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This coming November, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will exhibit a cut-and-paste Bible of a mere 86 pages. Were it the work of David Wojnarowicz (the artist behind the crucifix video) or Andres Serrano (of "Piss Christ" fame), this Bible would doubtless stir up a hornet's nest. But in fact, it was created by Thomas Jefferson. During the election of 1800, Jefferson was denounced as a "howling atheist" and "a confirmed infidel" known for "vilifying the divine word, and preaching insurrection against God." But the Virginian also revered Jesus as "the first of human Sages" and was, according...

WASHINGTON—The alleged liaison between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings entered a new phase upon the release of an updated scholarly report at the National Press Club on Sept. 1. The “Jefferson-Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission” seeks to overturn the widely held belief that the author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States had an affair with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, and was the father of one or more of her children. The liaison has gained acceptance and notoriety in popular culture. In February 2000, “Sally Hemings: An American Scandal” was shown...

In a book due out Thursday, eminent scholars say it's unlikely that Thomas Jefferson fathered Sally Hemings' children, disputing a decade's worth of conventional wisdom that the author of the Declaration of Independence sired offspring with one of his slaves. The debate has ensnared historians for years, and many thought the issue was settled when DNA testing in the late 1990s confirmed that a Jefferson male fathered Hemings' youngest son, Eston. But, with one lone dissenter, the panel of 13 scholars doubted the claim and said the evidence points instead to Jefferson's brother Randolph as the father.

Ex-New Orleans politician guilty of racketeeringPublished: Tue, July 26, 2011 @ 11:45 a.m. NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former New Orleans councilwoman connected to a corruption-tainted ex-Louisiana congressman has been convicted of conspiring to loot more than $1 million from charities run with taxpayer money. Federal jurors on Monday convicted 56-year-old Renee Gill Pratt of one count of racketeering and she faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 26. **SNIP** Jefferson was convicted in 2009 on corruption charges over his African business ties. He’s free pending appeals. Gill Pratt insisted Monday that she is innocent. She is...

"I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution ... taking from the federal government their power of borrowing." -- Thomas Jefferson (Letter of November 26th, 1798)

Representative Jim Moran (D-Va) insisted that GOP use of former president Thomas Jefferson’s opposition to government borrowing to bolster the case against raising the debt limit is “unfair” and “inappropriate.” “First of all, Jefferson was one of the founders of the Democratic Party,” Moran contended. “If anyone is going to interpret what he stood for that right belongs to members of that same Party. The GOP’s attempt to enlist him for their cause is unfair.” “Second, even if Jefferson may have expressed an aversion to borrowing as a policy position, his behavior was quite the contrary,” Moran continued. “Jefferson loved...

How much do you know about the men who lead the American colonies toward independence and through the first few years as the United States of America? Test your knowledge of some of the most important men in American history and the roles they played during those first turbulent years. Take The Quiz

Rep. Bill Jefferson corruption case appellate arguments scheduledBy Times-Picayune Staff Updated: Saturday, June 25, 2011, 9:03 AM After a series of lengthy delays, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has tentatively scheduled oral arguments for former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's appeal of his corruption conviction. A three-judge panel in the Richmond, Va., court announced that it plans to hear the arguments sometime between Sept. 20 and Sept. 23. A Virginia jury found Jefferson, a nine-term New Orleans Democrat, guilty of 11 of 16 corruption charges in August 2009. The jury found that Jefferson demanded, and in some cases received,...

The 2012 presidential election cycle is underway. With the Democratic candidate a foregone conclusion, there is not much uncertainty about where the Democratic Party is going. For better or worse, Democrats will likely continue to “dance with who brung them,” meaning Barack Obama and his brand of 21st century liberalism. Not so on the Republican side. After historic defeats and victories in the past two elections, respectively, the Republican Party has yet to define itself for the future. It must come to grips with the fact that its miraculous comeback in 2010, after crushing defeats in the presidential and congressional...

Why it matters that our democracy trust in GodFATHER ROBERT BARRONI was pleased to see that the United States Supreme Court recently dismissed a suit brought by Michael Newdow, a Sacramento man who wanted to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” from the nation’s coins and paper currency, as well as from the fronts of our public buildings. The tired argument that the gentleman brought forward was that this custom somehow violates the first amendment guarantee that the government shall make no law either establishing an official religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion in the United...

