Bush Deletes Line from Jefferson Quote that Criticizes Religious Superstition

[kpete]

Jefferson Abridged: Bush Deletes Line from Jefferson Quote that Criticizes Religious Superstition
Published 1, July 8, 2008

President Bush has been unsuccessful lately in abridging the Constitution with stinging loses in the last month before the Supreme Court and lower courts. He appears now to be attacking the problem at its source: the Founders. In a July 4th speech at Monticello, Bush cleaned up a famous quote by Jefferson by deleting a line that is viewed as critical of religious superstitions and ignorance.


Here is what Bush said:

Thomas Jefferson understood that these rights do not belong to Americans alone. They belong to all mankind. And he looked to the day when all people could secure them. On the 50th anniversary of America’s independence, Thomas Jefferson passed away. But before leaving this world, he explained that the principles of the Declaration of Independence were universal. In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, “May it be to the world, what I believe it will be — to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all — the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

However, in the letter to Roger Weightman reflecting on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the last line reads:

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

The video of the event and the original quote are below.
more at:
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/07/08/jefferson-abridged-bush-deletes-line-from-jefferson-quote-that-criticizes-religious-superstition/#more-2326

[Vilis Veritas]

1. Maybe he thought Jefferson was calling him an ignorant monkey...

[EbenezerMcIntosh]

3. He was.

;)

[Vilis Veritas]

5. LOL...

:rofl:

[EbenezerMcIntosh]

7. Ha ha!

:hi:

[Gold Metal Flake]

2. Completely in character.

[Supersedeas]

13. yep, more RightWing revisionism--expect nothing less than the bottom of the barrel

[EbenezerMcIntosh]

4. Bush is obviously using that quote to support he neocon agenda.

It is no secret that the neocons promote using all of America's resources, including the military, to spread our power and influence all over the world. It is so totally convoluted to pretend that the Declaration authorizes us to cram freedom down the throats of innocents at the point of a gun.

Bush belongs in fucking jail.

[Vilis Veritas]

6. Or a zoo.

;-)

[EbenezerMcIntosh]

8. lol

:toast:

[Vilis Veritas]

9. Chimpy is an easy target...

Welcome to DU...:hi:

saddlesore

[EbenezerMcIntosh]

10. Thank you.

:blush:

[durtee librul]

11. rehab if one would take him..nt

[htuttle]

12. jefferson 7.4.1826 malquoted refs crimethink rectify

[Canuckistanian]

14. That's Double-Plus Ungood

But his buddy in the Ministry of Truth assures him that the quote is correct.

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. One more rec, good people.

[Greyskye]

16. My cat's name is Jefferson...

:kick: & R