"Should, hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted by the supineness or venality of their constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to show, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no Wall of words, that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other."
by:
George Washington
(1732-1799) Founding Father, 1st US President, 'Father of the Country'
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WOW ! ! ! That I could here comment with stars an innumerable times.
 -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    My Bible was just put online, these words are in our hearts.
     -- Kimo, USA     
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    All especially excellent quotations today! You'd think G.W. was a fly on the wall in D.C. today.
     -- Byron, Fort Collins     
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     -- Margie, Niles, MI      
    My favorite Quote by Washington: "Government is not reason, it is not elequonce, it is force, and like fire, it is a dangerous servent and a fearful master." Another great saying by I forgot who is this. "No man's life , liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session". To prove both of these quotes just look at the goings on in Washington nowadays.
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
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    What an honor and a blessing for America to have had George Washington. I am ever amazed at his wisdom and eloquence. When was the last time such integrity occupied the highest offices of government?
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    JFK was the only US president comparable to GW. He appeared when our government had become so corrupt that it simply could not permit him to continue to exist. Jesse Ventura said "The only avenue still open to us is to never vote for a member of either party in the US." My own approach, much similar to Ventura's, is to never vote at all until the Senate AND the President are eliminated from our government as simply non representative of and non responsible to the people. I would have been among many friends at the first constitutional convention but that was a long and warring time ago
     -- Blue, Valencia,CA     
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    " Liberty is the hardest test one can inflict on a people. To know how to be free is not given equally to all men and all nations." Paul Valery.

     -- Ronw13, OR     
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    He knew human nature, from his interactions and life and from his study and knowledge of history. And human nature, for all our "progress", has not matured beyond being itself--greedy and self interested.
     -- empty pockets, NO, La     
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    While he accurately predicted the political situation in Washington D.C. (how ironic that cesspool of self -importance and arrogance bears his name) , GW would still be shocked at the level to which the treachery of the Clintons has risen.

    And not just the Clintons. The importation of an alien voting class to financially enslave taxpaying productive Americans, was evil genius, though not as cruel as the imposition of the minimum wage.

    In 1909, a group of firemen working for the railroad were afraid that black men would be hired to take their jobs or work with them. Blacks were anxious to get into the workforce and had to work for a fraction of what whites got for the same work. They came up with the idea of a floor for wages, set higher than blacks could aspire to earn, and the Georgia legislature passed it into law.

    That is how the first underclass was created, though not for the purpose of voting. Many of this class were discouraged or prevented from voting. Fast forward to the 1960's...LBJ and the Democrats figure how to snooker them with more and more goodies - adding to Welfare with food stamps, section 8 housing and Medicaid.

    Now they have the blue print for power and somewhere in the 1970's they realized that with the Civil Rights laws, some of the underclass was escaping. Once independent of government largesse, now a part of the middle class being taxed to financially underwrite the underclass, it was only a matter of time until this reliable voting bloc dissipated. Enter Cesar Chavez and the illegals.

    By the 1980s there are three fallacies that have insinuated themselves into American life -
    1. The Minimum Wage is a "living wage"
    2. America has an obligation to take every member of every huddled mass yearning to breathe free.
    3. Congress has the right to redistribute the wealth of its constituents on whatever object of benevolence they deem fit.

    And that is how a great republic begins the road to ruin.

     -- Henry Rearden, Burr Ridge Illinois     
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    The viability and vitality of the Constitution are entirely predicated upon the Virtue, as it manifests its ennobling presence in their morality, of We the People.
     -- Patrick Henry, Red Hill     
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    Wow! that was quite a statement - good for you George...
     -- Robert, Somewhere in the US     
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    More proof our founders wisdom on human nature was unparalleled.
     -- Tony, Silver Spring, Md     
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    Someday an educated individual with gain control of our practices and repair them.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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    Correction: Someday an educated individual will gain control of our practices and repair them.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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    Sillik, I laugh almost uncontrollably, while shaking my lowered head. Educated? Of course you've learned to do the Marxist thing when ask a specific question; dodge the question completely and give some off topic frivolous word salad. Educated by whom? / where? By what measure is the "educated" acknowledged? Again, "educated"?
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    Mike Norwalk: I'm sorry Mike, but President Washington, correct me if I'm not getting the message correctly, doesn't seem to be leaving us with too much faith or inspiration in our abilities to succeed.  I'm saying we will find the path and direction to succeed through the process of education. 

     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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