Jefferson Memorial — Monument or Mausoleum? by Cleon Skousen
September 18, 2012 Posted by: Kelly Gneiting
Jefferson Memorial — Monument or Mausoleum?
by W. Cleon Skousen
[From the Freemen Digest, March 1984]
On the banks of the cherry-blossom basin in Washington, D.C., there is a beautiful memorial to Thomas Jefferson. On the walls are notable sayings of Jefferson while in the center one sees the magnificent figure of the “Sage of Monticello.”
I often wonder what it would be like if the tall, handsome Jefferson could step down from his pedestal and converse with us.
Perhaps the conversation would go something like this:
“Mr. Jefferson, you’re alive!”
“Oh yes, my friend. I have always been alive in one way or another.”
“Do you like your beautiful memorial?”
“Yes, its a lovely monument. However, I fear this generation may have turned my memorial into a mausoleum.”
“What do you mean, President Jefferson?”
“You have buried our beautiful vision of a constitutional America.”
“Oh no, Mr. Jefferson. We love the Constitution. We have it in a beautiful humidified case over in the National Archives Building.”
“I know, but that is only the paper wrapping. Where are the inward parts? Where is the spirit and the meaning which we left with you to make the dead letters of the written script come alive? The bone, sinew, nerve, and fundamental organs of the Constitution have been eviscerated.”
“Well, Mr. President, I don’t see how you can say that. We talk about the Constitution a lot. Even the Supreme Court mentions it. The President talked about it just the other day.”
“Yes, people often speak of the dead. And with reverence, compassion, and affection, of course. But I am not talking about the corpus of the Constitution. I am concerned that you have enshrined the vital substance of the Constitution with the dead and forgotten past. Now these magnificent problem-solving precepts are out of sight and out of mind just when you need them the most.”
“President Jefferson, I can’t think of any part of the Constitution which we have lost. We love the Constitution.”
“Then I will ask you a series of questions: What have you done with our doctrine of the Creator’s natural law and the endowment of mankind with certain inalienable rights? Your illustrious Oliver Wendell Holmes of the Supreme Court pronounced such notions naive and a psychological illusion. This doctrine is therefore no longer argued in your courts.”
“What happened to your vertical separation of powers which emphasized strong, local self-government? That doctrine has become so dim in the pattern of American life that it threatens to become obliterated.”
“What happened to your horizontal separation of powers? I see more agitation between factions in Washington than a genuine separation of powers between the three branches of government.”
“What happened to government ‘of the people?’ Your Congress is harassed and lobbied almost exclusively by special interest groups. I often see the welfare of the people so completely ignored that I wonder who is really running things.”
“And what happened to the famous doctrine of checks and balances? We warned you that the purpose of government is to coordinate, not consolidate. Where power is consolidated there are no checks and balances, just growling and quarreling over the shankbones and scraps of the budget.”
“What happened to the doctrine of a government limited to specifically enumerated powers? Your Tenth Amendment is violated daily.”
“What happened to our goal of eliminating the national debt? Yours is the first generation of Americans to squander the next generation’s inheritance. Your next generation is literally ‘in hock,’ as you say. It is immoral to stack the debts of one generation on the backs of the unborn. Isn’t that taxation without representation?”
“What about your monetary system? I personally warned you not to abandon the people’s money to the control of private interests in violation of the Constitution. For several generations your money managers have been violently churning you up and down in a series of tragic boom-and-bust cycles. We told you that this kind of money-mongering could rob you of your inheritance and leave your children homeless on a continent their fathers bought with their blood.”
“And what about your foreign relations? We promised in the Monroe Doctrine that the United States would not meddle in the affairs of other nations. Now you are meddling in the affairs of nearly every nation on earth and trying to buy their friendship with money you don’t even have.”
“What about your defense of the Western Hemisphere? If you do not protect the freedom of your neighbors from this gigantic invader you will eventually fight this same enemy in the streets, in the fields, and on the prairies and plains of the United States.”
“And what about this enemy? On what grounds did you help provide the money, credit, and technology to build this world-conquering military juggernaut into the most monstrous threat to freedom that has ever existed on the face of this planet?”
“And what about your children? Even in colonial days we educated our children better than many thousands of the children today who emerge poorly prepared even after twelve years of compulsory education.”
“Well, President Jefferson, you certainly talk as though we haven’t been very good stewards of our American legacy.”
“I suppose you might gain that impression.”
“But President Jefferson, we are struggling and sacrificing and paying the highest taxes in the history of the United States.”
“I know. And getting further behind every year.”
“But President Jefferson, we really do want to make a success of America. Have you any suggestions?”
