constitution week

september 17-23, 2009, is constitution week . This is the 222nd anniversary of the ratification our constitution - the oldest document still in active use that that outlines self-government by the people. 

pretty amazing. 

worth remembering. worth celebrating. 

by the way, when was the last time you read this document? (before today, it was my junior year in high school, eleven years ago.) a lot of talk about upholding the constitution is going on in our country right now. discussions are important, but if you haven't read the constitution lately, than all that talk is a bunch of hot air. 

read it here (i liked this site because it had definitions and all the amendments in one place). it took me less than twenty minutes - including amendments. it's a complete, straight-forward document, pure in its simplicity. 

gotta love it. 

scene at the signing of the constitution of the united states by howard chandler christy

without getting too far off the topic, here's a little soap box of mine. i have a problem with the health care bill going through our government right now. while i believe it is important to reevaluate our citizen's access and ability to pay for healthcare, i think this is happening too fast. a decision this big needs time to be done right, to be thorough and fair for all. this bill will affect over 300 million people. i decided to read the bill one day. um, it is 1018 pages of ginormous legalese words. have the citizens this bill would affect read all of that (and understood it)? i'm gonna say no. have the congressmen who are voting to affect the taxes and health care choices and lives of 300 million people read all of that (and understood it)? i think it's interesting that the oldest document still in active use that that outlines self-government by the people is easily understood and took me less than twenty minutes to read. hey, politicians, take a clue from our fore-fathers, would you?

so my exercise in earning my freedom for this week was actually reading our constitution. not because it's an assignment in 11th grade government. but because it's important.

i don't deserve it and i can't protect it if i don't know what it says.