The United States and the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is much more than just a piece of paper; it is a document written by God fearing men who believed in Liberty and Justice for all who are citizens of this great nation and their Posterity. While the U.S. Constitution is a guide for ourselves and for those who represent us, the U.S. Constitution is much more; it is the “law of the land” and should be viewed as such, as well as considered whenever any of the three branches of government, i.e., Legislative, Executive, or Judicial, enact new laws or perform the duties of their respective offices. I also believe every Citizen of the United States should question themselves with regard to their actions; are we Just, are we promoting the general Welfare, are we striving to ensure Liberty, are our actions helping to form a more perfect Union? These ideals cannot simply be for one, they must be for all, as eloquently stated by our fore-fathers, “We the People of the United States.”

On the 17th day of September in 1787 the U.S. Constitution was Ordained and Established; the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788. This document gave us reasonable guidelines by which to govern ourselves in a responsible and civil manner and the delineation of the processes by which we elect government officials, the formation and function of the three separate branches of government and the duties of each within the boundaries of the Constitution of the United States. Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution also guarantees to each and every State in the Union a “Republican Form of Government,” whereby the individuals as well as the States themselves are sovereign.

Enough cannot be said about the value and intent of the words within the U.S. Constitution itself. Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 clearly states the President shall, “Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article VI, Clause 2 clearly states, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States; shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” Article VI, Clause 3 goes on to further state, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.” Undeniably, the framers of the Constitution of the United States demanded the continued preservation, protection, defense and support of the Constitution in perpetuity for the People of this great nation. There can be no doubt the Constitution of the United States is the Law of the Land. Our leaders are bound by the oaths of their offices to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

The U.S. Constitution is a means to promote not only the general Welfare, but to promote an equitable system of governance, through just laws which provide the framework to form a more perfect Union. As stated in Article III, Section 2, Clause 1, “The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority.” The U.S. Constitution is the conception of an ideal by decent, free thinking men, whose sole purpose was to live a life free of tyranny from those who would oppress us, and to ensure those same ideals existed for their Posterity.

The United States of America is, in effect, not only a conglomeration of people, but of ideas as well. Through the supreme Law of the Land, the U.S. Constitution, sovereign citizens of sovereign States, within a sovereign nation act to establish a just and equitable society, where Liberty is unfettered and the government exists to serve the People.

While the art of articulation does not elude me, I find myself unable to match what I consider to be a perfect man-made statement of Truth and Wisdom: 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 to our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This is an interesting article but as the prior comment mentions, it is not the Bible of American juris prudence. The textbook companies greatly determine how Americans view the Constitution and for the last 50 years textbooks have referred to the Constitution as “a framework of government” a “skeleton” to have each generation apply new layers of skin over it. Lincoln forever changed the direction of the Constitution away from strict constructionism to loose constructionism. If he hadn’t we would have another type of country here today (read Harry Turtledove’s alternative history for one possible outcome). This gov’t will never become strict constructionist again because the politicians simply won’t allow it. Regardless of how much complaining the general population may do about it power is still held in the hands of a few and they will never give it up. They adapt the Constitution to fit their needs NOT ours.

I must interject: It is important to point out our country’s roots in God.

Even for the atheist - It is important to keep God in the constitution, and in our freedoms. By saying “God-Given” this ensures that no one is going to take them away. No one will take them away, because they are not from anyone.

Every Atheist I speak to understands my point, and is willing to accept God in our constitution as well as other founding documents.

New attempts at constitutions (As Ruth-Vader proclaims) insinuates, or flat-out states that the rights are given to people by the government, or by some group of humans. The rights listed in our constitution aren’t “granted” by anyone. They are granted by God, and until God comes down and takes them away, No one can stand up and attempt to take them away.

The US constitution is *not* the “law of the land”. It is the organizational *limits* to the laws of the land.

It’s framework is like a fence surrounding government. Inside the fence, the government can build up as it needs. But outside the fence it is not theirs, so they at least are not supposed to build there.

