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The Values of Our Forefathers

By
Mortgage and Lending with Arizona Wholesale Mortgage Inc.

Thomas JeffersonI just watched Steven Colbert interview Tea Party Express chairperson Amy Kremer on Hulu. The Tea Party "Express" are the ones who go around on buses. I have to admit, I only watched it to see him make her look silly on national television. It's a guilty pleasure; I'm not proud.

But he didn't break her. She was pretty sharp. He even ended the interview by saying her name once more, followed by the words "a tough nut to crack!"

Because he was trying to crack her, but she didn't let him. She stood her ground and really did well. I really liked her because she was honest and firm in her convictions.

I like those kinds of people. The ones who actually understand their own beliefs-- which is sadly rare-- and are firm enough in their convictions to be interviewed by a liberal-minded comedian. I respect her much more than a bumbling Sarah Palin who needs to write her OWN IDEAS on her hand.

He got in a couple of good barbs though.

He told her he never liked the judicial branch of our government and he felt that the Supreme Court was just "filler government-- like sawdust in our sausage."

She didn't get the joke.

He was referring to the fact that in the days of our forefathers, butchers and meat packers used to put sawdust in sausages as "filler." They used to do all kinds of horrible stuff. A candy maker admitted that he substituted shredded bone for shredded coconut right in the halls of congress-- on record, no less.

Thanks to liberal author Upton Sinclair (The Jungle, 19-oh-Something), a movement started that led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Under FDR, the FDA eventually came into being.

Of course, conservatives fought it all the way. If they had their way, big government was not going to tell American businessman how to make sausage! Socialism, they cried!

(Sound familiar?)

So I am really curious, because when people say that they want to go back to the values of our forefathers, do they mean all of them, or just the values that they pick and choose? For example, do they like the idea of getting rid of the FDA? The USDA? Medicare?

Do you?

Sort of like just going to church on holidays, ain't it Doc? You can't really take on somebody's value's "partially." Because, when you only take a few "values" of our forefathers, then you really aren't taking the values of our forefathers at all!

Thomas Jefferson, by all Christian standards, was an Athiest. He made a mockery of the bible and he did it in print. Get yourself a copy of The Jefferson Bible, written by Thomas Jefferson (forefather) on Amazon today.

I don't know a SINGLE politician who would support a political figure making a mockery of the New Testament-- right, left or otherwise-- but they pretty much all throw the old forefathers "argument" in the ring whenever we are getting down and dirty. And, every single time, I quiz them on how well they actually understand American history and guess what? 

It's not the conservative viewpoint that bothers me. People are entitled to their opinions, and I respect that. However, I have watched conservative friends and conservative talk show hosts blatantly and openly lie about history.

I heard Glenn Beck talk about Thomas Paine for a whole hour one day, and I couldn't help but laughed at how badly he got it wrong. Again, not based on my opinion, but based on Thomas Paine's own words.

Words which I've read, studied, and written scholarly articles about, by the way.

Watch out for my next post, entitled: Thomas Paine Loved Estate Taxes and Welfare.

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Comments (9)

Mike Carlier
Lakeville, MN
More opinions than you want to hear about.

I vote for the Forefather Buffet.  If we had everything the foreguys wanted, I would be ineligible to vote.  They only wanted white, male, protestant (most but not all dienominations), landowners to vote.  You gotta hand it to them though, most of them treated their slaves OK.

There are a lot of good people in politics, sort of.  None are officeholders or serious wannabe's.  Lunatics come in all political parties and philosophies.  I'm proud to be a Teapublicrat, whatever that is...

May 18, 2011 01:22 PM
Ron Brown NMLS #270845
NMLS ID: 40831 - Federal Way, WA

I would rather support someone whom I disagree with, but believe is honest to themselves, and their values than someone who panders to the mood of the public.  Unfortunately, I have yet to see anyone who I trust to stand for their beliefs in the face of pressure from Bankers, and Wall Street.

Our Founding Father's had some very vocal disagreements, but they were able to hammer out a consensus that laid the groundwork for a great nation.  It is disappointing that the voting public does not have the time, or energy to embrace the responsibilities implicit to the rights we have been given.

