Why the Reading of the U.S. Constitution is Important

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The title link in this post takes you to a thought-provoking Op-Ed written by Charles Krauthammer, written on January 2nd and titled: "Obama pushing liberal agenda quietly, by regulation not by laws."  The "rule of law," not the "rule of men" is what our Founders wanted when they wrote the Constitution. That's why it is troublesome that unelected bureaucrats have amassed so much power.

The Tenth Amendment Center outlines the role of Congress, as stated in the Constitution, and points out that the Executive branch, via the bureaucracy created by the Obama administration, is flooding us with "regulations" that have not made it through the legislative process.  In other words, Congress is becoming irrelevant.  That is what Nancy Pelosi meant by "if the fence is too high we're going to pole vault over it" and that is why becoming intimately familiar with the founding principles outlined in our Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution is so important.  That is also why one of the newest members of Congress, Representative Alan West says the liberal agenda is the "antithesis of who we are as a nation."  That is also why you might call Cass Sunstein a threat to our Constitutional Republic.  And that is why some members of our 112th Congress wanted to begin their service by reading aloud the Constitution of the United States.

A New York Times editorial predictably attacks this move in pure Alinsky mode by saying:

"In any case, it is presumptuous and self-righteous act, suggesting that they alone understand the true meaning of a text that the founders wisely left open to generations of reinterpretation.  Certainly the Republican leadership is not trying to suggest that African-Americans still be counted as three-fifths of a person."

Wow!  They attack via Alinsky's rules for radicals AND manage to remind everyone how those who hold an opposing view are "racist."  Saul would probably give extra credit for that! 

Glenn Beck had a segment on his show that discussed the full historical context of the "three fifths clause."  I recommend that you watch this and do your own homework to find the truth.  In searching for this video clip from Glenn Beck's show it is interesting to note that three of the first five links found in the google search included:


Glenn Beck defends 3/5ths clause that basically says Glenn supports "knowingly or unknowingly" the institution of slavery.

3/5 Human-Glenn Beck program which is a transcript of a segment of his radio program in which he discusses his book Arguing with Idiots, specifically mentioning the original intent of the 3/5ths clause.

and, of course media matters link:  Beck's racial politics: defending the 3/5 clause; blacks count less which basically claims that Glenn is failing at revising history but offers no references to refute what Glenn was saying about the intent of the 3/5ths clause.  I would venture to say that if you get someone's anger boiling by saying "blacks count less" and "Glenn Beck agrees with that" people look no further into the context of the claim. 

If you don't spend the time to read both sides of this issue your google search thus leaves you with the belief that Glenn Beck is a racist.  I believe that if you truly LISTEN to what he is saying, nothing could be further from the truth. 

I emphasize here the three fifths clause because it is used to distract us from the real issue and that is the importance of restoring the integrity of our Constitution.  Our Founders did, in a sense, make it a "living" document, however, that does NOT allow for making it mean what your "itching ears" want it to mean.  It means that we have an amendment process for a reason.  That we have needed and will continue to need to take into account new issues.  Amending our Constitution is not easy.  It was not meant to be easy because the Founders wanted us to make sound decisions and have those sound decisions agreed upon by The People.  They established a form of government that would limit the power of government so that the power would reside with the people....not just the elite, ALL the people. 

They did not make this a direct democracy for a reason.  Instead of making decisions based purely on emotion that is so often subject to manipulation they wanted us to slow down and have a vigorous debate before taking actions.  In Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address he outlined the purposes of government which included:

A full understanding of inalienable rights; "enlightened by a benign religion, professed indeed and practised in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude and the love of man, acknowledging and adoring an overruling providence.."

The need for government to be wise and frugal, "which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned."

Near the end of his address Jefferson outlines our founding principles and says:
The wisdom of our sages, and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment:--they should be the creed of our political faith; the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety." 

Wanting to begin the 112th Congress by reading the Constitution is not "self-righteous" nor is it a "stunt."  It is an attempt by people of honor to "retrace our steps and to regain the road that our Founders wanted us to follow.