Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
--C.S. Lewis--

Thursday, July 17, 2008

One More Thought On Jefferson

I find the apparently deep and abiding love liberals have for Thomas Jefferson to be more than a little ironic. As far as I can tell, it stems from his Enlightenment mindset and his deep skepticism of organized Christianity. No, it doesn't take much to make the libs happy. The irony about all of this is that Jefferson was probably the most ardent defender of limited government we've ever had in the White House (though technically that name for the residence is an anachronism).

Another irony stems from the 1800 election. For those who don't know, in the election of 1800, he tied in electoral votes with Aaron Burr (yes, this Aaron Burr). That threw the election to the House of Representatives, making Thomas Jefferson the first president to be "selected, not elected."