Madison Now

Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish: A reader writes:

While doing some quick research for a job I’m applying for at James Madison’s Montpelier I ran across some unbelievable quotes attributed to the father of the Constitution given our current political and historical situations:

“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.”

“No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”

“The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.”

“War should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.”

“Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.”

Now read this. And this. And people wonder why Ron Paul and Barack Obama have traction out there.