Intellectuals, What Do they Know?

Smear Thomas Jefferson. They've been at it since the super libertarian dared to express his ideas. His self-government philosophy frightened a certain category of people during his time, as they do in ours. Those who prefer government to liberty work hard to discredit Jefferson - even if they have to attack his character. Slandering the man has been an avocation, if not a living, for many intellectuals.

Major biographies by Dumas Malone, William Stern Randall and Joseph Ellis have addressed Jefferson's alleged affair with his slave woman, Sally Hemings, contending that "he was too good for that, and Sally's offspring were fathered by Jefferson's nephew, the promiscous Peter Carr."

The late Fawn Brodie, a serial-assassin biographer, wrote: "Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History," in 1974. She insisted that Tom had bedded down with Sally, his deceased wife's half- sister. That's the same author who attempted an expose of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith, in her earlier book, "No Man Knows My History." Her book was quickly debunked by a Mormon writer with: "No M'am, That's Not History."

Brodie claimed that Jefferson had Sally in mind when he wrote to describe the curvy and hilly scenery while travelling in France. Sally was eight years old at the time and living in Virginia. No wonder the silly biographer gets no respect from the biographers Randall, Ellis and Malone.

The use of DNA testing to "prove" Jefferson sired Eston, one of Sally's children, has caught the major newspapers and university professors in an ironic trap. That is, for two centuries Jefferson detractors have contended that Sally's first son, Tommy, was the president's offspring. They said he resembled Jefferson and even played the violin. How ironic now, to have the genetic scientists deny that young Tom could have been old Tom's son.

The oops factor is always a possibility in the science realm, as even the trusted carbon dating is under skeptical review. Show me the theory upon which you base your facts. DNA is still just a theory and might stand for DO NOT ASSUME. Don't jump to conclusions, but wait 20 years, you might have a different point of view.

Intellectuals do not know that Jefferson was Eston's daddy, but everybody knows he was the father of liberty. No DNA is needed for that.

"Thomas Jefferson was the greatest man in the last 1,000 years," wrote columnist George Will.

Close enough, George. Thomas Jefferson, R.I.P.



Thoughts While Jaywalking

* Where did the middle class go? Rush Limbaugh says: "They were successful and moved up to the upper class." (He's funny even when he's not trying.) They lost their jobs and their shirts. They went south.

* The cost of money just rose again. The Fed's interest rates were raised and banks are already raising their prime rates. The Federal Reserve Board runs the economy in a way similar to a guy named Schacht in Nazi Germany. He was one of the reasons Nazis disgusted us. To think that government would direct the economy - horrors!

* How could we afford World War Two, when we were still in the Great Depression? Banks who had no money for home loans or even small business loans suddenly could provide cash and credit for both guns and bread. How? We think we can explain it to you, but you'll have to ask.

* Our government is protesting to the World Trade Organization, claiming that European governments are giving financial support to Airbus, the airplane manufacturer. That's unfair and illegal competition, according to the Bush administration. But our home industry, Boeing, receives certain favors and tax breaks from Washington. So what's the deal?

* The real Oil-for-Food scandal involves so many American corporations (read Harper's magazine) that it's not a popular topic with the neocon crowd anymore. Of course, the "scandal" was just a smokescreen to cover the genocidal sanctions on Iraq. It worked. Who can tell you anything about the sanctions?

* China's currency deceptions and manipulations are done at the expense of the Yankee Dollar. Some members of Congress want to act on this, but King George says, "No." He thinks the Chinese are wonderful as trading partners.

* Who's war is this? Bush's War? Rummy's War? Probably Cheney's War.

Twenty-Years-From-Now News

The capital of Utah has been moved to Hurricane - lock, stock and barrel. Both Utah Governor Dan McCarthy and veteran lawmakers are excited about the relocation. "A better climate for public servants and bureaucrats. At last, we'll get something accomplished," the governor said. The old capital in Salt Lake City is being remodeled to accomodate a new Wal-Mart Bank and Credit Card Headquarters.

IT'S ALL SO SIMPLE.