Commentary
“Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.”—Thomas Paine (1737–1809), “Common Sense“
One afternoon, I fell asleep watching CNN. Then I woke and started watching Fox News. I fell asleep again, and as I slumbered, I remembered Thomas Paine. I asked myself, what would he have said or what would he have written, if he were alive today?I suspect he may have written the following essay:
