Now THIS is Legacy

Kristol -- who much of the time I loathe -- actually wrote a respectable column that sounded pretty damn liberal to me. In it he recounts a letter that Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence and a signer of the document, wrote to a contemporary who invited the then-83-year-old Jefferson to Washington for a 50th anniversary celebration of American independence. A choice Jefferson quote:

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains, under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings & security of self-government.

And this tidbit from the Declaration itself:

...all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

I sense that the former is informed by the latter, and both illustrate the emerging truth that, today, the tide has shifted away from the fearful, cowering populace that found it necessary to accept the most corrupt US presidential administration in history for the past 7+ years. Indeed, the sigh of relief that will be collectively drawn on January 20, 2009 will be heard around the world, as it will be drawn around the world.

Of course, we might all continue to hold our breath should Bush III get elected.