Ben Franklin on Liberty vs. Safety

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

These words are just as true now as they were 237 years ago. Maybe more so.

For those "strict constructionists" out there who think that the ideals of our founding fathers are written in stone and not subject to "interpretation"...

I wonder what our founding fathers would think of Homeland Security, the "Terrorist Surveilance Program", the NSA, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and the "War On Terror."

Is our "safety" worth giving up who we are if it means becoming just like them?

There were some who wanted to anoint George Washington as "King". He refused because he knew that it would only replace one dictatorship for another.

There are lessons to be learned from history. If you bother to learn history.