“... Democratic and aristocratic states are not in their own nature free. Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments; and even in these it is not always found. It is there only when there is no abuse of power. But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go. Is it not strange, though true, to say that virtue itself has need of limits?  ...

“To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power. A government may be so constituted, as no man shall be compelled to do

things to which the law does not oblige him, nor forced to abstain from things which the law permits ... .” - Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws, Book XI

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories - Thomas Jefferson, philosopher, statesman, third American president

The current war over the contentious slogan of 1Malaysia, the semiotic battle for the heart and mind of Malaysians over that propagandic tool called 1Malaysia is beginning to rage as yet another development of a general election 13 style of campaigning.