"Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
“I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.” ― John Wayne
This photo was taken several years ago and choreographed by my daughter who would thereafter show it to the young men who were looking to date her. To make matters worse (for them), she would then insist that they must personally meet me. Applications were relatively few. All agreed, however, that, "he looks crazy," to which my daughter would add, "just crazy enough." She was on to something. For example:
I'm just crazy enough to believe that the condition of mankind is one of inherent imperfection, and that this condition cannot be remedied by the utopian dictates of other men who are no less imperfect just because they happen to hold public office.
I'm just crazy enough to reject the idea that our forebears fought and bled during the American Revolution in order to secure the blessings of a centralized authority which tramples on religious freedom and dictates everything from the plumbing in our homes to the nutritional contents of the lunches we prepare for our children at school. I'm just crazy enough to believe that our forebears were fighting AGAINST intrusive government, not for it.
I'm just crazy enough to believe the Biblical injunction that I am my brother's keeper,…not his slave; and that charity is an act of voluntary compassion rather than an armed robbery facilitated by the IRS.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that when you spread the wealth around, everyone loses because plunder robs all involved of the incentive to fully realize their God-given potential.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not favors bestowed by imperfect mortals in government and are therefore not the government's to take away.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that any perceived "right" which makes demands on the time, property, or freedom of another person is not a right at all, and that legitimate rights exist in harmony with one another.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that any government which requires me to enter into a contract to purchase a good or service from another private entity as a condition of my very existence, has overstepped its limits. The citizen who is pushed around by state or local governments rather than federal authorities is no less bullied or harassed. Regardless of its source, such a mandate is an attack on the sovereignty of the individual.
I'm just crazy enough to believe the Good Book's admonishment to turn the other cheek, …but when both cheeks are bloody, there's going to be trouble. My right to defend myself, my family, and my property is non-negotiable.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that those who have worn America's uniform, who stand watch on the front lines of freedom and take an oath to defend the Constitution at the cost of their very lives, represent the very best of America. On the other hand, those politicians who break their oath to the Constitution, who ignore, undermine, and denigrate its limits and principles, represent a uniquely treacherous and contemptible breed.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that loyalty to God, country, family, and friends is a good thing, and just crazy enough to act on it.
I'm just crazy enough to hold a door open for a lady, to greet everyone with a smile and a pleasant word, and to believe that if more people extended such simple courtesies to each other, they themselves would be the primary beneficiaries.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that the Constitution is a dead document, not a living one; that it is a contract between citizens and their government and that its meaning is no more changing than the terms of any other legally binding document. If you tell the bank that you want to sign a living and breathing car loan, the response will not likely be suitable for inclusion in a Sunday School book.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that a President and First Lady who take His and Her's taxpayer funded jets to and from one luxurious vacation after another, and who then take a taxpayer funded armada of SUVs and aircraft to a venue in order to lecture Americans to discard their relatively modest vehicles in favor of smaller, less safe and more expensive compact cars, should be laughed off the stage.
I'm NOT crazy enough to go looking for trouble. But if trouble insists on tracking me down and harassing me, I'm just crazy enough to deal with it decisively. And I'm just crazy enough to believe this would make a decent approach to foreign policy.
I'm just crazy enough to believe that an American President who evicts a bust of Winston Churchill from the White House but bows to despots; who announces his intention to send $1 billion to the Muslim Brotherhood but lectures Israel on the virtues of procrastination in her own defense, has no legitimate claim to the title, "Leader of the Free World," and is no friend of liberty.
I am a free man. And I'm just crazy enough to stay that way.
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Comments:
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave, sign me up to your manifesto. I have sons not daughters, can't manage your hair, threatening look--certainly not the biceps. But on the little matter of philosophy, you and I are on exactly the same page.
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Any houses for sale in your neighborhood?
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
dp
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 5:58amRe: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
George, the hair went bye-bye, and I've not had a good work out in awhile,..but the philosophy is as active as ever, as is the determination to live it.
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
I'm just crazy enough to agree.
Dec '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave,
I'm just crazy enough to like everything that you said. Oh and your daughter was right about the photo too.
I wish we were all this crazy.
Regards,
Jim
Aug '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave,
Stirring post!
Dave Carter
This photo was taken several years ago and choreographed by my daughter who would thereafter show it to the young men who were looking to date her. To make matters worse (for them), she would then insist that they must personally meet me. Applications were relatively few. All agreed, however, that, "he looks crazy," to which my daughter would add, "just crazy enough."
Smart cookie!
(I'm also pleased to note that you're just crazy enough to not do hair by half-measures.)
Jun '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave Carter
I'm just crazy enough to believe that the condition of mankind is one of inherent imperfection, and that this condition cannot be remedied by the utopian dictates of other men who are no less imperfect just because they happen to hold public office.
The thing that's really crazy is that some people think your views are crazy. Have they no eyes?
My son-in-law is taking a philosophy class and we talked today about Rousseau (you know, the guy who thought man is naturally good and that it is the worldly institutions that have corrupted us). After I explained this idea to him, his response was: "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." My response: "Jay, you've got the makings of good conservative."
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 6:29amRe: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Midget Faded Rattlesnake: Dave, ...
(I'm also pleased to note that you're just crazy enough to not do hair by half-measures.) · 3 minutes ago
This was within a couple of years after I retired from the military,...during which time I fired the barber out of pure principle.
Feb '12
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
And millions around the world are crazy enough to yearn to come here. A beacon of craziness, I s'pose!
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
I'm just crazy enough to stand with you and dare them to take what generations of good men and women have built.
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave, I LIKE your kind of crazy!
Dec '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Bravo and well said, sir!
Sep '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Beautiful, Dave. I wish all Americans were this crazy.
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Yes, ..by which standard the Founders become barbaric throwbacks, while the only truly enlightened approach is that which holds that one group of people are organically suited to rule over another group of people,.... a point of view which is at least as modern as the first caveman who discovered he could work his will over others by virtue of applying a rock to their head. But liberty? Self rule? Limited government? That's so yesterday.
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 6:37amJan '11
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Was that the biggest knife you could find?
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Nope
Jan '11
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave Carter
Nope · 3 minutes ago
Good. :o)
Dec '11
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
I'm just crazy enough to believe that when you spread the wealth around, everyone loses because plunder robs all involved of the incentive to fully realize their God-given potential.
Point. Set. Match.
Dec '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
You sir, are MY kind of crazy.
Good on ya!