ABSTRACT
There are journalists who see a psycho-intellectual link between the sex and the politics, between the reticence about rude words and a certain shy indecisiveness in the confrontation of rough realities—their whole liberal reluctance to call a spade a spade. The editorial views of Brent Staples of the New York Times in an argument where sexual attitudes ran into basic political principles. The New York Times finds an opportunity to point a finger at the penchant for explicitness without, of course, ever stepping over the line and being overly explicit itself. These are valiant attempts for the Times to “get with it,” and within its own lights it is, sort of. The “big deal” which Brent Staples ignores is that no aspect of an historical truth can or should, for hidden or undisclosed reasons, be re-classified as unimportant. Jefferson’s own times have been continuously subjected to new research and substantial reinterpretation.
