Jefferson was a brilliant thinker. I'm not sure he'd be completely happy with what the US has become. He abhorred the governments of Europe, which empowered the rich and stripped the poor -- rather like the neoliberal regimes of modern day America. (Observe how some politicians defended BP against taking responsibility.) Jefferson and the Founding Fathers fought for a stake in government. They didn't fight to destroy government, as so many of the so-called Tea-bag Party wish to do. The Founding Fathers were pragmatists, republican and democratic. The Tea-bag party are merely fascist.