I am a fan of Jefferson and in fact have several collections of his writings. I think he is in large part misunderstood but one thing for sure he supported was an educated citizenry, small government and low taxes. You can't just read what passes for text books you need Jefferson himself and you will get an entirely different perspective of the man. Interesting that most scholars think of him as the father of the democratic party.
Agreed.
He's probably more closely described as a father of classical liberalism, which is more closely linked to libertarianism... but many of the classical liberal values are closely tied to the Goldwater style republicans and early democrats alike. It's amazing how the principles of political parties change, and in some ways flip flop entirely through the years.
Just for the record I did not support TARP any version, Homeland Security, and certainly not TSA and the employees being unionized federal workers. I admit to having mixed feelings about the Iraq war but once we were in, we were in. There was a lot of misinformation around regarding WMA and all that at the time as well.
Glad to hear that you aren't the party line guy that you often seem.