As I am an enthusiast of American
history and founding documents, my wife is always diligent about discovery of
items that relate to such interests.
Here I picture a coffee mug upon which
is printed the first ten amendments to the Constitution, also known
collectively as “The Bill of Rights”.
According to the National Archives the
first ten amendments to the Constitution were ratified and became effective on
December 15, 1791.
It is worth noting that the U.S.
Constitution was originally ratified June 21, 1788.
More than three years earlier that the
Bill of Rights.
I do not suggest that the
Bill of Rights to be a mere afterthought.
But, given a recent sharing
of a meme on Facebook indicating “The Constitution does not give you rights. It
precludes the government from taking them from you.”
That is true but so
seriously simplistic as to diminish the truer sense of the Constitution.
Faithful to the
Declaration’s promise of a non-monarchical form of government, the Constitution
provides for a means of government equitably distributed between legislative,
executive, and judicial aspects.
While the Preamble describes
the scope and purpose of the Constitution, its various Articles, sections, and
clauses jointly construct a means by which the States, and therefore, people
can engage with certain predictable circumstances.
The Constitution provides
Congress with much legislative authority. I believe Congress to be the primary
source of the will and consent of the governed while the Executive is an agent
of Congress (see foot note in italics regarding Neil Gorsuch) to see to it that
the laws are faithfully executed.
The Judiciary being the
final authority, short of further amendment or legislation, when there is
argument to resolve.
I fear that many voters
and others are under the erroneous understanding that every four years on the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that we elect a quadrennial
monarch to govern, not according to consent of the governed, but according to whim
of a faction of the governed that won the election.
I fear that Congress, the
framer’s primary Constitutional provision, is thereby set aside as an
incidental aspect to be kept in a closet along with the Constitution and
brought out only for ceremonial occasions.
I advocate for a return
of primacy of Congress, an agency of the Executive, and a prudent expansion of
the Judiciary to a sufficient number of Justices such that personality and
celebrity of those Justices is well subordinated to published opinions. Perhaps
majority and dissenting opinions remain anonymous.
Gorsuch quote…
Article I of the
Constitution vests all federal legislative power in Congress, and Article II
charges the executive branch with seeing that Congress’s laws are faithfully
executed. In a very real sense, then, when it comes to legislative power,
Congress is the principal and executive officials are the agents
Found on page 14 of the
Gorsuch concurrence of the Supreme Court Opinion…
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1287_new_3135.pdf
