Generally speaking, Republicans think government is bad — except when it’s run by Republicans.Likewise, many Democrats think government is bad — except when it’s run by Democrats.But both of these groups hold special places in their hearts for the Founding Fathers.Even libertarians — drivers of the “thinking government is bad” bandwagon — regularly embrace candidates who champion the Constitution.The Founding Fathers’ opinions are treated as examples to follow and authorities to consult.There is no denying British colonial rule was tyrannical and unjust, but the same judgment must be made of the early American presidents if consistent criteria are used.Before his presidency, George Washington led an armed rebellion against the British after the forceful imposition of taxation without representation.Once he assumed power, he immediately undertook actions not unlike the offenses of King George.Shortly after the Constitution was ratified, Washington’s administration instituted strong taxes on whiskey.Although the primary reason for the taxes was to pay off the nation’s war debt, Alexander Hamilton — the first Secretary of the Treasury — saw them as a way to secure the federal government’s power.Hamilton even said the tax would serve “more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of revenue,” according to a Jan. 27 report on Politico.com on the anniversary of the tax.Because of its excessively high rates — and because it discriminated between large and small producers of whiskey — many Americans felt this measure of “social discipline” was unjust, especially Americans on the western frontier who often used whiskey as a barter good — a liquid commodity.When Americans protested the tax on whiskey — using measures similar to the far smaller British taxes on tea — Washington personally led 13,000 troops and violently put down the rebellion.If Washington was willing to use force when the British levied taxes on Americans to pay for the French and Indian War, then his decision to use force to make Americans pay for the Revolutionary War can only be seen as hypocrisy.The fact that the whiskey tax was far higher and discriminatory only makes it worse.Fervent patriots might respond by pointing out that taxation was not the only cause of the American Revolution. The Constitution certainly granted sweeping powers to the federal government, but these powers were limited by the Bill of Rights.But these patriots will be the first to admit what little constitutional limitations placed on the government are often ignored. And this pattern did not begin recently.While fighting an undeclared war with France, John Adams, our second president, signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts and imprisoned journalists critical of his policies.While it is true Adams’s successor, Thomas Jefferson, gave a full pardon to all journalists arrested under the Sedition Acts, Jefferson engaged in policies that were just as questionable.In response to foreign policy pressures, Jefferson forbade exports to Britain and France through the Embargo Act of 1807 and gave this measure the Orwellian description of “peaceful coercion.”Forced to choose between smuggling and starvation, many exporters chose to smuggle. After seeing his policies rejected, Jefferson called on the military to fire on the American traders and even made it illegal to even sail between American ports.Surrounded by public outcry against the embargo, Jefferson threatened to accuse all dissidents of treason, a crime punishable by death, according to Alan Pell Crawford’s “Twilight at Monticello.”In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke highly of the “hope and virtue” found at Valley Forge — presumably to commend the sacrificial spirit found in the Revolution.But the lesson of the American Revolution should not be a celebration of sacrifice, but a rejection of government power.Government power will always be abused, even by the Founding Fathers.Its expansion should be fought at every turn.–Contact Daniel Morgan at [email protected]