Living Constitution
So what's the deal with this "Living Constitution?" I asked a friend.
"The U. S. Constitution isn't just a bunch of words," she said. "It's is a living, breathing document. Which is why judges find rights it doesn't mention--say a right to a free IPad. And other ones that it does mention--like the right to bear arms--don't count any more."
Well! How about that!! Living and breathing? So happens, I was in DC the
week after, and made a trip to the National Archives, to go and visit
the living breathing Constitution. On the way I bought a bag of peanuts
for it. When I got there, the security guard leaned over.
"You can't take in them peanuts."
"It's to feed the Constitution," I said. The guard looked at me, and
took the peanuts.
Inside a big room, the Constitution was in a thick box of glass!
"Help!"
I yelled. "Somebody come quick and let the Constitution out! Somebody
stuck it behind this glass and it can't breathe!"
"What's the problem, pal?" asked the guard.
"The Living Breathing Constitution is choking to death! Look! It's not
breathing! It can't get any air in there. How can it live? We need to
get it out and give it CPR."
"Come on, pal," the guard said. "Don't worry. The Constitution is fine
in there. It's just sleeping. That's its house."
"When will it come out?" I asked. "At dinner time?"
"No," the guard said. "The Constitution is shy. It's happy in there.
Hey! How about you run along now to the zoo and go see the monkey
house?"
"I've already been to Congress," I said. "No, I'm worried about the
Constitution. Doesn't it get lonely in that little glass box? It's a
Living Breathing document you know. And how does it keep up with the
times and know what's going on if it stays in there? How does it know
times have changed so everyone has the right to a free IPad and no more
right to bear arms?"
"People come and talk to it," said a guy standing next to the
Constitution. "Lawyers."
"How do we know what it tells them?" I asked.
"There are special people who go and ask it questions, called judges.
They talk to the Living Breathing Constitution and then tell us what it
says."
"Baloney!" yelled a guy in a T-Shirt. "I bought this Constitution in the
gift store and it looks just like that one in the box. It says I have a
right to bear arms. And nothing about Ipads, either. I'm going to
believe my Living Breathing Constitution, not this other one the judges
talk to."
"Well, my Living Breathing Constitution just told me it changed its mind
on women voting."
"No way!" said a lady. "My living breathing Constitution says yours is full of poo-poo!"."
"And my living breathing Constitution says I have the right to your wallet.
"Who you gonna believe," yelled another guy. "My breathing Constitution or that one?"
How do We Know Which One is Right?
A man stood on the table. "We all have Living Breathing Constitutions!
How do we know which one is right?"
"Hold on!" I shouted. "What if we just ask the original Living Breathing
Constitution in the glass box our own questions? We don't need judges."
The whole crowd agreed, so we pushed the guard aside, broke into the
glass box and pulled out the original, Living Breathing Constitution.
"It's not breathing," said a lady. "I think its dead. Did we kill it?" Everybody looked closer.
"Look. It has the same words as all of ours do."
"I have an idea," said the T-Shirt guy. "Look; we all agree all our
Constitutions say the same thing. Right? So why don't we all agree that
there's just one, and it says what the words say it says?"
"What if times change?" asked another guy.
"We can change it, like it says in the part called "Article V,
Amendments."
"So what do we do with this here original Constitution which isn't
breathing," asked the lady
"Free it!" shouted all the people. "Don't put it back in the box. Free
the Constitution!"
The T-shirt guy looked around. "I think we just did."