A note from Dr Larry Arn, President, Hillsdale College:
The 4th of July cover article of Time magazine claims that the Constitution is irrelevant.
Frightening.
As proof of its irrelevance, Time lists a dozen products of modern society inconceivable to the framers, including antibiotics, “sexting,” and Medicare. The Constitution’s only virtue, they say, is that it has many meanings and thus leaves us able to do whatever we want to do.
But not everything has changed since 1787. When it comes to ordering society under the rule of law, what is most important? Knowledge of “collateralized debt obligations” or knowledge of human nature?
Here are a few things the framers did know something about: Religious Freedom. Education. Tyranny. Friendship. Happiness. Sovereignty of the People. Virtue.
The Constitution does not allow us to do whatever we want to do. In the words of James Madison, the Constitution was framed out of the belief that “it is the reason, alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government. The passions ought to be controlled and regulated by the government.”
The genius of the Constitution lies in its having a definite meaning on the fundamentals–that every individual has rights, that the people are sovereign, and that the governmental powers must remain separated–while leaving wide latitude to local government, or the people themselves, on issues not specifically addressed in the Constitution.
The framers were no gods; the amendment procedure was included for good reason. Yet for more than two centuries the United States has flourished in a project long thought impossible: self-government.
Liberty. Equality. Self-government.
If the Fourth of July is a celebration of these things, it is a celebration of the Constitution as much as the Declaration of Independence. No constitution in history has proven itself more deeply committed to these principles, and no nation has been more richly blessed in return.
The basic truth within the Constitution is that the government cannot have limitless power, for the simple reason that government is made up of people. A Constitution with no definite meaning gives free reign to the passions of those people within and without the government. A Constitution with a meaning honored and obeyed becomes a guardian of all people, for it sustains a government that is strong within its defined powers but limited in order to protect the liberty and equality of citizens.
Instead of scoffing at those Americans concerned that their federal government has overrun its limits in the name of energy and modernity, perhaps Time should consider what an American President said about the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution on the 150th anniversary of July 4th, 1776:
"It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers."
- Calvin Coolidge
July 5, 1926Read the entirety of President Coolidge’s “Speech on the Occasion of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
If, as Time Magazine would have it, the Constitution is irrelevant, the law then becomes whatever the sitting government says it is — and we live under conditions of tyranny, no longer a free people protected by a consistent rule of law as prescribed and enshrined in the country’s foundational documents.
Which is to say, in a country where the Constitution is irrelevant, the only force of law is the force the government can bring to enforce that law — a condition that leaves us as an anarchy (there is no longer any law per se, because the foundation for law has been deemed non-binding) managed by an elected tyranny (required to manage a people not bound by a rule of law save the one the sitting government decides to uphold or enforce or invent for some expedient).
Perhaps Time Magazine should think over what happens should a mob different from the progressive cabal working to overthrow our Constitutional republic by way of rhetorical paradigm shift get wise to the new “rules” of post-Constitutional government.
After all, the Constitution exists to protect minorities from a centralized authority and the whims of the majority. Once those protections are erased — and laws become transitory and ungrounded by any official documents — we can effectively do away with courts, and that 20% of progressives may just wish that they’d treated the documents that protect them as well with a bit more appreciation and fidelity.
“I do not want anyone to want for me- I want to want for myself.”
-Yevgeny Zamyatin
Happy and safe 4th.
That’s beautiful, Jeff. Thanks.
+1 for Sarah’s comment. I wish I cold formulate a response as elegant, cogent, on point and as quickly as you do Jeff. Well done, as usual.
Time, the authoritative source for Constitutional lecturers from Chicago. Others, YMMV.
Have a great 4th Jeff!
happy Independence day. my allan the proggs countrywide are having a psycho break down on this constitution thingy. nice smack down by powerline john:
link
pres. reagan 7/3/1981
link
Happy Independence day to all my PW peeps. May we all persuade our fellow Americans to embrace the classically liberal ideas of our founders and stop the disgrace which has been occurring to this country.
B Moe, I’m in Athens tomorrow because my daughter broke her foot, while visiting my in laws at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro. We’re going to Athens Orthopedics to have her foot looked at. Any suggestions for lunch or dinner?
Only a Progressive could conclude that everything devised by our nation’s founders became irrelevant as soon as something was invented that didn’t exist on July 4, 1776.
