The Government is Being Stolen From Us

This is Steven Petrick posting.

One of the things that frightens me is how little Americans know about the document governing how the country is supposed to be run. So many of us know so little and our elected officials seem to know even less.

You would think the Constitution is a large and forbidding document to read and this is why no one takes the time to do so. Yet, even with all of its amendments it fits into a slim little book, in nine point type, barely larger than the palm of your hand with enough room to include the Declaration of Independence. The binding is perhaps an eighth of an inch thick. This is too much for us to read?

I have spoken with a lot of college age people, and of all of them only about five had read the Constitution, and four of those because a parent or a respected relative suggested they do so. One read it because a teacher suggested he do so. That seems to make that teacher a rarity.

I had occasion, here in Amarillo, Texas, to speak with two teachers while having my car serviced. One taught in grade school, one taught in high school. Both, when asked, said the other school was responsible for teaching the Constitution. The grade school teacher saying it was supposed to be taught in high school, the high school teacher saying it is supposed to be taught in grade school. Both, however, agreed that it was too important a document for parents to teach their children, but should only be taught by "accredited instructors".

Some students would admit to having been taught "The Bill of Rights", as if those were the entire constitution. And they seemed to have different interpretations, depending (apparently) on what their teacher believed. Some believed (as taught by their teacher) that the second amendment actually prohibits the individual right to "keep and bear arms", but only allows the militia, which is the Army today, to have weapons. Others were taught that the second amendment did allow an individual right. There were other interpretations of other amendments. Again, however, they were unaware of such basic things as the fact that President's do not have "the power of the purse" (and quite a few of them do not even know what that term means), but that the budget actually originates in the House of Representatives.

The Constitution is not a living document to be interpreted at the whim of a judge or a politician, it is an eternal document that represents the wisdom of the founding fathers. And, yes, in a sense the founding fathers DID intend the Constitution to be a "living document", but they meant for it to live not by being interpreted at need and based on the laws, customs, and usages that had developed over time and in foreign lands but by being capable of amendment. Amendment in which "We, the People", were to have a say. Amendments are to be sent to the states to be voted on by the people. We are supposed to agree or disagree with how the Constitution is amended, how our government will change and impact our lives. However, the ignorance of "We, the People" allows our leaders (both politicians and judges) to do things that a better knowledge of the Constitution might hold them in check.

Slowly, bit by bit, we are being moved from being citizens of a free land, to being the subjects of an increasingly controlling government which will decide what we can, and cannot, do not just with the fruits of our own labors, but with our own lives. And our right to stand up and say "no", much less "yes", is slowly be stripped from us through our own ignorance of our governing document.

Part of that, and this frightens me most of all, is that the young men and women of our country who occupy positions of power and authority, are swearing an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America", and have no idea what they are swearing that oath to. They may think of themselves as good and honest people, but in so doing they are, in effect, swearing an oath to obey the orders of their superiors without a true basis to know if those orders are in fact legitimate. A day may come when a President (no, I am not saying it will be Obama for those who are rabidly looking to take a bite out of anyone who does not praise him, I am looking towards a future darkly) will order the military to "arrest Congress and the Supreme Court", and they will do so because it has been ordered. Because they will not realize (short Congress and the Supreme Court actually committing a massive act of treason that really did require such action) that such an order is illegal.

By not teaching the Constitution in our schools, our schools are ultimately stealing our government from us and paving the way for disaster.