Politics: The Foundation of the U.S. Government

I just found a really interesting and enlightening article that was written by a 17 year old law student. The title of the article is "The Great Pillars of Our Government". The entry talks about some of the things that the founding fathers of this nation were saying and has several excellent quotes on it. One of my favorite quotes from the page is the one below by Robert Winthrop (I retrieved the full paragraph of the quote from Google):

All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent State Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own institutions, it is Religion which must support the State. (from: Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions, By Robert C. Winthrop, p. 172)

This varies from what I would normally talk about, but I tend to be a conservative, and I like to at least stay informed about the government. This is from a long time ago, but I think it gives perspective to things that are happening in the current world. As a side note, I think that the next presidential election will be very interesting to watch, as I believe that the running of the candidates will get very heated.