I guess I come down somewhere in between Ed Kigore and this Hot Air lunatic. I agree with Ed that it doesn’t really matter what we call a stupid fundraising dinner. But I agree with the lunatic that publicly disowning Jefferson sends a much broader message. Now, Ed is clear that he doesn’t endorse disowning Jefferson or any other historic figures. But I don’t see how you can look at what the Connecticut Democratic Party did as anything but that.
After all, they only did it because of the outrage people feel about the shooting in Charleston and the urging of the state NAACP. The clear implication is that there’s something dreadfully wrong with Thomas Jefferson which puts him in the same rough category as the Confederate Flag.
Now, the Hot Air guy misses this point entirely, mainly because he’s almost comically stupid. In his world, none of us care about slavery or being mindful of the sensitivities of people in our party who find Jefferson’s legacy profoundly objectionable. We want to disown Jefferson (and Jackson) because “they represent the foundations of conservatism.”
What we have here is a guy who is only too happy to take ownership of Jefferson for Team Red.
Ed’s happy to give him ownership for a variety of reasons, all of which make a ton of sense.
But, I’m not.
To be clear, I don’t care if the Democratic Party stops naming their fundraisers after Jefferson and Jackson. What I care about is this idea that Jefferson is a pariah.
I’d like, first, to strongly distinguish him from Jackson, who I do think deserves to be shunned. And, secondly, as I wrote, I’d like us to acknowledge and celebrate Jefferson’s greatness and our debt to him rather than focusing so much on his shortcomings that we lose sight of his magnificence.
And, finally, one of my key points was that people listen to each other and be willing to compromise. I don’t have some hard line on this. I just think it’s a safe bet that there are a lot of people who agree with me that Jefferson doesn’t deserve this treatment and are unhappy about it. And their viewpoint deserves some respect, too.
