Happy Bill of Rights Day

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

If you got 'em, use 'em before you lose 'em — your civil rights that is. Today is the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

Chris Bliss writes an opinion published in the Arizona Republic today, 220 years later, Bill of Rights is the heart and soul of America:

Two-hundred-and-twenty years ago today on Dec. 15, 1791, something happened that changed history forever. Virginia ratified the Bill of Rights, becoming the 10th state to do so and thus making it part of the Constitution.

The ways this changed history were myriad, foremost among them by preserving the fledgling new country called the United States of America, after the Articles of Confederation had failed.

Most Americans don't realize that, without ratification of the Bill of Rights, the deal between the states on the new Constitution would have fallen apart and with it quite possibly the United States itself.

Today, 220 years later, the Bill of Rights remains the heart and soul of who we are as a people and why America remains an inspiration to those everywhere seeking their liberty. Its ingenious balance of personal freedoms and political principles has proved both dynamic and durable, becoming one of history's most important and influential documents as the global road map for basic human rights.

It's a remarkable story. All the more remarkable when you consider that the Bill of Rights applied only to roughly 5 percent of the human beings living within the United States when it was ratified in 1791. It didn't apply to slaves. it didn't apply to Native Americans. It didn't apply in large part to women and only in full to White males of a certain amount of property and position.

And yet there is no exclusionary language within the Bill of Rights. So, as our concept of individual liberty evolved through the experience of it — as well as through the wrenching tragedy of civil war — we had the blueprint already in hand to build on, to the point where today, it is universally accepted that these freedoms and principles belong to everyone.

Accepted, that is, by those with any clear knowledge of them. The sad fact is that at this key crossroads in the life our nation, the Bill of Rights is barely taught in our schools anymore and is nowhere to be found in our public square. Worse, it is so uncelebrated in our public discourse that last Dec. 15, while flipping through the morning news shows, I heard the following on no less than three networks: "It's December 15, and you know what that means! It's National Cupcake Day."

America is the first nation in history founded around a set of ideas and principles, rather than a single race or culture. Our greatest achievements can be traced to when we've fought to live up to these ideals, and our greatest failures to when we've abandoned them.

I hope you'll join with MyBillofRights.org in celebrating the enduring genius of our Bill of Rights on this, its 220th anniversary.

Great ideas make a great nation.