It has been the mortified opinion, frequently expressed, of this son of the American Revolution that there was insufficient just cause for...the Revolution. And that the Founding Fathers were nuts.
Said opinion and accompanying mortification came about quite accidentally and naturally in the course of this here writer's general reading, he did not perform a Google search for "things that will mortify me," he recollects that it began with reading Professor Gordon Wood's book which he has at the moment done forgot the name of* but really became fixed when he actually, like, read the Declaration of Independence written by the Sage of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson. The undersigned was embarrassed.
However, even previous to his paradigm shift the undersigned did not have an unalloyed opinion of Mr. Jefferson. It was alloyed. Some lead there. Slave-holder, Sally Hemings and then his words in the now debased Dec. of Ind. Saul Padover's biography was hagiography, he could see that and he regretted buying it.
Never though, never, I say, did the undersigned think that Thomas Jefferson had read Quotations from Chairman Mao, even now he thinks that unlikely, or could have written some of the "good parts" of the little red book. However the parallels between some of the good parts of the writing of each were so striking (mortifyingly so) that the undersigned did perform a Google search "Thomas Jefferson and Mao Zedong." Me thought maybe Maoie plagiarized. Honestly. The sentiments expressed, so cold, brutal, were so similar, the particular words used were sometimes identical, the undersigned thought perhaps peut etre Maoie had read Tommy. This writer's Google search turned up no evidence of plagiarism by Mao. There was only one serious-sounding search result, a PhD thesis by a John Prindle Stead entitled The Roots of Democracy in Thomas Jefferson and Mao Tse-tung but the undersigned can't read it on account of it's not, like, in print. The undersigned may attempt to find and contact John Prindle Stead. Or he may not. Only so much mortification a body can take.
*The Idea of America.
Said opinion and accompanying mortification came about quite accidentally and naturally in the course of this here writer's general reading, he did not perform a Google search for "things that will mortify me," he recollects that it began with reading Professor Gordon Wood's book which he has at the moment done forgot the name of* but really became fixed when he actually, like, read the Declaration of Independence written by the Sage of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson. The undersigned was embarrassed.
However, even previous to his paradigm shift the undersigned did not have an unalloyed opinion of Mr. Jefferson. It was alloyed. Some lead there. Slave-holder, Sally Hemings and then his words in the now debased Dec. of Ind. Saul Padover's biography was hagiography, he could see that and he regretted buying it.
Never though, never, I say, did the undersigned think that Thomas Jefferson had read Quotations from Chairman Mao, even now he thinks that unlikely, or could have written some of the "good parts" of the little red book. However the parallels between some of the good parts of the writing of each were so striking (mortifyingly so) that the undersigned did perform a Google search "Thomas Jefferson and Mao Zedong." Me thought maybe Maoie plagiarized. Honestly. The sentiments expressed, so cold, brutal, were so similar, the particular words used were sometimes identical, the undersigned thought perhaps peut etre Maoie had read Tommy. This writer's Google search turned up no evidence of plagiarism by Mao. There was only one serious-sounding search result, a PhD thesis by a John Prindle Stead entitled The Roots of Democracy in Thomas Jefferson and Mao Tse-tung but the undersigned can't read it on account of it's not, like, in print. The undersigned may attempt to find and contact John Prindle Stead. Or he may not. Only so much mortification a body can take.
*The Idea of America.
