Quotes from James Madison | TheCrosbyReport™

Helpful customer service reps almost make up for AT&T's vile, corporate policies (almost).

I'm old enough to remember a time when there was only one phone company—we called it the phone company. And while the company didn't have any competition, affordable rates or spark of innovation, it did possess a little thing called customer service. You could call Ma Bell for any reason, and in no time at all, a nice man drove up and fixed "your" phone in a jiffy, without charge. Those were the halcyon days of telecommunications. And the other day, I saw a glimmer of it again. Albeit, briefly.

Advertising: It kills democracy dead.

Surprisingly, the problems our country has been experiencing since the 1980s aren't the result of Republican over-spending, military build-ups, religiousity, blatant hypocrisy or rampant marital infidelity. They also aren't the result of Democratic homo-friendly amorality, Pro-Education elitism or “We know best” over-regulation. No, the reason that this once-proud, Capitalistic country is melting down can be traced directly back to one insidious evil: advertising. And I should know, after all, I work in the business.

Spreading Idiocracy

Go rent the Mike Judge movie, "Idiocracy," from Netflix, or your local video-store (just not Blockbuster—they probably won't have it since it has anti-establishment themes). It's an insightful look into the future of Mankind (assuming we continue on our present heading into oblivion).

The Repubican Oath: Do Republican politicians know about this?

I was pretty shocked when I came across the Republican Oath. I mean, I grew up a Republican, but I've been voting Democrat ever since George "Mission Accomplished" Bush ran for president the first time. His way-too-far-right, religious zealotry, general ignorance and incompetence forced me Left—onto the side of the people who insist that pet owners be called..."Pet Guardians." Still, this oath makes me wonder who killed the real GOP.

People should shut the hell up.

My friend, Steve, had a recent run-in with an inconsiderate woman on public transportation, and his plight reminded me of a pretty good solution to loud talkers. So I thought I'd pass it along to everybody. It's a set of business-sized cards you can hand out to oral-offenders letting them know what unthinking, uncaring nincompoops they are. Download the .pdf and print them out to your heart's content."Can you hear me now?" Yes. Yes, we can all hear you. And that's the damn problem.

James Madison: U.S. Constitution author, or 18th Century psychic?

Blog | 10.26.07 | By thecroz

Here are a number of oddly prescient quotes from one of the founders of this nation, (and relative of Dolly, the maker of Zingers®, Donut Gems, Angel Food and Pound Cakes).

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad. The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. Of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. All men having power ought to be mistrusted. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

Comments

by Anonymous | November 16, 2007 - 3:10am

Similar thinking

Thom Hartmann quoted Madison the other night while speaking at Demos in NYC about his new book CRACKING THE CODE. He cited what he considered Madison's best quotation in a fuller version than you have here but reading Madison's quotes on my way here I had a similar feeling as you. Dubya would HATE him. Anyway, good to visit your site and thanks for the Madison quotes. Peace hugs, Kate Anne ~~ http://peacehugs.com

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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens—The case against belief.
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, Brian Greene—A mind-bending romp through quantum physics.
Adam's Curse: A Future without Men, Bryan Sykes—It's not MY fault, it's my chromosome's.
1984, George Orwell—Who says no one can predict the future?
Nonzero : The Logic of Human Destiny, Robert Wright—It gives you hope for the future.
The Stranger, Albert Camus—Alienated existentialism at its best.
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson—Why aren't textbooks this funny?

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