For example, the 18th Amendment, Prohibition, by itself did nothing. Congress had to pass an enabling act, the Volstead Act, so that the government could enforce the 18th Amendment. By the time they did so, Prohibition had fallen out of favor as a bad idea, so congress intentionally made Volstead very weak and ill-funded.

Read that a little more carefully. My emphasis in brackets with notes in parentheses().

“...This Constitution, [and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof](1); and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, [any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.](2)”

(1) “Pursuance” - the continuance of something begun with a view to its completion. Thus the constitution is the “framework” of the law of the land, not the law itself. This matters right now, because congress never passed a law to enforce the presidential “natural birth” clause. As such, nobody is in charge of assuring it is followed, *or* that it is enforced; *and* there is no penalty for violating it. In short, the “framework” in this case, are bones with no muscle to give them movement.

(2) Rather unnervingly, in was only in 1957, with the SCOTUS decision of Reid v. Covert, who ruled that no branch of the United States Government can have powers conferred upon it by treaty that have not been conferred by the United States Constitution.

This decision was just in the nick of time, as subsequent, “internationalist” presidents have been itching to do just that, to use foreign treaties to impose unconstitutional acts on the American people.

The villains are still trying to do it, by claiming that some foreign treaties are “below the status of treaties”, and so do not require US senate approval—but still have the force of law in the US. Scoundrels.

I happen to believe in “originalism in Constitutional interpretation.” To the framers of the Constitution, this was the Law of the Land. Just because some misguided individuals have come along and done everything that they can possibly do to destroy that document, doesn't mean it isn't what it was originally meant to be.

These same individuals you speak of believe in a “living Constitution” which is a “dead Constitution.” I have no doubt they also believe the 2nd Amendment doesn't unequivocally state “we have the right to bear arms (period).” But it does state just that.

People who attempt to pervert the U.S. Constitution, are the same individuals who wish to destroy the United States. Unfortunately, it would appear as though they are gaining ground.

I think we are missing each other here.

The constitution is a framework for the law, it is not the law itself, instead it is more the constraints to what the law can be. Unless a particular part of the constitution has an enabling law created for it by congress, it sits idle.

The constitution contains *no* laws, as such. It does not designate who will enforce the law, what the penalties are for breaking the law, or who will execute those penalties.

Here is why the founding fathers set things up this way.

1) In Europe, the nobility said it was the nobility because God said they were nobility. In addition, because they were appointed by God, the laws they passed were in effect religious laws as well. If you break the king’s law, you have also offended God by doing so.

So the founding fathers made it abundantly clear that, while they respected God, God did not write our laws. They were written by men, and for men, and thus could be changed by men without offending God.

2) The founding fathers also were well aware that as soon as the ink on the written law had dried, everyone will try to evade it and avoid it. They should know, because colonial Americans were expert at evading and avoiding British law. We were smugglers and miscreants and proud of avoiding the Crown’s tax man.

This meant there had to be a standing body, a congress, to keep changing and adapting the law to prevent such chaos. Yet they also knew that this process could easily become corrupt, so with the constitution, they created a mechanism to control it.

For every government body, there had to be two other bodies with conflicting interests. The end result is that they balance each other and prevent any given body from becoming too powerful.

This crops up all over the place in the constitution. The balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The balance between the national government, the state governments, and the people. “The People’s House”, elected democratically, the senate appointed by the states, and the president, elected by the electoral college.

And the House is based on population, favoring the more populous states, the senate with just two senators for each state, favoring the less populous states. And the president got to appoint federal judges, but they, along with his cabinet, had to be approved by the senate, and thus the states.

All in all, the constitution was a masterful contraption, in which laws could be made, but only after passing through a gauntlet of competing forces any of which could kill it. So more than the “law of the land”, it is the “anti-law of the land”. With a Bill of Rights to doubly say to the government, “And ESPECIALLY keep your grubby mitts off these things.”

A long time ago I reached the conclusion that the founding fathers did miss one thing in the constitution. It needs a permanent pruning mechanism to reduce overgrowth.

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