Ninth Carnival of Principled Government
Welcome to the Ninth Carnival of Principled Government. This round's submissions included an eclectic mix of entries on a variety of topics, and one editor's choice. I hope you find some food for thought in each!

I'm going to lead off with an editor's choice from an unlikely blog: free from, a blog devoted to Gluten free living. The entry is about an experience with her daughter, but she so eloquently defines the heart of what is needed to improve our nation: personal responsibility.
Am I old-fashioned in thinking that individual responsibility is important here, rather than provision by society?
Individual responsibility is common sense, is it not? In honor of Independence Day, Kill Bigotry offers an insightful entry on one of America's more enigmatic founding fathers, Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense.

If we don't take responsibility, our liberties will not last long. Wenchypoo defines liberty and invites us to defend it in the means provided: the ballot box. But many of us are too preoccupied with Paris Hilton to notice much else.

Rethink reflects on the executive branch and the office of President in particular. I wish I knew how to get there, but this is definitely the heart of "principled government,"
Let's let it [the presidency] be serious again, by filling it with occupants who are more interested in serving and going back to private life as quickly as possible, as opposed to these overly ambitious individuals who would be great if the older system of incentives were in place, but who are threatened by an even more expectant and ambitious democracy that has changed the nature of government.
Quietly into the Night shares an interesting article about the standardization of curriculum in This is why my son is homeschooled. When we decide the state knows better than the teacher what a student should be taught, we have definitely left our founders' vision of limited self-government.

The First Creation explores two types of interactions between members of society: force and choice.

Not specifically relevant to the goals of this carnival, but an important topic nonetheless is an entry from Hakim Abdullah, An Islamic view of Suicide Bombing. I appreciated this quote shared by one of his commenter's:
Terrorism is to religion, as adultery is to marriage.
From rhetoric to relevance? Scatterbox offers an interesting entry on the defection of two leaders from WakeUpWalMart to back John Edwards' run for presidency.

Mad Kane offers a little poem sharing her distaste for Nader.

Salterblog shares a recent internet quiz which labels him as a Freedom Crusader. I'd prefer not to share my results...the questions were a bit, well, you can read them for yourselves.

TrustedAdvisor offers an entry about ideology and a review of Regina Herzlinger's ideas for health care reform.

And I offer a quick look at someone who is recommending that the UN amend Article 18 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to define missionary activities as a form of violence.

Thank you for visiting this edition of the Carnival of Principled Government. More information about the goals of the carnival may be found here. Entries may be submitted here. And if you would be interested in hosting, please email me!

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