Christopher Hitchens, who, like the Founders, became an American from being an Englishman (without necessarily ceasing to be the latter), has a piece in the Wall Street Journal in opposition to an anti-flag-burning amendment. I concur on the position, though I would not sign off on all of his arguments. But this openning seems to me to be just right for Declaration Day.
The night before my interview for American citizenship, I suddenly decided that it was too long since I had read the Constitution. Taking it down from the shelf (I am not one of those who makes a fetish of carrying it around on my person), I found myself staying up much later than the vestigial civics exam would have required of me. To turn these pages is to revisit the record of American history. It's also a bit like viewing a cross-section of mammalian evolution, as a clumsy creature gradually acquires the needful adaptations.
The original three-fifths rule was never really designed for flight, but some wings and feathers (and talons) are then added by those amendments that abolish slavery. There are backslidings--the attempt to impose Prohibition--and there are the fossilized records of political vendetta, such as the limitation of presidencies to two terms. I have some personal favorite details, such as the provision that forbids office-holders from accepting any titles or decorations from foreign potentates. And I've never quite understood why increases in congressional pay should require an amendment of their own. But to speak generally, it can be said that the Constitution is written with admirable force and clarity, with remarkably few weasel-words and with a great respect for citizens who desire a document that is both intelligible, flexible and authoritative. With fascination and emotion, as if reading by candlelight, one watches the fledgling gradually become an eagle. The King James Bible to one side, the Constitution is probably the greatest document ever composed by a committee.
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