What would Jefferson do?

By: Charles Dean Bowen

All too often we elect people who are too extreme and differ greatly from the opposing side. But Jefferson was reasonable even to them, saying, “Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”

I wonder what he’d say about today’s tea party movement. With the invention of Fox News and MSNBC, it seems as if we can’t even begin to have a reasonable debate. Even intelligent people seem to be confused about simple facts. I wish I could encourage everyone to get their news from different sources. Maybe a combination of the BBC, MSNBC, Fox, CNN and public television. Try a different channel each night. For print, maybe use The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, The Economist or Mother Jones — and, of course, The Dallas Morning News.

My sister gets her news from some Christian news station where they intentionally scare her and then try to sell her a book afterward so she can be “informed.” Jefferson said, “Whenever people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their government.” The key words here, I think, are “well-informed.”

As I have said before, I love tea and am all for public interest. I wish, however, that this movement were more like a real tea party — inviting, joyful, cordial and caring. I don’t see much of those attributes in this current movement.

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