A great article. I would lay money that Ellison has no idea why Thomas Jefferson had that Quran.
Besides, it is an interesting history lesson that I had forgotten most of.
When you are about to do something very historic...and invoke the name of Lincoln or Jefferson...you want to be sure of what you are doing. In this case...Ellison was likely told by some college professor in Minnisota of the Jefferson item and thought this would look good in the eyes of his public. You must remember...he is a trained lawyer...he is a manipulator of public media (he spent 8 years running a little show on a public radio station there in Minnisota...gaining his audience)...and he likely has no indepth knowledge of US history (most US Muslims don't). And just so we all remember this....he is a Sunni Muslim.