Constitutional Thoughts

The people will be represented; they ought therefore to choose the
representatives. The requisites in actual representation are that the
representatives should sympathize with their constituents; should think as they
think; and feel as they feel; and that for these purposes should even be
residents among them.
-George Mason

This comment from George Mason, Constitutional Convention delegate from Virginia, was supposed to describe the right of the people based on Article 1, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution. The people had the right to be represented by someone like them, who lived in the similar circumstances with them. I cannot help but feel that this right is all but gone. I will say that I think there are numerous representatives that can claim to follow this idea, but the majority do not seem to understand it in the least. The idea of politics as a profession would probably have struck the Founders as odd. Yet that is all we seem to have at this point. Professional politicians do not seem capable of understanding the circumstances and intentions of the people they represent because they appear too focused on their own goals and ambitions.

The Beginning of Real Peace

Charles Krauthammer at the Washington Post pens a great article about the new security agreement between Iraq and the US. (HT: Hugh Hewitt) I think the largest point to take from this is that Iraq is turning into one of our biggest allies in the Middle East, and they are a democracy. This may very well be the biggest front in the war on terror because the Iraqis will be defending their freedom every day and providing an example to the rest of the Middle East that terrorism can be repelled and defeated, and freedom is available.

On a separate but related note, I think Pres. Bush's legacy will look fantastic in about 20 years, if not sooner.

Time Will Tell

This article by Paul Weyrich is very interesting. Apparently, there was proof that Saddam Huessin was planning to produce weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, but Pres. Bush and the people who knew about it kept quiet until the material could be safely removed from within the terrorists' striking distance. How will history judge Pres. George W. Bush? I dare say time will be much kinder than his current critics. Of course, that would not take much.

Calling for Restraint

Bret Stephens pens a great article supporting the idea that the media should exercise restraint, because someone may actually believe what is written or broadcast. I agree with Mr. Stephens that the media should do a better job of reporting the facts, instead of making everything a crisis of epic proportions. I also agree that it is amazing how the medial will basically accept anything claimed by dubious sources as long as it can be used to criticize the US, but will evaluate and scrutinize, and even twist, every statement from the government. The bottom line is I am tired. I am tired of always having the sky falling down on me.

Constitutional Thoughts

But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the
liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.
He therefore is the truest friend of the liberty of his country who tries most
to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will
not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a
wise and virtuous man."
-Samuel Adams

I find this statement interesting for many reasons. To begin with, it is not the Constitution or our laws that do the most to secure our liberty; it is our virtue. Accordingly, the truest friend of liberty, or the most patriotic, promotes and practices the best virtues of the country and himself. It stands to reason that the truest leader of the country, or best leader of the country, would be that person that best promotes virtue and wisdom. And we should all do our best to make sure that our leaders meet that standard.

Course Correction

I have decided that I am going to make a little bit of a change of course for this blog. My goal will be simple, I want to try and take the opportunities presented by current events to try and teach a little bit about the Constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers. This will not be a big change, but I have been reading quite a bit about the Constitution lately and it fascinates me when compared to current events and how we view government, especially federal government. I will still do some of the other things I have done in the past, like comment about interesting articles I find, but I definitely want to add something that is more my own creation. I will use the broad subject of Constitutional Thoughts to highlight my attempts. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks.

Positives About The Economy

Mr. Lawrence Kudlow has an interesting article about Pres.-Elect Obama and the economy. I find this very encouraging and very interesting. Encouraging because I do think some smart people chosen by Pres.-Elect Obama will make good decisions that will make the financial problems be as short as possible. Interesting because it is amazing how Pres.-Elect Obama can run a campaign and get elected based on so much talk about liberal ideas, but as soon as he really starts making decisions, they are center-right, conservative decisions.