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Wednesday, May 09, 2012
The Jefferson Lies... by David Barton
1. Deconstructionism
2. Poststructuralism
3. Modernism
4. Minimalism
5. Academic Collectivism
These may sound like intimidating concepts, but they are not. As Barton explains them, you will recognize every single one and you will be able to identify them across disciplines. Ever heard of the term, "scientific consensus"? That term would be far better described as "Academic Collectivism".
When my dad writes a book or a paper, half of it is the story or the argument and the other half is the proof or the notes that point to original source documents so that you can be certain in your own mind. Barton is almost as careful as my dad :) He has provided more that sixty pages of notes so if you don't believe him.. you can look it up.
A couple of years ago, I read a book called Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. In it, she made wild suppositions about Benjamin Franklin and his thoughts and motives without providing a single source document to prove her point. I discounted everything she said. Some of it was an interesting story, but at best her book was historical fiction.
I told you this book was two books in one. The second book, if you will, is the biography of Jefferson, a man who has been maligned by historical malpractice.
Historians have had such a field day with Jefferson that you may not even recognize the great man you will find in these pages; his life, his accomplishments and his character have been run through the mud. But, he was an exceptional man and a great man. He was a man of tremendous faith who loved humanity. He had a great mind and was an incredible student of the best books in all subjects for his entire life. He was an early abolitionist revered by generations who tried to follow his example... people like John Quincy Adams and Fredrick Douglas.
He was a man who suffered great loss and heartbreak in his life and a man who cherished his family. I could go on and on, but I just want to end with a couple of my favorite telling quotes from the book. This beautiful tribute written by his granddaughter Ellen was so personal and tender:
From him seemed to flow all the pleasures of my life. To him I owed all the small blessings and joyful surprises of my childish and girlish years... When about fifteen years old, I began to think of a watch, but knew the state of my father’s finances promised no such indulgence... One afternoon the letter-bag was brought in. Among the letters was a small packet addressed to my grandfather. It had the Philadelphia mark upon it. I looked at it with indifferent, incurious eye. Three hours after, an elegant lady’s watch with chain and seals was in my hand, which trembled for very joy. My Bible came from him, my Shakespeare, my first writing-table, my first handsome writingdesk, my first Leghorn hat, my first silk dress. What, in short, of all my small treasures did not come from him ?… Our grandfather seemed to read our hearts, to see our invisible wishes, to be our good genie to wave the fairy wand to brighten our young lives by his goodness and his gifts.and finally...
"The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored such as it was preached and practiced by Himself.... I hope that the day of restoration is to come." Thomas Jefferson, "Thomas Jefferson Papers, to Francis A. Van Der Kemp on July 9, 1820" Library of Congress.
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
It is hard to believe it has taken me this long to pick up Little Dorrit, which has become a new treasure. How could I resist it when Dickens sings to the choir as he speaks to my heart about the abuses, waste and inefficiencies of government that obviously haven't changed too much in 200 years.
Chapter 10 is titled, "Containing the Whole Science of Government." Indeed, it does. In fact in just these few paragraphs you can see Dickens genius at picking apart the entire problem.
The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government. No public business of any kind could possibly be done at any time without the acquiescence of the Circumlocution Office. Its finger was in the largest public pie, and in the smallest public tart. It was equally impossible to do the plainest right and to undo the plainest wrong without the express authority of the Circumlocution Office. If another Gunpowder Plot had been discovered half an hour before the lighting of the match, nobody would have been justified in saving the parliament until there had been half a score of boards, half a bushel of minutes, several sacks of official memoranda, and a family-vault full of ungrammatical correspondence, on the part of the Circumlocution Office.In addition to explaining the whole of government waste and hubris... there is some fantastic parenting advice, a beautiful love story, examples of true friendship and how to marry disastrously. My brilliant sister recently summed it up like this, "don't fall in love with someone who is too worried about being groovy. They will never be happy and neither will you."
This glorious establishment had been early in the field, when the one sublime principle involving the difficult art of governing a country, was first distinctly revealed to statesmen. It had been foremost to study that bright revelation and to carry its shining influence through the whole of the official proceedings. Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving--HOW NOT TO DO IT.
Mixed in with all this good stuff is Dickens' great heart, his love of God, virtue, beauty, faith, friendship and kindness....
At last, in the dead of the night, when the street was very still indeed, Little Dorrit laid the heavy head upon her bosom, and soothed her to sleep. And thus she sat at the gate, as it were alone; looking up at the stars, and seeing the clouds pass over them in their wild flight--which was the dance at Little Dorrit's party.This book is one of the greats.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard
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Good and evil exist everywhere in our world. "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11).
This book is largely about evil and its events unfold like a morality play. John Wilkes Booth is man corrupted by pride and licentiousness and therefore easily tempted. He becomes obsessed with the idea that killing President Lincoln will raise the south again and he will be its hero. Like all those who fall to the enticings of Satan, once the deed is done, he is abandoned. Booth ends up battered and broken in a stinking swamp until he burns to death in a barn. He is not beloved. He is not succored and saved, but hunted and hated and finally one of the most ignominious villains in history.
If only the 9/11 terrorists had read this book.
For those of us just trying to contribute what we can, the lesson is that there are conspiracies around us. There are those who want evil to come upon our country. While it's nice to think that everyone has good intentions, it simply isn't true. And it's truth that matters. We have to search for it, find it and hold it up.
Because there is opposition in all things, there are those who would love nothing better than to see America in bondage. It requires the efforts of those who love liberty to be always mindful and watchful to preserve the country that we love.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Some Kind of Wonderful Dress...
This is the bride I have been painting today. I have loved painting this dress because the designer is Claire La Faye.. one of the independent designers on Etsy who is getting quite a lot of attention for her unusual and beautiful items. I love the sense of texture that is still bridal and ethereal. Check her out and see what you think...
Custom Wedding Cake Toppers and Portrait Dolls can be found...
Monday, April 23, 2012
My favorite bouquet...
This isn't the best photo, but I had to somehow record my favorite bouquet C ever gave me.. THIS is it! Saturday he pruned the Prairie Fire Crabtree in our garden and brought me the trimmings to arrange. The spring trees are one of my favorite things on earth, and I have enjoyed this bouquet more than any other. I hope someday our garden will achieve the vision we have for it and produce beautiful bouquets all season.
Thank you C. I love you. You are a person who makes everything better wherever you go.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Wedding in Tokyo...
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
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