Why The Constitution is Important

I created this website to educate both myself, as well as others, about the importance, necessity, and validity of the United States Constitution, as well as what the Constitution means, or should mean, to an average U.S. citizen. I say "should" because there has been a steady undermining of the clauses, provisions, and restrictions set forth in the Constitution, which has led to an ever-growing power grab by the federal government, expanding both it's size and scope. There are many people who claim the Constitution is a "living" document. They are correct. The framers of the Constitution intentionally built in a very constructive system of creating and ratifying amendments that require great effort to change the law of the land, and rightly so. The very fact that it takes 2/3 of each house of congress to change the Constitution is testimony to the foresight of the Founding Fathers, for they knew anything administered in a reactive or capricious manner had ruinous ends. This is based on great measure of living with tyranny and despotic governments. It was  created to endure time and all attempts to usurp its protections in perpetuity. This idea of stability of intent is essential to not only the appropriate interpretation of the Constitution, but its preservation. As James Madison, the "father" of the Constitution explained: " I entirely concur in the propriety of restoring to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable, more than faithful exercise in its powers."(James Madison, "Letter to Henry Lee, June 25, 1824.") In other words, if we do not have a constant by which we gauge our liberty, we will eventually fall prey to to the perturbations, trends, and irrational reactions of society. And because the Constitution is document primarily of restriction of government authority, any ill-conceived notion of change, be it noble or dubious in intent, will lead to an expansion of absolute governmental power, and absolute power leads to absolute corruption. To understand this concept, we turn to Newton's third law of physics, which states that for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. This means that if we grow governmental power, we necessary shrink individual liberty, or the third law of physics, and its constancy, cease to exist. So, if the Constitution is a constant that protects our freedoms, it must remain constant or we are all in real peril.Of course, I realize the Constitution has been amended, or changed, many times, which some would point to as proof that the Constitution is inherently flawed. Yet, a closer examination of this ideas yields a different conclusion, because the vast majority of the amendments are clauses that restrict governmental power. Therefore, any attempt to change the Constitution must take this into account. In other words, if we endeavor to fundamentally change the law of the land, we should always do so to ensure future individual freedom. Think about it this way: If the Constitution is nothing more than a collection of the musings and ramblings of "dead white men," and its constancy is subject to the whims of political diatribe and hidden agendas, then we are all lost at sea, because our rudder has been removed. Moreover, if we have no constancy to check the powers of those who rule, are we really saying they are capable of checking themselves? As the Roman poet Juvenal asked: Quis custodiet ipos custodes? "Who is guarding the guardians?" In future post, we explore the contents and meaning of the Constitution. I welcome all rational, informed, and intelligent dialogue. Keep peace at your center at all times. This is the one constant beyond the Constitution we cannot lose.