We The People

Senator John Edwards for President '08 -
We The People will stand with you [Congress]	The voices we hear saying "We the people" didn't speak for me. Am I not one of the American people? I also stood with Congress, but Congress did not speak with only one voice. Surely some Senators and Representatives voted against "ending the war." * May I stand with them? * I think that these Congresspersons also wanted to end the war and bring the troops home, although with a different plan.
because stopping a President who believes he can do no wrong	Whoa! When did President George W. Bush claim that he could do no wrong? I recall him saying that he had been praying to do what's right. I understood that as "soul-searching." His religious language may have been honest. At the same time, Mr. Bush may have understood that he would be making mistakes despite having implored the Almighty for guidance.
takes people with courage to do what's right.	I voted. That's doing what's right, although it doesn't take much courage to vote. So, "We the people" are only those with courage?

My Amblin' before the Preamble

• Graduated from a top public high school in suburban Chicago - Class of '69.
• Stopped trimming my beard at age 20, so I look like Dusty Hill of the band ZZ Top. *
• Admitted in 2009 to UMKC as a junior year "transfer student" from the University of Illinois and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
  (After helping to raise a family, helping to support them by working as a Computer Programmer/Analyst, after a divorce, and now after becoming a grandfather.)
• Enrolled in Professor Dan Stroud's section of PoliSci 210:  American Government.

* I'm an Orthodox Jew who follows the Hasidic school of observance.  On the Jewish Sabbath, we dress in black from hat to toe, so then I'm known as one of the "Men in Black."  ZZ and Dusty are older than me, but not by so much.

Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

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.

We the People
Then
1789 - White men who owned property
1789 - The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.	Some jurisdictions had literacy or religious requirements
1868 - Amendment XIV . . . any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States . . .	African-Americans, even former slaves, now are supposed to be able to vote
1920 - Amendment XIX The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.	Women begin to vote
1964 - Amendment XXIV The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.	Full Civil Rights in states that were turning African-Americans away from polling places
1971 - Amendment XXVI The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.	"If you can fight for your country, you should be able to vote."
Now
All U. S. citizens who are eighteen years of age or older, and younger folks who choose to participate in politics; Not convicted felons.	Men, women Members of any race or religion Politicians acknowledge thoughts and ideas of school-age young people