Earth to Rep. Ellison: World History 101,The Real Reason Jefferson Read A Quran, or How Muslim Pirates First Terrorized Americans in 1785

Does the term "Barbary Pirates" or the words from the Marine song "the shores of Tripoli" mean anything to you? It's time we connected the dots between some real-life Islamic terrorist thugs from revolutionary history with Thomas Jefferson and his Quran.

But be advised, it's not a pretty picture.

Recently, Keith Ellison, a converted Muslim and newly elected U.S. Representative from Minnesota, declared boldly that he was taking his oath of office on the Quran. And if that wasn't good enough, by golly, he was using the Quran owned by none other than our founding father Thomas Jefferson.

Ellison went on to opine that Jefferson was "a broad visionary thinker who not only possesed it (a Quran) but read it," adding that "the Quran is definitely an important historical document in our nation's history."

Oh really, Mr. Ellison? Say what?

With all due respect, nothing could be further from the truth. History, real history, is obviously not Ellison's strong suit.

Ellison pulled a publicity stunt, making up history as he went along to suit his wishful thinking and narrow political agenda. He obviously takes our citizenry for fools which is easy to do, since so few of us bother to remember our collective past and therefore may be destined to repeat it:

But for the sake of facts ---as opposed to fabricated history---let's look at why Jefferson, with a personal library of over 5,000 books, would have owned and perused a Quran. And let's also look at fundamentalist Muslims first war on terror with our country dating back to 1785.

It was President Jefferson who refused to continue bribing Muslim pirates in 1801, and instead launched the first war against these fundamentalist thugs in 1805. And won.

Mr. Ellison take note: Mr. Jefferson read the Quran, all right. But not to write the Declaration of Independence, but rather to know and better understand our enemy, our fundamentalist Muslim enemy of 1785.

What about Barbary Pirates don't we remember? Let's take a longer walk down memory lane soon.