More than just the Constitution
/If you hang around for any amount of time in any on-line space that discusses American history, current events, or law, you’re bound to see statements declaring what the constitution says. Very probably, you’ll be challenged as to whether or not you’ve read the constitution yourself.
Many Americans believe that citing the constitution is the Triple Dog Dare of discourse: the one who first cites the constitution wins. They seem to believe that the shorter and more out-of-context the citation, the more compelling.
Years ago, I was talking with my boss, who happened to be a much older man with a military background and a strong conviction for all things conservative. The news headlines of the day were focusing on American meddling in Central America where the US was propping up a dictator in El Salvador and undermining a popularly elected Leftist in Nicaragua. I questioned whether those operations were wise. My boss, annoyed, reached out for a book on his desk and flipped it open and read six words:
"To provide for the common Defense."He then snapped the book closed. There was subtlety, no consideration of whether the common defense was concerned with Nicarague. For my boss, those words provided unexamined license for any and all defense spending and for any and all military operations.
Whenever school shootings occur, or gun control legislation is proposed, people with pile onto the discussion with variations of:
“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”Of course there’s no doubt that that’s what the constitution says. But, as with my boss, they assert the text as a way of ending the conversation. The constitution says, “Shall not be infringed!” so why are you still talking about this?
Well, people are still talking because the fragmentary language of the constitution is not the end of the conversation. Ever. The real law of the land is never what untrained citizens think it is. the real law is what judges and other experts say it is, or what laws are enacted based on congressional authorization.
