Constitution
Gratitude 2/11/2025
I am grateful for the gift of a new day.
My heart is filled with gratitude for the many blessings I have.
I will appreciate the small joys and express my thanks in all circumstances.
Let my attitude of gratitude bring joy to others.
This morning I woke up being grateful that I have grown up in the United States under the U.S. Constitution, that has been in place for 235 years since 1790 when the last state, Rhode Island, ratified it. We’re coming up in 2026 on our 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it took 15 years after that was signed to write and ratify the Constitution. A lot of thought went into it.
My dad, who passed away all too soon in 1989, studied political science and worked on his Ph.D at Ohio State University before we moved to Washington in 1960 where he got a job with the Labor Department. Some of my earliest, fondest memories when I was about 3 years old, include a little wooden marionette puppet that my dad made, named Clementine. She would chase me and my two older sisters down the hallway and screaming and laughing, we would get trapped and Clementine would quiz us on what the three branches of government were! If we got it wrong, her little foot would tap us on head. Legislative, Executive, and Judicial! I learned that at an early age.
My dad also instilled in me at a very early age, how very lucky we were to live in the United States because of its specific system of government.
My dad worked in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government in the Labor Department. My mom worked as a systems analyst in computer’s early days at the Pentagon, as a civilian in the Defense Department of the Executive Branch. Many of my friends’ parents had different jobs in different branches of the Federal government. Growing up in Northern Virginia in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, so many of my friends parents were part of the military in the Defense Department. Other family members have had jobs in the Federal Trade Commission, the Post Office, and the Veteran’s Administration. The Federal Government was and is the major employer in the Washington, D.C. area.
My dad believed with all his heart that he was a public servant. He knew that he could make more money in private industry but that people who worked for the Federal government had a special calling to serve their country. He and my mom had both done really well on the Civil Service test, which was a requirement for government employment. It was a merit based test, and because of that, even though it was a time of sexism and racism in hiring, a lot of women and minorities got good jobs in Government. (Think of the book and movie “Hidden Figures.”) Unlike political appointments or elected officials who could lose their jobs depending on the outcome of an election, Civil Servants, were like experienced, quality employees in successful businesses. The difference was that they worked for the government, not to make profits for a company. Because political winds change, Civil Servants are legally protected from getting fired without cause, as employees can in private business.
In school, I studied social studies and government and learned more about the structure of the U.S. government.
The Legislative Branch makes the laws.
The Executive Branch enforces the laws.
The Judicial Branch determines if laws and actions are Constitutional or not.
Unlike violent revolutions that happen when a military force takes over and the strongest forces oppress the weaker ones, the Founders of our country, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, were well educated and seeped in history. They were intent on creating a lasting government. Most of the government models they had were those ruled by kings or queens or religious figures. It was radical of our Founders to establish a government with three co-equal branches of government built on a careful system of checks and balances. They very specifically included Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, and the Right to Free Speech within the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. In this way, there could be no king, or a powerful legislature or judiciary that could usurp power and bend the citizens to the will of a few. The President and the Legislative Branch were elected by the people to their offices for specific periods of time. The Judicial Branch had some life term appointments so they could not be swayed by political whims.
The checks and balances are SO important to the functioning of our government. In addition to the many many people employed to be responsible for oversight, the three branches of government are designed to oversee each other. The Legislative Branch may establish an agency, for example, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) within the Department of Transportation in the Executive Branch. This agency is responsible for among other things air traffic control, personnel and aircraft certification, and setting standards for airports. If something goes wrong, it is up to the House or Senate in the Legislative Branch to hold hearings with data and experts to get to the bottom of the problem, and perhaps write new laws to address the problem.
The Executive Branch is charged with enforcing the laws. That why the Justice Department, including the FBI are within the Executive Branch. They do not have the option of ignoring laws, enforcing only those they like, or firing or defunding law enforcement without Congressional approval.
The Judicial Branch of our government reviews cases brought by people who have evidence that a law is not Constitutional. If they rule that something is not Constitutional, as courts did with Trump’s Muslim Ban in 2017 and Biden’s attempt to ease the burden of student loan debt, those laws, acts, or Executive Orders acts cannot be enforced. They can be appealed, or revised and try again, but the Judicial rulings cannot be ignored.
With three co-equal branches of government, no one person whether or not they are elected, and regardless of how much money they have, can have complete power and total control of our government. If someone thinks an agency is corrupt or we are spending too much on one thing or another, there are legal procedures to review the evidence to find the truth so that fairness and justice prevails.
It’s not always perfect, but I am so grateful that our nation’s people are constantly striving to fulfill the promise outlined in The Preamble to our Constitution:
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.
Bill of Rights Amendments
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Second Amendment
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Third Amendment
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Sixth Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Seventh Amendment
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Eighth Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Ninth Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Tenth Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Who Wrote the Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. James Madison wrote the amendments as a solution to limit government power and protect individual liberties through the Constitution. For example, the Founders saw the ability to speak and worship freely as a natural right protected by the First Amendment. Congress is prohibited from making laws establishing religion or abridging freedom of speech. The Fourth Amendment safeguards citizens’ right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion in their homes through the requirement of a warrant.