The mere fact that you have access to a ballot box is a pretty good indication that you're not enslaved....yet. Of course in a Democratic system not every vote is going to go your way and your candidate may not always win. It is your patriotic duty as an American to accept that. If you're unhappy with a political outcome, then work cooperatively for change. This talk about taking up arms against your fellow Americans is childish and irresponsible.

If you are truly worried about your freedom then you best be concerned about those who want to restrict access to the ballot and diminish the power of the individual by granting personhood to corporations.

"We should concern ourselves with making the political changes necessary with great expediency at the ballot box in order for this action to never again to reach this fever pitch. If that does not work then we shall see the resolve of the modern American in comparison."

If you really believe that the police and military wouldn't turn their guns on us, then why do you say in the very next paragraph that political change is necessary to avoid a repeat of the Revolutionary War?

The Republican party has been drifting further and further to the right since the GOP was established. This has accelerated greatly with the wins by the Tea party in 2010. The Democratic party HAS NOT answered with an equal polarization to the left. If anything, they have become more centrist by adopting ideas abandoned by the Republicans in their race to the right.

Here are some comments on the atheists that inspired the American Revolution,Thomas Paine.
As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the America Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), the all-time best-selling American book that advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–83), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain." He became notorious because of The Age of Reason (1793–94), his book that advocates deism, promotes reason and freethinking, and argues against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. He also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. He died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity.

Sorry Amy. 30 years ago, we ere able to abort a baby when it was "just a bunch of cells". The left has moved fromthat to a full term child being aborted as it comes out of its mothers womb. And now there is legislation that says (I believe obama voted for it) that says, because of the mother's "rights", If the baby survives, it is to be left to die .Yeah, David, that's about as far left as you can get.
Let's not get off track and respond to Steve's post, shall we? I understand what he's saying. Freedom doesn't jut 'happen". They fought for it, we have to fight to maintain it. Is that what you're trying to say, Steve?

On second thought...you're also asking if we still have the kind of patriotism that would fight to the death if we truly found ourselves in a position that we might lose our liberty.
Steve, who was it that said something to the effect that a democracy only lasts about 200 years before it begins to fall apart?

From an article by Paul Zaines--Below is a quote from Professor Alexander Tyler:
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse doe to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
The liberals in congress, typically but not always found in the Democratic party, are simply following a tradition clearly discussed over 200 years ago. Our democracy is mature and past the 200 year cycle predicted by history. Professor Tyler went on to say the following about the 8 steps that a democracy goes through:
1.From bondage to spiritual faith;
2.From spiritual faith to great courage;
3.From courage to liberty;
4.From liberty to abundance
5.From abundance to complacency;
6.From complacency to apathy;
7.From apathy to dependence;
8.From dependence back into bondage

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Take away your business with arbitrary regulation and enforcement...
Take away you land with public projects or for the friends of the government...
Take away you money with increased tax. The use your taxes to harass with frivolous claims...

The same men that stood up to the guns are dieing today...

Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment.
Roswell Chicken Man, Andrew Wordes who tried to fight back against government abuse ended when died after burning down his home

All while the cowards stand around looking and saying its so sad...

They will leave you with your guns... for now

When I read th part about voting money for themselves from the public treasury, I can't help but think about how being a senator used to be a second, temporary job. Now they make, what, in the 3 figures? Oh, and if nancy pelosi, ask for you own personal jet.

Perspectives
Mr. Ramey, you have a most interesting, if somewhat distorted perspective of history. You cite both John Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson as champions of freedom, yet you ignore their hypocrisy. Dickinson did not free any of his slaves until two years after he penned the passage you have cited. Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves, and never freed a single one. We know now from his history with Sally Hemmings, that he was not above sexually exploiting the women he enslaved. Freedom to these men meant freedom for white male landowners. I see this philosophy appeals to you. The Tea Party would revise and rationalize history to make our forefathers infallible deities. We don’t need you to clean up history for us. We are willing to acknowledge the human frailties that afflicted the people who founded our country and move forward from there. If someone today boards a commercial vessel, near Somalia, and commits an act of piracy to advance a political cause we call it terrorism. Because it happened in Boston Harbor, and it serves your purpose better to clean it up, you call it a “tea party”. The actors were patriots not terrorists, because you find the reality of history is too difficult to admit. Your entire organization has been established in homage to an act of terrorism. Good Work! If you choose to invoke history as a basis for your view of the world, you have an obligation to report it accurately and completely. Don’t be such a hypocrite.

RE: "We should concern ourselves with making the political changes necessary with great expediency at the ballot box in order for this action to never again to reach this fever pitch. If that does not work then we shall see the resolve of the modern American in comparison."

Steve,

Please elaborate. If you lose at the ballot box (and you will), precisely how does such resolve of the "modern American" manifest itself?

To the posters here who are trying to hold Steve R. accountable for his remarks: Good work! He knows that the uninformed, gullible folks will bait their hooks with ignorance & naïveté, land a slippery fish like Steve, & call him a "prized catch." He likes it that way. Steve caters to the many who he knows won't check his "facts" or call him out on his disinformation. But, if you dare to do that, expect the usual reactions from someone who can't defend an indefensible position: rudeness, personal attacks, diversions from the original topic, & lots of reminders that he served in Viet Nam.

Anyone who knows Steve knows he is a man of integrity. He is well-respected by those who know him.

Steve: The person posting is not even worth a moment of your consideration. I hope you enjoy your evening.

Sabrina S., absolutely agree with you. My mother always said, "consider the source when you hear an accusation". Generally, on here, when you hear someone come against someone of integrity, you'll note that they can't not be critical to the point of name calling and making up things. I ignore them as well. But sometimes my finger gets tired of scrolling through so many trolls. lol