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MARK TWAIN WAS NO LIBERAL

Liberals love to use this quote by Mark Twain as some sort of proof that Mr. Twain was sympathetic to the liberal cause, and would not approve of the Tea Party and the current grassroots patriotic parties that have sprouted up to combat the current administrations neofascist agenda. But they couldn't be more wrong in the use of this quote by America's most famous writer and social commentator. To answer the question of what Mark Twain meant when he said what is quoted here, you have to remember what was going on in our country at the time of his statement. The Civil War was raging. As we all know from our high school US History classes, the root cause of the American Civil War was the slavery issue and the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave or free. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in Missouri. During the Mexican War, conflict started about what would happen with the new territories that the US expected to gain upon victory. David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, which would ban slavery in the new lands. However, this was shot down after much debate. The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and Free states, northern and southern interests. One of the provisions was the Fugitive Slave Act. Another issue that further increased tensions was the KansasNebraska Act of 1854. It created two new territories that would allow the states to use Popular Sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave. The real issue occurred in Kansas where pro-slavery Missourians began to pour into the state to help force it to be slave. They were called "Border Ruffians. Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence, Kansas. The fighting that occurred caused it to be called "Bleeding Kansas. The fight even erupted onto the floor of the U.S. Senate when anti-slavery proponent Charles Sumner was beat over the head by South Carolina's Senator Preston Brooks. These measures were stopgap at best, and were destined to bring the Union closer to war with the South, which at the time seemed more and more likelihood with every passing day. However, like SO many liberals love to point out, those that were considered liberals then were really the conservatives, and the conservatives were the liberals. The context of the time in which the quote was spoken is of paramount importance to understanding the why of it all. Mark Twain was speaking out against slavery, and those conservative democrats who were at the time, driving the country headlong into civil war with their refusal to allow the abolishment of slavery. Think about this. At the time, Democrats were the 'conservatives', i.e., supporting the right to keep slavery and slaves as a lawful industry in America, and those Republicans who were considered the liberals of the day - wanting to ensure that all men equal and free - were the real freethinkers of the time. Mark Twain, aka Samuel L. Clemens would have never supported the agenda this leftist president is currently forcing upon the American people, and to say or insinuate such is purely

ludicrous. Mark Twain was a staunch believer in the rights of the rugged individual, and that of the states over the federal government. Therefore, this quote is being taken completely out of context, making the liberal viewpoint moot, as usual. Mark Twain would have abhorred and naturally would have railed against the Democrat Party's incremental destruction of our individual rights and freedoms under this tyrant, Barack Obama. It was in his nature to ferret out deceit and untrustworthiness in government, as anyone who has read his works, or even taken a real history course in school would instinctively know.

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