Friday was the official observance of Constitution Day. The traditional celebration is today, Sept. 17, which is the 229th anniversary of the official adoption of the U.S. Constitution by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
The Constitution that the Founding Fathers drafted was not perfect. They recognized this, which is why they created Article Five, which lays out the process for amending it. That process has been invoked many times, but the basic tripartite structure of government remains the same.
It goes to show that the framers were exceptionally far-sighted men, notwithstanding the attacks launched in today’s politically correct environment against the extraordinary revolutionary achievement of their day.
As a result of their forethought in framing a government, the Constitution has never needed a thorough rewrite, as most other modern republican constitutions have. America today remains a nation where the rule of law is firmly entrenched. Public officials cannot comfortably live above the law. The results of elections are scrupulously observed even by those disappointed in the result. The independence of the judiciary is both a safe assumption and a fact of life.
Even America’s inheritance of the institution of slavery, the original sin of the founding era and a stain on the nation, has not stopped the U.S. from becoming, over time, a place where an unprecedentedly diverse population lives and chooses to live in unprecedented freedom.
Immigrants keep on coming because America has thrived in freedom under its Constitution. Even Canada, arguably the most culturally similar nation to the U.S., has speech and press restrictions from which Americans when they are made aware of them recoil, perceiving them to be bizarre and wrong.
But unfortunately, the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are not as safe today as they should be.
The First Amendment right of Americans to practice their religion without legal interference, which entails not just freedom to worship in ceremonies but also freedom from compulsion to act against their consciences in their daily activities, is under assault by a government that thinks it knows better than churches what their consciences dictate.
Freedom of political speech is under assault by Senate Democrats, who voted along party lines in 2014 to weaken the First Amendment, asserting that restrictions on long-honored freedoms can fix the campaign finance system.
The right to bear arms is under attack from politicians who would rather be soft on convicted criminals than respect the freedom of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. The absurdity of this is highlighted by President Obama’s championing of new gun laws, even as he grants clemency for the people who break the gun laws on the books.
The right to a fair trial and to suffer no deprivation of liberty except through due process of law is under attack by Obama’s and Democrats’ gimmicky proposal to ban gun sales to people placed on secret lists.
The right to be free of unwarranted surveillance is under attack from a government that insists against all evidence that the best way to catch terrorists is to trawl for them in the sea of innocent Americans’ phone communications.
This year, Constitution Day is a day for vigilance against true threats to freedom from within the political establishment. If you value your rights, be sure to vote in November. As blessed as this nation has been with its freedom and stability, candidates for office have become inured to the idea that it’s all right to take your rights away.
