Thank you, I shall check out our library tonight. Lots of statements regarding Jefferson and the Koran lately have piqued my interest. I know my kin weren't particularly found of him from all I can read. Seems Guv Morris thought Jefferson was a hypocrite, but what can I tell you, I wasn't there.
OT:
Jefferson was clearly a complex man. It's hard to reconcile some parts of his life with other parts.
For example, Jefferson was thought to be a semi-pacifist yet he launched a naval war against the muslim Barbary states without even bothering to ask Congress. This was in response to repeated terror attacks on and enslavement of Americans conducting commerce in the Mediterranean. The Europeans, especially the powerful English and French, had failed to put a stop to it and maintained their safety by the payment of annual tribute and, in fact, were thought to be inciting the north African muslims against the Americans. The author is drawing parallels between then and now.
People who cite the Declaration of Independence and "endowed by their Creator" often fail to take note of the "Jefferson Bible" in which Jefferson essentially rewrote the gospels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible
(one link of many) to get rid of the divinity of Jesus. And they also fail to cite "The Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom"
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/42.htm
(one link of many). For these reasons, Jefferson, in his time and later, was often labeled as our "First Atheist President" which makes the claims associated with his ownership of the Koran a little thin.
Like I say he's a fascinating guy.