A Time to Celebrate the Once-Great Ideal Behind the United States

“The Constitution admittedly has a few defects and blemishes, but it still seems a hell of a lot better than the system we have now.” — Robert Anton Wilson, 1997

Happy Constitution Day everybody. Today in 1787, the Constitutional Convention signed the document they had worked so hard to prepare (the negotiations having started in May of that year). And to think that it stood as the supreme law of the land until fairly recently...

A quick follow-up on yesterday’s blog entry: The Post’s running a more journalistically sound commentary on the whole Bush v. Gore angle on the California recall situation, written by The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson. I still doubt it’ll come before the court, but the column’s a pretty good elaboration on the issue.

Oh, and I finally got around to watching K Street, and damn, this show rocks! For those of you who don’t know the premise, imagine if James Carville and Mary Matalin started an ostensibly nonpartisan PR firm in D.C. And that somebody decided to follow them around with “reality television” cameras. That’s it; that’s the premise of the show. Carville and Matalin portray themselves (surrounded by actors with an obvious knack for improvisation), and the show features appearances by real-life political figures — notably Howard Dean in this past week’s premiere. It very cleverly blurs the line between fiction and reality television, and the storylines are put together on a last-minute basis, incorporating current news items. The first episode concerned itself with the recent Congressional Black Caucus-sponsored Democratic debate — talk about a quick turnaround.

One line in the premiere episode got under my skin a bit. Actress Mary McCormack — who plays Matalin’s overtly Republican compatriot in the fictional firm — chastises Carville for offering to help Dean prep for the upcoming debate. Her response — an all-too-typical Republican mantra — was, “This is all about 2000, isn’t it?” She goes on to rhetorically ask when the Dems are going to get over it. Excuse me, get over it? A pretender to the presidency — who, despite running against a split opposition, cannot garner a majority of the popular vote — actively rigs the election so he can assume office. That’s right, rigs — no more beating around the bush, here. When will we (or at least I) get over it? Um, never. Get used to it. (Oh, and incidentally, I’m not criticizing the show itself — every good drama needs good villains.)

Of course, I suppose that if you’re going to ignore the Constitution anyway, you might as well go all out. Today is also the anniversary of the day that Joshua Norton became Emperor of the United States, way back in 1859. This little tinpot dictator we’ve got now is just a pale imitation of our nation’s one true Emperor.