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Political Parties: Anticipating Their Demise
The Moderate Voice — ... That, in my estimation, would be a beautiful accomplishment because it would allow some of the purity of our competing branches of government to be restored, without the interloping and often corruptive influence of parties — a point on which we were long ago sermonized by none less than our first president, and more recently by former Republican Congressman ...

From Colony to Superpower: Part II
Lawyers, Guns and Money — ... with this quote, and highlights in in his introduction. Washington's Farewell Address is a remarkably important document for the study of American foreign policy, but discussion of it tends to focus on other elements, most notably Washington's injunctions against alliances and other entanglements with Europe. Unlike some such documents, the Farewell Address isn't a sphinx without a secret; it lays forth a relatively straightforward and coherent vision of what American foreign policy should look like. Fans of hegemonic and liberal internationalist approaches to American ...

Wingers In My History (Mount Vernon Edition)
Oliver Willis — ... But its not necessary to puff-up Washington! He clearly is a Colussus of history. His leadership on the battlefield and as president set the standard very high for our new country. His farewell address is masterful. America is America in large part due to George Washington. ...

Quote For The Day
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — ... So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification," - George Washington, cited by ...

Gaza Is the Future
Antiwar.com Original — ... , a camarilla of pro-Israel ideologues that has wreaked such havoc in eight years that it may take 800 more before we recover. A central pillar of neoconservative dogma is its passionate attachment – as George Washington would put it – to what it perceives as Israel's national interests. "A Clean Break" contains an undertone of hostility to the U.S., which is seen as being put in an impossible position of mediating between irreconcilable foes. U.S. "intervention" in internal Israeli affairs is subtly bemoaned, and this fits in nicely with the theme of economic independence ...

Bush to Deliver Farewell Address on Thursday
The Caucus — ... , participating in a series of media interviews meant to help shape his legacy. Mr. Bush, who is seeking air time from television networks for his speech, will deliver 10 to 15 minutes of remarks from the East Room of the White House, Ms. Perino said. She noted that the farewell address is a “ritual that dates back to George Washington.” The first president offered his parting words in writing .

Taxes, Virtue & Timothy Geithner
Southern Appeal — ... have to abandon the self-reporting system and adopt a more intrusive and less trusting collection method.  In this case, as in countless others, the success of limited government presumes a virtuous citizenry.  The decline of personal virtue almost inevitably results in the expansion of governmental power, since people turn to government to solve the social problems formerly taken care of by private, voluntary behavior or associations.  President Washington recognized this when he said , “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and ...

Ich bin kein Berliner?
Yourish.com — ... In XVII-XVIII centuries, the North American colonies participated in several European wars, spread to the New World – for the Palatinate, the Spanish and Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. France and Spain were allies of the young American republic in the War of Independence. Bidding farewell to the nation, George Washington commanded her to refrain from strong alliances with European powers. “Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?“, He asked rhetorically, “Why, by ...

The Documents That Bind Americans Together
Pajamas Media — ... nation into a thousand factions divided by race, creed, or religion. In order to recover the American culture we’ve allowed radicals to attack and disperse, we are going to have to return to the Founders and the papers they left us over two centuries ago. And we must do this understanding that while government cannot save us, the great ideals on which the government of the United States rests can unite us and bind us together again. President George Washington made this clear in his farewell address in 1796, when he spoke of the “unity of government which constitutes [us] one ...