I don't want to wade too much into contemporary politics with this article. I'm sure everyone here (like everyone in the country) has strong opinions about Donald Trump. Feel free to vent your opinions in the comments, but I would ask that we keep our main focus on the following question...
Regardless of how much Donald Trump may or may not respect the Constitution of the United States...
Do we?
Do we respect the American Constitution?
First, have you read it? If so, how many times? Could you pass a high school social studies test on the Constitution?
Have you read about or studied the context in which the Constitution was written and ratified? Have you read The Federalist Papers (at least some of them)?
Before you say, "Yeah, I studied all that in school" and leave it at that, consider how long ago that was. Have you brushed up on early American history since? Would you want your doctor to never look at a medical textbook again after medical school?
One last thing...
Some of the people ranting today about Donald Trump undermining or not respecting the Constitution have been the very same voices that have denigrated the American Founding Fathers. You can't have it both ways. You can't, in one conversation, hold up the Constitution as a good thing, but in the very next conversation, condemn the United States as being rotten to the very core of its founding!
For years... YEARS! ... I have blogged about the nobility and honor of America's Founders, especially George Washington. Often, my praises of the Founding Fathers have been met with attacks on the Founders for all their sins and imperfections. Yes...newsflash...the Founders were human. They didn't get everything right. It amazes me how this is supposed to be seen as (pardon the pun) revolutionary.
It's fine to point out the areas in which the American Founders fell short. That's called learning from history. But it's quite another to argue that the American Founding was hopelessly corrupt and therefore the United States of America is irredeemably evil. If that's your view, then please don't criticize Donald Trump for undermining the Constitution.
It's understandable, even commendable, that our hearts be broken over the sins of our past. But it's nauseatingly hypocritical to expect any American today, including our President, to respect what you don't. And, let's be clear, if you don't respect the American Founders, then don't tell me you respect their handiwork: the United States of America and its Constitution.
However you vote and whatever your feelings are regarding Trump 2.0...
I hope that this period of American history will serve as an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the importance of our Constitution and the value of what our Founding Fathers gave us.
