Originally Posted By: olivant
...Remember, the Founding Fathers inveighed against the potential oppressions of government, not against the actions of individuals. It was the actions of government which they constraned through the provisions of the Constitution and, later, through the provisions of the Bill of Rights.


Well...if you're going to bring the Founding Fathers into it that's swell. But also try to keep in mind that in the time of the Founding Fathers, Atkins, Manson and the whole gang would've been probably been hanged the day after their trial ended.


A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.

- THOMAS JEFFERSON