Within the cluttered attic of my memory, I recall briefly staying awake during a history class in high school. The teacher mentioned the farewell address given by George Washington when he stepped down from his office, and I thought that it might be fun to read it in light of the current political situation.

Ok, yeah. I had a decent idea of what Washington said, but when I read it, I became truly terrified.

Ol’ Georgy, in his address, managed to SPECIFICALLY and LITERALLY warn us about the neo-con group that has hijacked our country. I can’t quite explain it; the guy must have been a prophet.

Note on this article:
Below I take some of the most pointed statements from his address. I used the text found in the corresponding wiki article. In each quotation I make every attempt to legitimately represent the context. Ann Coulter, are you reading? I am making an attempt to NOT misquote a text. You should try it, but then what would you do?

Also note: so there is no confusion (not that there would be), my comments are in bold-italic font. Washington’s words are in normal font.

Ultimately, what I read terrifies me.

To set the tone for his address:

…that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained

How could anyone disagree with that? Of course, the trick is to convince yourself that you hold the Constitution sacred. Then you can justify anything. *ahem* Cheney.

On how to influence other nations:

…under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it.

…for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize.

I seem to remember Ron Paul championing this type of thinking. Something about minding our own business, setting a good example… I don’t know. Perhaps it was just a minor point…(ha!)

The next is on unity within the nation, even though we may differ in many ways. Washington emphasizes this in terms of geographic differences (ie, the Civil War), but I think ideology fits into the spirit of his ideas:

…and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.

But the Constitution… till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all.

Mr. Bush, are you listening..er..reading? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

This next quote floored me, as his intuitive understanding of politics and people predicted a profound problem within our country today. Seriously, it is chilling:

They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.

I mean, he might as well have said, “Hey, when this group of neo-cons start getting uppity, deport them. Fast. Or hit them with a shovel. Then deport them… and then hit them again.”

He goes on:

…to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

Washington starts to become creepy here. Like, Nostradamus-style creepy:

It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

So, Mr. Washington, you’re saying that these power-grabbing minority groups that seek to gain tremendous power over the government and the people may end up dragging the U.S. into needless foreign affairs?

Yes.

Oh dear, that’s terrifying. Good thing that this is just a warning and therefore remains only theoretical…

Tell me what you think about government spending and debt:

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear.

Ok, Mr. Washington, so illegally going to war for reasons you say are dangerous and thus subjecting the citizens and their descendants to debts reaching potentially trillions of dollars would possibly upset you?

Hypothetically, should we make a point to support a nation in a volatile region of the world?

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.

Great. Because there’s this country called Israel….oh, you have more to say:

The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.

Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification.

…since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.

Damn.

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