"The US Constitution" Review/Talkback (spoilers)

[Squall]

Inspired by Ace The Bathound's great idea of having a talkback thread for the Declaration of Independence, I wanted to start a thread with a talkback for one of the greatest documents in World History... The Constitution of The United States!

I think that the US Constitution is pure brilliance. Like engineers, the founders of the US designed a system that had checks and balances elegantly set up to help and watch each other at the same time. It was a revoultionary idea in its day, and in many parts of the world, it's still a revolutionary idea today.

Did you know that a museum opened on Friday exclusively devoted to the US Constitution? It even has its own website:

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The body of the Constitution sets forth a means by which the various cultures of immigrants could be preserved to meld into a uniquely American culture...one that stubbornly refuses to give precedence to any religion, literature, music, art or social institution from any country of origin of the People of the United States. I read the Constitution of the United States with great pride; the Bill of Rights and the various Amendments to it since 1789 make it a world class document.

It is the Constitution of the United States which protects and encourages the flowering of individual and groups of people out of whom come the real greatness of America; its rich, enlivening and enjoining music, art, science, drama, cinema, literature, comedy, religion and playtime activities

What do you think?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Heh. I can see it now. "Magna Carta Review/Talkback (spoilers)".

For those without a copy of their own, you can view the Library of Congress's historical document archive by clicking here, and jump straight to the Constitution itself or the Bill of Rights.

(Aside: who else thinks its ridiculous that it's easier to find the transcript of these historical documents through Google than through the Library of Congress website itself? It's almost as though someone would rather not let us know they exist...).

Beyond the usual stuff they're supposed to teach you in high school history, what strikes me the most about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration is that they're still readable and reasonably clear even today. Compare that with almost any current legislation on the table today, which requires a fine understanding of legalese to puzzle through as you figure out how they're swindling you of something. They meant this document to be read by anyone and everyone in America with a reasonable command of English, for them to understand and comprehend the rationale behind our nation, and ALL the rules and restrictions that bind the government above them.

It's a fine document, not without its flaws (that whole 2/3rds of a person thing is something to be deeply ashamed of, now and forever more) and not without corrections (that's why they wrote in a way to amend the thing in the first place, right?). However, as Ben Franklin says in 1776 (yeah, I'm plugging it again), "Who will (posterity) think we are? Demi-gods? We're only men...no more, no less, trying to start a nation against odds a more generous God would have never allowed." The statement, made in regards to the Declaration, applies equally well to the Constitution.

BTW, don't let us Yanks take all the fun away. You international Zoners can join in with your favorite foundational governmental documents any time you like, you know. They don't teach us dumb 'Murrikans that stuff .

-- Ed/Ace

[DianaGohan]

Even today I feel the Consitution is a great document that stands up to our modern standards even being over 200 years old.