September 17th is Constitution Day and I’m sorry to report our U.S. Constitution is in grave condition. It occurs to me that almost no part of the Constitution remains intact. It’s true we still have government bodies using the same names described in the Constitution, such as a Congress and President, but that’s where our use for the Constitution appears to end. Don’t believe me? I challenge you to attend a class, such as The Making of America, or the Constitution Refresher Course where each clause of the Constitution is examined. As you listen, clause by clause, I believe you will come to the same disturbing conclusion I have.
It is important that people who love the opportunity and freedom America has provided learn about the Constitution. A constitution is the rulebook for a government. Our current national divisions and dire situation are largely because we are no longer operating with our rulebook. Without a constitution there is arbitrary law, which means whoever gets power can do anything they want, which is barely one step above complete lawlessness. Sadly, many believe that whoever wins a national election has the right to unlimited power and sees nothing wrong with a federal government that can and does regulate every human activity. This is the type of arbitrary power practiced in every land during the dark centuries before the U.S. Constitution changed the world with the concepts of limiting government and protecting liberty.
People who don’t like to have their power over others restricted sometimes claim the Constitution is out of date or attack its authors. A recent Time Magazine article claimed the Founders couldn’t have imagined space flight, sexting, American Idol and all the complexities of the modern world, but the truth is the Constitution provides principles in which every complexity today can be considered. Evolving situations don’t make Constitutional principles less eternal and applicable, but rather they make the Constitution more necessary than ever. The Founders ensured that “outdated” could never be a credible excuse to abandon the Constitution and regress back to arbitrary law because they provided a method to amend the Constitution. To the frustration of many self-assured, would-be tyrants who have sought to reshape America, amending the Constitution was made intentionally difficult. Today, however, the entire ruling class jointly pretends the Constitution doesn’t really restrict anything they wish to do, and so the Constitution is routinely violated by all branches of the federal government and by unelected federal bureaucracies.
