The Most Forgotten Yet Important Holiday, Constitution Day

Arguably one of the most important days in human history. It should be celebrated as much or more than Independence Day. Yet few Americans are even aware of it.

Signing of the Constitution by Howard Chandler Christy, 1939 - House Wing, East Stairway, U.S. Capital Building

Were you aware September 17th is the 236th anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America? Are you observing this momentous day? If you are a federal employee, were you ever supplied with information and instruction on the Constitution as per federal law? If you are a student attending a school or college receiving Federal Funding, were you ever properly instructed? If not, why not? Incidentally, a college student who was passing out free copies of the Constitution since his federally funded university was not giving instruction as per federal law was ORDERED to stop! 

In recent surveys, 57% of Americans have never read or have no idea of what is written in the Constitution, which leads to a fact. You really don't have any rights if you don't know what they are. Consequently, 19% don't think democracy is the best form of government, 29% think it a nuisance for the chief executive, (President), to have to campaign for election, and 49% don't think elections are necessary at all, just hire "experts" to take care of things. (Who exactly is supposed to hire these "experts" they didn't say.) Most disturbingly, when college students were asked if they would give up their Constitutional rights for a free education, MOST AGREED!

Pop quiz. Where is this “Sacred Democracy” everyone keeps trying to save mentioned in the Constitution?

Give up? Nowhere! The Founders thought democracy an abomination. Mob rule that always devolves into tyranny. Republic is mentioned only once:

Article IV Section 4

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Question 16 from “The Pocket Catechism on the Constitution of the United States”

Q. How is this country governed? A. It is a Republic and is governed by persons whom the people choose from time to time to make the laws.

The famous meeting between Benjamin Franklin and Mrs. Elizabeth Powell outside Constitution Hall

James McHenry (1753-1816) kept a journal while he was a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention. On the page where McHenry recorded the events of the last day of the convention, September 18, 1787, he wrote:

A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy – A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.” Then McHenry added: “The Lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philada.” The journal is at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

Mrs. Elizabeth Powell was a close friend of George Washington. She hosted gatherings at her home where the Founding Fathers discussed the Revolution, the Constitution, etc. She was always part of the discussions.

We even owe the custom of addressing the head of state as “President” to Mrs. Powel, according to historian Douglas V. Gibbs.

The day the Constitution was ratified, September 17, 1787, sadly has little significance in America

The defiant signing, under penalty of death, by the Founders of the Declaration of their freedom from England on July 4, 1776, is certainly a momentous day worthy of joyous celebration. However, September 17, 1787, when arguably the most stupendous document in history was ratified, the Constitution, goes largely unnoticed let alone celebrated and remembered.

What is so significant about the Constitution?

It is the physical form of the ideas put forth in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

For the first time in history, a government was created to serve the people, not the other way around as it had always been. That would only exist as long as the people decided it still served them.

It took Congress till 2004 to designate September 17th of each year as Constitution Day and September 17th to the 23rd of each year as Constitution Week.

The law establishing the present holiday was created with the passage of an amendment by West Virginia Democrat Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004. He was quite a contradictory character. In his younger days he brought the KKK to West Virginia and was probably a lifelong member. He was also an adamant defender of the Constitution, and carried a copy of it in his shirt pocket and frequently used it while on the Senate floor as a guide. He pointed out violations of it by Democrats or Republicans.

Public Law 108-447, Section 111 requires:

Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for students served by the educational institution. ...each Federal agency or department shall provide educational and training materials concerning the United States Constitution to each employee, on September 17 of each year.

It is your duty and obligation as an American to know your Constitution

The Constitution does not give us our rights and liberties. It only guarantees them. "We the People" had all our rights and liberties BEFORE we created the Constitution! The Constitution was written to make the people's liberties secure. Not only against foreign attack, but against oppression by their own government. It sets specific limits on the national government and upon the states and reserves to the people all powers they did not grant. The Ninth Amendment declares: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." The Tenth Amendment declares: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Why is your knowledge of the Constitution so important?

It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but THEY MEAN TO GOVERN. They promise to be good masters, but THEY MEAN TO BE MASTERS. - Daniel Webster

For this reason, EVERY public servant, from the President to your local public servants, takes an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution! However, one can legitimately raise the question based on their actions that they either have no clue what they are swearing an oath to uphold and defend, or they are well versed in the Constitution and are disregarding it with impunity which makes the situation much more insidious!

Should public officials be required to take a constitution test before being allowed in any government position?

My wife suggested an amendment to the Constitution that potential public officials take a constitution test before being allowed in any government position. Proof?

The nominee for federal judge for the Eastern District of Washington, Charnelle Bjelkengren, already a sitting judge, did not know what Article II or Article V of the U.S. Constitution were!

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a health emergency and suspended the 2nd Amendment!

No Constitutional right, in my view, including my oath, is absolute. - Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

The concern about knowledge of the Constitution is not new

In 1828, Arthur J. Stansbury put together a book geared toward young people consisting of 333 questions and answers concerning government, the United States, its history, and a detailed explanation of the Constitution called "The Pocket Catechism on the Constitution of the United States". It is very straightforward and uncomplicated, and I highly recommend it for any adult or as a gift to your child or grandchild. The love and veneration of the Constitution are clearly evident. From question 33,

Let every American learn, from his earliest years, to love, cherish and obey the Constitution. Without this he can neither be a great or a good citizen; without this his name will never be engraved with honor in the pages of our history, nor transmitted, like that of Washington, with praises and blessings to a late posterity. 

I offer it to paid subscribers along with a pocket copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

In light of all that has been discovered about the Biden crime family, the tip of the iceberg being:

Biden actually brags about extorting the President of Ukraine to fire the prosecutor looking into the company his son works for, Burisma, by withholding $1 billion in aid till he does.

Further, he did not give Ukraine the money until they put in the prosecutor Biden approved of.

• Biden through his whole political career illegally possessing thousands of classified documents.

• Hunter Biden's laptop with enough incriminating evidence to put the whole family in jail for hundreds of years.

• The unheard of 158 flagged bank transactions involving the Biden family.

• Business partners testimony saying Biden influence was the product being sold.

• At least $50 million known so far being collected by members of the Biden family including Joe for his political influence.

I refer you to Question 69 of the Pocket Catechism which asked if the President can be impeached and punished, (yes), but the whole answer is more important:

In this free and happy country no man is so great as to be above the law. The laws are supreme; to them all persons, from the President of the United States to the poorest and meanest beggar, must alike submit. This is our glory. Let every youthful American exhult that he has no master but the law; let him mark the man who would change this happy state of things as the enemy of his country; and above all let him remember that as soon as he himself breaks that law, he himself becomes that enemy. Whoever violates the law helps weaken its force, and, as far as he disobeys, does what in him lies to destroy it; but he who honors and obeys the law strengthens the law, and thereby helps to preserve the freedom and happiness of his country. In some governments it is held that "the king can do no wrong;" here we know no king but the law-no monarch but the Constitution. We hold that every man may do wrong; that the higher he is in office, the more reason there is that he be obliged to answer for his conduct; and that as a great officer, if treacherous, is a great criminal, so he ought to be made to suffer a great and exemplary punishment.

Happy Constitution Day! Revel in the country that was created for you. Read your Constitution while marveling at the genius of your Founders who created the document that defines how it is to operate. Remembering the words of Thomas Jefferson:

In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.