Don't let them take our liberty

To the editor:
I am not certain, but I believe that it was Daniel Webster who once opined that an American is a man who, upon approaching the Pearly Gates and being greeted by St. Peter and commanded to enter, would stand straight as a ramrod, thrust his shoulders back and chest forward and look St. Peter straight in the eye and growl, “I don’t have to.”
Generally, Americans believe that we do not need the government to live our lives for us; we can live our own lives just fine, thank you. Daily headlines demonstrate the harm done by leaders of world governments that use their power to impose their private beliefs upon their citizens. Historically, we have seen extreme examples of this in Prohibition, in the Inquisition, in the Salem witch-hunt and in Nazi Germany. All of those instigators sincerely believed that their sensibilities were greater than those of their “constituencies” and they were justified in doing what was “good” for the people. They believed that people are not smart enough to understand what is good for them.
In our locale, people have liked, voted for and stood behind Bill Davis for a few years. However, Bill Davis has recently blocked a bill that would have begun to bring Indiana’s corrupt liquor laws into the 21st century.
According to an article in The CR, Rep. Davis said something to the effect that he thought people could buy enough liquor in six days that they should not need a seventh day. He misses the target entirely.
His comment reveals a fundamental lack of understanding of how a free country works. We are free adults. We can decide for ourselves when we shop or not (not to mention that there are many good, religious patriotic Americans who do not worship on the day that Rep. Davis has in mind for them.)
Davis’ blocking the passage or failure of this alcohol measure on its merits is not as important as his thinking behind the blockage. Probably most people don’t care about the measure. But alcohol is not the issue. The attitude that we cannot run our own lives is the issue. The issue is leaders who say, “I hold public office so I can impose my personal beliefs upon you.”
That means less liberty. Liberty is not usually stolen in large chunks. It is stolen a little here and a little there. Liberty is a living attitude. Liberty is the sweet, fresh air that is breathed through a nation’s nostrils to keep it alive. Liberty-minded people who want a sermon go to church, not the legislature. Bill Davis seems not to understand this. Less liberty is bad when Obama is responsible for it. It is just as bad when Bill Davis is responsible for it.
This is why we see Tea Party gatherings of Americans from both political parties who are suffocating in the plastic bag of diverse, far-flung ideologies being pulled down over our heads by an unresponsive, liberty-stealing government. Older Americans know that our children do not have the same degree of freedom that we had when we were younger. We have not always been true to all of the principles of liberty, but we are honor bound to continue trying.
We do not need prospective legislators who promise various groups to impose their desires upon the rest of us. We need legislators who will look at proposed laws and ask, “will this law give the people more liberty or will it reduce our liberty to think and decide for ourselves?”
None of us can do anything in his or her own precinct about the politician in the next precinct, or the next district, or the next state. But, by golly, we can do something about those in our own back yard — and it doesn’t matter which party they are in. They may think they can do what they want and that we have to take it, but we “don’t have to.”
Tom Diller
Portland[[In-content Ad]]