Constitution Monday: Speech and Religion

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.

Here is the First Amendment: which you may not know as well as you think:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I’m sure most of you knew that the First Amendment covered speech and religion, but what about the right of assembly or the right of petition? And why do you think our Founders were concerned that future governments might move to restrict rights in these four areas?

Sunrise in Douglas Alaska in December

Sunrise in Douglas Alaska

Click on the picture to see it in Flickr.

I know I make this promise periodically, but I’m going to try to post more of my photos here. This was taken one beautiful December morning. My hope is do a photo entry at least once a week on Sundays. Sundays are good because that’s a day I shouldn’t be ranting anyway.

Three Books on Akutan

This week our “Three Books on …” series takes us to the community of Akutan. Here is a description of Akutan’s location and climate from the Alaska Communities Database:

Akutan is located on Akutan Island in the eastern Aleutians, one of the Krenitzin Islands of the Fox Island group. It is 35 miles east of Unalaska and 766 air miles southwest of Anchorage. The community lies at approximately 54.135560° North Latitude and -165.773060° West Longitude. (Sec. 11, T070S, R112W, Seward Meridian.) Akutan is located in the Aleutian Islands Recording District. The area encompasses 14.0 sq. miles of land and 4.9 sq. miles of water. Akutan lies in the maritime climate zone, with mild winters and cool summers. Mean temperatures range from 22 to 55 °F. Precipitation averages 28 inches per year. High winds and storms are frequent in the winter, and fog is common in the summer.

Looking through WorldCat, we find these three books on Akutan, among others:

Knapp, Gunnar, and Marie Lowe. 2007. Economic and social impacts of BSAI crab rationalization on the communities of King Cove, Akutan and False Pass. [Anchorage, Alaska]: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Wakeley, James S, Chris V Noble, and Michael J Bishop. 2001. Akutan Harbor Project: Delineation of Wetlands on Akutan Island, Alaska. Ft. Belvoir: Defense Technical Information Center. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA398288.

Denfeld, D. Colt. 1996. The Akutan Whaling and Naval Fueling Station: a history, Akutan Island, Alaska. [Alaska]: Alaska District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Join us next week as our trek through WorldCat takes us to Alakanuk.

Constitution Monday: How Constitution Approved

Note: Throughout this series, items that are hyperlinked were in the Constitution as written in 1787 but have since been amended or superseded.

Article VII of the Constitution of the United States outlines the process for approving the Constitution. Here is the entirety of Article VII:

Article. VII.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

The Word, “the,” being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word “Thirty” being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words “is tried” being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word “the” being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest William Jackson Secretary

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

G°. Washington
Presidt and deputy from Virginia

Delaware
Geo: Read
Gunning Bedford jun
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jaco: Broom

Maryland
James McHenry
Dan of St Thos. Jenifer
Danl. Carroll

Virginia
John Blair
James Madison Jr.

North Carolina
Wm. Blount
Richd. Dobbs Spaight
Hu Williamson

South Carolina
J. Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler

Georgia
William Few
Abr Baldwin

New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King

Connecticut
Wm. Saml. Johnson
Roger Sherman

New York
Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey
Wil: Livingston
David Brearley
Wm. Paterson
Jona: Dayton

Pennsylvania
B Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robt. Morris
Geo. Clymer
Thos. FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouv Morris

Article VII concludes the Original Constitution but not our Constitutional Journey. Since the Constitution was written, the amendment process in Article V has been used to add 27 Amendments. I hope you will stay with me through the next 27 Mondays as we consider each amendment in turn.

Without visiting the National Archives pages on Constitutional Amendments, how many can you think of? Which ones?

Three Books on Akiak

This week our “Three Books on …” series takes us to the community of Akiak. Here is a description of Akiak’s location and climate from the Alaska Communities Database:

Akiak is located on the west bank of the Kuskokwim River, 42 air miles northeast of Bethel, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The community lies at approximately 60.912220° North Latitude and -161.213890° West Longitude. (Sec. 32, T010N, R067W, Seward Meridian.) Akiak is located in the Bethel Recording District. The area encompasses 2.0 sq. miles of land and 1.1 sq. miles of water. Precipitation averages 16 inches in this area, with snowfall of 50 inches. Summer temperatures range from 42 to 62 °F. Winter temperatures range from -2 to 19 °F.

