History Forum / General / British History / November 2006

Paine is far too left-wing and has far too high a moral standard for
either of them.

From Tom Paine's letter to George Washington:

There was a time when the fame of America, moral and political, stood
fair and high in the world. The lustre of her Revolution extended itself
to every individual; and to be a citizen of America gave a title to
respect in Europe. Neither meanness nor ingratitude had been mingled in
the composition of her character.

I declare myself opposed to several matters in the Constitution,
particularly to the manner in which what is called the Executive is
formed, and to the long duration of the Senate; and if I live to return
to America, I will use all my endeavors to have them altered. ... I also
declare myself opposed to almost the whole of your administration; for I
know it to have been deceitful, if not perfidious, as I shall show in
the course of this letter.

Elevated to the chair of the Presidency, you assumed the merit of
everything to yourself, and the natural ingratitude of your constitution
began to appear. You commenced your Presidential career by encouraging
and swallowing the grossest adulation, and you traveled America from one
end to the other to put yourself in the way of receiving it.

Could I have known to what degree of corruption and perfidy the
administrative part of the Government of America had descended, I could
have been at no loss to have understood the reservedness of Mr.
Washington toward me.

In what a fraudulent light must Mr. Washington's character appear in the
world, when his declarations and his conduct are compared together!

From _The Age of Reason_:

The opinions I have advanced are the effect of the most clear and
long-established conviction that the Bible and the Testament are
impositions upon the world, that the fall of man, the account of Jesus
Christ being the Son of God, and of his dying to appease the wrath of
God, and of salvation by that strange means, are all fabulous
inventions".

Almost. Hines is a knowledgeable man with thinking ability, who knows
what's going on, knows what the problems and opportunities are, and is
capable of formulating a plan of action that makes things worse.

Hines has demonstrated clearly that he couldn't find his arse without
a map, let alone create anything other than popular contempt!

The Highlander

Faodaidh nach ionann na beachdan anns
an post seo agus beachdan a' Ghàidheil.
The views expressed in this post are  
not necessarily those of The Highlander.