Freedom and Politics – A Virtual Cornucopia of Knowledge and Insight

I exchanged emails this evening with a deep thinking, dedicated freedom fighter, Drew Jensen, who has assembled a vast array of documents and links on the subject of freedom and politics, on his aptly named website, “Freedom and Politics.”

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The statement included on the photo above is from Patrick Henry:

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, but for the people to restrain the government.”

There is no way I could read all the information Drew has assembled in an evening, or in a week, but I look forward to looking through his collection and highlighting content I think is particularly pertinent to discuss on this blog.

Thanks, Drew, for introducing yourself and for your dedication to the cause of freedom!

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Rediscovering George Washington

georgewashington I stumbled across a delightful website this morning, “Rediscovering George Washington.” This site accompanies a 90-minute high-definition PBS documentary that originally aired nationally on July 4, 2002.

The following paragraphs from this site attempt to describe the father of our country:

"If he had lived in the days of superstition, he had been worshipped as a god," said Benjamin Rush, of George Washington.

"He has so happy a faculty of appearing to accommodate and yet carrying his point," wrote Abigail Adams, "that if he was really not one of the best-intentioned men in the world, he might be a very dangerous one."

George Washington won an eight-and-a-half year war against the mightiest military power on earth; he presided over the Constitutional Convention; and he served as first President for eight years. At the end of every assignment, he returned his power to the system which had honored him. He embodied America’s principles, both by taking charge effectively in war and peace, and by stepping down when the time came. He was, as James Thomas Flexner called him, "the indispensable man."

The pre-eminent positions that he held, the unrivalled honors he received, can only hint at the greatness of Washington. They are rays cast by the light of his greatness itself, the qualities of mind and character that shone brilliantly in all these positions and fully deserved all these honors—and more. The three sections here introduce readers to Washington’s greatness, call attention to some of his most striking qualities of mind and character, and suggest the significance of this great man for our generation, and for every generation, of Americans.

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Jack Miller Center: Teaching Founding Principles

I stumbled across the website for the Jack Miller Center on Thanksgiving day.  I am impressed with the Center’s statement of objectives:

The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, a nonprofit, nonsectarian, nonpartisan, educational organization, works with educators in response to requests for resources to strengthen the teaching of America’s founding principles and history. …

The goal of the Miller Center is to ensure that students receive the best possible education and are prepared to be good stewards of our nation’s freedoms and the free institutions that protect all Americans’ liberties.

I am convinced that to the extent our children really understand the founding principles of our great country, they will be valiant champions of liberty.

ConSource: Constitutional Sources Project

The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource) was founded in 2005 to “facilitate research, increase understanding, and encourage discussion of the U.S. Constitution by creating and maintaining the first, free, fully-indexed, comprehensive online library of constitutional sources.”

The primary objective of this project is to:

“connect ‘We The People’ with the thoughts and ideas of the Framers. High-resolution original images give users the opportunity to see exactly what the readers of the late 1780’s saw. The advanced search capabilities of transcribed text, scholarly certification standards, and constitutional cross-referencing of each document ensure that everyone, from the sixth-grader to The Supreme Court Justice, has direct access to the ideas that helped forge a nation.”

The site includes a treasure trove of  source documents related to the Constitution.  For example, while browsing through the Federalist Papers, I found this bit of wisdom in The Federalist, No. II, written by John Jay, who became first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court:

“This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous and alien sovereignties.”

I hope that our study of the Constitution will strengthen our union and the freedoms we enjoy.

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How would you vote? Try GOVIT.com

GOVIT.com I recently found an interesting new non-partisan website “built by a regular citizen to help you interact with the government and each other.”  The GOVIT site allows you to:

  • Vote on congressional legislation
  • Join conversations regarding bills
  • Send your vote to your congressmen and senators
  • Compare your vote to your representatives and others

In just a matter of minutes, I was able to register a new account, update my profile, connect with my congressional delegation and send out a few invitations to try out the site.

I look forward to interacting with the site and using it to correspond with my elected representatives.

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