Allowing them to meet in secret is akin to tyranny

I am a child of the South but I envy New Hampshire for its state motto: Live Free or Die. You have to admit, that is not a namby-pamby motto.

In the same spirit, sometimes I wish we had kept as our national flag the coiled rattlesnake and the slogan: Don't Tread on Me.

Both of these sentiments date back to the time when the American people were ruled by the British king. We fought a war to throw off that king so we could govern ourselves.

But when we created our own government, we wrapped it in chains so that it could not become a new tyrant. We did not trust it.

Neither do I trust the government now. It is true that properly supervised, the government can do good. That ought to be its goal. But I do not trust it. I do not trust it with my money. I do not trust it with unchecked power to pass laws over me. It is a dangerous servant that has to be watched constantly.

Watched.

Men and women who enter the government are invariably tempted to use its power for their own benefit, or for a select few.