Looking through WorldCat, we find these three books on Akiak, among others:

Laraux, Sis. 2006. Our side of the river II: a biography of growing up and living in Alaska on our side of the Kuskokwim River in the village of Old Akiak. [Alaska?]: Sis Laraux.

Alaska, Gene Kane, and Dan Bockhorst. 1996. Provisional report to the Local Boundary Commission regarding the March 1, 1996 petition for dissolution of the City Akiak. [Anchorage, Alaska]: Alaska Dept. of Community and Regional Affairs, Municipal and Regional Assistance Division.  [Note: As of January 2010, Akiak is still a city in Alaska.]

Madsen, Eric Christopher. 1983. The Akiak “Contract school”: a case study of revitalization in an Alaskan village. Thesis (Ph. D.)–University of Oregon, 1983.

Join us next week as WorldCat takes us to Akutan.

Constitution Monday: No Religious Test for Office

Note: Throughout this series, items that are hyperlinked were in the Constitution as written in 1787 but have since been amended or superseded.

Article VI of the Constitution of the United States has several unrelated clauses.  Here is the entirety of Article VI:

Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Three Books on Akiachak

This week our “Three Books on …” series takes us to the community of Akiachak. Here is a description of Akiachak’s location and climate from the Alaska Communities Database:

Akiachak is located on the west bank of the Kuskokwim River, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It lies 18 miles northeast of Bethel. The community lies at approximately 60.909440° North Latitude and -161.431390° West Longitude. (Sec. 36, T010N, R069W, Seward Meridian.) Akiachak is located in the Bethel Recording District. The area averages 16 inches of precipitation, with snowfall of 50 inches. Summer temperatures range from 42 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter temperatures range from -2 to 19 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here are three books on Akiachak from WorldCat:

Coffing, Michael. 2001. The subsistence harvest and use of wild resources in Akiachak, Alaska, 1998. Juneau: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence.

Carnes, Clayton W. 1989. Perceptions of Yupik eskimos in regard to relationships between life skills and vocational education in Akiachak, Alaska. Thesis (Ph.D.)–East Texas State University, 1989.

Akiachak Native Community (Association). 1950. Constitution and by-laws of the Akiachak Native Community, approved August 6, 1948. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.

Join me next Saturday as we take a bibliographic visit to Akiak.

Voting for Obama: Some Disappointment, No Regrets

One year ago today my friends and I watched as Barack Obama took the oath of the President of the United States. It was a happy moment for me. I worked on his campaign and donated more money to various campaigns in 2008 than I had in all the elections before.

The inaugural anniversary plus the President’s recent drop in the polls and public criticism (including here) from the left offer an opportunity to explain why I’m disappointed but absolutely not regretful about how I voted in November 2008.

My disappointment with some aspects of President Obama’s performance is tied up with my greater disappointment with the Democratic Congress. Especially in closing Gitmo prison, a place I still insist is an affront to traditional American values. The number one reason it is not already closed is due to Democrats refusing to allow funds to transfer prisoners to the United States. I have disappointment with Obama here too. NOT because he ignored legislation to close it anyway, but because he insists there is a class of prisoners who can be held for life without trial. I view this mostly as a sop to his conservative critics, and a pretty ineffective one at that. On the Gitmo issue, I’m also disappointed he hasn’t filed a suit about the constitutionality of Congress essentially denying trials to people who scare it.

I have other areas of disappointment, particularly in President Obama’s continued use of presidential signing statements that purport to set aside parts of statutes he sees as infringing on his power.

But while I am disappointed in some ways, I expected to be. No one is a perfect match for me or anyone else. I also saw that we in the progressive movement would need to watch President Obama’s actions and criticize as needed. As I said the day after the election:

We in the progressive movement have won a significant victory. We have elected a man who emphasized respect for opponents while attacking their positions. We have elected someone who has promised to restore the rule of law and see other nations as real partners instead of vassals and evil non-entities. We have given him a Congress more likely to help him to implement his policies.

