Livingston, I Presume?

“FROM the Moment that Men give themselves wholly up to a Party, they abandon their Reason, and are led Captive by their Passions. The Cause they espouse, presents such bewitching Charms, as dazzle the judgment; and the Side they oppose, such imaginary Deformity, that no Opposition appears too violent; nor any Arts to blacken and ruin it, incapable of a specious Varnish. They follow their Leaders with an implicit Faith, and, like a Company of Dragoons, obey the Word of Command without Hesitation.”
—William Livingston, signer of the U.S. Constitution and the First Governor of New Jersey.
Written in 1753 in his journal, Independent Reflector (emphasis and capitalizations from the original)

Two things: 1) Not much has changed in the world, even in politics. 2) There were some pretty brilliant people Back In The Day. Wish we had some of them in the modern era!

I originally published this quote on Facebook in 2012.

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Randy Cassingham is best known as the creator of This is True, the oldest entertainment feature on the Internet: it has been running weekly by email subscription since early 1994. It is social commentary using weird news as its vehicle so it’s fun to read. Click here for a subscribe form — basic subscriptions are free.

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