"A Reign of Witches"

by **proldic** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:38 pm

A Reign of Witches - Thomas Jefferson on fascism How, I wondered, could America's second president, John Adams, possibly sign -- and it's first president, George Washington, possibly support -- a law that prohibited newspaper criticism of the President? After all, the Bill of Rights was already 7 years old in 1798. The official answer...national security. America was preparing for war with France. Press restrictions are upheld in times of war. Yet something I read greatly troubled me. The Philadelphia Aurora, the principal paper that Adams and Washington wanted to silence -- a paper that reportedly had driven Washington from the presidency the year before -- was being published by Benjamin Franklin's grandson (who began the paper shortly after Franklin's death). Why, I wondered, would this grandson, Benjamin Bache, want to criticize his grandfather's most famous colleagues? Why wouldn't he want to stand in Franklin's shoes? I was flabbergasted when I read John Adams' explanation: "I know [Benjamin Franklin] had conceived an irreconcilable hatred to me and that he propagated and would continue to propagate prejudices, if nothing worse, against me in America from one end to the other. Look into Bache's Aurora and Duane's Aurora for 20 years and see whether my expectations have not been verified." Did Adams see the ghost of Franklin at the Aurora? Did he want a sedition act...to silence Franklin’s ghost? I decided to take Adams' advice and look into the Aurora to see what "prejudices" Franklin's ghost was propagating, what old coals Bache and Duane had rekindled that might provoke Adams and Washington to suspend the Bill of Rights, cause them to urge the arrest and prosecution of these editors, incite mobs of their supporters to attack the Aurora's offices and to assault and nearly kill these editors, and justify the sacrifice of Baches' life and Duane's editorship in hiding. Heresies! Charges that Washington and Adams were warring against the French Revolution because they were enemies to democracy, and had been even during the American Revolution; that Washington was not the "father of his country" , but an inept general who would have lost the American Revolution had Benjamin Franklin not gotten France to intervene; that Washington, Adams, Hamilton...had mythologized Washington, and had adopted a British-style constitution to avoid...most American’s hopes for a democracy; and that Adams, Hamilton, and other "Federalists" really wanted an American king. The more I read, the more I wondered. The more I wondered, the more I read, Finally, the curtain of time seemed to lift, and I saw the America these editors saw. It was then I shared their fears... - Richard Rosenfeld The epoch of a great revolution is never the eligible time to write its history. Those memorable recitals to which the opinions of ages should remain attached cannot obtain confidence or present a character of impartiality if they are undertaken in the midst of animosities and during the tumult of passions; and yet, were there to exist a man so detached from the spirit of party or so master of himself as calmly to describe the storms of which he has been a witness, we should be dissatisfied with his tranquility and should apprehend that he had not a soul capable of preserving the impressions of all sentiments we might be desirous of receiving. - William Duane The energy of William Duane’s Aurora, when our cause was laboring and all but lost under the overwhelming weight of its powerful adversaries, its unquestionable effect in the revolution [it] produced inn the public mind…arrested the rapid march of our government towards monarchy… - Thomas Jefferson William Duane was just a Jew Cloathsman in London, from which corrupt place and from which occupation his integrity expelled him, somewhere about the year 1789, when he fled to India. He passed in London under the name Jew Aine. - Porcupine’s Gazette Duane, expelled from England for supporting Irish rebels in his paper, published in India criticism of British exploitation there. Fleeing prosecutioin for seditious publication against British authority, he fled to Barbados, where he published on the evils of the slave trade. Fleeing hanging in Barbados, he came to America. George Washington is very jealous of Dr. Franklin and those who are governed by Republican Principles from which he is very averse... - Paul Wentworth, British Spy  John Adams the friend of monarchic and aristocratic government, one who has no faith, no confidence in representative or elective government, who believes, with the jealous enemies of our Constitution abroad, that a Monarchial Constitution is not only better than a Federal Constitution, that a mixed monarchy is "the best of all possible governments". He is the advocate of a kingly government and of a titled nobility to form an upper house and to keep down the swinish multitude...Adams would deprive you of a voice in choosing your president and senate, and make both hereditary -- this champion fore kings, ranks, and titles is to be your president - Philadelphia Aurora Adams defended and acquitted the British soldiers who committed the Boston Massacre. Adams wrote in favor of monarchy: The [successful] republic had three essential parts of the best possible government; it was a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy Instead of projects [in Britain] to abolish Kings and Lords, if the House of Commons had been attended to, there would not have remained an imperfection in the English Constitution First magistrates and senators had better be made hereditary at once rather than that the people be universally debauched and bribed, got to loggerheads, and fly to arms every year. At the opening sessions of the US senate in 1789, Adams advocated the titles of nobility for government officials. A JEW writes me to "be more lenient" in the future respecting this "nation" as he calls it, or to "blot his name" from our [subscription] list -- I do the latter with pleasure. I am sure I never solicited his name, and am only sorry I did not know before, that it was the name of a JEW - William "Peter Porcupine" Cobbett, editor of the foremost Federalist (and pro-British) newspaper Porcupine's Gazette Just Published by T. Dobson and W. Cobbett: Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All Religions and Governments of Europe Carried On In The Secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies By John Robinson, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Secretary to the Royal