Let's Not ReWrite The History of Our Constitution.

The Tea Party Movement is a force to be reckoned with, it will be a major player in who will be nominated to office as well as win in the fall of 12. This is a wonderful change from the apathy that has plagued most Americans about the political world going on around them for decades.

I do have some concerns though. One of them is that, while I am thrilled with the new embrace of history, our founding, and our Constitution that is burning like wild-fire through the Tea Partiers, I am concerned about who is teaching them. Or at least who they might be hearing explain it. Most people do not read for themselves, the average American man reads less than one book a year. That means they "learn" from being told by others, who likely learned from being told by others, and on and on, like looking into a old barbershop mirror.

When this is the method of disseminating information, it can be twisted, and perverted to the point of destroying that they hope to protect. Have you ever played the telephone game? A friend of mine, who was a surveyor, explained it to me this way. If you are surveying land, you start at the known point and then measure to where you are going. If you get off just a hair at the beginning your final measure can be off by miles. That is exactly what is happening with so many factions in the movement. One of which is the Ron Paul following who are, like so many others, trying to co-op the movement for their own purposes.

Ron Paul's teaching of the Constitution is close, but then veers off to the point that it doesn't even resemble the original document or intent of our founders. Listening to Ron Paul reminds me of the speeches of Clement Vallandigham, one of the main Copperheads during the Civil War.

The more I think about what I am hearing from the Paul followers, and far too many of the Tea Partiers is a strictly Jeffersonian version of the founding. While Thomas Jefferson was one of the great leaders and key players in our founding, he was not the only voice heard. The Constitution is not reflective of the Jeffersonian view, in fact Thomas Jefferson was anything but a fan of the Constitution he thought it was tyranny. He advocated a revolution every twenty years, than no generation should be bound by the former generation's laws.

The Constitution was probably not 100% loved by any of the founders who fought and debated throughout that hot summer in 1787. The final product wasn't any one man's, but a truly compromised document to get while not total support by any, enough support by all to pass it. The result of this Melting Pot of ideas was a recipe for the greatest nation in the history of mankind.

When I hear the Ron Paul followers, and some of the Tea Party folks, parroting the purity of Jefferson and the evil of Adams, and Hamilton it is scary. Thank God, we don't have a nation designed exclusively by any of them, but a compromise of those different views.

For a point of order, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were no where near the writing of the Constitution. Both were overseas that summer, Jefferson as ambassador of France, Adams as same for England. Alexander Hamilton was not happy with the Constitution he wanted a much stronger document, but realized quickly it was the best he could hope for at the time and became head salesman of it writing most of the Federalist Papers, along with James Madison, and John Jay.

There were very many different views, different understandings, different experiences that were involved in that room creating this magnificent document. It was those differences that made it great. We were blessed by God that these brilliant men, the most educated men who may have yet ever filled our representatives, were able to work past those differences to create our Republic. Two of the most key men in getting this done were Benjamin Franklin, who didn't write much, debate much, but was able through the respect the others held for him to get them back on track when needed. The key was the presence of George Washington, the least educated man in the room, but whose larger than life presence and perfected leadership skills, and quiet demeanor was able to keep all the competing factions working toward a common goal.

We do not want to re-write the Constitution in Jefferson's image as Ron Paul and his followers do, we don't want Hamilton's, or any one's, we had the greatest mastermind meeting in history, why just take one.