The Pseudo-Founding Fathers & Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas

Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you." -- Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790).

Like other of the Enlightenment, Franklin echoed Voltaire, “that generous Maxim, that ’tis much more Prudence to acquit two Persons, tho’ actually guilty, than to pass Sentence of Condemnation on one that is virtuous and innocent.—Zadig, chapter 6, p. 53 (1749, reprinted 1974).

Contrast the real Founding Fathers, like Franklin and Paine, with the unnamed pseudo-Founding Fathers whom Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas claim would rather execute the innocent than risk letting the guilty go free.

By a 6-to-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that execution of the mentally retarded is cruel and unusual punishment. The three dissenting Justice who favored execution of the mentally retarded: Justice Rehnquist, Justice Thomas, and Justice Scalia.

Voltaire & established authorities...

"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong." -- Voltaire -

Voltaire (1694—1778) was the son of a notary, was born at Paris and was educated at the Jesuit Collège Louis-le-Grand. French philosopher and author, whose original name was Arouet. One of the towering geniuses in literary and intellectual history, Voltaire personifies the Enlightenment.

The right to bear arms is a liberal tradition....

Democrats too easily allow conservatives to appropriate liberal ideas. A classic example: The marvelous concepts that came out of the Enlightenment. The other day, I quoted Patrick Henry in The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to ...

Henry also spoke insightfully about the right of all law-abiding citizens to bear arm. “Are we at last,” Henry queried, “brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?” Of course not. Americans can be trusted to bear arms responsibly. The key idea is "for our defense." Those interested in the issue may want to read:

United States vs. Miller (U.S. SCt. 1939)
Quilici vs Morton Grove (7th Cir. 1982)
U. S. vs. Emerson (N. D. Tex. 1999)

As Democrats we should reclaim our liberal tradition from conservatives. In the hands of conservatives liberalism is ultimately confused and misused. Just look at what conservatives have done to patriotism and Christianity!

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people....

Every time the Republican government wants to suppress a group of individuals, it reaches for the Constitution. By amendment to the Constitution, the Republican Congress tries to discriminate against gays, curtail the right of freedom of speech, eliminate descent, and build a nation of obedient citizens. The natural right of freedom in all of its permutations becomes merely a footnote in the history of a once proud and free people. But is a right? Should we tolerate it? The answer is no! Not if we value our freedom.

"The Constitution," Patrick Henry said, "is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."

Bushspeak: The Language of American Totalitarianism...

“Politically speaking, tribal nationalism always insists that its own people is surrounded by ‘a world of enemies’, ‘one against all’, that a fundamental difference exists between this people and all others. It claims its people to be unique, individual, incompatible with all others, and denies theoretically the very possibility of a common mankind long before it is used to destroy the humanity of man.” Hannah Arendt, The Origins Of Totalitarianism @ 227

Pres. Bush: "Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done." CNN, September 21, 2001, Urges resolve, patience as anti-terror campaign begins.

Pres. Bush: "Our job now is to find the evil ones and bring them to justice.” CNN, Oct. 29, 2001, Bush: Visa policies to get tighter

Pres. Bush: “My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers." CNN, Sept. 16, 2001, Bush vows to rid the world of 'evil-doers'

Pres. Bush: This “is our calling. This is the calling of the United States of America, the most free nation in the world.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oct. 10, 2001, Bush: Terror Fight is 'Our Calling'