Opening the 112th Congress by having a succession of representatives read the Constitution aloud on the floor of the House was a worthwhile exercise, despite heated criticism to the contrary.
If nothing else, it showed how little respect many members of Congress have for the supreme law of our republic. Fewer than half the members even bothered to be present during the reading.
Some members groused about what a waste of time it was, sniffing that it was cheap grandstanding. Perhaps it was. We won’t know until we’ve had time to see whether Republicans actually uphold the Constitution with their votes.
Nonetheless, the most bizarre criticism was that of Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, who denounced the reading of the Constitution as “propaganda.”
The most comical (tragi-comical?) protest came from Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), who tried to delay the reading on the grounds that Congress hadn’t had 72 hours to review the document in question. Seriously. This was hypocritical, since Democrats routinely ignored the 72-hour provision during the last two years (e.g., the non-stimulus and Obamacare). It was also ludicrous, since one would have assumed that all members of Congress are familiar with the Constitution, since they have solemnly sworn to uphold it.
The resistance by Nadler and Inslee to reading the Constitution was not an aberration, but indicative of the deeply entrenched disdain that many progressives have for it, even as they publicly proclaim their admiration.
Consider:
President Obama has long lamented that the Supreme Court “didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution,” thereby making the redistribution of wealth more difficult than Obama would like it to be.
Erstwhile Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, when asked whether her proposed healthcare reform bill was constitutional, reacted with shocked incredulity that anything she wanted could be unconstitutional, expostulating, “Are you serious? Are you serious?”
(Notably, now that U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson struck down the individual mandate component of ObamaCare as unconstitutional, one sees that the constitutionality of a bill is indeed a serious matter worthy of Pelosi’s consideration.)
Last year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid inserted this language into the pending healthcare bill, “It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.”
It appears that Sen. Reid is one of those who most needs to listen to the Constitution, for if he read it, he would see that it is unconstitutional to ban changes in our laws, and that the founders had no desire to tell us how we should govern ourselves today. In fact, Reid would know that if he paid any attention to the annual reading in Congress of George Washington’s Farewell Address. Here is what the father of our country, that wise and virtuous patriot, said:
The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, ‘till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all…. If in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.
It’s time to quit ignoring our Constitution as the three branches of government so frequently do (see here and here). Let’s get back to basics in government. Last week was believed to be the first time that the complete Constitution had ever been read in Congress. Let’s make reading the Constitution in Congress an annual event, as it is for Washington’s Farewell Address.
In fact, let’s make reading bills aloud in their entirety in both legislative chambers mandatory and require members to be in attendance before they can vote on them.
“But wait!” you protest, “there aren’t enough minutes in a year to read all that verbiage.” Right you are. That would be one way to try to shrink our leviathan government back to a manageable size and constitutional scope.
Perhaps we should consider making it standard operating procedure for all important documents to be read aloud in Congress.
More LeftLie from POTUS JACKASS & Comrades."& Gabby opened her eyes,& Gabby opened her eyes,&Gabby opened her eyes,& Gabby opened her eyes…"Past time for All Americans to open there eyes to the "Bogus 1" :O
What's with the "& Gabby opened her eyes,& Gabby opened her eyes,&Gabby opened her eyes,& Gabby opened her eyes…"?
She opened her eyes before Obama was there!
Jewish people must remind themselves that America was founded based on Jewish ideals as expressed in the Hebrew Bible. These ideals are of weak central government with maximum freedom to the people. The Exodus from Egypt was a rejection of statism, as was the American Revolution against Great Britain. The focus of the Torah is behavior directed towards the betterment of society, not for individuals to go to Heaven, as is Christianity. America was not a Christian nation!
One of the tenants of the Torah was the reading of the Torah, weekly and once in seven years. The reading of the Constitution in the House of Representatives mirrors this Jewish concept. Jews need to take this occasion to remind themselves and others of the major Jewish contributions to American democracy, and to work for the goals of weak government and freedom.
Constitution: I was happy to see some of the members of Congress reading the Constitution, but was really disturbed by some of the comments made by some of the members. Our Reps in Congress are such liars, & so powermad, & so corrupt, that is almost unbelieveable. I am hoping & praying that the new members, many of them "Tea Party" will have enough influence & guts to stand up to the idiots who have been in congress forever. The old timers of both parties have had it their way too long, & don't want to lose what they have. They need to be kicked out, but this last election proved once again that their are many stupid voters. People who re-elected Reid, Pelosi, Boxer, Wyden, & others for example. Until something happens to wake these people up, this once great country is in deep shit.
The people who re-elected Pelosi and Boxer also put Moonbeam Brown back in as Governor of the formerly great State of California. Liberals and RINOs have managed to destroy her, with great assistance from the illegal aliens. As a SoCal resident, I can attest to the damages done, with more on it's way. God save us all!
Look at that ARROGANT FACE above. Think he's GOD doesn't he! The reason they don't want the Constitution, is because what they are doing is illegal!
Reading the Constitution on the opening day of Congress, yearly, should be a requirement. Otherwise these members will never know a word from the document which is the foundation of our nation. Education is a good thing, especially for those in the House and Senate. I'd suggest Obama read it, but he'd be unable to comprehend it's meaning.
Perhaps I am naive?! However, w/o that Constitution, "we the people" would be subjects rather than free citizens. As it is right now, many in our government routinely circumvent our Constitution. That includes Republicans as well as Democrats. The desire to undermine America w/ international law versus American law, w/ treaties penned by those suspiciously influential special interest groups that either belong to the United Nations (UN), or, are a product of the UN, or, have serious influential control over UN activities, should be a concern of all. The UN has long sought lucrative independent revenues, because member nations dues is controlled by those nations. But international taxes which would be deposited directly into UN accounts would be free of member nations' controls & therefore the UN could act unilaterally on almost any subject. Now imagine the UN with that kind of power! This is the UN that did not know its high officials were involved in the Oil for Food scam in Iraq, its peacekeepers (sic) did not know over 230 women were kept prisoners for weeks just yards from a UN peacekeepers encampment. Those women were systematically & regularly raped by the men who kept them prisoners. Oops!
This is the UN whose representative called Americans 'stingy.' Not because we do not give enough to those in need. Oh no. But because we give privately & all charitable giving should go through the UN for it to do distribution of funds according to UN policies & resolutions. Yeah, like the folks in need would get more than they do now. UN operations cost more than $0.54 cents of every dollar they take in. UN operations cost $0.46 of every dollar that comes in. Traditional charities use less that $0.15 cents of every dollar they take in. Talk about bureaucratic corruption, waste, fraud, & abuse!! A UN that could act unilaterally, would be a socialist tyrant whose power & demands would destroy average human freedoms in no time.
No, lets stick to our Constitution & if those elected do not want to &/or feel its sophomoric or stupid or out of date, perhaps the constituents of those representatives need to learn that their own freedoms depend on dumping such people. I say its almost unAmerican to disdain the Constitution. And like many others, I will not stand still as petty idealogical politically partisan bureaucrats act to destroy our Constitution and this nation. I suspect many others agree!