Political e-mails & the price of ignorance

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" Benjamin Franklin

The above picture is one of my very favorites. I made it with my cell phone camera sitting on the back deck of my brother's house. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day that included a special supper and playing with his three children. My brother is a special person. He is thoughtful and kind. We disagree on very few things, but politically we are polar opposites. He sent me a political e-mail today. He knows better, but he did it anyway. Both he and a brother-in-law that I love dearly, live under the mistaken assumption that they are going to "change" me, I think. I got a political e-mail last week that was a forward and incorrect. I went to snopes.com and there was the evidence; it was an e-mail that had been proven to be an out and out lie, but kept making the rounds thanks to the Republicans mouthpiece, Rush Limbaugh.

One of the quotes in the e-mail from my brother today included the following: "To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

I personally liked the quote and thought it was perfect in describing how I felt about the misuse of our tax dollars for the Iraq war. Of course, the Republican spin was all about how evil the stimulus plan is. Listen, the Republican party has been in power the last eight years and THEY are to blame for the financial mess we are now in the middle of. The "trickle down" theory didn't work, so Obama is in the position of straightening out their mess.

I would like to include an additional Thomas Jefferson quote: "I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others. "

In regard to the Benjamin Franklin quote, I personally believe our country lost a lot of our freedoms in the name of what Bush called national security. I could write volumes about the situation in Iraq and the world's view of the United States during the Bush presidency. Instead, I will leave all of you to interpret all three quotes as you see fit.