Park Police Investigate Arrests for Dancing at Jefferson Memorial By RUSSELL GOLDMAN May 30, 2011— The U.S. Park Police are investigating whether excessive force was used in the arrest of five protesters Saturday, who silently danced in the interior of the Jefferson Memorial to protest a recent ruling against dancing at federal monuments. Videos posted to YouTube over the weekend show park police officers in light blue polo shirts handcuffing dancers. It looked as if one protester, who was wearing a "Disobey" T-shirt, had been body-slammed by an officer, and choked. In a YouTube video of Saturday's incident, when a...

Seems like a lot of folks present old Thomas Jefferson as not being a Christian, not being religious, being a Deist, and just different from the other fifty-five signers of the Constitution. It seems folks just like to shoot off their mouth to prove a point without making sure what their shooting is good ammunition. I especially like the use of Mr. Jefferson statement of the “wall between church and state” to denote “the separation of church and state.” It sounds so good but was that what he meant? Mr. Jefferson, are you are Christian? “(My views on Christianity) are...

Mose Jefferson dies after battle with cancerReported by: WIRE and STAFF reports Last Update: 5/12 8:16 pm Mose Jefferson, political operative and brother of former Rep. William Jefferson, died after a battle with cancer, according to attorney Mike Fawer. Mose Jefferson was serving a 10-year federal prison sentence at North Carolina's Butner Federal Medical Center after being convicted of bribery. He passed away at 3 p.m. **SNIP** Jefferson was scheduled to stand trial on racketeering conspiracy charges, but that trial was pushed back because of his illness. Jefferson's sister, former New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson, and her daughter, Angela...

Current state of affairs - brought to measure by the forebodings of yester-year and the pillars of our Great Nation regarding... I. THE WITHOLDING OF INFORMATION: "Information is the currency of democracy." "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." II. THE ENCROACHMENT OF GOVERNMENT: "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?" "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." III. OUR...

Some commentators love the Libya war; others hate it. But most agree that it’s profoundly unnatural that we were pushed into it by… France. Welcome to the post-American world. In the age we’re entering, most of the time, the choice will no longer be between humanitarian interventions controlled by the United States and humanitarian interventions where other nations take the lead. The choice will be between humanitarian interventions where other nations take the lead and no humanitarian interventions at all. A comparison with the 1990s illustrates the point. In the early 1990s, when the former Yugoslavia began breaking up, and...

Feds back Jefferson verdict111-page filing says jury got it right Bruce Alpert - Washington bureau Saturday, March 12, 2011 WASHINGTON -- A federal jury properly found that former Rep. William Jefferson engaged in "numerous bribe schemes" to "unjustly enrich himself and his family," so a federal appeals court should allow the jury's guilty verdict to stand, prosecutors say. In a 111-page filing late Thursday to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., the prosecutors urged the court to reject Jefferson's argument that the verdict, guilty on 11 of 16 corruption charges, must be thrown out. Jefferson's attorneys argued...

"In Resolve with the Citizens of the United States of America, we citizens do united and express our grievances for redress; having done so and received no response but be ignored repeatedly do solemnly and humbly re-Declare our Independence. The people of these United States are and ought to be and remain in liberty with freedoms for all. No man or group of men has a right to withhold liberty from the people, so given their liberty by birth under their creator. We have tried for redress yet each grievance received upon deaf ears. The time now has come where...

"I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for their reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its Constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing." – Thomas Jefferson. Source: letter to John Taylor, November 26, 1798 NEW ORLEANS, La. – Americans fed up with expanding federal debt, officially at $14 trillion, may soon revive Jefferson's wish and address it without begging to Congress. The National Debt Relief Amendment, with legislative sponsors in 10...

Dozens of Thomas Jefferson's books, some including handwritten notes from the nation's third president, have been found in the rare books collection at Washington University in St. Louis. Now, historians are poring through the 69 newly discovered books and five others the school already knew about, and librarians are searching the collection for more volumes that may have belonged to the founding father. Even if no other Jefferson-owned books are found, the school's collection of 74 books is the third largest in the nation after the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia.

Today we celebrate a federal holiday, which is much more about giving your public servants another day off than it is to honor the names of Jefferson and Washington. They can be honored without sending the workers home. But why in the plural? It’s because of the egalitarian necessity not to judge, we suspect. After all, who are we, mere American citizens, to say one president is better than another? Let’s lump ‘em all together and celebrate the U.S. Grants and Jimmy Carters too! Pollster Rasmussen Reports has an interesting survey on (or sort of on) point: . . .