Forgive me, I'm just going to paste this here. It makes the necessary point about potential rebellion so I see no reason in repeating it on my own...
Third Party & Independents: Ignorant Blood Will Water The Tree Of Liberty
Quote:
Ignorant Blood Will Water The Tree Of Liberty
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to William Smith in 1787 regarding a rebellion led by a farmer named Shays. In dismissing the motives of the rebels as “founded in ignorance, not wickedness” he admits the “people cannot be all, & always well informed” and this must be remedied by setting “them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them.” Jefferson then shrugs off the deaths of a few rebels with a now famous quote.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.”
If you read Jefferson’s letter yourself, you too will come away with an entirely different impression of the meaning of the famous quote above. You may want to read the full letter to grasp how unimportant this farmer’s rebellion was in the eyes of Jefferson. This wasn’t an impassioned plea, but merely an aside in a missive he admits was “in want of facts worth communicating” and ended with him joking that we “must be contented to amuse, when we cannot inform.”
Some will find parts of this letter to be amazingly predictive of our country’s current situation, such as “The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive.” Eerie, isn’t it. Others will at least have to admit that Jefferson’s reference to those watering the tree of liberty was not as flattering as they thought. It sounds like he really knew the American people well, but it’s a little surprising that this rich globetrotting slave owning/loving revolutionary celebrity of a founding father expressed the same sentiment as someone like Bill Maher. This letter is Jefferson saying the American people are capable of intense stupidity, but that’s better than complete political apathy, of which we are equally capable.
It’s worth noting the US electorate previously suffered accusations of such apathy until now when we find ourselves at the other end of the spectrum with AR-15s slung outside presidential events. I guess the point of this post is aimed at them. People who understand what Timothy McVeigh did and think it was just great. He had that “Tree of Liberty” shirt on when arrested and the strength he ignorantly drew from those words only warped him further along a massively destructive path. I think it should be understood by all that the gun totting “Patriots” we see on the news today are on the same path. Some are dilettantes displaying unrest for the first time in their lives, but others imagine themselves hardcore revolutionaries surmounting the biggest challenge in American history. Taking their country back from the dangerously liberal multi-ethnic city dwellers seems like the only choice to such diehards and the most psychotic extremists of them all will set their crosshairs on the first black US president. It’s starting to sound like Jefferson couldn’t have been more correct.
The only problem these assault rifle gripping camo-clad avengers will face is the second amendment itself. I believe in the second amendment and respect anybody else who does as well, but most responsible gun owners like me would agree that taking a loaded fire arm to a presidential event along with a sign calling for cyclical bloodshed in the name of a misquoted founding father is incredibly unpatriotic & irresponsible. The problem starts with all of us responsible gun owners who aren’t comfortable with these impressionable misinformed violence seekers showing off their shiny egos around our President. Their problems begin when they start their “rebellion” and realize they’re not the only Americans with guns.
|
This comment on that page is also a worthwhile point:
Quote:
Thanks. It’s also worth noting that the constitution these people are so fanatical about came AFTER Jefferson’s letter. A fear of ignorant misguided rebellions such as Shays’ brought us away from the state dominated Articles of Confederation towards a centralized federal government and today’s constitution.
They know not of what they speak.
|