I'm teaching--the dreaded Physics 102--for the first time since the passage of a
bill mandating the display of the US Constitution in every public (state) classroom in Arizona. I've thus finally had a look at the posters that were tacked up in response to the bill.
The document they present is a strange one: by any interpretation it:
- Has the second-place finisher in the electoral college become vice-president,
- Defers the slavery question until 1808,
- Does not prohibit state abridgement of due process,
- Requires the indirect election of Senators,
- and places no restriction on Congressional passage of pay raises.
Yes, this Constitution is missing all but ten amendments, including the all-important Fourteenth. What sort of civic knowledge was this supposed to foster?