Sunday, October 19, 2008

What does the Constitution really say?

This is one of those "attention to details" issues that may not particularly bother you (although I can't imagine why it wouldn't) but it bothers me immensely, which is not to say that what I think matters much in the grand scheme of things, but an actual reading of the Constitution with an eye for detail will yield that I am right nonetheless.

I recently had an email conversation with someone who, at one point in our conversation, referred to the U.S. Constitution as "our Supreme Law." As I've pointed out any number of times and any number of different ways before, both directly and indirectly, the statement and various derivatives of the same is only half true, and I object to its popularity and common usage as part of the modern American lexicon. It should be obvious, on reading the whole phrase from whence such contractions are extracted, how such a statement, taken for granted as it is, can be misleading and damaging to the whole truth of what the constitution states about its supreme authority.

And by the way, if you're at a loss as to where specifically to look, it won't hurt you to read or even scan the entirety of the document. I'm not going to give you chapter and verse. Sorry. Some of you, I'm afraid, are not as familiar with the Constitution as becomes good citizenship (Not singling anyone out, but if the shoe fits, wear it.).

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