Perhaps more importantly, we have won a victory for hope against fear. This election, combined with the election of 2006 shows that the days of winning based on striking fear into the hearts of people have gone away for now. This election showed that people were more interested in hearing candidates talk about solving the country’s problems than casting their opponents as America-Haters.

But we can’t stop there. And under no circumstances must we take up the Right’s role of blind support for the President no matter what he does. Barack can count on me to support him as he closes Gitmo and ends the occupation of Iraq. But if he suddenly sees these things as absolute necessities for America or if he decides that continuing warrantless surveillance is a good thing, I pledge to be just as loud in denouncing him as I was of the unlamented George W. Bush. I elected a leader committed to the rule of law, transparent government, and engagement with the world. If Barack Obama turns out not to be that man, I’ll happily donate to a primary challenger in 2012 and even to the eventual Republican nominee unless it is Sarah Palin.

This passage also shows why I don’t believe I made the wrong choice over a year ago. For the most part, the President is not governing through fear nor is he demonizing his opponents as intrinsically evil or immoral. Only once in the past year have I heard any member of the Administration suggest that the opposition party was aligned with terrorists. This was wrong to say, but at least it wasn’t a frequent utterance of the Vice President. On some of my other key interests we are making progress:

  • We are actually withdrawing from Iraq and so far haven’t let the insurgents determine our timetable.
  • Investments for renewable energy have increased.
  • We have more constructive relationships with our allies.
  • We are acting more like grownups towards our enemies such as Iran, replacing the scared refusal to talk of past Administrations that seemed to think that we could merely wish our enemies away by not talking to them.
  • More and better government produced data is being released to the public.
  • We’re taking baby steps away from reflexive classification and have emerged from the assumption that information is better kept from the public.

If you looked through my posts for the election season, you’ll see that I focused on why we should vote FOR Obama and not AGAINST McCain. So I won’t start talking about the alternative Administration that we might have seen. Despite things I find disappointing, I find the overall performance of the President this year worth my vote. If I knew then what I knew how, I’m not sure I would have put in as many volunteer hours or contributed as much cash, but I still would have voted for him.

Since I get a fair number of referrals from The Immoral Minority, I know this blog sees a lot of Obama voters. What is your take on the President’s first year? And would you vote for him again? Why?

Constitution Monday: Changing Our Constitution

Note: Throughout this series, items that are hyperlinked were in the Constitution as written in 1787 but have since been amended or superseded.

Article V of the Constitution of the United States outlines the process for making changes to the Constitution.  Here is the entirety of Article V:

Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

The last part about 1808 and so forth could use a little discussion. Here is a link to my entry on Article I, Section 9. The first and fourth clauses dealt with slavery. One of the compromises of the drafters of the Constitution was that they agreed not to reopen the issue of slavery at the federal level until 1808.

Three Books on Akhiok

This week our “Three Books on …” series takes us to the community of Akhiok. Here is a description of Akhiok’s location and climate from the Alaska Communities Database:

Akhiok is located at the southern end of Kodiak Island at Alitak Bay. It lies 80 miles southwest of the City of Kodiak and 340 miles southwest of Anchorage. The community lies at approximately 56.945560° North Latitude and -154.170280° West Longitude. (Sec. 28, T037S, R031W, Seward Meridian.) Akhiok is located in the Kodiak Recording District. The area encompasses 7.9 sq. miles of land and 2.5 sq. miles of water. The climate of the Kodiak Islands is dominated by a strong marine influence. There is little or no freezing weather, moderate precipitation, and frequent cloud cover and fog. Severe storms are common from December through February. Annual precipitation is 35 inches. Temperatures remain within a narrow range, from 25 to 54 °F.

Here are three books on Akhiok from WorldCat:

Kane, Gene, and Dan Bockhorst. 1993. Report on the proposed annexation of territory to the City of Akhiok. [Anchorage, AK]: The Division.

CH2M Hill Alaska (Firm), and Alaska Power Authority. 1981. Reconnaissance study of energy alternatives: Akhiok, King Cove, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie, Sand Point. Alaska: Alaska Power Authority.

United States. 1966. Village study – Akhiok, Alaska, 1966. [Alaska?]: Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Join me next Saturday as we take a bibliographic visit to Akiachak.