Society of Edinburgh The design of this work is to exhibit to the public the dangerous machinations which, for many years, have been carried on...for debauching the morals of the people and subverting their respect for religion to pave the way for overturning the governments of Europe in order that, in the state of anarchy which should succeed, the leaders of this secret cabal might seize on the property and destroy the possessions of their more opulent neighbors...With this view, their emissaries have spread far and wide over Germany, France, and America...and the Revolution in France...under the direction of those very individuals who are the leaders of the order, mark with distinguishing energy its particular features. Detection of a conspiracy formed by the United Irishmen, for the evident purpose of aiding the views of France in subverting the Government of the United States of America --- I have long thought that the French have formed a …plan for organizing an active force within theses states…(and) where could they find such a certainty of success as amongst that restless rebellious tribe, the emigrated United Irishmen? I heard of the existence of the United Irishmen as a plan of the conspiracy. The plan, which is called a constitution, is printed in a small…pamphlet... Americans! Beware of French Intrigue! And of your own citizens, who are agents of the French! - Ads In Porcupine’s Gazette Had it not been for the aid of France in men, money and ships, your cold and unmilitary conduct…would have in all probability have lost America; at least she would not be the independent nation she is today. You slept away your time in the field till the finances of our country were nearly exhausted, and you have little to share in the glory of the final event. It is time, sir, to speak the undisguised language of historical truth. - Thomas Paine in a letter to George Washington Favorable ideas of Washington are probably entertained by the world at large, for few men were acquainted with his real character, and of those few, a smaller number still will venture, except in whispers, to speak what they thought or think of his talents… It was important to maintain, during the Revolution, the popular opinion in his favor. Accordingly, there was no public disclosure…But is it proper that the truth should be forever concealed?  -Timothy Pickering, US Secretary of State 1795-1800 It will be some consolation to me…to do justice to Washington and Adams in posterity, since a greater gang of scoundrels never lived. We are to dance on Washington’s birth night, and say they were great and good men, when we know they were little people. - James Monroe, US President 1817-1825  I trust …that the spirit of disunion is much diminished…but unless the spirit of libeling and sedition shall be controlled by law, that spirit will again increase… Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up [to sign the Declaration of Independence]…to subscribe what was believed by many to be our own death warrants? The silence and gloom of the morning were interrupted only by Colonel Harrison of Massachusetts, who said “I shall have a great advantage over you when we are all hung…from the size and weight of my body, I shall die in a few minutes, whereas you will dance in the air for an hour or two”. The speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity of the whole sordid business... - John Adams on the signing of the Declaration of Independence The senate of Massachusetts was created in order to protect property against democracy. - Samuel Eliot Morrison Is it not true that men in general in every society who are wholly destitute of property, are also too little acquainted with public affairs to form a right judgment and too dependent on other men to have a will of their own?…Such is the frailty of the human heart that very few men who have no property have any judgment of their own….Paine’s wrath Was excited because my plan of government was essentially different from the silly projects he had published in Common Sense. By this means I became suspected and unpopular… That every part of the conduct and feelings of the Americans tends to that species of republic called limited monarchy…I am a Republican as I was in 1775. I do not “consider hereditary Monarchy or Aristocracy as rebellion against nature”. On the contrary, I esteem them both as institutions of admirable wisdom and exemplary virtue. I do not abhor titles, nor the pageantry of government. Our country may not be ripe for it in many respects…but our ship must ultimately land on that shore or be cast away. - John Adams An Act, Concerning Aliens -- to supercede previous law, that it shall be lawful for the President at any time to order all such aliens as he shall judge as dangerous to the peace and safety…or have reasonable grounds to believe are concerned with any treasonable or secret machinations against the government hereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States within such time as shall be expressed in that order… - Alien Act ...alliance with Great Britain…assailed by the evils as we are and beset with a nest of scoundrel Jacobins, in the very bosom of our country, it is pleasing to see, amongst the friends of government, the daily and hourly wearing away of the destructive prejudice against Great Britain... - Porcupine’s Gazette I have received information that the brawlers against governmental measures have [sought appointment in the army]…as there will be characters enough that are ready to receive appointments, circumspection is necessary. You could as soon scrub the blackamore [Negro] white as to change the principles of a protest Democrat, who will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this country. - George Washington As long as everyone was unanimous about the politics of America, it was not worth dividing public opinion about a man. But as Mr. Washington has at length become treacherous even to his own fame, who was lent to him as a harmless general must be withdrawn from him as a dangerous politician…It was his country and France which gave him fame in defiance of England, and it will be his country and France which, in defiance of England, will take it away again... - Benjamin Franklin  The Alien & Sedition Acts are merely an experiment on the American mind, to see how far it will bear an avowed violation of the Constitution. If this goes down, we shall immediately see an act of Congress, declaring the President shall continue in office for life, reserving the transfer of succession to his heirs, and the establishment of a Senate-for-life... - Thomas Jefferson The Alien & Sedition Acts are a monster that must be forever a disgrace to its parents…The president seems to be cooperating for the same purpose. Every answer he [Adams] gives to his addressees unmasks more and more of his principles and views. His language is the most abominable and degrading… It throws some light on his meaning when he remarked to me ”there was not a single principle the same in the American & French revolutions. The abolition of royalty, it seems, was not one of his revolutionary principles. - James Madison Proofs of a conspiracy….an exposure of such deep-laid villainy…the French Revolution with all its abominations are traced to [the] Illuminati. - William Cobbett In any other country, all these newspapers would have been seized and ought to be here. But Congress is dilly-dallying about passing a bill enabling the President to seize suspicious persons and their papers… I wish the laws of our country were competent to punish the stirrer of sedition, the writer and printer of base and unfounded calumny. This would contribute much to the peace and harmony of our country as any measure, and in times like the present, a more careful watch ought to be kept over foreigners. This will be done in the future if the Alien Bill passes, without being curtailed and clipped until made nearly useless. The Volunteer Corps that are forming of young men will keep these people in check, I trust... - Abigail Adams ...the Alien & Sedition Acts are not desired by the opposition…something there will always be for them to torture and to disturb the public mind with their ill-favored forebodings… Unfortunately, and I do regret it, the State of Virginia has taken the lead in this opposition [to the Sedition Act]…though in no state except Kentucky (that I have heard of) has legislative [approval] been obtained. But at a crisis when everything dear and valuable to us is assailed; when this Republican party hangs upon the wheels of government, when every act of their own government is tortured by constructions…If their conduct is viewed with indifference…their numbers, accumulated by intrigue and discontented foreigners…who are at war with their own governments; and the greater part of them with all government, their numbers will increase, and nothing short of omniscience can foretell the consequences... - George Washington Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press… vs Bill – for the prevention and restraint of dangerous persons…and be it further enacted that if any person…shall, by any writing , printing, or advised speaking, threaten a [public official] with any damage to his character…[they] shall and may be punished... From a letter to the Aurora: I am accused of being a Jew....which even its opponents – whether Christian or Mohammedan – allow to be of...that persuasion of which Christianity itself was originally founded and must ultimately rest – which has preserved its faith secure and undefiled for near 3000 years – whose votaries have never murdered each other in religious wars or cherished the theological hatred so general, so inextinguishable, among those who revile them… I am a Republican! Thank God, I have not been so proud or prejudiced as to renounce the cause for which I fought as an American throughout the whole of the Revolutionary War, in the militia in Charlestown and in Polasky’s Legion, in almost every action which took place in Carolina and in Savannah. On religious grounds I am a Republican! Kingly government was first conceded to the Jewish people as a punishment and a curse. Great Britain has a king, and her enemies need not wish her the sword, the pestilence, and famine… I am a Jew! And if for no other reason -- if for that reason – I am a Republican! In the monarchies of Europe we were hunted from society, stigmatized, unworthy of common civility, thrust out as it were from the converses of men: objects of mockery and insult … Among the nations of Europe, we are citizens nowhere but in Republics. In France and Batavian Republic [French-controlled Netherlands republic] alone are we treated as men. In republics we have rights, in monarchies we live but to experience wrong. How can a Jew but be a Republican? In America most particularly. Unfeeling and ungrateful would he be, if he were to the glorious and benevolent cause of the difference between the situation in this land of freedom and among the proud and privileged law-givers of Europe. But I am Poor, I am so, my family at large is so, but soberly and decently brought up. They have not been taught to revile a Christian, because this religion is not so old as theirs. They have not been taught to mock…I know to purse-proud monarchists poverty is a crime, but it may sometimes be accompanied by honesty, even in a Jew. - Benjamin Nones ...I received a visit from Thomas Jefferson who told me he was greatly concerned…he said he was himself dogged and watched in the most extraordinary manner; and he apologized for the lateness of his visit, for in order to elude the curiosity of his spies, he had not taken the direct road but had come by a circuitous route…he spoke of the temper of the times, and of the late acts of the Legislature with a sort of despair…he said he thought even the shadows of our liberties must now be gone… - Deborah Logan There was no coordination not even any communication between these groups. The whole left as a matter of fact seemed disorganized, strife-ridden, and weak. And I realized the reason for this was that the FBI whose tool I was clearly and correctly saw the strength and power of the idea of socialism... ... they had declared total covert war on not just denim-clad revolutionaries, but against all progressive forces, even those working for the most acceptable "American" reforms... I listened with horror to a bright young agent as he bragged... He thought the next two to three years would be the most crucial in our nation's history. His greatest fear was that the left would rediscover the documents and ideas from the first and second American revolutions and use them to spark a new revolution. He said that those words are as powerful today as ever and that properly used (he said "cleverly" used) the people could be aroused by these ideas and would fight to acheive them - FBI Informant Sarah Jane Moore A little patience, and we shall see this reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people recovering their true sight, restoring their government to its true principals. - Thomas Jefferson Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=proldic@rigorousintuition>proldic</A> at: 11/11/05 2:28 pm

