Why Did You Name Your Blog Tom Paine's Clubhouse?

If you're American, you of course know who Thomas Paine was. He wrote Common Sense, a powerful, impassioned, concise treatise which crystallized the democratic rights we now take for granted and which is credited with inspiring the colonists to revolt against British tyranny.

Even if you already do know who Thomas Paine was, you still probably don't know that he participated in politics outside the U.S. (he was arrested in France for opposing Napoleon's dictatorship). Like most people, you probably also don't know that he wrote a number of books emphasizing the principles of reason and individual rights as the foundation of morality and government, and that our loyalty should be to these principles, not to one particular party or nation.