Thomas Paine is the only founding father that I truly respect. I read most of his work years ago and knew right away that he was way ahead of his time. He had such progressive ideas at a time in history when only white men with property enjoyed freedom and autonomy. I mean a goodly number of the idolized founding father owned slaves. I mean come up on let’s be real. They sent young poor boys into battle to fight for the rights of the privileged few not for the masses. So much of American history is filled with murder, genocide, plundering, slavery, and the undeserved rights of the wealthy that when told honestly it makes my toes curl.