A Long Time Ago in Boston: Part III
George F. Smith
2003-12-10 17:00
The thrill of governing Boston was wearing on Thomas Hutchinson. Adams had been right, he concluded; two regiments had been enough to provoke Boston but not enough to control it. Hutchinson wrote to Lord Hillsborough that the town needed a heavy dose of military rule and someone more influential than he to run it. Boston, he thought, was as mad now as it was when it hanged Quakers and witches...
A Long Time Ago in Boston: Part II
George F. Smith
2003-12-09 17:00
In response to his articles and his public harangues, James Otis' enemies began penning essays accusing him of being a chameleon who championed man's rights while professing loyalty to the king. They also accused him of being a hot-tempered bully who would try to knock down any man who disagreed with him.
A Long Time Ago in Boston: Part I
George F. Smith
2003-12-08 17:00
It's hard to imagine the United States existing without James Otis and Samuel Adams. It was Otis, in fact, who got the Revolution underway in a marathon courtroom speech in 1761. But it was Adams who carried his contemporaries home, the man perfectly suited to lead a revolt. The fiery Otis wavered in his convictions and eventually deteriorated mentally so much he was retired to a farm...
States Watch Prosperity as Their Prey
George F. Smith
2003-11-05 17:00
"Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. [Government] watches prosperity as its prey, and permits none to escape without a tribute." ~ Thomas Paine, Rights of Man State governments, searching desperately for more pockets to pick because of 'revenue shortfalls,' are casting a predatory eye at the internet. Not e-commerce...
A Firebrand Scorches Colonial Virginia
George F. Smith
2003-10-29 17:00
Our founders often spoke in political extremes. They outraged the privileged and became the voice for the people. Their well-bred opponents cried 'treason!' at their words, sending their popularity soaring. They even had the audacity to call themselves 'patriots.' The man of 'Give me liberty or give me death!' fame was once lost among the obscure. Like Thomas Paine and...
The Roots of Thomas Paine's Radicalism
George F. Smith
2003-10-27 17:00
Before the publication of Common Sense on January 10, 1776, many colonists regarded the king as above public reproach, even after he removed the colonies from England's protection by declaring them in a state of revolt. The fighting with Britain had been widely seen as a family quarrel, and it's doubtful we would have declared our independence as soon as we did ' if at all. But Paine's pamphlet...
Spitting on Our Founders' Graves
George F. Smith
2003-09-11 16:00
In her article, 'Spitting on their graves,' Michelle Malkin tells us how politicians and their friends will be at their hypocritical best on Sept. 11. [1] Although she fails to mention the media's role as accomplices, she sketches the melodrama of promises and patriotism we can expect to see on the day 'The Nation Remembers,' as Fox News might label it. But then, she asks,...
History Remembered
George F. Smith
2003-09-03 16:00
With the church ' state issue making headlines again, I wasn't surprised to receive an essay from a friend reminding me of the nation's Christian roots. The anonymous composition, History Forgotten, resides on dozens of web sites and is hitting the inboxes of concerned Christians. [1] It says that without Christianity there would be no America, and revisionists are to blame for hiding this fact.
Hannity Picks on a Real Fighter
George F. Smith
2003-08-21 16:00
'Pay up! Why don't you pay up?' the Republican half of Hannity & Colmes barked at his guest, Verny Kuglin. He turned to her attorney, Larry Becraft. 'Why don't you make her pay up?' [1] Hannity was agitated. This uppity lady, 58, who's been a FedEx pilot for almost 18 years, had dared to ask the IRS what law required her to pay the personal income tax. She had written...
The Day Liberty Rose From a Long Slumber
George F. Smith
2003-08-13 16:00
Americans once defended their liberties with acts of violence directed at the offending source, the British government. The Crown got a strong dose of it on the fourteenth of August, 1765. A Boston mob took to the streets that day to protest the coming Stamp Act, which would force colonists to pay taxes on most legal and commercial transactions. Britain claimed it needed...
Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax
George F. Smith
2003-08-06 16:00
James Madison reminds us in Federalist No. 10 that natural differences in people lead to differences in the kinds and amount of property they will acquire. These differences create factions, presenting a challenge to a government founded on liberty. A strong faction could overpower a pure democracy. But a republic, in which representatives of the people serve as caretakers of their rights,...
Thomas Paine on War and Taxes
George F. Smith
2003-07-02 16:00
On January 10, 1776 Thomas Paine published Common Sense, the pamphlet that turned a revolt into a revolution. Only six months later the Virginia delegation to the Continental Congress proposed that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states -- an idea that had only a few quiet advocates before Paine spoke out. Common Sense earned Paine a worldwide...
If This Be Treason...'
George F. Smith
2003-06-25 16:00
After England announced its infamous Stamp Tax in 1765, most Americans seethed quietly and waited for the inevitable, much like taxpayers today would react. But rebellious Britons had overcome a similar oppression two years earlier, and it served as an inspiration. A permanent standing army In 1763, following England's victory in the French...
A Guru's Advice to a Presidential Hopeful
George F. Smith
2003-06-09 16:00
So, you want to run for president of the United States. Good for you. As your political guru, I need to cover a few things with you. First, you're a multimillionaire, right? You're a billionaire? That's even better. And of course you're either a Republican or Democrat. You haven't decided yet? Let me suggest flipping a coin. Your strategy during the campaign is to smile...
Thomas Paine, Revolutionary
George F. Smith
2003-05-19 16:00
In the summer of 1774, Thomas Paine arrived in London out of work and out of sorts. Recently dismissed as an officer in the excise tax corps, Paine had petitioned Parliament the previous winter hoping to secure a wage increase for himself and his fellow excisemen. The stuffed shirts ignored him. When he returned to his home town of Lewes , his supervisor, wishing to get rid of a troublemaker,...
What Killed the Four Horsemen?
George F. Smith
2003-02-24 17:00
Once upon a time, in the first half of the 1800s, we had something called a free economy. It was not fully free, only nearly so. But freedom brings little glory to the politicians, so they decided to get more involved. In return for favors, they gave taxpayer loot to their friends to build railroads. During the latter part of the 19th century, the economy thrived but so did corruption. The...
Schools Get Dunce for Self-Esteem
George F. Smith
2003-02-10 17:00
Last year a California school banned the game of tag because it created a self-esteem issue. Someone had to be "it," and that someone was a victim. Schools might not teach anything and students might not have any fun, but no one would get their feelings hurt -- assuming we rule out all the disappointed kids willing to risk it and play the game anyway. A junior high school...
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