I. Today in the News
There is so much going on in the news these days–big events that have major potential to influence the future of our nation and freedom. Unfortunately, almost all the news is reported with strong partisan leanings. The slant and spin are frequently overwhelming.
To respond, I’ve decided to do an in-the-news series that steps away from current partisan spin and addresses the big news of the day from the perspective of the U.S. Constitution and the viewpoint of the American Founding. It will give readers a different way to look at things. I’ll try to keep these brief and to the point, just a few paragraphs per post. I hope you will comment and share so this can influence people…
II. July 2019: Which Constitution?
Myth: The other side (Democrats or Republicans) don’t care about the Constitution.
Fact: Actually they do. Both sides care deeply about the Constitution. But, it turns out, they care about different Constitutions. This isn’t surprising, given the way Red and Blue State cultures tend to disagree on almost everything. But most people, on both sides, don’t understand the way the other side passionately likes the Constitution. Here’s a quick primer.
Blind men describing an elephant
Three scholars (Pozen, Talley, and Nyarko) tallied speeches and comments made on the floor of Congress between 1873 and 2016 and put them to computational analysis. (See “Republicans and Democrats are Describing Two Different Constitutions“, The Atlantic, June 2, 2019) They learned that “…today’s conservatives” use the following constitutionally-charged terms a lot:
- Founding Fathers
- First Amendment
- Second Amendment
- Tenth Amendment
- individual liberty
- original intent
- inalienable rights
- states’ rights
- limits on government
Democrats, in contrast, are more likely to use the following constitutionally-charged terms:
- equality
- federal authority
- flawed origins of the Constitution
- civil rights
- right to vote
- government power
While Republicans tend to emphasize the stories and values of the American founding, Democrats the stories and values of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era. When speaking of American flaws, Democrats frequently point to the Antebellum South while Republicans often criticize the counter-culture wars of the 1960s.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress do tend to agree on one thing: citing the Constitution to make their point.
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