Constitution Day
Constitution Day, the 220th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.
The first three words and the largest letters on the document make it plain that all power flows from the People. Then, the Congress is described, then the President, and finally, the Court. It is clear that this was the order of power in the minds of the men who wrote the document.
Every Presidential power may be checked by the Congress – vetoes, appointments, decisions – and the Congress may remove a President through impeachment. The President is junior to Congress by the design of the Constitution.
I took oaths to support and defend the Constitution when I entered military service, when I entered law enforcement, and when I entered teaching. I take those oaths seriously. It is past time we again had a government that took their oaths seriously.
5 comments
Thanks for remembering the birthday of the world’s first and longest-lasting fully written Constitution.
Great links, by the way. Here’s one more party favor:
“Exploring Constitutional Law”
I do try to keep up with things, John, since there’s nothing much a liberal can do in Okaloosa county.
IIRC, my entering the employ of the State of Texas required an oath to the U.S. Constitution. (No one can read the Texas Constitution; it’s too long and too full of garbage that really should be legislation instead. Oh, and favors for rich folks.) I signed that oath cheerfully, and intend to keep it to my dying day… whether the Constitution is still our primary government document or not by that time. Hey, it’s full of good ideas. I like it even better when it is implemented in real life.
I saw an AP article lamenting how few secondary school students were aware of the day. I don’t much care if they remember the day, as long as they understand the document and have some idea of its context and application.
Bryan, where were (are?) you teaching that required an oath to support the Constitution? (It isn’t one I was required to take, even though I teach at a Land Grant College.)
Since civics is apparently no longer a requirement for graduations in many states, Steve, I fear knowledge of the Constitution is fading along with interest in voting.
State University of New York system, Jim. All public employees in the state take the oath, and that includes the university. The constitution of New York is included in the oath. This was back in the late 1970s.