[Eric in the Ozarks]

Name any ideal Americans hold dear. Count on the Left to sneer at it for being unfashonable.

[Valin]

I think the authers point is these were real people, not plaster statues.
Example John Adams, his idea of a conversation was an argument. Thomas Jefferson, like to pretend he was above "partisan politics" but behind the scenes he could/would/did sling mud with the best of them. George Washington, had a really bad temper, which he struggled to keep under control.