50 and 222
Published Thu, Sep 17 2009 6:13 AM
I celebrate two (actually three) very important occasions today. OK, one day (actually two) of importance to only a few, and one that should be important to us all.
Today, I turn 50. That’s right, I’ve been wandering about this planet now for half a century. I’m sure there was a time when my parents wondered if I’d even make it half that far. That’s probably only important to a few people.
Three days ago, my 18th wedding anniversary passed. Due to a family illness we couldn’t actually celebrate it then, because my lovely bride and I were in different states. We hope to rectify that tonight, and then to celebrate. Again, that’s probably important only to a few people.
Much more importantly for the rest of the country, today marks the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. That’s right, nearly two and a quarter centuries ago a group of men hammered out what is arguably the best system of government possible for mankind.
Now THAT’s something to celebrate, and it should be of importance to at least three hundred and sixty million of us. Sadly, probably less than half of us are even aware of the importance of today’s date. And of those, probably only about two thirds even know what’s in the Constitution and it’s twenty-seven amendments.
That’s why I believe the marking of Constitution day on the calendar is an important thing. It’s one of the few occasions when public schools take awareness of our history in a positive way. Congress mandates that there be special lessons made available about this important document.
Personally, I hold it to be among my favorites, and I have a recommendation for everybody today. Today, if not at any other time of the year, READ the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not to mention the other 17 amendments. Even at the dismal reading rate shared by so many of today’s public school graduates it should only take a little while. Who knows? If you read it and understand it, it might reshape some of your political thinking.
I know it did for me.
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T F Stern responded with:
 | Happy Birthday, and be grateful we still have a Constitution, endangered as it is. |
Glenn Cassel AMH1(AW) USN Retired responded with:
 | Wow! A Threefer.
I did number 55 on the 11th.
The day before I found out my left kidney was going to come out. It has a mass on it.
But once it is gone, everything will be OK.
I think you had a bit better day. |
David responded with:
 | Tardy well-wishes for B-day and wedding aniv. (I made the same recommendation on reading the Constitution last Friday--a Very Good Thing to Do even on days when we aren't celbrating its "birth". The more folks read the Constitution, the more likely future generations are to NOT read it in memorium... |
David responded with:
| (BTW, minor sidebar: your sniffer reports my browser as Opera 9.80, where Opera reports itself as 10.10 Beta. Just an interesting-to-me tidbit. :-)) |
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