I have no doubt that the nation has suffered more from undue secrecy than from undue disclosure. The government takes good care of itself.
Daniel SchorrTag: politics secrecy government disclosure open-government
I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, that two become a lawfirm, and that three or more become a congress. -John Adams
Sherman EdwardsTag: government congress inefficiency
In lieu of those checks and balances central to our legal system,
non-citizens face an executive that is now investigator, prosecutor,
judge, jury and jailer or executioner. In an Orwellian twist, Bush's
order calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.
Tag: politics immigration government bush illegal-immigration
One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.
Thomas PaineTag: wit government common-sense monarchy
You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
Mario CuomoTag: politics poetry government prose campaigning
I hope that we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
Thomas JeffersonTag: government corporations founding-fathers
The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.
Stanley MilgramTag: society ethics state responsibility government authority obedience
Struggles to coerce uniformity of sentiment in support of some end thought essential to their time and country have been waged by many good as well as by evil men. Nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon but at other times and places the ends have been racial or territorial security, support of a dynasty or regime, and particular plans for saving souls. As first and moderate methods to attain unity have failed, those bent on its accomplishment must resort to an ever-increasing severity. . . . Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.
It seems trite but necessary to say that the First Amendment to our Constitution was designed to avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings. There is no mysticism in the American concept of the State or of the nature or origin of its authority. We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.
Tag: freedom nationalism democracy america united-states usa dissent government first-amendment thoughts united-states-of-america barnette supreme-court unanimity us
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
Carl SaganTag: power history society capitalism oppression corruption government rationalization aristocracy
Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.
Herbert MarcuseTag: freedom elections government domination radicalism representative-democracy subjugation
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