Support And Defend It, So Help Us God.

The United States House of Representatives convened today with the reading of the United States Constitution.  This brought cheers from many and the usual expected jeers from the left. "The work of many minds, the Constitution stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise."  One has to imagine how during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, in the spring and summer, in Philadelphia the delegates perspired, debated, argued, and compromised writing and rewriting the draft that would eventually become the Constitution of the United States. 

After reading and hearing the derogatory commentaries that have been made about the reading of the Constitution in Congress today, we think it is high time that Americans start paying more attention to the Constitution.  There are citizens of this country, registered to vote, who cannot distinguish the difference between the Constitution and The Declaration of Independence.  In fact, we dare say, they cannot speak about either one of those venerable documents.  Those who are so eagerly changing the content of American History books should consider including the Constitution in several chapters when teaching about government. It cannot be said enough: The Constitution is our framework of government.

In recent years it has become "de rigueur" for leftists  who want to be considered "cool, and with it" to put down the importance of the Constitution. Yes, there are the hard core socialists and ideologues who believe that their way of government is best. They'd happily do away with the Constitution. They work behind the scenes, but, they aren't the ones we constantly hear mocking the Constitution. Those who are promoting the cavalier dismissal of the U.S. Constitution, are television personalities, entertainers, pundits, and even some politicians.  It is particularly despicable to hear a politician disregard it after taking an oath of office affirming to defend and protect it.  It is those persons who have a media forum who encourage that way of thinking.  It is they, who have the following of imbeciles who propagate it, most of it to impressionable American youth.


We wonder if these performers have read even one paragraph, one article or one amendment of the Constitution, or if they simply parrot what others have said. Do they even know what the constitution addresses? Do they realize that Constitution, in its Preamble, explicitly delegates power to the people? No one handed us this law. "We the people of the United States of America" ordained and established the Constitution, and we did so for our own protection....to protect the blessings of liberty. We're willing to wager that those who disparage the Constitution would be the first to resort to its protection if they felt their civil rights were violated.

Once upon a time in America, the Constitution was taught rigorously.  Students were tested on what they had learned.  It made us better informed citizens to know how our government functioned, and what rights we had that were constitutionally protected.  

One advantage to having reached our mid sixties and having lived more than half a century in the United States, is that we've seen our country change. It hasn't always been for the better.  We've experienced much. In doing so we have been privileged to have known and lived the best that America had to offer. As in Dickens' " A Tale of Two Cities," we can say we knew when "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." We can also add, and we're the better for it, because we were all Americans encountering the same joys and the same sorrows as a nation. 
 
Although the standard of living has been raised in the interim, and advances in technology, science and most other fields of study have altered our lifestyles, we are nostalgic for the America of yesteryear. There was a time when people respected one another. Television personalities in particular were neutral, and appealed to a wider audience. Newscasters delivery of the news was objective. Our intelligence was respected, and no one tried to persuade us to lean right or left. We don't know what celebrity, and affluence does to many of these people today, but they appear to hate their country. We wonder if they realize that it is the same Constitution they disparage that guarantees them the right to speak freely, without consequences, no matter how obnoxious, crude, spiteful and venomous they become.
 
Ours is not a fatalistic view of America. It is a nostalgic one. Between us, we sisters have five children and six grandchildren. Our main concern and focus now is what kind of America we leave for them when we're gone. The thought of our offspring living in a Socialist society is frightening. The idea of their growing up in a divided America is inconceivable to us.  Our schools have stopped teaching the Constitution without a whimper from parents. It is time to think about the future generations of America. This is not the time to change or disregard the one document that has stood the test of time. Perhaps if our younger generations have to read it more often, they will have greater respect for the document that allows them to live in the freest society the world has ever known.
 
As persons to the right of the political spectrum, we are tired of defending our position. We don't apologize for loving our country and respecting the Constitution. Recently we read a headline, "The Constitution is not a sacred document." We disagree, it might not be gospel from God, but it was written by men who had a strong faith in Him and were inspired by Him. It is  not a sacred document in the religious sense, but is is revered and we must treat it with respect. Who can question the vision of the founding fathers who foresaw that others would come to these shores with different beliefs, and made provisions for their freedom?
 
No other country in the world has a Constitution like ours.  Many countries have tried to model their constitution after it, but no one has duplicated it. It is the oldest written constitution of any country in the world that is still in use.  Our Constitution is unique in that the Founding Fathers perceived that in the future there might be a need to change it, amend it, and they wrote provisions in it to do just that.  Our Constitution has been amended twenty seven times.  The first ten amendments of the Constitution are commonly known as The Bill of Rights.  It is interesting that our present Attorney General, Eric Holder is now questioning the constitutionality of the second amendment. 
 
When the 112th Congress decided to begin its first session with a reading of the entire Constitution of the United states, there were some very disturbing comments made by some elected officials.  Some even boycotted the opening day because they thought it was "posturing by Republicans."  We wonder how many of those who objected have ever read the entire Constitution.  In fact we question how many of those present today had ever read it or heard it read completely.  Perhaps  after today's reading the complete disregard for the Constitution which has taken place during the last two years will come to halt.
 
Even through our nostalgia, we know that there is no turning back the hands of time.  We cannot return to the America that was, but we can look to the future with expectancy and confidence for an even better and brighter America. Today was a good beginning.  Democrats and Republicans reading the Constitution together was "cooperative statesmanship."  Our political parties  will always have differences, especially in ideology. We won't always agree on policy and decisions, but if we put country before party we have a chance of succeeding. 
 
Another of our favorite quotes comes not from one of the founders, but from Abraham Lincoln whose presidency was fraught with strife, dissent, and war.  In 1858, Lincoln was seeking his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate.  As he addressed the Illinois State Republican  Convention he said,  "A house divided against itself cannot stand,"  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."  Lincoln of course was addressing the issue of slavery, but we feel that his words are applicable to the partisanship that engulfs and cripples our government today. 
 
We are living in an uncertain world.  Never, in our lifetime has our country been so vulnerable, so frail.  We, however, are more fortunate than most.  We have been given a system of government that has endured many catastrophes.  We are blessed to live in a nation that is still free after nearly two hundred and forty years in existence, and we have been given a framework of government that is unequaled in the history of the world:  The United States Constitution.  Support and defend it, so help us God!