Study This

Today is Constitution Day. On this date in 1787 the constitutional convention in Philadelphia completed work and signed the document that defines our representative system of government based on checks and balances. You'd never know it watching Bush's "unitary presidency" in action today or by witnessing our members of Congress abdicating their duty to protect the Constitution with such abandon. Maybe we should send an email to them today suggesting they need to refresh their memories by studying this material. I wonder how many of our representatives or citizens have actually read the document and its amendments. Have you?

Another timely must read for today is by John Nichols of The Nation. He explains how the framers of the Constitution set out to "chain the dogs of war," not set them free. Quote: "The founders would not question for a moment that the Congress has the authority to use the power of the purse to end this war. Indeed, they would argue today as they did in their time, that a failure to do so would imperil the Republic."