Today would be President James Madison's 257th birthday. I visited his estate at Montpelier today to pay a few hours respect to the man and the mind that arguably did more than any other to shape our republic. His home is currently undergoing a dramatic renovation, for more on that click here. If you can find the time, take a few minutes and read about the father of our constitution, the draftsman of much of the Bill of Rights, an author of the federalist papers, a Congressman, a Secretary of State, our Fourth President, -- the Sage of Montpelier.
If you have time to read just one work of Mr. Madison, read The Federalist No. 10.
If you have time to read just one work of Mr. Madison, read The Federalist No. 10.
Ah, Federalist #10. It's a damn shame that our present political system has circumvented the happy situation described in it. Two factions are far, far too few to effectively counteract each other and prevent the kind of coercive abuses that Madison was seeking to prevent.
Damn shame. It's to the point now where small units may be best, since their abilities to oppress are limited geographically. Better small places from which one can escape than a monolithic, three million square mile prison incarcerating us "for our own good."
We just passed 1% of our population being behind bars.
Tom