Where was I? ...Oldsmoblogger's brilliant post on libertarianism vs. republicanism.
Two paras stand out to me as points that should be more widely disseminated and understood:
...[S]omeone is likely to mention that Adams himself signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which violated the very natural rights he previously extolled. I would say in reply that it isn't that the Founders weren't republican, it's that they weren't infallible. As I've said previously in this space, they got it as close to right as any collection of flawed and fallen human beings have ever done, but neither they nor that which they created is without blemish.
...
I assert that the Founders did not intend the several states to be able to abrogate the natural rights of individuals willy-nilly. If they did intend such, they were wrong. This is why originalism has evolved to original public meaning rather than the original intent of the Founders, that we may have government restrained by a written Constitution, rather than being forced to submit to rule by the dead.
It's an RWTW post. It looks like I agree with every word. [Particularly his use of Dut-d-da-DAH! Word of the Day! Risible: adj.
1. Relating to laughter or used in eliciting laughter.
2. Eliciting laughter; ludicrous.
3. Capable of laughing or inclined to laugh.]
Why do I express any doubt about that? My tendency to be agreeable gets out of hand a lot.
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