Points to Ponder:
(From Benjamin Franklin)

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security.

As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.

The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Three bits briefly before calling it a night...

--Having tired recently of seeing that stupid "cost of the war in Iraq" price ticker, I am curious to know if any readers of this weblog know where there may be a ticker tallying the cost of the war on poverty. I know it is around seven trillion which dwarfs any cost to the war in Iraq and would like to have a copy of it to put in the side margin of this weblog.

--Apparently a previously posted assumption about audioblogger not having access to previously recorded audioposts was quite possibly wrong. I was unable to make them work for some time but the other day, they worked. So I am not sure if I was mistaken or if it was the technology of the computers I tried them on previously as to what the problem was. Either way, I will assume the worst and make a mea culpa here on the matter.

--I have on the drafting table and about seventy percent done a review of the Bush Administration through the first half of 2007. It should be completed and ready for posting if not this weekend than sometime next week.

What the president ought to have done yesterday (Greg Krehbiel)

I cannot say I disagree with Greg's analysis in the above thread.

Points to Ponder:
(On Conscientious Objectors)

I have no quarrel with men who absent themselves from war, or combat in war, due to reasons of conscience clearly stated so long as they take their lumps in the public arena. That is crucial, for an individual conscience is worthy of respect only to the extent it's honestly directed at the right ordering of society. The acid test of that direction is a man's willingness to suffer at the hands of the community whose right ordering he supposedly desires. Christ took that test, and passed it, not least because He wanted to show us how necessary and expensive a conscience can be. So we should judge Eugene Debs an honorable man, whether or not we think he was right to oppose World War I, because Debs went to jail for opposing it. [Ian Mclean (circa April 26, 2006)]

Amnesty’s Fall (National Catholic Register)

I have taken a mixed view of Amnesty International over the years -mainly because it so often comes across as wanting to focus its blame for "human rights violations" on the countries with better overall human rights records and ignore or downplay the actions of the most blatant offenders.{1} This kind of hypocrisy does not sit well with me but recently AI went beyond even this degree of hypocrisy and has moved to endorsing the taking of life: a blatant contradiction of their stated aim.

At least previously, one could point to the mission statement of sorts from AI and note where they were being inconsistent and chalk it up to them simply falling short of their stated intentions. But they have now endorsed murder{2} so they cannot be taken even remotely seriously anymore.

Those who have invested their time and efforts in promoting AI lo these many years now have to wipe a good chunk of egg off of their faces. And while I have not given them much thought of a positive nature over the years, they have now insured that I will think of them only in a negative fashion until they come to see the error of their ways and the absurdity of claiming to speak out for "human rights" when they endorse a violation of one of the most fundamental rights imaginable: the right to life.

Notes:

{1} Or to reference Moynihan's Law codified by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan:

"The amount of violations of human rights in a country is always an inverse function of the amount of complaints about human rights violations heard from there. The greater the number of complaints being aired, the better protected are human rights in that country."

{2} I go over the issue of abortion most recently as it pertains to the fundamental rights of man in this weblog posting:

On Fundamental Rights, Common Law Principles, and Abortion (circa February 1, 2007)

I was going to write on the Founding Fathers and on Claude Frederic Bastiat but as it is, I was made aware of an article on the founders written by Rush Limbaugh. This is not the same Rush Limbaugh who has the radio show but is the latter's father. It is a marvelous speech which outlined just what sacrifices were made so that we could live in a free nation and can serve as a reminder for those who balk at the idea of real sacrifice in pursuit of one's principles -not the rabble of modern day pseudo-"peacemakers" who would trade liberty for the "security" of slavery.{1}

Oh and for those who want to play the "founding fathers were slave owners so nothing they did is worthy of admiration" card, I will link to something written on this weblog which outlines some of the intellectual and ethical bankruptcy of that view with an eye towards the realities of their time.{2} But without further ado, here is the thread on the Founding Fathers noted above followed by the thread by Dr. Walter E. Williams on Claude Frederic Bastiat which we have posted to this site before on more than one occasion. Enjoy them and from all of us here at Rerum Novarum, we wish you all a splendid Fourth of July!!!

The Americans who Risked Everything (By Rush H. Limbaugh Jr.; Foreword and Epilogue by Rush H. Limbaugh III)

Liberty's Greatest Advocate (Walter E. Williams)

Notes:

{1} A subject we have discussed before on this weblog both briefly as well as at some length.

{2} On Slavery and the Founding Fathers of America (circa April 17, 2007)