Oops! Carson's not actually wrong about Jefferson: David Mastio

David Mastio | USA TODAY Opinion

Ha, ha, ha. Boy, that Ben Carson sure made a fool of himself on C-Span the other day. He said Thomas Jefferson "tried to craft our Constitution in a way that it would control people's natural tendencies."

Critics pounced. Jefferson didn't craft our Constitution, they said. He was on the other side of the Atlantic acting as the U.S. minister in France at the time of the Constitutional Convention. As Politico put it: Jefferson crafted the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

What a dope that Carson guy is. How did he ever get to be a surgeon? I'm laughing so hard, I gotta wipe tears from my eyes.

Except, wait a minute, hmmmm, here's an interesting historical footnote to the Constitutional Convention. At the time, an early version of email was available. It was the social media of its day, called "letters." Important people, say, the U.S. minister in France, could give pieces of paper to ship captains who'd take them by boat all the way to Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, other important people would read words scratched onto the paper and respond in kind with a "reply."

In this fashion, early Americans could discuss important matters like constitutions and other government stuff ministers would care about. This was called "correspondence."

Guess who was writing these letter thingies? Thomas Jefferson.

And do you know who was replying? George Washington and James Madison, among the most important framers of our Constitution.

So here's the crazy thing: Jefferson, Madison, Washington and others were discussing how the U.S. Constitution should be written.

After the Constitution Convention was over, Jefferson had this other idea called a "Bill of Rights," which you might have heard is a part of the Constitution. Jefferson sorta played a key role in all that First Amendment, Second Amendment stuff. If you don't believe me, go ask the American Civil Liberties Union, which is big on rights like free speech and freedom of religion.

Saith the ACLU: "The American Bill of Rights, inspired by Jefferson and drafted by James Madison, was adopted, and in 1791 the Constitution's first 10 amendments became the law of the land."

The ACLU even quotes Jefferson's argument: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse."

To get the basics of Jefferson's role in the creation of the Bill of Rights, which are, as I mentioned, a pretty important part of the Constitution, all you have to do is read the Spark Notes version. Or you can get it in easy Q&A format from the U.S. Archives.

All that laughing I did at Carson's expense? I take it back. I guess he sorta did know what he was talking about, after all.

David Mastio is the deputy editorial page editor of USA TODAY. Follow Mastio on Twitter.