They didn’t even get around to signing the Declaration until August, by which time the whole exercise had been rendered moot by … somebody, somewhere, dreaming up something.
hollywood stupid
What Sarah said, and 4th of July well-wishes to all. Today’s a Conservative holiday if there ever was one!
As for the Time piece: Fourteen Clear Factual Errors in Richard Stengel’s Essay on the Constitution
Methinks we’re fixin’ to find out. The sooner the better, says I.
Happy 235th Independence Day all!
My Journolist sensors are quivering. There seems to be a chorus of liberals all spouting the same meme of late, that the Constitution is irrelevant, it was written over 100 years ago by dead white guys and no one knows what it means, we should do a crowd-source rewrite, yada, yada. I really hope they aren’t thinking of this as battle space prep….
Time lists a dozen products of modern society inconceivable to the framers,
Next time someone pulls out this old dog, ask them which of the Constitution’s provisions are technology-dependent.
For that matter, if anyone suggests that the Constitution is outdated, force them to specify the provision that is outdated and what they’d replace it with.
You could grow yourselves a couple three crops of corn before they come up with a good answer that doesn’t reveal their petty tyranny.
Perhaps Time Magazine should think over what happens should a mob different from the progressive cabal working to overthrow our Constitutional republic by way of rhetorical paradigm shift get wise to the new “rules” of post-Constitutional government.
Tell ya what, proggs: we’ll concede the new rules to governance if YOU agree that the levers of power can be held only by current Jehovah’s Witnesses…
…who believe that human governments are illegitimate because Jehovah is the only true ruler of earth.
we should do a crowd-source rewrite
Fareed Zakaria, who is totally not an advisor to the President, recently praised Iceland for trying to rewrite its Constitution on Twitter or something.
They’re gearing up for it: they’re actually gearing up for it.
This should be good.
Steyn always gets it:
What are the chances that the folks at Time, et al., think that Roe v. Wade is obsolete because of advances in fetal and neonatal care? I’m just sayin’.
As if fetal or neonatal care was part of the mission statement of Planned ‘Parenthood.’ The name says it all. It is parent-centric. Until not only fertilization but gestation can take place outside of a female body, good luck with getting the folks at Time to move one iota on this issue. Then, they will be using the term breeder with an entirely new, sneering condescension only fantasized about by the gays.
ABC, like Time, knows it’s audience.
At some time or another something is going to become inconvenient to somebody or another. That’s what we have here, the Constitution has become inconvenient to certain parties, so they try to think of some way to bypass it.
The progress we’ve made in the years since 1776 has not changed human nature, just the way in which we understand it. The need to limit the powers of government haven’t changed, just the ways in which government tries to run our lives for our benefit. Really, what we see from Time Magazine is the belief that our self-declared betters think they know better than us, and need to tell us how to live our lives. There may even be times when our self-declared elites are right, but first what they say needs to be tested and proved before it ever gets put into effect.
Yet again we see the self-declared elite complaining about how the hoi polloi are ignoring and disregarding our self-assured betters, and demanding that we start doing what we’re told to. They disregard the fact that most adults are capable of making up their own minds and acting on their initiative.
OI, if B Moe doesn’t get back to you, I’ve been to Athens a handful of times and liked this place a lot. Used to be called Harry Bissett’s, but reviews suggest that it’s still basically the same. Then again, what does a dumb yankee know about Cajun food?
That is a fine college. I hope you all had a fun and safe 4th.
Happy Independence Day from Gamberi, Afghanistan.
Time is absolutely right, of course. Ben Franklin and Gouverneur Morris never got a leg over since they couldn’t sext. And if the Founding Fathers had had antibiotics to make them live longer they OBVIOUSLY would have all joined AARP and voted for MadisonCare…
Oh, absolutely, richard… given that one of the pieces of correspondence we have from Ben is a letter to his bastard son on the qualities one should look for in one’s mistress….
May God watch over you and all your buddies RTO and bring you all home safe and sound.
Godspeed, RT.
U2, MK.
Sorry OI, just saw your message. Haven’t tried the new place Abe mentioned, but the old Bisset’s was indeed very edible.
This is one of my favorite new places.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/transmetropolitan-athens
Or, if you want a more original Athens experience:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/wilsons-soul-food-athens