A Few Thoughts this Constitution Day

The U.S. Constitution is not a perfect document.  When ratified in 1789, the Constitution provided an opportunity for slavery to continue, despite the practice’s inherent contradictory nature with the rights of man.  Some jaws may drop here; the Constitution was meant to be changeable.  Before you grab the tar and feathers, hear me out.  The rule of law is also important and if the Constitution is to be changed, we need to do so in the way the document was designed to be changed.  An example was when the Constitution was amended to outlaw alcohol, also known as The Prohibition.  The fact that Prohibition killed people through the production of lethal alcohol and gave power to the criminals is, while true, beside the point.  While conducted with poor judgment, at least the U.S. Legislature of 1918 had enough understanding and respect for the Constitution to actually use it.  

Today, many laws are passed without giving a second thought to the necessity of enforcing such measures via the Constitution.  While Major Bloomberg attempted to regulate the consumption of soda in New York City, as ridiculous as that was, at least it was at a local level where it belongs.  At the federal level, there are many agencies that write rules and regulations, the most infamous being the IRS.  The Constitution prohibits any entity except for the U.S. Legislature to write laws that demand compliance from its citizens.  The genius of the drafters of the Constitution was in understanding the necessity of checks and balances, in giving each branch certain roles and responsibilities.  The Legislative branch writes laws and declares war.  Let them do it.