Constitution Day Redux

Well, now that it's over and done with, what was the real verdict on Constitution Day?

Oh, wait. You don't know what it is, do you. That's okay. It was pretty much buried by the major dailies on Page 15, below the fold, underneath the 4/5 page lingerie ads, where absolutely jack-all would see it unless they were obsessive newsies like Your Humble here. And I didn't hear a damn thing about it on the area newscasts either. So it's understandable that you haven't heard jack anything about it.

So here's the official website. Go peruse at your leisure.

Did you see the press release? Well, bugger. Go and read that before I continue... Don't worry about me. I've still got donuts.

Still not going to read it, eh? Well, I know what to do with your types... I'll just blockquote it!

All America will unite in the simultaneous recitation of the Preamble to the US Constitution all over the world on September 16. 2005 by schools and the military at home and overseas. Our website (www.constitutionday.com) will feature a short 3-5 minute film to be downloaded and played at exactly 11AM on the West Coast and 2PM on the East Coast. The Preamble will be led by General Tommy Franks via our film and this year the celebration will be dedicated to the military.

Seems rather innocent, doesn't it? All the little kiddies standing in a row, shouting the Preamble at the top of their lungs. All the boys and girls in uniform reciting the very Constitution they are sworn to defend and protect...

Well, that's not the rosy picture available out there for the majority of the blog-perusing public. I tried to get a nice, representative sample of opinions. I really did. Unfortunately, not even Google can help find what isn't all that obvious.

Kip from A Stitch In Haste:

--We are talking about an intrusive federal law mandating that states introduce a specific curriculum extolling the virtues of Tenth Amendment federalism. Does no one see the irony in that?

--On the other hand, there's actually nothing in the Tenth Amendment or its jurisprudence declaring education as a "power reserved to the states." That's a convenient overlay that has been repeatedly paid lip service, but little else. No Child Left Behind was merely the last nail in the coffin burying the fiction of "leave the schools to the states."

--As for that "all federal agencies" provision, I'd be just as happy, if not more so, if federal employees actually did their jobs on September 17 rather than watched prepackaged videos about separation of powers or federalism. This is just another paid holiday for them.

And Hiram Hover giving a kind of back-handed positive:

The good news is that the Department does not plan to monitor whether educational institutions that receive federal money—from grade schools to universities—are complying with the requirement that they teach students about the Constitution on September 17. Nor do the guidelines mandate the specific content of what is to be taught.

And that's pretty much it. I tried to goad John Cole into posting on it, but to no avail.

Instead, just for you, Mark the Pundit, I've got dancing badgers! Woo-hoo! And snakes, too!

The rest of you, kindly ignore the above link. Trust me. It's for your own sanity.