August 08, 2005
Juan Cole's Joke of the Day
From the bitter humor files:
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.
Unfortunately, this is, for me, too close to the sad truth to be funny.
I guess I disagree. I don't think it is particularly funny. It is clever, sort of in a stupid way, but it isn't true and it really isn't funny. Our Const. functions pretty well, actually. I guess I see it differently from Prof. Cole who may be a bit beyond his area of expertise since he isn't a Const. scholar. I see it work every day in the Courts in NY. I see it work in the newspapers. Our Const. is a living, organic document and above all it is flexible. There could be many worse models, frankly.
You're right, of course. In a realistic sense, the consitution is very much still alive and hard at work here, but it does seem that the last few years have seen a number of scary threats to, if not the document itself, the mindset that informed its creation.
"[but it does seem that the last few years have seen a number of scary threats to, if not the document itself, the mindset that informed its creation.]"
Do you mean that Nicholas Cage movie?