“Yes, when all else fails, read the instructions.”
Jefferson Memorial — Monument or Mausoleum? by Cleon Skousen
Jefferson Memorial — Monument or Mausoleum?
by W. Cleon Skousen
[From the Freemen Digest, March 1984]
On the banks of the cherry-blossom basin in Washington, D.C., there is a beautiful memorial to Thomas Jefferson. On the walls are notable sayings of Jefferson while in the center one sees the magnificent figure of the “Sage of Monticello.”
I often wonder what it would be like if the tall, handsome Jefferson could step down from his pedestal and converse with us.
Perhaps the conversation would go something like this:
“Mr. Jefferson, you’re alive!”
“Oh yes, my friend. I have always been alive in one way or another.”
“Do you like your beautiful memorial?”
“Yes, its a lovely monument. However, I fear this generation may have turned my memorial into a mausoleum.”
“What do you mean, President Jefferson?”
“You have buried our beautiful vision of a constitutional America.”
“Oh no, Mr. Jefferson. We love the Constitution. We have it in a beautiful humidified case over in the National Archives Building.”
“I know, but that is only the paper wrapping. Where are the inward parts? Where is the spirit and the meaning which we left with you to make the dead letters of the written script come alive? The bone, sinew, nerve, and fundamental organs of the Constitution have been eviscerated.”
“Well, Mr. President, I don’t see how you can say that. We talk about the Constitution a lot. Even the Supreme Court mentions it. The President talked about it just the other day.”
“Yes, people often speak of the dead. And with reverence, compassion, and affection, of course. But I am not talking about the corpus of the Constitution. I am concerned that you have enshrined the vital substance of the Constitution with the dead and forgotten past. Now these magnificent problem-solving precepts are out of sight and out of mind just when you need them the most.”
“President Jefferson, I can’t think of any part of the Constitution which we have lost. We love the Constitution.”
“Then I will ask you a series of questions: What have you done with our doctrine of the Creator’s natural law and the endowment of mankind with certain inalienable rights? Your illustrious Oliver Wendell Holmes of the Supreme Court pronounced such notions naive and a psychological illusion. This doctrine is therefore no longer argued in your courts.”
“What happened to your vertical separation of powers which emphasized strong, local self-government? That doctrine has become so dim in the pattern of American life that it threatens to become obliterated.”
“What happened to your horizontal separation of powers? I see more agitation between factions in Washington than a genuine separation of powers between the three branches of government.”
“What happened to government ‘of the people?’ Your Congress is harassed and lobbied almost exclusively by special interest groups. I often see the welfare of the people so completely ignored that I wonder who is really running things.”
“And what happened to the famous doctrine of checks and balances? We warned you that the purpose of government is to coordinate, not consolidate. Where power is consolidated there are no checks and balances, just growling and quarreling over the shankbones and scraps of the budget.”
“What happened to the doctrine of a government limited to specifically enumerated powers? Your Tenth Amendment is violated daily.”
“What happened to our goal of eliminating the national debt? Yours is the first generation of Americans to squander the next generation’s inheritance. Your next generation is literally ‘in hock,’ as you say. It is immoral to stack the debts of one generation on the backs of the unborn. Isn’t that taxation without representation?”
“What about your monetary system? I personally warned you not to abandon the people’s money to the control of private interests in violation of the Constitution. For several generations your money managers have been violently churning you up and down in a series of tragic boom-and-bust cycles. We told you that this kind of money-mongering could rob you of your inheritance and leave your children homeless on a continent their fathers bought with their blood.”
“And what about your foreign relations? We promised in the Monroe Doctrine that the United States would not meddle in the affairs of other nations. Now you are meddling in the affairs of nearly every nation on earth and trying to buy their friendship with money you don’t even have.”
“What about your defense of the Western Hemisphere? If you do not protect the freedom of your neighbors from this gigantic invader you will eventually fight this same enemy in the streets, in the fields, and on the prairies and plains of the United States.”
“And what about this enemy? On what grounds did you help provide the money, credit, and technology to build this world-conquering military juggernaut into the most monstrous threat to freedom that has ever existed on the face of this planet?”
“And what about your children? Even in colonial days we educated our children better than many thousands of the children today who emerge poorly prepared even after twelve years of compulsory education.”
“Well, President Jefferson, you certainly talk as though we haven’t been very good stewards of our American legacy.”
“I suppose you might gain that impression.”
“But President Jefferson, we are struggling and sacrificing and paying the highest taxes in the history of the United States.”
“I know. And getting further behind every year.”
“But President Jefferson, we really do want to make a success of America. Have you any suggestions?”
“Yes, when all else fails, read the instructions.”