Jefferson's got something uncannily insightful to say about everything (or so it seems), so I suppose it was only a matter of time before comparisons of the current Somali Pirate Situation to Jefferson's Barbary Pirate Situation starting popping up like daffodils. Just a sideways mention (NPR) at first. Then a more direct one (Harper's Magazine). Then along comes Cal Thomas at Fox News (Fox News) with "Perhaps the major reason it has been 200 years since pirates dared challenge the United States of America on the high seas was the decisive action taken by Thomas Jefferson (the first Democrat) against them" and then a guy in Florida lays on the "Where is Thomas Jefferson when we need him?", then it's the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with some "kill the pirates". Saturday the New York Times jumped on board* with "what Thomas Jefferson knew about pirates."

But you know what? The Library of Congress, either by complete accident or in a really impressive display of timeliness, updated their article on Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates last Wednesday -- the same day the pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama.

*Terrible pun. Sorry.