Last week in my Modern Europe class I did the Evolution Revolution lecture, which I love (but which wasn't as good as I would have liked, maybe b/c I cut out the third of the lecture on Realism so we got out of class early). The theory of evolution's impact on Western society is, I would say, tremendous. Sure, the impact of Christianity on it is also titanic - but only one should be taught in a science classroom. (I did my little soap-box bit in class, although we have also spent about 1/4 of our total class time on religious topics - shit, the class begins with the Reformation). So I don't feel bad about talking about Darwin, Lyell, Wallace, Lamarck, et al for a whole 80 minutes. Imagine how giddy this makes me then - like the guy can just read my mind!!
And yes, the painting is real, and you can learn all about it (Mouseovers!!!!) by visiting the site. Although I think he fundamentally misunderstands what exactly the Constitution is supposed to do (you'll note this in his comments below, #2). As any former American History student of MINE could tell you, or anyone who has read The Federalist Papers would know: the Constitution was specifically written to CREATE A STRONG FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! The Articles of Confederation were terrible, the Whiskey Rebellion scared the shit out of people, and as Hamilton, Madison, and Jay explain in TFP, a strong federal government was the best possible alternative.
And also, Asshat, how can Patrick Henry be a Founding Father when he voted against ratifying the Constitution (Henry is standing behind JFK)?? (Though yes, I MIGHT attribute that honorific to his role as a leading Anti-Federalist to secure the Bill of Rights, but I'm guessing you knew neither of those things.)
