Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Channeling Jefferson?

In his address to the nation Monday night, President Obama said, "The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government. So I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message." They did, deluging the switchboards and computer servers of Congress in the process. Being the erudite man that he is, I wonder if Obama had the words of Thomas Jefferson in mind as he crafted his call to action. In a 1789 letter to English philosopher Richard Price, Jefferson wrote, "Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." Let's hope Jefferson is right.

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