytime soon (did we just jinx ourselves?), but you get the point. The President is too much of a lot of things – he is too left (Note: it is not constructive to be too left or too right), too insistent on passing his agenda, and too idealistic. When will he meet his first resistance? Clearly, this is a passion of ours, and as a result, we studied more of Madison’s teachings, including Federalist No. 51. Within this essay, we found the following quotation, another we think would make a great (long) bumper sticker:
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.
**Additional relevant reading/viewing:
http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLbeX5TgGCE&feature=player_embedded
- The Philadelphians
