Anyone here a reader of Joseph Ellis? He writes about the Founders

and as he has a new book out, I caught him on BookTV yesterday.

This is the new work:



http://www.amazon.com/American-Creation-Triumphs-Tragedies-Founding/dp/030726369X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195851909&sr=1-1

Professor Ellis received a Pulitzer for Founding Brothers in 2001, iirc. He teaches History at Mount Holyoke. And, I have never been as interested in the "revolutionary generation" as I was after listening to his presentation. What a great storyteller he is!

Yesterday, he got me thinking about three things.

1. We already fought the Iraq war a long time ago -- when our insurgency outlasted the British.

2. There is no mention of God in the Constitution. When Franklin suggested a chaplain be brought in to pray over a difficult moment in the Constitutional Convention, Hamilton said, "I see no reason to call in foreign aid."

3. I have been wrong about illegal immigrants from Latin America. It is an invasion. There are between 11 and 20 million people here now and we will no more be able to stem the changes they bring about than the native population of this continent was able to stem the European invasion. It's just math. I don't mean to be too flip about this. But, after listening to Ellis, I realized that I have been wrong.

Not wrong in the sense of the WJ caller from Orange County, CA, this morning when he blamed illegal immigrants for the fact that there are vacant houses in his neighborhood that can't be sold. There are other factors that contribute and / or may account for those.

But, that caller's sense that there is a big change happening seems to me to be likely right.

fwiw

He's one of us, is retired now, but will write to anyone (once passed on a letter that he wrote to John Ashcroft :scared:) and will march on anything... I'll have to pass this on to him, see if he's aware of this Joe Ellis. BTW, my Joe Ellis has a different middle initial...;)

to make sure I got it right.

In his talk, he pointed out the US was at the time of the revolution about the size of Minneapolis. And he asked, could we find a Hamilton, a Washington, a Mason, a Franklin, an Adams, a Jefferon, a Patrick Henry there? No. Are they there, yes! They are there but, we couldn't find them today because the conditions that "propelled latent talent up to the surface are not sufficient in the way they were in the late 18th Century".

Dennis Kucinich comes to mind, but he's been accused of being "unpatriotic," for criticizing our involvement in an illegal, unprovoked war and for holding those who lied to Congress and the American people to get us there accountable. He's considered "unelectable" and slightly off-kilter for being courageous enough to tell the truth.;(

What does it take to wake people up enough for them to see what is going on so they'll at least get out and vote?! But we're "fighting them over there," so nobody's life is disrupted, these days, except for those on the front lines, so it's easy to tune out the bad news.;(

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to check this out and pass it on to my friend!:hi:

to scrape the scum off one's mind." :thumbsup:

"Founding Brothers" was a good read, too, but "His Excellency" was far superior, imho. Looking forward to reading this new one. Thanks for the heads up!

and that's not easy. lol

He reminded me of my favorite teachers who tried to look at the audience as they talked but as what they explained got complicated, sort of looked at middle distance as if trying to get their statement right because that was more important. Plus, he has a great sense of humor. :)

generally run less than $5 used on Amazon. The book is based on the complete collection of notes made by James Madison. With this in hand and the 'Federalist Papers' in your rear pocket you can slay the slitheriest of the Neo-Con reptiles.

:hi:

This new one sounds worth a look. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.