Howdy Folks!
I am fairly new to the OCDO forum. I came here because I learned a great deal about my right to open carry here in Colorado. I have met some terrific folks in the Colorado forum in person at an OC event in Colorado Springs. I learned that I could carry while on a trip through Nebraska. The information here is of terrific value, and newcomers have a wonderful resource for learning about OC, laws in various jurisdictions, and their rights under the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
That being said, I haven't been around long enough to 'judge' anybody else. I hope I never do arrive at a place where I feel justified to judge anybody else. That ain't my reason for being here. With that being said, I have no particular opinion regarding Eye95 or anybody else, for that matter.
What I do feel justified to 'judge' is the compliance of government to the intentions of our founding fathers and their expression through documents such as the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These men who gave us our own nation were revolutionaries. They were not the majority in their day. They saw abuses of power by the existing government (under a foreign king) and stood against it. In so doing, they put everything on the line for what they believed should be the nature of liberty and the rights of the citizen. They stated clearly enough with whom the power should reside with the words: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
More than lofty words, this statement made clear the people were the ultimate source of power for our new government. And the Constitution acknowledged that power could be usurped by ambitious men and provided for a resolution, Petition for Redress of Grievances as set forth in the first Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
This is important because we all speak of the Constitution while frequently forgetting the language crafted by our founding fathers and found in the Declaration of Indepdendence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
So I guess these men were not patriots, if we accept at face value that criticism of government or asserting the same ideas as set into our founding documents is unacceptable.
That being said, and a long way around the barn getting to my point, I do not judge anybody for their perspective on the status of our government. Do we see abuses of power. Yep! Do we see government catering more to special interests than the will of the people? You betcha! Do we see government usurping power to itself that should reside in the consent of the governed? Yes! But I haven't seen any calls for revolution around here. I haven't seen anybody advocating for violence against our government either. I have seen folks comment that such abuses as have been observed cannot long be tolerated, but that's a long way from claiming we need to man the barricades.
The moderators of this forum do a really fine job and allow a great deal of latitude for folks to air their opinion. Do I agree with every opinion on this forum? Nope. Not by a long shot. Some will judge another person by their political affiliation, whether they are an LEO or not, or other extraneous factor. I evaluate an opinion based on rationality of the post itself. Many will disagree, as is their right, with other posters. Fine and dandy. That's what liberty is all about. But that, too, is a far cry from a call for revolution. I have not seen any posts myself advocating violence against our government. If I have any gripe with Eye95, it would be that repeated calls for specific citings have gone ignored. I'd like to see specific examples for evaluation purposes. Thus far, none have been forthcoming. Only a general call for the moderators to do something about a situation that I haven't seen manifested.
So until there be a demonstrated and compelling reason to do differently, I applaud the moderators for the job they are doing (a thankless one at that) and encourage them to carry on as they have. Well done! To those who feel they are inadequate, their answer has always been freedom to leave the forum and create your own!
Thank you for reading this far, and I apologize in advance for some measure of verbosity. However, I wanted to cover my sentiment fully as we are heirs to more than simply what one finds in the Constitution. We need to value and appreciate all the implications of our founding father's experiment in liberty; and claim it in entirety for our own times.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin