Have our Leaders Abandoned the Constitution?

In 1798 with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts we see the first stretching of the Constitutional fabric. This scene was played out against a backdrop of political intrigue worthy of a 21^st century novel. George Washington and John Adams viewed this as a political move that had the ability to rip our young country apart.

With the advent of party politics throughout our history we are able to see the unraveling of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson's purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon was seen as a stretch at defining the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln's suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus was yet another tug at the fabric. Truman's jaunt into North Korea was yet another pull at the Constitutional seams of our nation. These are only a few of the examples of the Constitutions defining moments. Through history we see many more situations where the cloth is stretched and torn. We see it in how the governing parties define minority rights, abortion, gun control, women's rights etc.

Since the beginning we have become a nation of two parties, each with their own particular ideas on how the laws of the land will be defined as brought forward in the Constitution. Each ruling party comes in with the notion that they know what's best for our country and begin the process of stacking the courts with like minded judges. This has been a process that has been going on since the birth of our nation.

One of the most important issues facing a sitting president is his/her appointments to the courts, most importantly the Supreme Court. These appointments will define the direction of the courts for many years, since a Supreme Court justice is elected for life.

Have political parties abandoned the Constitution? No, they have just elected to put judges in place that will rule in their favor as to the definition of the document.

There are many instances of the Supreme Court reversing opinions of prior courts. (please ref. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/pdf2002/048.pdf) In most of these cases we see a shift in the courts either to the left or the right depending on who is in the majority of the Supreme Court, liberal or conservative.

How is this supposed to be interpreted when we look at the question of whether political leaders have chosen to ignore the Constitution? Rewind to September 17, 1787 when the United States Constitution was adopted at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It was adopted not ratified on this date and would not be ratified until June 21, 1788. Between the two dates we saw political wrestling and positioning as to how the Constitution would be defined. Point; the Constitution and Bill of Rights have always been documents that were under the scope of interpretation and political leaders will always define the two too their advantage.

Many people confuse what our country is. We call ourselves a democracy, with a slant; we are a representative democracy. What that means; we elect officials to represent us in their respective capacities and hope they do what is right for us as individuals. What we do for them; we give them the power and authority to act without our consent on issues of state. The power we hold; at any given election we can vote them out of office.

The power of the vote is what holds politicians in check. If we use that power wisely and often maybe we can get back a semblance of order pertaining to the Constitution. The sadness is; our schools no longer teach the fundamentals of our Constitution. The bright spot is; we have the power to bring this back into the school system. Write to your governmental representatives and let them know how you stand.

When I think about the Constitution I always have to wonder; if our founding fathers woke from their slumber and could see what has happened to the nation they founded, what would their reactions be?