May 18, 2011 01:35 PM
Dan Sanley
La Mesa, CA

Mr. George, I enjoy reading your posts.  Keep them coming.  You hit on so many truths, which is a remarkable gift.  The reason others may not do it as well as you is because they are blinded by their ideologies.  Their "beliefs" must be defended without compromise.  It is nice to have convictions and see people stand up for those convictions, but it is also even more admirable for those same people to admit when something is true or reasonable even if may conflict with their feelings of having to defend a "cause" no matter what.  It is always possible that truth and facts trump our own beliefs.  The honorable thing is to admit it, adjust, then be a better person for it. 

Our forefathers were an admirable group, so let's admire them and not those who try to endear themselves to us by placing themselves in those same shoes.

May 18, 2011 02:18 PM
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro

Michael, I have been involved with the tea party movement and for the most part it gets a bad rap. She is an example of most of the people I have seen in the movement. To be honest it is not a Republican movement; we are pretty upset with them too.

May 18, 2011 04:43 PM
Mike Saunders
Retired - Athens, GA

Michael - first, Thomas Jefferson was a Theist, as opposed to an atheist. One of his final letters stated “Few words will be necessary, with good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered, be the portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard. Farewell.”

But, back to your question, the sausage makers were not the founding fathers. I am for minimalist government. Yes, there should be some rules. Do we need an FDA? I would say no. But do we need regulations regarding food safety - to an extent yes. We don't need whole departments caught up with bureacracy. A prime example of that is the department of education. Since its inception, $trillions have been spent on federal programs and regulations and the result has been a decline in the level of learning in government schools. We spend more, but the rest of the world is passing our students by. So yeah, let ZBB the whole presidential cabinet and start from scratch with justifying their existence.

As for lying about history, I see liberal politicians, liberal talk show hosts, etc. blatantly rewrite history. Folks like Pelosi, Frank, etc. even rewrite it about themselves. And yes, I have seen some conservatives get it wrong. (BTW, I am neither conservative nor republican, but libertarian which is quite different).

May 19, 2011 02:06 AM
Dan Sanley
La Mesa, CA

Everyone has their own definition of just who the founding fathers were.  Many only relate to those who signed the Constitution of the U.S., which were 39 persons out of a total of 55 delegates.  Others expand their definition to the signers of the Declaration of Independence - 56 persons, and a few the signers of the Articles of Confederation - 48 persons.   All of these people can be called Christians and there were no atheists in any of these groups.  However Jefferson and Franklin would later be defined as Deists.  Jefferson is currently being written out of our history books thanks to the Texas School Board not as much for being a "questionable" Christian but because he coined the phrase "Separation of Church and State".  For the record, Michael did not say Jefferson was an atheist, but rather he is considered one by "Christian Standards".

So to get back to the point of this post, I think the question is to what do people mean when they say they want to get back to the values of the founding fathers.   Here is what I think they are saying:  "All the founding fathers were Christian, except for Jefferson, and we are taking care of that problem.  Our country would be better off if we just get back to the traditional Christian values."  I am not saying I agree or disagree, but rather giving you my guess as to the answer to your question, Michael.

May 21, 2011 01:18 AM
SarahGray Lamm
Allen Tate Realtors Chapel Hill, NC 919-819-8199 - Chapel Hill, NC
Realtor - 100K Hours of NC Real Estate Experience

Hi Michael! I'm not too into commenting on political posts but hadn't stopped by in a while and wanted to say hi! I heard an interesting word the other day that relates to what you are saying..."presentism". It refers to citing history as if it directly proves ones opinion about something taking place in the present instead of viewing the historical situation through a lens informed by knowledge of the times in which the history took place. Sadly, it isn't just one side of the political divide that endulges in it! Hope you are well!

Jun 21, 2011 08:27 AM
Dale Terry
Yadkinville, NC

If staying with my values means that the FDA, USDA, and Medicare go by the wayside, I say yes.  We have plenty of examples where this organizations do not do what is expected by the people, that they play politics and in the end, they no longer represent those they say they do, but the special interests that keep them tame. 

Jun 23, 2011 01:08 PM
Anonymous
Beth Harper

Great post. Glad I found it.

Yes, very few tea-baggers have any idea what they are talking about. It is evidenced in their constantly misspelled signs and their lack of knowledge in all things historical.

Silly tea-baggers!

Sep 25, 2011 12:30 PM
#9