DID YOU KNOW IT WAS CONSTITUTION DAY?

Here is another of my "just because" articles that the HillSpirit wanted to share.  The entire article can be found at United Liberty link, if you are interested.

Back in 2004, Congress passed an amendment to a spending bill to commemorate the signing of the Constitution and declare September 17, the day on which the document was signed by its framers, to be “Constitution Day.”

It’s ironic that a legislative body that frequently steps outside it’s limitations would pass a measure recognizing a document for which they have little regard. In the years before the creation of Constitution Day, Congress passed a number of measures that fly in the face of the intent and spirit of the Constitution and the rights protected therein.

But Constitution Day means a little more this year than in the past, given the renaissance the document has seen, particularly in just the past few months.

There are several examples from which we could choose to highlight the rebirth of the Constitution, such as Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster back in March or the defeat of gun control measures, including expanded background checks and a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” that would have further infringed upon Second Amendment rights. But recent developments concerning the NSA and Syria are, arguably, in the back of most Americans’ minds. Some say that the Constitution is an outdated document written by men who didn’t foresee the challenges that the United States faces today. This is a poor and false argument.   Indeed, it is largely because the government has not followed the Constitution that we are facing many of the challenges we have today.

The limitations placed on the federal government and the civil liberties preserved by the Constitution are what makes the United States unique in history. That’s not mentioned from a perspective of arrogance, but rather to note the extraordinary principles of personal liberty and limited government on which this country was founded.

The Constitution has served “We the people” well when the restraints on government are followed. In a town where political expediency and power hungry politicians work to get more control, there is a growing group of senators and representatives — including Rand, Paul, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Justin Amash, Thomas Massie, and many others — who are pushing back and changing the story that once prevailed.

To be sure, the constitutional crisis in which we find ourselves didn’t begin under President Obama or President Bush. It has been going on for some time. And tough there is still much more that needs to be done to beat back the giant monster in Washington — both by restraining executive power and electing members of Congress who respect limited government — this Constitution Day a little brighter than in years past.