Consti-Tuesday: The Preamble

When telling a story, where should a person start? Obviously, they should start at the beginning, and I think that's what makes sense to do here, as well.

When we discuss the Constitution, we often forget about the Preamble; despite the fact that it's the VERY FIRST PART of the Constitution! If you ask me, we should consider the Preamble more often when discussing Amendments to the Constitution, or even the Constitution as a whole. Why? Well, the Preamble is intended to set up the reason and the need for the Constitution. It lays the most basic groundwork for the document that rules our land. The text reads as follows:

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

What does all that mean? Let's see here... this says that the Constitution is intended to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”...

… let's break that down, piece by piece, shall we?

1. Establish justice

This means that it's intended to create laws that allow people access to the courts, and for what reasons they may use the courts.

2. Insure domestic tranquility

This means that the laws are meant to keep us all living together in an orderly, peaceful manner with each other.

3. Provide for the common defense

This means that the Constitution sets up the guidelines for the use of our military and law enforcement.

4. Promote the general welfare

This means that it's meant to allow ALL people (even the poorest of us) the means to live their lives reasonably.

5. Secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity

This means that the Constitution is intended to dictate to ourselves and the world that we are a free people, and the Constitution is supposed to keep us all from looking like assholes to everyone else.

So, if those are the purposes for the Constitution, then how does the rest fit into this? How do the Amendments address the prescriptions of the Preamble? With ANY proposed law, the VERY FIRST FUCKIN' QUESTION that should be asked is, “How does this relate to the five pillars of the Preamble?” The problem is, nobody asks that fuckin' question anymore. As a result, there are laws against gay marriage, the use of marijuana, and a shitload of other things, despite the fact that they take “liberty” AWAY from SOME people (which goes against the fifth pillar), while saying that other people are just fuckin' fine.

Furthermore, I would argue that bans on gay marriage are in direct opposition to the first, fourth, and fifth pillars, because if some people have rights that others don't, purely because of the way that they're born, then the public tranquility is NOT preserved, only the welfare of SOME is promoted, and the laws don't apply to everyone equally, because the people those laws discriminate against don't have the same ability to lead an enriching life as the rest of us do. Ergo, as a result of the inequality, the domestic populous is certainly less than tranquil.

For that matter, the fourth pillar is widely ignored! Look at the number of starving children in the United States... look at the number of people who can't afford health care... look at the number of people who are forced to work until the day they die... look at the number of people who are denied the education that they need, because they can't afford it... look at the number of people and families who live on the street because the banks fucked them... look at the number of people who are denied a wage that allows them to simply survive...

These numbers are growing, dictating the fact that the “general welfare” is NOT being promoted! The only people who are truly doin' fine right now are the RICH!!!

Health care, education, food, and shelter should be a RIGHT! Every human being should have the chance to live reasonably, but for some reason, we only really seem to care about how the wealthiest of us are doing; not the poorest, where we SHOULD be focusing our energy.

The fact that our “general welfare” is NOT promoted, while our “common defense” is OVER promoted is a big part of the reason so much of the world looks at us like arrogant, ignorant, dumbass, inbred assholes!

Our military has become our Government's strap-on dildo. We slap it on and fuck every brown person we can find that's not in America, and then we wonder why the fuck there's so much anti-American sentiment in the Middle-East, and why so much of Europe finds us distasteful and vulgar.

Seriously... when was the last time we TRULY saw a time of lasting peace? When was the last time we weren't at war with one country or another? When was the last time we knew we could turn on the news without hearing about fallen soldiers? I want THOSE days back. I'm TIRED of war. I'm TIRED of wasting money and lives.

The problem is, we've pissed A LOT of people off... so many, in fact, that we've to the point where even if we DO bring all our troops home, there are so many people pissed off at us, that we STILL won't see an end to the acts of attempted retribution in the parts of the world where we've anally invaded the people and their lives with our floppy, rubber, fake dick.  End result: Our "common defense" stepped on our "posterity."

As for the “justice,” where is it? Justice has become a luxury. Only the wealthy can afford access to the courts. If one of US wanted to pursue justice against a corporation, we would get buried by a TEAM of lawyers; given that we lack the resources to counter their representation.

Believe me, I've been fucked by a SHITLOAD of employers! I'd LOVE to have my chance to make them pay for the things they've done to me; as would millions more in the working populous of the United States. Employers should have to answer for the way they treat their employees. The fact that we don't have the legal access to hold our employees accountable for their abuses only means that the abuses will get worse and more widespread. If nobody is telling them, “YOU CAN'T DO THAT,” then where's their incentive to change and treat people more like people, and less like disposable peons?

Obviously, if the poor don't have the same access to the courts as the rich, then the first pillar of the Preamble is not firmly upheld. Furthermore, if the rich can access the courts more easily than the poor, then the fifth pillar is ignored, as well!

If a law doesn't stand up to the five pillars of the Preamble, then simply put, it shouldn't be a fuckin' law! It's that fuckin' simple!

The Preamble is intended to establish the fact that rights and laws should apply to EVERYONE EQUALLY, and that our laws should be founded in sane, rational reasoning. Obviously, this is not something that's on the minds of the assholes who make most of our laws.

From that perspective, why aren't there lawsuits relating to the Preamble? Almost every other Amendment has been challenged in one way or another over the years. Numerous challenges to the First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, Fourteenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-First, and Twenty-Fourth Amendments have been issued over the years; but never... NOT ONCE... has there ever been a challenge to the Preamble... isn't that weird?

Sure, the majority of the laws on the books are well-intended, but not ALL of them. Some of them are purely based in bigotry, hate, and discrimination. Unfortunately, that's been a constant theme in the history of our nation. We've used our laws to discriminate against Blacks, Witches, Atheists, Hispanics, people who use marijuana for spiritual purposes, people with disabilities, Muslims, people who aren't Christians, poor people, and just about everyone else who isn't rich, white, or Christian; mainly because too many people who get elected believe that ONLY their race and religion is meant to be protected, because America is a “Christian nation”; and if people are poor, it's because they've done something to deserve it (despite the fact that America, to these people, is a “Christian nation”).

To sum up, the Preamble is intended to define the reasons for the Constitution, and the ways that our laws are supposed to apply to the Constitution. The fact that so many of them don't, I believe, is abysmal. But for some reason, nobody challenges our laws on the grounds of the Preamble.

Something needs to be done to fix these things, and I believe that all starts with education. The more of us understand the Constitution, the more of us know to speak up when shit gets fucked up! We know WHY we're mad, and WHY certain laws have no place in society, so we can attack them on the lack of pertinence to our nation's greatest document!

This is how we take our country back; we build an understanding of how things are SUPPOSED to work, and argue our position based on rock-solid reasoning and Constitutional knowledge! They can't oppress us if we know what the fuck we're all talking about, right?

… and, of course, understanding the rest means understanding the platform on which it's built.