The "pursuit of happiness" might be part of Americans' birthright, but John MCain sure doesn't seem to think much of it:
Should we claim our rights and leave to others the duty to the ideals that protect them, whatever we gain for ourselves will be of little lasting value. It will build no monuments to virtue, claim no honored place in the memory of posterity, offer no worthy summons to the world. Success, wealth and celebrity gained and kept for private interest is a small thing. It makes us comfortable, eases the material hardships our children will bear, purchases a fleeting regard for our lives, yet not the self-respect that, in the end, matters most. But sacrifice for a cause greater than yourself, and you invest your life with the eminence of that cause, your self-respect assured.
One side wants to do everything for me. The other wants me to sacrifice for everyone, which is the flip side of the same coin. Guess simply being left alone is completely out of the question.
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When old leaders start speaking about honor, monuments, and posterity, young men should run and hide.
Gone are the days when I can just mind my own business and expect the same from everyone else, ...
"Guess simply being left alone is completely out of the question."
Well.....
Justice Louis Brandeis would have said otherwise:
"The makers of the Constitution conferred the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by all civilized men
You know, that seems to be a pretty good constitution we have. Like new - never been used.
Maybe we should take it out for a test drive. You know, by requiring that Congress declare a war before we fight it, by requiring equal protection of the law, by requiring a search warrant be issued by a judge on presentment of evidence before wires are tapped, by not recognizing any church and giving them special tax treatment, etc.
Remember the good old days, when nobody hated us, because we were the guys wearing white hats?
Remember the days when the only ones being stopped when traveling, and asked for their papers, were Germans in black-and-white movies?
Remember when kids would go out hunting squirrel, jumping into the pickup at the last minute to head for school, and nobody thought twice about the fact that the kid had a rifle with him?