Jimmy was a quiet guy. He didn’t stand out like so many of his playmates who were much taller and more vocal than him. He was intelligent but didn’t go around bragging about that. But, He was what was needed at the time to make the project a success.

I think some of you probably know who I am talking about? I don’t suspect you call him Jimmy, but instead use his God-given name of James. I am talking about James Madison, otherwise known a “The Father of the Constitution”. I am a little hesitant to say this, but I kinda think I am much like him. I, too, am a little guy who has more than my share of intelligence. Like him, I call myself a wordsmith, but nothing on the level that he played on. I used to speak softly, that is until I went deaf and speaking loudly became necessary to speaking at all.

Being a U.S. history nut, I have read several books about Madison and have visited his humble home in Virginia a couple of times. Where all his founder buddies like Jefferson and Washington had large plantations and slaves, Madison’s home was not so showy. Madison was about 5’6″ where Jefferson and Washington were 6+ feet in heights.

I have been thinking about Jimmy and how his words have made the U.S. a successful democracy for 200+ years now, when so many other countries have failed with their experiment with this form of government. Sadly, I kind of think that if we don’t make the right choices in the coming years we might be on the verge of collapse as well. Jefferson, another pretty smart guy and also a good writer said that “a democracy depends on an informed electorate”. In the last twenty years or so, that characteristic seems to be drastically missing. There are just too many people in this country who allow some very defective people to con them with their words that are simply not true into believing things that are very contrary to democratic form of government.

Just because our democracy has lasted for 240 years doesn’t guarantee that it will still be here even a decade from now. That troubles me seriously right now…