by **FourthBase** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:07 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>His greatest fear was that the left would rediscover the documents and ideas from the first and second American revolutions and use them to spark a new revolution. He said that those words are as powerful today as ever and that properly used (he said "cleverly" used) the people could be aroused by these ideas and would fight to acheive them<hr></blockquote> Great post. Let's spread the seeds.

by **Dreams End** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:12 pm

Is this all your research or is there a website for this. One of the things that made the Zapatistas so succesful I think, in gaining "moral authority" is that they based their demands around the country's already existing constitution and other agreements. I'd love to get a fuller picture of this "original intent" of our "founding fathers."

by **proldic** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:24 pm

I put these quotes together from these sources: American Aurora Richard Rosenfeld (St. Martins) The Colonial Era Herbert Aptheker (New Century) Roger Clain On Marxism & Freedom from Political Affairs (CP publication) Aug 1959 The Private Franklin: The Man & His Family Lopez & Hebert (Norton) Tom Paine: A Political Life John Keane (Little Brown) Wikipedia

by **Rigorous Intuition** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:21 pm

Thanks very much for that. And speaking of the Zapatistas.... What would you do if the news came through they've stolen your village's land And they say they'll kill any man dares complain? Stony field by stony field the haciendado's plan Is to bury us all in the rich man's sugarcane When you see your friends and neighbours hang like earings from the trees Does it make you think they're playing a game of bluff? Isn't it better to die on your feet than live upon your knees? Four hundred years of bondage - that's enough. Viva Zapata! - <a href="http://www.andyirvine.com/">Andy Irvine</a> <img src="http://proletarianthreads.com/ebay/pt/zapata-dL.gif" style="border:0;"/>

by **eric144** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:36 pm

Why is it with all the revolutionary spirit that the United States is the most virulently right wing country on earth ? Even the extreme right in Britain (ex Murdoch employees like Andrew Neil and Harold Evans ) write mocking and contemptetuous articles on American mores.

