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Even the great religions are not capable, of themselves, by their theological principles, from entirely preventing mis-behavior. The Constitution was a bit more enforceable to those of the several generations just recently removed from the period of its acceptance. Thus, our task, if it is possible, is to educate those not accustomed to following its structure and respecting its value, as perhaps the greatest political instrument of history.

If Mr. Sobran is so wrong, and rather doubt that he is, maybe you should tell him about his careless writing-I only brought it to the attention of more people. His web site invites reply.

. Thus, our task, if it is possible, is to educate those not accustomed to following its structure and respecting its value, as perhaps the greatest political instrument of history.

But that's precisely the point, and precisely where Sobran misses the boat. If the people aren't accustomed, how are you going to make them accustomed? The answer is, you can't. They have to get there on their own.

There's a story about how, during the Viet Nam war, we sent a group of earnest young folks over to Saigon to help them craft a nice, new constitution. They argued, negotiated, and sweated amongst themselves, and it was by all accounts a thing of beauty.

Only problem was, it had absolutely no impact -- the moral values of Vietnamese people were different from those enshrined by the earnest Ivy-leaguers.

As for the Constitution being a great political instrument: it is. But only because it expresses the far greater moral fibre of the people who created it. The strength of the United States came not from the scrap of paper, but from the people who wrote it.