Chronicle · January 5, 2011




The Foundation

"[T]he present Constitution is the standard to which we are to cling. Under its banners, bona fide must we combat our political foes -- rejecting all changes but through the channel itself provides for amendments." --Alexander Hamilton



Editorial Exegesis

Boehner to have the Constitution read aloud"For the last decade, presidents and Congresses representing both major political parties have caused federal spending, regulation, and debt to explode as never before, with a result that the central government is in truly dire financial shape even as its power to control the most minute details of American daily life has never been greater. ... [W]e think incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner has been unjustly criticized in some, mostly liberal, precincts for his decision to open the 112th Congress with a public reading of the Constitution. Aside from the sad fact that the reading will likely be the closest encounter many lawmakers have ever had with the actual words of the document, the occasion will be a happy one because it will also provide citizens across the country with an opportunity to join Congress in examining and discussing the words of our founding document. Comparing the words of the Constitution to the actions of our leaders in recent years will surely make clear the enduring wisdom of James Madison's warning that 'there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.' Talking seriously about this condition is the first step to remedying it, just as Madison and the rest of the Founders intended." --The Washington Examiner



Dezinformatsia

Deliberate ignorance: "[Reading the Constitution aloud in Congress is] a gimmick. I mean, you can say two things about it. One, is that it has no binding power on anything. And two, the issue of the Constitution is not that people don't read the text and think they're following. The issue of the Constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than 100 years ago and what people believe it says differs from person to person and differs depending on what they want to get done." --Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein



What Constitution? "One of the things the Tea Party has talked about is dismantling health care. And we're wondering if, in the end of the day, that ends up being a fool's errand. ... It will face a certain veto. Is it worth the effort to try to do?" --CBS's Harry Smith



The BIG Lie: "Tax cuts add to the deficit no less than spending increases do." --Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne



Nothing to see here: "Nothing much happened in 2010. Oh, I know there was a lot of frothing and screaming. There was outrage aplenty. There was an election. Wars were fought. Humongous pieces of legislation were passed, but -- with the exception of health care reform -- few broke new ground and many, like financial reform, were compromised and massaged to the point of lugubrious semi-relevance. Even the enactment of health care reform, a true American milestone, was kicked down the road to 2013. ... 2010 will be regarded by historians, I fearlessly predict, as something of a neon hologram." --Time Magazine's Joe Klein



That lovin' feeling: "The Tea Party was a bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up racist signs at these events ... who had nothing better to do on weekends than sit on lawn chairs with signs suggesting Obama was a Muslim who wasn't born in this country." --Fox News' Alan Colmes



Political correctness: "[T]he bigotry expressed against Muslims in this country has been one of the most disturbing stories to surface this year. Of course, a lot of noise was made about the Islamic Center, mosque, down near the World Trade Center, but I think there wasn't enough sort of careful analysis and evaluation of where this bigotry toward 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, and how this seething hatred many people feel for all Muslims, which I think is so misdirected, and so wrong -- and so disappointing. ... Maybe we need a Muslim version of The Cosby Show. ... The Cosby Show did so much to change attitudes about African-Americans in this country, and I think sometimes people are afraid of what they don't understand." --CBS's Katie Couric (Did The Cosby Show encourage blacks to fly planes into the World Trade Centers?)



Newspulper Headlines:

Poor Jill!: "Biden Says Gay Marriage 'Inevitable'" --Associated Press



Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Joe Biden Poised for Larger Role in Obama White House" --Boston Herald



We Blame Christine O'Donnell: "Former CIA Director Calls Homegrown Terror Threat 'a Witch's Brew'" --TheHill.com



Good Thing It Was Abandoned or Someone Might've Been Hurt: "8 Killed in Fire in Abandoned New Orleans Building" --Associated Press



Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Do Dogs Need Sweaters?" --Slate.com



Finally, Some Good News: "President Obama: No Shirtless Pictures" --TheHill.com



(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)