So with the opening of Gov. Sarah Palin’s box from the tucked away state of Alaska the past three weeks or so, we’ve found out about this “Bridge to Nowhere,” her supposed ethic reforms and “maverick” image (aka selling a luxury jet on eBay, which, as it turns out, she never really sold anyway), her 17-year-old pregnant daughter and, most notably, her vast foreign policy experience, as justified by her close proximity to Russia and Canada. Since this world is constantly in flux politically, economically, socially and emotionally, can we ever be certain of anything or what anyone says?
If there is one thing that we have constantly glossed over when searching for certainty in these ever-evolving times, it is a document that has stood the test of time: our dearly beloved Constitution. While we deliberate and debate about policy differences from the left and the right, we tend not to bat an eyelash at the rules that make our very existence possible. We owe serious thanks to James Madison. Relative to other things we remember, like song lyrics or those minute details for a test, the Constitution only has 27 rules (OK, that’s more than you bargained for, and heck, even I don’t know all of them and I’m a PPL major), but you probably know a few already, like the First or the 18th, which is every college student under 21’s favorite (but hey, the 21st was even worse; just be happy that one’s null and void).
We never bother to look at what these Amendments say or what we really think of them for our own well being. What rights are equally protected under the 14th Amendment? What do our candidates think of the rules that govern us as well as them (unless you happen to be President Bush)? For any of you keeping track of my articles, it wouldn’t take much to realize that I am in the tank for Sen. Obama, and agree with his interpretation of the Constitution (as he writes in “The Audacity of Hope”). I have ventured over to Sen. McCain’s Web site and taken a glance at his judicial philosophy page; it is a philosophy I have to disagree with, as he deplores reading into and construing the Constitution with an eye for a changing society, but at least we have a clear idea of what he thinks. But we should realize the implications this document has on our highest court in the land (and not the b-ball court), the Supreme Court, which is up for grabs given the number of soon-to-be retirees there. And while you’re reading over the Constitution, don’t forget to read the 26th Amendment, and do what it says to do.