From: fedora@fea.st   
      
   On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:44:43 -0500, Wilson    
   wrote:   
      
   >On 2/15/2026 2:22 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:19:32 -0500, Wilson    
   >> wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 2/15/2026 1:37 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>>> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:25:10 -0500, Wilson    
   >>>> wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> On 2/15/2026 1:18 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>>>>> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 09:44:05 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >>>>>>> On 2/15/2026 7:40 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:>>> You can't simply go   
   around announcing that libertarianism is a   
   >>>>> principle and therefore   
   >>>>>>>> true.   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Who are these "libertarianism" of whom you speak? Apparently, you've   
   >>>>>>> never even seen a photo of The Statue of Liberty. Wait! What?   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> The sol poem   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,   
   >>>>>> With conquering limbs astride from land to land;   
   >>>>>> Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand   
   >>>>>> A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame   
   >>>>>> Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name   
   >>>>>> Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand   
   >>>>>> Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command   
   >>>>>> The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she   
   >>>>>> With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,   
   >>>>>> Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,   
   >>>>>> The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.   
   >>>>>> Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,   
   >>>>>> I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> That poem was added to the statue of liberty after it had been erected   
   >>>>> as part of a private fund-raising effort. It does not define the meaning   
   >>>>> of the statue, the creators intention for making it, or the reason the   
   >>>>> nation of France gave it to the US.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Or actually it does.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Let's hear it, why do you think france put that statue on a boat and   
   >>>> shipped it across the atlantic?   
   >>>   
   >>> "The Statue of Liberty, officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World   
   >>> (La Liberté éclairant le monde in French), was a gift from the people of   
   >>> France to the United States, formally presented in 1884 and dedicated in   
   >>> 1886.   
   >>>   
   >>> Origins and Motivations   
   >>>   
   >>> French political thinker, historian, and abolitionist Édouard de   
   >>> Laboulaye first proposed the idea in 1865, shortly after the end of the   
   >>> American Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the US. Laboulaye   
   >>> admired the American republic and its constitution, and he saw the   
   >>> monument as a way to:   
   >>>   
   >>> - Celebrate the enduring friendship and alliance between France and the   
   >>> United States, particularly France's crucial support during the American   
   >>> Revolutionary War.   
   >>>   
   >>> - Commemorate the upcoming 100 year anniversary of the American   
   >>> Declaration of Independence and honor the US as a successful example of   
   >>> republican government and the abolition of slavery (symbolized by the   
   >>> broken chains at the statue's feet).   
   >>>   
   >>> In the French domestic context, the timing was significant. France had   
   >>> just suffered defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), leading to   
   >>> the collapse of Napoleon III's empire and the establishment of the Third   
   >>> Republic. Laboulaye and other French republicans viewed the gift as a   
   >>> subtle promotion of republican ideals and liberty at home, expressing   
   >>> hope that these values would prevail in France against monarchical or   
   >>> authoritarian tendencies.   
   >>>   
   >>> The project was a joint effort: French citizens funded the statue itself   
   >>> through public contributions, while Americans funded the pedestal and   
   >>> installation.   
   >>>   
   >>> Meaning to the French   
   >>>   
   >>> To the French, the statue primarily symbolized the universal ideals of   
   >>> liberty and enlightenment stemming from both the American and French   
   >>> Revolutions. It depicted Libertas (the Roman goddess of freedom) holding   
   >>> a torch to illuminate the world with reason and republican principles,   
   >>> reflecting France's own revolutionary motto of Liberté, Égalité,   
   >>> Fraternité. It was not originally intended as a symbol of immigration   
   >>   
   >> Yes, that association came a few years later, not that it should be   
   >> discarded because of that.   
   >>   
   >>> (that association developed later in the US), but rather as a   
   >>> celebration of shared political values and a beacon of hope for liberty   
   >>> worldwide.   
   >>>   
   >>> In summary, the gift was both a diplomatic gesture of transatlantic   
   >>> solidarity and a domestic statement by French republicans affirming the   
   >>> triumph of liberty over oppression."   
   >   
   >It's the Statue of Liberty not the Statue of unchecked immigration.   
      
   In your opinion.  Other opinion:   
      
   "Give me your tired, your poor,   
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,   
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."   
      
   Perhaps it could be replaced by a statue of isolationism.  What would   
   that look like?  An ice agent shooting a woman through a car window?   
   Or dragging people away from their home at 5am?  Sure we could   
   probably make a statue of that.   
   --   
   Noah Sombrero mustachioed villain   
   Don't get political with me young man   
   or I'll tie you to a railroad track and   
   <<>> to <<>>   
   Who dares to talk to El Sombrero?   
   dares: Ned   
   does not dare: Julian  shrinks in horror and warns others away   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)