"We used to be a free people. Now we are hedged in by millions of laws. Harassed by a plague of opportunistic lawyers. Harmed by regulations meant for our protection. Unnecessarily taxed to pay for a suffocating bureaucracy. Drowning in petty paperwork. Stifled by “rights” that rarely benefit anyone."
by:
Joan Beck
Columnist
Source:
Houston Chronicle, February 6, 1995
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Reader comments about this quote:
Amen. Americans have been asleep for too long. It took our current Narcissist-in-Chief to fully wake me up but, as Walter Williams says in his YouTube interview with ReasonTV, entitled, "Walter Williams: Up From the Projects", "...is (the Tea Party, etc.) enough? Or, is it too late? I'm not sure." We are staring at the bureaucratic hell described by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters.
 -- Byron, Fort Collins, CO     
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    Byron, I like the Screwtape Letters reference. My reference to the loss of freedom, liberty, true law recognition, justice, and inalienable rights by the minimal list of compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, and larceny with impunity is really a scratch on the surface of the harassing plague and suffocating bureaucracy.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    I think that she is exactly right. Only a couple of "progressives" like Waffler and Anonymous could disagree with this quote.
     -- jim k, Austin,Tx     
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    With an entrenched, unionized bureacracy in place, we are no longer "The Land of the Free". No one has any rights any more...none.
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
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    ON THE MARK.
     -- RICHARD PATE, NICEVILLE, FLORIDA     
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    WE ARE NOT ALL ASLEEP. The question is... "Is there anything we can really do to stop this madness?"
     -- Richard Pate, Niceville, Florida     
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     -- dick, fort worth      
    She is full of it. We are now freer than ever but amazingly still becoming even more free. Don't you know that "we" have recaptured or regained millions of acres of south Florida swamp land and are returning it to the free and flowing everglades. "We" have regained it from the so called "free" individuals who were intent on destroying it for personal gain. This is just one example of our increasing freedom. Need I go on. Life is much about attitude and outlook. I am sorry for Ms. Beck and her lousy attitude and outlook.
     -- Waffler, Smith     
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    Waffler and Dick...the two guys in the balcony in Sesame Street. :) What planet are you two socialists from anyway? And is everyone from your planet completely blind?
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
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    Yes, you can support the Constitutional Sheriffs Convention that is being organized by Sherif Richard Mack (who sued the Federal Government over the Brady Bill and the 10th Amentment and won in the Supreme court). He is teaching the Sheriff's the US Constitution and why they gave an Oath of Office. This is a perfect place to start, with your county sheriff...because that is who can tell the feds they are over-stepping their bounds. email: sheriffmack@hotmail.com phone: 928.432.3511 P.O. Box 971 Pima, AZ 85543 Get on board, this must be a short trainride.
     -- Abigail     
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    And soon it will nearly be impossible to leave the USA - they are already making difficult for new passport ownership............ It's amazing, you think you are free - that's exactly what they want you to think - you have just bought into their game hook line and sinker....
     -- Anonymous     
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    And from 1995 to now 2011 it has only gotten worse. The end will seem to only come in death.
     -- anonymous, USA     
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    Very true. Abigail has it right -- the sheriff is the highest official of the law in a county. In the true republican model of government, the sheriff is the first protector of the rights of the people in his/her county.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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     -- Warren, Cook ne      
    "We used to be a free people. Now we are hedged by": carnal gods calling themselves "law makers" / "law enforcers", carnal gods executing absolutely corrupt / lawless courts and carnal gods flagrantly enforcing despotism / tyranny / despotic destruction. Exponentially, inalienable rights and liberty are in the extreme, waning. 
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    me again...sadly it is getting worse than it was in 2011...the Chinese are sending people in thru the Panama Canal...and of course all will be allowed to stay...its the new un
    american way.

     -- Abigail     
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    We have progressed in the realm of freedom, due to more effective leadership. We don't have millions of laws, just millions of mentality ill citizens of whom we must deal. Improve your mental health and you will improve your freedom. Treat all relationships with honesty and fairness. This procedure will make you mentally healthy.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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