How Well Do You Know the Constitution That You Worship?

Here is a list of 10 important and historic Supreme Court Cases that have had great impact on the interpretation of the Constitution. Without looking them up see how many you recognize and do you know why they are important. If you don't recognize them and don't know why they are important then perhaps you should study your Constitutional history before you say you love it.

1. Gibbons v. Ogden

2. Mapp v. Ohio

3. Engel v. Vitale

4. Baker v. Carr

5. Miranda v. Arizona

6. Buckley v. Valeo

7. Gideon v. Wainwright

8. New York Times v. Sullivan

9. Scott v. Sanford

10. Texas v. Johnson

Let me know how many you get. If you get all 10 you are a true Constitutional Scholar. If you get 7-9 you are an armchair solicitor general. If you get 4-6 you are a dangerous wannabe patriot. If you get 1-3 you are French and if you don't get any right you can't lay any claim, zero, zilch, nada, to being a lover of the Constitution and nobody cares what you think is constitutional and what is not.

My Constitution is Better Than Your Constitution

I find it fascinating when I read or hear statements about the U.S. Constitution. Many people believe that if they say, with great fervor and emotion, that a particular law or idea is unconstitutional, then it is unconstitutional. That their fervor or their emotion drives the fact when the fact is that it really doesn't matter what individual citizens or groups of politicians say about the constitutionality of a certain law or idea. It is nine jurists in black robes that decide what the Constitution says and means. To see certain candidates infer that they know better what the Constitution means than the other candidates simply because their father was a scholar of the law makes me to snicker. That they would continuously hold a pocket constitution in their hand and use it as a campaign prop makes me sick. To infer that all lovers of the constitution would come to the exact same conclusion on every point of law is gross over-simplification. That a large percentage of the populous would fall for such simplistic drivel and arrogance is a blight on our modern society. The truth is that most normal citizens are not acquainted enough with the Constitution to recognize that they are being duped by unscrupulous political opportunists. It appears that the 3600 power-brokers are ready to dump one politician, well seasoned and experienced, for another unseasoned and inexperienced candidate who wraps himself in the flag and uses the Constitution as a campaign prop and who will go to Washington as some starry-eyed messiah, give the other 49 states our tax money and smite himself on the chest and claim he is a greater patriot than the other. If Utah does it then they will get what they deserve. As for me, I love the Constitution but am not arrogant enough to believe that I know it better than any man alive.

My Constitution is Better Than Your Constitution

The Utah Senate race in 2010 is an interesting study in how strange Utah politics can be. You have the incumbent, Robert F. Bennett, who has built his Senate career on bringing home federal money to Utah. He did a really good job of making sure that Utah got its share of the federal appropriation goodies. He now finds himself in the unenviable situation of not being able to use his record and ability to its full advantage because bringing home the bacon is out of vogue in Utah. Utahns are mad at 'bailout Bob' for doing such a good job. They are mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore! They seem to hang their anger on three votes in his career to the exclusion of the several thousand votes he cast over the last 17 years that they agreed with. If I agree with someone 85% of the time it seems like I would consider them a good ally. Not anymore. 100% agreement or you are out. If we applied that logic to our marriages, Utah would have a 100% divorce rate. I can't find anyone that I agree with 100% of the time. Can you?