Monday, February 13, 2012

Do you declare for Liberty?

The 203rd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday was on Sunday, and while we took a look last year at what Lincoln means to Americans, for brevity's sake, as well as considering where the country currently finds itself, perhaps it'd be beneficial to consider a quote from Lincoln's address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore, Maryland on April 18, 1864 (this quote is also on the back cover of Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny).

"WE ALL DECLARE FOR LIBERTY; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny."

We cannot have it both ways, America.