George Mason a Patriot? Ironic Team Nicknames

He didn't sign the Constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights. If anything, he's more deserving of the title "patriot" than many others who get that nomenclature.

-1, law nerd

seriously, take that comment to democracy 2.0

Yeah, but when the Oilers moved to Tennessee they changed their name to Titans. Are there Titans in Tennessee?

This is an uninformed post. Mason refused to sign the Constitution because it did not include a bill of rights. In a time when the President is pretending the Bill of Rights doesn't exist, Mason was more of a patriot than we could ever imagine.

sounds like roblefko got alot of D minuses in History..its not the kinda grade they like to give out

Eek! Sorry, i didnt bother researching the reason, but now that I have been so politely told why he didnt sign it, I agree perhaps he was a patriot.....However, I am a lawyer and I am the author of this "opinion", so for the sake of arguing, I stand by my opinion that he wasnt a patriot: It doesnt matter what the reason was, everyone but 3 delagates signed it and he was one of the 3 that refused! The Franklin University Patriots wouldve been more appropriate and less controversial :)

I got a D- in biology

what about the Utah Jazz??? since when did Utah start being known for their Jazz? isn't Louisiana the home of Jazz?

im still mad they changed "Washington Bullets" - that was the greatest team name of all time

the jazz moved to utah from new orleans putz

The above comment can be said without name calling.

"Franklin University Patriots" wouldn't be as appropriate for the school, as it is in Virginia and Ben was from Pennsylvania.

There were actually more than three non-signers of the Constitution. There were 15, four from Virginia. Only one other non-signer is well-known, Massachusetts' Elbridge Gerry, the namesake of the term "Gerrymandering." Of the three Virginia signees, two already have college named after them: James Madison and George Washington (who has dozens of colleges named after him either directly, like George Washington or Washington & Lee, or indirectly like the University of Washington- as the state is named after him).

I'm going to throw on my historian's cap for a moment here (I will be graduating with a B.A. in History in May). The Bill of Rights, which he fought for in addition to abolition of the slave trade. For his time, Mason was a very progressive guy (Not Thomas Paine progressive, but far more than the average). I would argue the Bill of Rights is the most important component of the Constitution, as the inclusion of the amendments impacts the everyday lives of American citizens far more than the rest of the document. It is also pivotal in terms of getting the Constitution signed; remember there were no representatives from Rhode Island and the changes had to be ratified by all states (due to the rules of the Articles of Confederation). "Signing the Constitution" is a little overrated anyway; many of the men we consider Founding Fathers (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams) didn't.

Yeay! Bringing the history geeks out of the wordwork on AGM, Roblefko, nice job! And yes, Washington Bullets *was* the greatest team name of all time. Who can root against Bullets? However, I would argue that the US Federal Government affects the lives of the average American on a day to day basis far more than the Bill of Rights in in sum. The point's a good one, though, even if it is a little awkwardly worded....

I agree on the Bullets. There are no Wizards in Washington. And if there were, everyone would make fun of their pointy hats. Not a cool mascot at all.

The Bill of Rights are well and good and all, but Alexander Hamilton was correct when he said that an enumerated list of rights would limit the people to only those rights.

Its Herbie Hancock

Darrel, that's why we have the Tenth Amendment, which says: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Hamilton was absolutely right to make that complaint, and that's why we have the Ninth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment also helps: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." http://www.l...frights.html

I'll never forget a joke I heard on a late night show (I think it was Leno)..."The Washington Bullets haved decided to change their name to avoid the connotations of violence. Therefore, they will now be known simply as "The Bullets."

The ASU Sun Devil's face is actually a portriat of Walt Disney. Kind of ironic that a man whose life was about helping out and inspiring children is potrayed as a devil.

Slightly off topic, but what the hell's a Seahawk?