Ladies and gentlemen, we have on our hands one of the most lopsided battles ever fought in long history of Virginia. Then again, fight isn't a fair term. Perhaps a rout or a slaughter would be more appropriate. Yet we have have to give the challenger, Representative Virgil Goode (R - VA 5th), some credit for having the courage to take on one of greatest Americans of all time. Then again, maybe courage isn't the right term either. Perhaps xenophobia, paranoia, bigotry, or political pandering are more appropriate.
For what it's worth, here goes...
Goode (http://en.wikipedia....)
Jefferson (http://en.wikipedia....)
I'll stop there because this is pointless. Goode is not now, and will not ever be, in the same league as Thomas Jefferson.
So why play this up at all?
To borrow a phrase from one of the rightwinger bloggers, Goode is pissing on Jefferson's grave.
Jefferson was among the leading advocates for freedom of religion, and that became one of the cornerstones of American values. In fact, out of all of his accomplishments, Jefferson asked that only three things appear on his gravestone - one of them being that he authored the "Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom". That's how much he cared about religious freedom.
From the Statute of Religious Freedom:
[no man]... shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
And so we have Virgil Goode, who is basically a zero when compared to Jefferson, throwing a fit because another elected official would like to use the Koran as part of his swearing in ceremony. As such, Goode's protest of another man's expression of his chosen religion contradicts the philosophy of Jefferson.
While Goode is still operating within the letter of the law (he hasn't introduced legislation that would ban such religious expression...yet), he has clearly broken the spirit of the law. And in doing so, he has picked a fight with one of the greatest Americans ever.
A fight which he'll be crushed every time. Yet he won't back down. He won't apologize. He won't admit he's wrong. He won't concede anything to one of our founding fathers.
Perhaps Goode's never read the Bill of Rights or the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Perhaps he thinks "freedom of religion" means Americans have the right to worship whatever denomination of Christianity they choose.
I really don't know what's going on in Goode's mind. Paranoia, xenophobia, political gamesmanship? Ultimately it doesn't matter because he couldn't be more wrong. Goode has essentially given Jefferson the middle finger by completely discounting one of the accomplishments Jefferson was most proud of. That's pathetic for anyone who calls themselves an American. Even worse for an elected official.
Jefferson was one of a few men who defined what it means to be an American. Goode would do well to learn a thing or two from him.