by **Rigorous Intuition** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:39 pm

It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.

by **eric144** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:48 pm

<a href="http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/leonardcohen/democracy.html">www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/l...cracy.html</a> "Democracy" It's coming through a hole in the air, from those nights in Tiananmen Square. It's coming from the feel that this ain't exactly real, or it's real, but it ain't exactly there. From the wars against disorder, from the sirens night and day, from the fires of the homeless, from the ashes of the gay: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. It's coming through a crack in the wall; on a visionary flood of alcohol; from the staggering account of the Sermon on the Mount which I don't pretend to understand at all. It's coming from the silence on the dock of the bay, from the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. It's coming from the sorrow in the street, the holy places where the races meet; from the homicidal bitchin' that goes down in every kitchen to determine who will serve and who will eat. From the wells of disappointment where the women kneel to pray for the grace of God in the desert here and the desert far away: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. Sail on, sail on O mighty Ship of State! To the Shores of Need Past the Reefs of Greed Through the Squalls of Hate Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on. It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say that the heart has got to open in a fundamental way: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. It's coming from the women and the men. O baby, we'll be making love again. We'll be going down so deep the river's going to weep, and the mountain's going to shout Amen! It's coming like the tidal flood beneath the lunar sway, imperial, mysterious, in amorous array: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. Sail on, sail on ... I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean I love the country but I can't stand the scene. And I'm neither left or right I'm just staying home tonight, getting lost in that hopeless little screen. But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that Time cannot decay, I'm junk but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=eric144>eric144</A> at: 11/11/05 8:03 pm

by **eric144** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:51 pm

Most Americans don't get this either. <a href="http://www.lyricsdomain.com/2/bruce_springsteen/born_in_the_usa.html">www.lyricsdomain.com/2/br...e_usa.html</a> Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground You end up like a dog that's been beat too much 'Til you spend half your life just covering up [chorus:] Born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. I got in a little hometown jam And so they put a rifle in my hands Sent me off to Vietnam To go and kill the yellow man [chorus] Come back home to the refinery Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me" I go down to see the V.A. man He said "Son don't you understand" [chorus] I had a buddy at Khe Sahn Fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone He had a little girl in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years down the road Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A.

by **Dreams End** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:01 pm

"Democracy" was, despite its own merits, the song used as a theme for David Horowitz's horrible radio program. I'm afraid I can't even listen to that song anymore.

by **eric144** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:11 pm

Just to hammer home the irony of "It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say that the heart has got to open in a fundamental way: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A." America has the thirst because it's God forsaken, the lonely are hypocrites, family values are a massive hypocrisy in the land of divorce, range implies military and machinery is pure sarcasm in the context. Quintessentially American though. The country is as broken as the family. Cohen is a (Jewish) genius, so are Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.

by **Qutb** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:19 pm

Thanks for this compilation, proldic.

by **dbeach** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:54 am

the reign of witches INDEED. NOT YET PASSED. Jefferson vs. washinton each with a vision of govt jefferson feard a federal power central . ....and did not want a standing army. on the 11th hr of the 11th day of the 11th month The Armistice was signed ending WW I "The war to end wars.' the american /euro aristocrarcy has made an intergenerational war machine for profit and it s called the The Unites States Government incorporated.. STILL enjoying my illuison of Freedom..Proud and Blessed to be awake during the greatest crisis in US and World History 'The controls are in the hands of fools" THANX PRO On this clear crisp NE nite How bout a JFK thread for 11/22??

"A Reign of Witches"

"A Reign of Witches"

Re: "A Reign of Witches"

Re: "A Reign of Witches"

Re: "A Reign of Witches"

fascinating compilation

Re: fascinating compilation

I'll let Leonard Cohen answer that:

so will I, in full this time

an American anthem

Re: an American anthem

Re: an American anthem

Re: an American anthem

Re: an American anthem

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