It was a typically raucous recent evening at the Kirby household, reading the light, frothy and "seditious" Federalist Papers . In the very first essay, written by Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, I came across this sublimely sonorous axiom: "For in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution."
Two-hundred-twenty years after that fecund giant wrote this particularly pithy passage, its incredible power naturally suddenly got me thinking about the direction I lean politically -- along with my idea of a good president, or leader in general.
Everyone has their own peculiar notion of a decent president. Some people like presidents who lower taxes and run up the largest federal budget deficit in history. Others confide all their trust in a president who holds human beings in prison indefinitely, without charge, torturing them in order to win, or keep the peace at any cost.
There also are those who truly adore a president who bugs his or her citizens' homes in the name of "freedom" without a warrant -- until it happens to them personally, of course. Then, strangely enough, it instantly becomes an unforgivable defamation of their sacred constitutional rights. Heh, imagine that.
I have one criterion for an OK president: Can I criticize him or her without being threatened with arrest; without brutality; without having an FBI van pull up outside my house; without being called unpatriotic, a traitor or a commie worm?
Most important of all, dearest to my heart: Can I disagree with presidential policies without alienating and losing friends in this lovely little place I've called home since 1977, since I was a toddler?
Hallelujah! I'm not going to have any of these multitudinous problems of the past eight years during the next four.
Nathan Kirby, Augusta
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Mr. Kirby, though a tad airy, you've written an exemplary communication, sir. Hopefully, when you are twice times 32, you will not have changed one whit. But, unfortunately, time has an erosive quality that grinds away at the innocence of youth. GGpap
hmm. any time I've criticized an administration (from clinton, bush to obama) I get flack from co-workers. "friends" and family. Heck even when I just try to open discourse on whats going on in Washington, Atlanta or "the marble palace" I get mean looks.
I guess mama was right when she said you shouldn't talk politics or religion in polite company.
hence the reason I come online!
Nathan Kirby, what a fine fool you are. A good Dem, though. Government school product? Who knew? I hope you don't vote. I do agree with your self evaluation, simple.
WOW. Is he being delusional or taking us for a fool?
shanglorious, yes.
Hey Nate, how are things in Dreamland? Let us all know when you get back to the real world. Oh, Joe Biden called. He said for you to be patriotic and pay more taxes!
PT, what an idiot you are. A good repub, though. Nazi school product? Who knew! I wish you had a brain, and most of all a heart. Then you could do an honest self-evaluation. You wouldn't like what you found.
Ha ha ha ,,,,,,funny GAC
lol @ gac
Dear Mr. Kiby, put down what ever mind altering substance you are ingesting, put down your copy the The Federalist Papers (so you will quit making strange inappropriate quotes to sonund smart), and read a newspaper or catch the news. President Obama as hypocrite in chief ran against Bush's "abuse of citizen's rights" then once elected fought to keep Bush's practices intact. Hypocrite in chief voted for FIZA that allows warrentless wire taps, supports Rendetion (so we don't have to get our hands dirty with enhanced interrogation techniques), the list is long Mr. Kirby. Obama is Carter two in foreign policy, Bush two in war on terrorism (sorry but a rose by any other name smells the same), and communist in wanting to control and take over private business!! Oh well may be you should keep hitting the bong, your fantasy may be better than reality as it is with many Democrates.....
FIZA? Is that the Foreign Intelligence Zurveillance Act?
Stop now. Do not respond harshly to gacopperhead. As we have seen many times in the past, your response will cause an endless number of posts in which he will tell you about his religious experiences and actually cry. Let it go. It is not worth the effort.
FIZA is indeed the Foreign Intelligence Zurveillance ACT, becuase we are not following Bush's policies and no longer have a war on terror so no need for forgeign surveillance we need foreign Zurveillance!!!
lol
Don't know what this guy is smoking but I don't know any civilian who was wiretapped and had a van sitting outside their house the last 8 years. Please site one example of an ordinary american citizen who's rights were abused by those policies. As for those imprisoned from Irag and Afganistan, they are there for reason. Perhaps you would prefer them to roam free to build roadside bombs or plot the next 911. Show me one of them that wasn't a threat and maybe they would get my sympathy. If it were my choice, I wouldn't twice about locking someone that was a threat to the security of the United States.
ask elliot I'm sure he can cite examples of conspiracies that only he and the CIA know about.
