An address, An admonishment, A Sending Off

Really I was going to post a couple of paragraphs. But after rereading many times, you cannot just excerpt one idea , or one sentence but from the whole.

It is worth reading several times. There is great wisdom here far beyond 1796 but Truths that Endure if we want them to

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Unfortunately, we have a man who claimed that he cannot change America enough in one term. The same man that continuously makes errors and does not care of the consequences. I doubt one time George Washington would have bowed to a foreign leader even at the end of a sword or musket.

PACEDOG#1 wrote:Unfortunately, we have a man who claimed that he cannot change America enough in one term. The same man that continuously makes errors and does not care of the consequences. I doubt one time George Washington would have bowed to a foreign leader even at the end of a sword or musket.

My guess is he would not, however Franklin a "man of all seasons" might have. You need both.

What Washington is saying is so to the point of this and other topic boards. The quote above is quite brilliant.

surfnrg wrote:

PACEDOG#1 wrote:Unfortunately, we have a man who claimed that he cannot change America enough in one term. The same man that continuously makes errors and does not care of the consequences. I doubt one time George Washington would have bowed to a foreign leader even at the end of a sword or musket.

My guess is he would not, however Franklin a "man of all seasons" might have. You need both.

What Washington is saying is so to the point of this and other topic boards. The quote above is quite brilliant.

No, we don't need the extreme of Obama. Never have, never will.