Category — General Thoughts

In this post, Michael Newton tries to restore precision to our language. The American experiment was conceived as a republic, not a democracy. Present day efforts to conflate the terms not withstanding, the Founders were wary of democracies and they had good reason.   Read the rest of this entry »

General Nathaniel Greene, like other patriots of the revolutionary period, saw beyond the current struggle to America's future in the world and understood how large the stakes really were. In his words, this nation, yet unborn, would be the safe haven of "freedom, truth and religion" for all mankind. His prescience was only exceeded by his courage.   Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston Tea party was more than a protest over taxes. Nor was it just a prank perpetuated by a few rowdies dressed as Native Americans. On December 16, 1773, as many as 7,000 people congregated around the Old South Meeting House. John Adams did not like mob action, but he wrote this about dumping the tea: "There is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots that I greatly admire."   Read the rest of this entry »

Letters from the past illuminate an event in maritime history. The stamp on the envelope is our excuse for sharing it with you.   Read the rest of this entry »

As readers of WWTFT know, Jon Bruning is the Attorney General for the state of Nebraska and recently announced his candidacy for the US Senate. He has also become a regular contributor at WWTFT. Given the recent ruling by Judge Vinson, we thought our readers might like to hear from Jon on the subject. With that in mind Jim and I asked him a few questions in a brief (but exclusive!) interview.   Read the rest of this entry »

In this article we attempt to pull out some things to think about from Federalist No. 15. We ponder whether Hamilton may have gone overboard in correcting some of the defects he identified in the Articles of Confederation. There are also some timeless observations on foreign policy.   Read the rest of this entry »

Do we have a government that still suits us as a people? Like it or not, our system was founded on a basic assumption that rights are given to us by a supreme God, to whom we are necessarily subordinate.   Read the rest of this entry »

George Washington proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving. This was an obvious and correct thing to do for our new government, a government which derived its legitimacy from the belief that God gave man unalienable rights.   Read the rest of this entry »

Preserving the sovereignty of "We the People" requires protecting dissent from the dictatorial yearnings of those who would suppress it to advance their own political agendas.   Read the rest of this entry »

" Those willing to give up liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both." Benjamin Franklin   Read the rest of this entry »