Gnip....are you talking about the same one's that put fluoride in your water to keep you docile? Or are you talking about the one's who were smart enough to orchestrate the 911 attacks so we can have an excuse to attack Iraq, but weren't smart enough to make any of the hijackers Iraqi?
Copperhead, PT is a capitalist. Nazis were, and I know this is going to kill you, Socialists....I.e. leftists. Socialism, Communism, and Fascism ALL reside on the leftist plane because they're all the antithesis to Capitalism.
That's the ones sis...wait maybe I should be typing this with my tinfoil hat on to escape the signals that the mind reading chip in my head is sending out. You know we all had one implanted at birth. That way they just pretend like they have to tap our phones...see they really don't have to...they can read our minds anyways....it also has built in GPS capability.
GnipGnop , you really need a faraday cage to live in, it protects my computer, electronics, and dog from the CIA's efforts to subvert me! Also helps keep the local Home Depot (lowes is in cahots with the CIA because Lowes has 5 letters as does Obama and the first letter of Obama's first letter follows Lowes first letter the math gets tricky after that but I am working on it, sorry for the digression), open since I am always going there to buy more copper wire..(I had to quit stealing it from the power company, they were noticing). The fight against these rays and transmissions is unending....but the cost of liberty is eternal paranoia!
An exemplary literary LTE. Unfortunately, it will be misunderstood by the many in the lovely CSRA who will read it. But I am going to start a big rumor. I hear that W and Cheyney will be coming to the Tea Party on Wednesday. They are going to float down the Savannah, and be given a heroes welcome in one of the few hotbeds of Republicanism that is still left (or is is right?) in this country. Maybe Glenn Beck from Faux Noise will be there too. If he can get all of the Tea Party attendees to cry then perhaps we can raise the level of the river. Man you just can't make this stuff up. The world is sometimes a real sad place, but you can always rely on the GOP to inject some slapstick humor into our daily lives. Keep up the good work.
Can we say pseudo intellectual? This letter reminds me of the writings of a friend in high school who kept her Thesaurus by her side and stuffed her papers with forced examples of alliteration. If she could find a big, rarely used word, she substituted it for the plain, simple and pointed word.
The concerns of the writer, about losing friends and getting into arguements, etc... Apparently he is a virgin to this Board, where if you don't agree with some people they resort to name calling, attacking your upbringing etc..
So Nathan, if you don't like deficit spending, what is your take on the $1.3 Trillion budget the Prez you like is proposing? Never mind, don't bother, you're drunk on Koolaid.
Mr. Kirby....very literary but your facts are all wrong. You speak of deficit spending, which no one liked, but fail to mention your new president has topped anything in history in the way of deficit spending in 60 days. I guess that does not bother your narrow visioned little Democrat mind. And there was no illegal bugging of American homes. They were monitoring cell phone signals for possible communications with terrorist cells overseas which may originate from the US. Found to be legal by the courts and yes, your new president is continuing this policy in case your haven't listened to the news lately. As for holding enemy combatants, I supported this policy and still do. They were shooting at our troops and I believe we should do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves and out soldiers. I have no problem with the detention policy and if they save one American life by water boarding or anything else, even better. At least we did not behead them which is what they would do to us if the situation was reversed. We are not fighting the gentlemen Luftwaffe of WWII here and our methods must match the methods of our enemy. Maybe we should have just killed them on the spot instead.
"Hallelujah! I'm not going to have any of these multitudinous problems of the past eight years during the next four. :...that is of course if you live under a rock........................seems like barry now really likes President Bush's wire tapping ideas and is now planning on continuing them....change?......no just coming to his senses and realizing President Bush was right all along.....hmmm imagine that.
http://www.galganov.com/editorials.asp?ID=1121 ... What I do not want in a president.
really?....lol how long did it take u to look up all the synonyms for the words u originally started with? wordy doesn't mean better Mr. Kirby. when ur speaking to the general masses who usually don't use such lingo u appear arrogant because they don't know wut the hell ur saying and would disregard u as such. and because ur wordy content isn't simple it negates the title u've chosen. u should have written in simple terms if that is truely the message u wanted to send.
He was writing under the influence............of Alexander Hamilton. LOL