American History
Showing Original Post only (View all)This was a unique performance...giving a newsman a government salary to attack the administration... [View all]
I'm reading, in desultory fashion, here and there, a fascinating history book on the founding of Constitutional Government in the United States, called The Great Divide: The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined a Nation
Most of the online reviews of the book note the author's clear distaste - many reviewers think it "over the top" - for Thomas Jefferson, which is probably why I'm rather enjoying it. Thomas Jefferson is almost certainly my least favorite "Founding Father" as the author of the phrase "all men are created equal," was a slave holder is mostly notable for validating the hypocrisy that has reached an apotheosis in the modern Republican Party; the "right to life" forced birth party that wants lots of children to be available to be shot in schools.
Jefferson did emancipate his children by his slave Sally Hemmings, but the majority of them were sold off under the terms of his will to pay his debts.
Jefferson was Washington's Secretary of State, but even so, spent much of his time working to undermine Washington's government according to this book.
The quote in the title of this post comes from the book is found on page 110 describing the efforts of Jefferson and Madison to convince Madison's former roommate at "The College of New Jersey," now Princeton University, to launch a newspaper to attack Alexander Hamilton, and by extension, George Washington himself. The ex-roommate, Phillip Freneau, a forgotten personage then known as "The Poet of the Revolution," at first demurred, but Jefferson and Madison prevailed on him to do a job.
The full text of the sentence reads, after stating that Madison convinced Freneau to found the newspaper, to "enter the fray,"
Well, he wasn't a newsman, but Michael Flynn was a government employee, a general - Jack T. Ripper brought into the real world - in the Obama administration, so I'm not sure about "and remains..." but that's a quibble.
From the book's jacket:
In many ways I find the characterization that the book's arguments do, in fact, resonate in the present day.
I suspect Jefferson, were he a modern rather than a historical figure, might have proved a favorite on Fox Noise, but that's just me.