
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply,... finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
George Washington in First Inaugural Address (30 April 1789)

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The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered ... deeply ... finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
quote by George Washington

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We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind of self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.
quote by James Madison

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Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.
quote by George Washington

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Model Citizen
Be an Arab
Be a Jew
Be a boxing
Kangaroo
Beat yourself
All black and blue
I don't care
Be a bleeder
Be a Cancer
A hemophiliac
Romancer
Be a crippled disco
Dancer
Oooh... What a pair
He's a model citizen
I think I've got them fooled them again
He's an ultra-sweety guy
And a master of disguise
He's a model citizen
Just keep believing that my friends
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm an all American!!!
I'm a hostage
In a city of creeps
They've got mercenary guards
That watch me sleep
They'd like to kill me slow
Bury me deep
In the heart of Texas
I'm a martyr
I'm a sadist
I might be the Saviour here to save us
I'm a friend of Sammy Davis, casually
He's a model citizen
I think I've got them fooled again
He's an ultra-sweety guy
I won't let down my disguise
He's a model citizen
Just keep believing that my friends
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm an all American
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm a model citizen
I'm an all American
song performed by by Alice Cooper

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Preservation
Once upon a time
In a faraway land
Lived a villain called flash
He was such a wicked man
He terrorized the people
He broke arms and crushed hands
He ruled with a fist and he purchased all the land
Then he plowed up the fields and cut down the trees
For property speculation
And he did it all for a pot of gold
And for his own preservation
The people were scared
They didnt know where to turn
They couldnt see any salvation
From the hoods and the spivs
And the crooked politicians
Who were cheating and lying to the nation
Save the fields and the trees
And give them back to the nation
Bring the government down
A new leader must be found
For the sake of preservation
He said he did it to help us all
And did it for the good of the nation
But he did it for a pot of gold
And for his own preservation
When money is evil
And power is corrupt
The devil moves in and takes over
Mr. flash broke his word
And now hes got to pay
For his crimes and his lies and his evil ways
And its gonna get rough
And its gonna get rough
Its a crime and a sin that no one can win
In a story of self preservation
song performed by by Kinks

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At the end of the day, I have one job requirement right now that's been given to me by the Republican Party and, I think, the American people, and that's to fire Nancy Pelosi.
quote by Michael Steele

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Mirrors Of Our Time
THE ECONOMY is a hose.
The Government collects water from the people
and pours it into the top of the hose
and gives it back to the people.
Near the top of the hose is a hole.
A lot of the water pours out of this into a tank
marked Government which is always empty.
The rest flows down towards the people.
It passes other holes marked
Government Agencies
Government buildings
Government contingencies
Government perks
There are also holes marked
Lawyers
Accountants
Criminals.
The Government is always trying
to stop these last three holes.
Finally what is left of the water
reaches people at the end of the hose.
The people fight over it
(it is never enough) .
When they get very thirsty they start
to throw stones at the government
and threaten to sack them.
The government then reluctantly
pours more water into the top of the hose
(which they get from the people) .
Finally when the people are very thirsty indeed,
under the leadership of the
Lawyers
Accountants
and other Criminals,
they attack the tank marked Government
and break it open.
It is always empty.
Then many of the people die
(except for the Lawyers, Accountants
and other Criminals.)
The survivors go off and look for a new well,
drink as much as they can
as quickly as they can
and wait for a new Government to find them.
poem by Brian Taylor

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But on the other hand government takes away a certain amount of liberty and in some countries it takes away all of liberty. And it will, everywhere, if people who fight government do not fight government any longer.
quote by William Kunstler

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The Transfiguration
When he rose to speak, I pitied him,
that tall, ungainly, man.
His speech was high pitched, regional,
but clear to understand.
An inner fire burned in him,
his spirit fairly glowed.
His eyes and voice enchanted us
despite his rustic clothes.
The constitution was his text;
By chapter verse and line
He taught us what the founders meant,
the thoughts that filled their minds.
He said a true Republican
would not bid slaves to rise.
John Brown was no Republican,
his actions were unwise.
He explained the Government
could forbid slavery's spread.
The Union is a sacred trust
and must be preserved, he said.
I felt my heart on fire
when I heard him speak tonight.
When I saw his homely features
Transfigured by the light.
This Lincoln must be reckoned with;
if the South misunderstands,
They'll be tears and lamentations
in many homes in Dixie Land.
poem by John F. McCullagh

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I protect my right to be a Catholic by preserving your right to believe as a Jew, a Protestant, or non-believer, or as anything else you choose. We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might some day force theirs on us. This freedom is the fundamental strength of our unique experiment in government. In the complex interplay of forces and considerations that go into the making of our laws and policies, its preservation must be a pervasive and dominant concern.
quote by Mario Cuomo

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These Criers Would Not Have Survived
My family and I grew up in Hartford's projects.
Built in the late 40's as an experiment.
Needless to say,
That experiment involved people of color.
And it wasn't considered assisted living.
The amenities I remembered receiving,
Were indignities spiced on a regular basis.
And I remember vividly who sacrificed!
And when I hear many people excuse their misdeeds,
On TV...
To exclaim painful childhood memories?
These criers would not have survived,
The host of obscenities that has motivated my life.
And when I think of people like these,
Of having no other priorities but their selfish whims...
I can understand why their realities,
For them seem to come to an end!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
quote by Thomas Jefferson

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When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for.
quote by John Milton

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Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
quote by Thomas Jefferson

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When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.
quote by Thomas Jefferson

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Our Destiny Is In Our Own Hands
Our destiny is in our own hands some have been known to say
But circumstance in all of that must have some part to play
If you are born on no hope street and homeless in your youth
To you our destiny is in our own hands does not have a ring of truth.
Our destiny is in our own hands to some may well apply
It may apply to you and he and her as well as I
But not of course to everyone each day thousands of hunger die
Our destiny is in our own hands to the millions is a lie.
The innocents who die in war and acts of terrorism did not create their destiny
They would not wish it on themselves for to die so tragically
Their destiny was in others hands which often is the case
They just happened at the wrong time for to be in the wrong place.
That our destiny is in our own hands apply to some maybe
But ninety nine per cent of street kids will die in poverty
Due to their circumstances of birth they are condemned to fail
And some of them die of drug overdoses and some of them die in jail.
poem by Francis Duggan

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The unhappy legacies of authoritarianism can be removed only if the concept of absolute power as the basis of government is replaced by the concept of confidence as the mainspring of political authority: the confidence of the people in their right and ability to decide the destiny of their nation, mutual confidence between the people and their leaders and, most important of all, confidence in the principles of justice, liberty and human rights.
quote by Aung San Suu Kyi

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Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...
Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence

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Nothing is worse, or more of a breach of the social contract between citizen and state, than for government officials, bureaucrats and agencies to waste the money entrusted to them by the people they serve.
If you like small government you need to work hard at having a strong national defense that is not so militant. Personal liberty is the purpose of government, to protect liberty - not to run your personal life, not to run the economy, and not to pretend that we can tell the world how they ought to live.