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January 7, 2011

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 1

Hatched by Dafydd

If it's good enough for the United States House of Reprehensitives, it's good enough for lizards.

We're going to post the entire U.S. Constitution (but only those parts currently operative), in little bite-sized chunks. Feel free, everyone, to jump into the comments to explain what you think each niblet represents and what you think of it.

Starting off with -- the preamble, what else?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Anything they left out? Any reason for a constitution that they neglected to mention? Any of the stated reasons stick in your craw?

There you go for today; discuss and debate at will...

All verses in the Lizardian Constitutional Collection:

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 1 (Preamble)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 2 (Congress; House, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 3 (House, part II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 4 (Senate, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 5 (Senate, part II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 6 (General congressional admin stuff)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 7 (Legislative process and enumerated powers)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 8 (Limitations)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 9 (The prez -- who does he think he is?)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 10 (What would a president do?)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 11 (Judiciary)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 12 (States, part I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 13 (States, part 2)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 14 (Amendment; supreme law of the land)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 15 (Ratification rules and signers)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 16 (Amendments: Bill of Rights, Amendments 1-4)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 17 (Bill of Rights -- Courtroom Amendments 5-8)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 18 (Bill of Last Rights 9 and 10)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 19 (Amendments: Suing other states, president vs. vice president)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 20 (Amendments: Abolition of slavery)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 21 (Amendments: States prohibited from infringing rights)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 22 (Amendments: Racial voting rights)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 23 (Amendments: Wilsonian-Progressivism I)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 24 (Amendments: Wilsonian-Progressivism II)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 25 (Amendments: Rooseveltian amendments)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 26 (Amendments: Camelot amendments)

Let's Read the Constitution Day! - verse 27 (Amendments: Panacea amendments)

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, January 7, 2011, at the time of 12:00 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: MikeR

"We the People of the United States" - and not just their representatives.

"in Order to form a more perfect Union" - more perfect? Without the Constitution, is there a Union at all?

"insure domestic Tranquility" - don't know what this means, if it isn't, "provide for the common defence". Does it mean, to keep the states from fighting with each other?

"promote the general Welfare" - I guess this means the Highway System and the Health Care Reform bill.

"secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" - by restricting government so it shouldn't become tyrannical? By keeping other nations from conquering us, as we said about the common defense? And why does it mention posterity here (unless there should be a comma before "to ourselves", in which it would apply to everything?)

The above hissed in response by: MikeR at January 7, 2011 6:07 AM

The following hissed in response by: snochasr

I have always been struck by the fact that the Founders used different words-- "establish," "insure," "provide," "promote" and "secure"-- for the different functions. Our problems as a nation seem to stem from confusion between the terms, most notably our attempt to "provide" for the common welfare by passing everybody's tax dollars around to everybody else. The blessings of liberty do not include having one's hard-earned confiscated.

The above hissed in response by: snochasr at January 7, 2011 6:37 AM