Read This Now - The Constitution

You can read the actual document in all it's glory and see how it has grown and changed and been amended over the years at the National Archives site.

Even if you don't run over there to take down all 4400 words you should take the time to read Jill Lepore's piece on the Constitution from the January 17 New Yorker, which is currently available on line.  It's a great look at the history of the document and the various arguments and political cries that have arisen around it during our nation's history.

One big take away is that it's pretty difficult to take the whole thing in and make sure your on top of it, even if you like to wave a pocket copy of the Constitution around at political rallies...

Crying constitution is a minor American art form. “This is my copy of the Constitution,” John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, said at a Tea Party rally in Ohio last year, holding up a pocket-size pamphlet. “And I’m going to stand here with the Founding Fathers, who wrote in the preamble, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ ” Not to nitpick, but this is not the preamble to the Constitution. It is the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence.

Read the whole thing, it's one of the best things I've read recently and it's more fun than reading the actual Constitution.