SNL: Weekend Update Saturday Jan. 15

I rarely watch Saturday Night Live anymore, and last night, I was reminded why. On the Weekend Update segment -- which I used to really enjoy when Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Dennis Miller did it -- Seth Meyers did a little riff on the Second Amendment (after taking a cheap shot at Sarah Palin), in which he characterized the founders as a bunch of rubes: "What are all these metal beasts rolling down the thoroughfare? What are all those horrible flying steel dragons? And why are all the slaves out?" Then he went on to illustrate his complete ignorance as to the purpose of the Second Amendment.

Note to Mr. Meyers and NBC: I don't expect you to have any respect for the founders or the Constitution; they have been under assault for 100 years by the 'progressives'. But the Constitution is still the official specification for the United States of America. If you think the Constitution is anachronistic and obsolete, then you can change it by due process, if you dare. But first, please familiarize yourselves with the founding principles of our republic, so you don't continue making fools of yourselves.

The thing that really got me from Mr. Meyers' insulting remarks is that if Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin dropped out of a time machine and landed in the 21st Century, I think they would be fascinated by our technology, not intimidated by it.

Cars: "What an amazing contrivance! How does it work? May I operate it?"

Aircraft: "I see you have finally mastered flight. We've been trying to do that since DaVinci! The key is getting enough power in a light enough and small enough space to lift it, isn't it? How does it work? May I operate it?"

Computers and the Internet: "It's like having a world-class library in every home! I want to become proficient with that letter input device." My guess is that Ben Franklin would teach himself to touch-type at 50 words per minute within a month.

Slavery: "Thank God you have managed to solve that problem. I had serious reservations about whether it could ever be done. You fought a war over slavery? I'm not surprised. I'm glad to see that the republic is still intact after all that, and 230 years! It seems you're not really using the Constitution much anymore though, are you?"

Television: "What an amazing contrivance! Why do you tolerate such disgusting content? Yes, I know, the First Amendment technically permits it, but we put that in there to facilitate political discourse, not as a license to debase society!"

I think the founders would thrive in the 21st century, although they might not like our moral and intellectual laziness. Conversely, I think most contemporary men would suffer and die in the 18th century.