Aloha Fellow Republicans,
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.
Thus begins the oldest written and codified constitution in the world, which is the supreme law of the United States of America. The US Constitution was written to limit government. The first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it.
When our republic was founded, it was by very different states agreeing on a constitution. All major powers in the world thought it folly, believing that only rule by an aristocracy or a military conqueror works. The US Constitution is a short readable document that can be, and has been, amended by the people. Some in our country, in the name of 'democracy', argue it is outmoded and was written by slave owners. Yes, it was a compromise with evil at the time, but those evils were later conquered under that same constitution.
The key to its endurance has been the balance of powers, protection of small states, and the primacy of the legislative branches. The permanent bureaucracy was not envisioned by the founding fathers, and has become established due to neglect by Congress. To honor our constitution we must elect legislators who will honor it.
May our constitutional republic long endure!
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