March Porch Reading
“Because they had for raw material subject to their shaping hands a going, functional, social, economic, and political order instead of some philosophical tabula rasa, the eventually successful Framers worked outward from that given reality. They assumed responsibility for the preservation of that order: a structure in which the states were the most important ingredients of continuity, elements that defined what kind of polity Americans would accept as a legitimate consequence of their Revolution.” —Mel Bradford
March Porch Reading
The Crossroads
It’s wetter than usual down here at Casa de Lee, but with temperatures in the sixties and the spring peepers out, I’m ready to officially declare an end to winter. This means unpacking the spring wardrobe, dusting off the birding binos, and, of course, getting out on the porch to do some reading.
My recent dispatch, “Lamp of Experience,” speaks to the problem of elite corruption, which now threatens the existence of our unique civilization. Heidi Przybyla’s ignorance of the Constitution and contempt for its moral foundations are widespread among the political and social elite. But this sentiment is festering elsewhere, and not only within the ranks of the activist left but also on the reactionary right. And who can blame the latter? For far too long self-styled champions of the Constitution have prostrated themselves before progressive revolutionaries, using the parchment to justify every abuse and a steady erosion of customs, traditions, and norms. But critiques of the parchment and its origins are often unfair and almost always inaccurate. Worse yet, they foster despair and distort our understanding of ourselves as Americans and this peculiar political landscape.