November 17, 2021
Location: Burger Moe’s, Saint Paul
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
—Ex-Governor Terry McAuliffe
THE LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION has reached such a height that it is a disgrace for any citizen not to openly oppose it. Locally, the mayor of Minneapolis (newly reelected) threatened ethics complaints against city council members who dared discuss the recent ballot measures with their constituents. Nationally, the Attorney-General has mobilized the DOJ against “domestic terrorism and hate crimes” committed by parents who object to masking requirements and the teaching of CRT. As Solzhenitsyn observed in the gulag, political prisoners are treated worse than the criminals—witness the January 6 demonstrators in federal custody.
The commies in government, big business, and the mass media (using the term in its popular sense of “would-be totalitarians”) believe they have a green light to remake American society. They license rioting and insurrection when its suits them and suppress and denigrate any democratic opposition. Blocking parents’ communications with school boards about the education of their children is the ultimate insult to self-government. “We’re the government. These are our schools. We’ll tell you what to think and how to speak.” That’s oppression.
ON THE OTHER HAND, times change, as do the challenges a government faces in maintaining its authority. Swarmed by hostile misinformation, the Adams administration prosecuted two dozen publishers for sedition. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus. Wilson oversaw the Palmer raids. With unprecedented means of communication and organization available to dissidents, is it any wonder that today’s governments engage in unprecedented forms of surveillance and repression? Is it any wonder that democratic participation is condemned as “domestic terrorism”? It is a dangerous world. Every government is likely to engage in what its enemies call repression. Slapping a negative label on a policy does not make it unnecessary or unwise.
The Chairman, recognizing that procuring public peace is the primary end of government, has summoned a caucus of the Society to debate the following proposition:
RESOLVED: We are all domestic terrorists now.
The Debate will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at Burger Moe’s, 242 West 7th Street, St. Paul, MN 55102.
The Chancellor and Chairman encourage people to arrive prior to 7 o'clock p.m. and to thank our host venue by spending money while partaking of food and drink. The debate will begin at half past seven.
There is no dress code, but gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie, and ladies are encouraged to uphold a similar sartorial standard. For gentlemen arriving sans tie yet wishing to discourse on the resolution, the Purveyor of Ties will have on hand several from his remarkable collection. Questions regarding debate caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at (651) 398-9316 or the Secretary at (612) 703-6021.
http://www.johnadamssociety.org
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