"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:
May '11
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
What kind of knife are you holding?
Jan '12
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave your rant seems reactive to me.
How are you going to extend your values and the coverage of the Constitution around the world?
Conservatives have to come out of their bunker mentality.
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 11:44amMay '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave for President!
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Stephen Bishop: Dave your rant seems reactive to me.
How are you going to extend your values and the coverage of the Constitution around the world?
Conservatives have to come out of their bunker mentality. · 2 hours ago
Edited 2 hours ago
Now now,... it's not a rant. It's a declaration of beliefs. See, many conservatives have been content to live out our own lives according to simple beliefs like the one's I've stated. We provide for our families, we don't bother others, and don't wish to be bothered. But the other side, with their accomplices in the media and government, insist on extracting more of our property, more of our liberty, and therefore more of our lives, and denigrate us if we resist their designs. There comes a time when a line must be drawn. What I wrote was reactive in the same sense that the Declaration of Independence was reactive.
As for extending my "...values and the coverage of the constitution around the world," I've no interest in it. At this point in history, I'd be tickled just to extend them to academia and our own east and west coast!
Mar '12
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Mr Carter,
I work at higher education institution in northwest England. Every day I walk to work I have to read the socialist workers pamphlets glued on the walls of buildings. Every time I turn on the TV or catch a glimpse of a newspaper (I do not buy them, obviously) is to know about the latest crazy thing those dumb Americans have done or the next great idea of our dearest-great-leader s (or self appointed guardians of the “greater good”) on curtailing whatever is left of our freedoms. It is like living at the faculty lounge of the English Department at UC Berkley. You have no idea what it means to read that somebody out there still has a brain, common sense and the guts to defend freedom and true human rights. Thanks Mr Carter, and thanks to the people of ricochet. It is because of people like you that America never disappoints.
Oct '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Wow, did I just commit a flagrant act of plagiarism over on Facebook, or what??
Jan '11
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Mr. Carter you set one fine example. No higher calling than that of a man taking care of himself and family.
I'd rather watch you on Uncommon Knowledge than some stuffy lifetime politician. Peter should interview you at a truck stop rather than in the Storm Windbag room at the capitol.
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Pablo: Mr Carter,
I work at higher education institution in northwest England. Every day I walk to work I have to read the socialist workers pamphlets glued on the walls of buildings. Every time I turn on the TV or catch a glimpse of a newspaper (I do not buy them, obviously) is to know about the latest crazy thing those dumb Americans have done or the next great idea of our dearest-great-leader s (or self appointed guardians of the “greater good”) on curtailing whatever is left of our freedoms. It is like living at the faculty lounge of the English Department at UC Berkley. You have no idea what it means to read that somebody out there still has a brain, common sense and the guts to defend freedom and true human rights. Thanks Mr Carter, and thanks to the people of ricochet. It is because of people like you that America never disappoints. · 1 hour ago
Pablo, you honor me with your kindness, sir. Truly, thank you. And please call me Dave. We're an informal lot.
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
To the extent that what little knowledge I have is "Uncommon," it's a pity. It's based on truths we used to think of as "self evident."
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
If you did, I'll consider it the most sincere form of flattery.
Jun '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave, your post is beautiful! I think we should all follow your example and take a moment to reflect on our own beliefs. Writing them down may clarify what we believe. I'm proud to call you friend.
Jun '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave,
If this goes viral, you'll be in a heap of trouble. You might be obliged to give up your truck for a seat in Congress. I'm not start'n anything, just say'n.
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
~Paules: Dave,
If this goes viral, you'll be in a heap of trouble. You might be obliged to give up your truck for a seat in Congress. I'm not start'n anything, just say'n. · 1 minute ago
Oh that's just ducky. And I was starting to enjoy the day.... Are the seats in Congress air-ride?
Edited on March 27, 2012 at 4:30pmJun '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Dave Carter
Oh that's just ducky. And I was starting to enjoy the day.... Are the seats in Congress air-ride? · 6 minutes ago
Edited 3 minutes ago
Hot-air ride!
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Thanks, Bob. We have to get you on the road!
Feb '12
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Another great missive!
Thanks once again, Dave
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Beautifully said. I love the photo, too. Your daughter sounds like a smart cookie. A "chip" off the old block, as it were.
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Let's hope that "crazy' is catching! I think I've been infected for some time.
In all honesty it is amazing and incomprehensible to me that these sorts of ideas are hard to understand, or not universally agreed to. I just don't see how this could be some sort of controversial stance. But perhaps I'm a bit "simple" in addition to "crazy".
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
Ajax Telamônios
Dave Carter
Nope · 3 minutes ago
Good. :o) · 10 hours ago
Let Legos show you a REAL knife!
May '10
Re: "Just Crazy Enough..." (A Personal Manifesto of Freedom)
I'm Crazy.