Except the Parts We Don't Like!

One of the more interesting...and a bit unusual...news tidbits of the day concerns the reading of the "entire" US Constitution at the opening of the 112th Congress in the US House of Representatives.

The move, scheduled by the "new" leadership who have pledged to bring a breath of fresh air to the halls of Congress, was intended to illustrate the commitment to return to the basic values envisioned by our founders. Some have roundly applauded the move, while others have soundly derided it as a political stunt (costing the taxpayers an estimated $1.1 million, when you consider the salaries paid to the staffers who were required to be there for a "non-business" session.)

I kind of like it...I think we should do much more actual reading of the Constitution, and less waving of it. And besides, what's an extra million or two here and there? Before it's all said and done, Mr. Boehner, et al, are going to trim that $100 billion out of the budget anyway, aren't they?

But regardless of your take on the propriety of reading the entire document to begin the session of Congress, it seems that there was one little mix-up in the whole affair. They didn't actually read ALL of the Constitution. The Republican leadership decided that there were some parts that were just a little too...um, controversial, I guess.

According to Ryan Witt on Examiner.com, Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution was omitted from the reading. True, the words in this paragraph deal with how our founding fathers thought it best to count slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of the US Census and subsequent Federal tax apportionment (you can read it here.) I suppose one could argue that omitting that part of the document didn't really matter, since it doesn't necessarily apply today.

But, isn't that kind of like saying we shouldn't read the parts of the Bible that don't apply to us? Whether we feel that the passage is applicable to us or not, it's still there! It's still part of a foundational document that shapes who we are. Though tempered by the later 14th Amendment, the language was never removed from the Constitution. If you are going to read the WHOLE Constitution, then you need to read every word...don't you?

Or are we allowed to ignore the parts we don't like?

I guess I'm just waiting and watching to see how the "new bunch" are going to follow up on their grandiloquent promises. So far -- with the broken budget reduction promise and the almost-but-not-quite Constitution reading -- I'm not sure we're off to a great start.

That fresh wind may turn out to be just so much more hot air!