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Books about Politics and Current Events in The Radical Academy Bookstore Click Here for New & Used College Textbooks at Discount Prices Click Here for College Education Information & Study Resources Shop Amazon Stores in the Radical Academy Bookstore Magazine Outlet Music Store Video Store DVD Store Computer Store Camera & Photo Store Computer/Video Games Software Store Outlet Store Cellular Phones Toys & Games Tools & Hardware Outdoor Living Consumer Electronics Kitchen & Housewares Baby Superstore Apparel & Accessories Gourmet Food Sporting Goods Jewelry & Watches Health & Personal Care		Liberty Letters April 20, 2005 John Adams #21 Silencing the Truth for Party Sake by Steve Farrell   Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had different points of view on a few subjects, one significant point of departure, at least in Adams' mind, was on the supposed benefits of party spirit.  Jefferson informed the Adams (John and Abigail), on more than one occasion, that there were two kinds of spirits always present among men, Whig and Tory, and that their rumblings against each other were generally beneficial.  To Adams, who had been on the receiving end to the point of fear of life and limb, these were more than mere rumblings, they were the source of truth being censored, reputations being scorched, and mobs and violence threatening to overthrow the republic and the rule of law.  On July 9 1813, John Adams wrote one of several notes on this subject.  Said he: The same political parties which now agitate us have existed through all time. Precisely. And this is precisely the complaint in the preface to the first volume of my defence. While all other Sciences have advanced, that of Government is at a stand; little better understood; little better practiced now than 3 or 4 thousand years ago. What is the reason? I say parties and factions will not suffer, or permit improvements to be made. As soon as one man hints at an improvement his rival opposes it. No sooner has one party discovered or invented an amelioration of the condition of man or the order of society, than the opposite party belies it, misconstrues it, misrepresents it, ridicules it, insults it, and persecutes it. Records are destroyed. Histories are annihilated or interpolated or prohibited sometimes by democratic assemblies and sometimes by mobs.   Aristotle wrote the history and description of eighteen hundred republics, which existed before his time. Cicero wrote two volumes of discourses on government, which, perhaps were worth all the rest of his works. The works of Livy and Tacitus etc that are lost, would be more interesting than all that remain. Fifty Gospels have been destroyed and where are St. Lukes World of Books that had been written? If you ask my opinion, who has committed all the havoc? I will answer you candidly; ecclesiastical and imperial despotism has done it, to conceal their frauds.   Why are the histories of all nations, more ancient than the Christian Era, lost. Who destroyed the Alexandrian Library? I believe that Christian Priests, Jewish Rabbies, Grecian Sages and Roman Emperors has as great a hand in it as Turks and Mahomitans.   Democrats, Rebels, and Jacobins, when they possessed a momentary Power, have shewn a disposition, both to destroy and to forge records as vandalical, as priests and despots. Such has been and such is the world we live in.  I have to tell you Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents out there, some of you who sit on your high horses thinking and declaring that only the 'other' party is guilty of cutting down and stomping out the good and the true -- for no better reason than it came out of the mouth of the opposing "devil party" -- think again. We all need an occasional reality check. It's hard not to take sides with party, when party is what defines all too many of us.  More on this subject later. Farrell Archive NewsMax pundit Steve Farrell is associate professor of political economy at George Wythe College, press agent for Defend Marriage (a project of United Families International), the author of the inspirational novel, Dark Rose, and a contributor to The Radical Academy. Have a comment? Contact Steve at farrell@newsmax.com Follow Steve's daily blog at LibertyLetters.blogspot.com You can learn more about and/or order Dark Rose by Clicking Here. Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... Politics Resource Center Main Page
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