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Caroline Kennedy on Government Reform
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Election Day makes me proud to be an American
The day when I feel most proud to be an American is not the Fourth of July, but Election Day. The right to vote is perhaps the most critical right in a democracy, the means by which we can create the kind of society that truly represents America.
A woman who had been the victim of FBI harassment and who had sacrificed 20 years fighting for her 1st
Amendment rights once said to me, "It is up to us to create a government that is close to our heart's desire. Because," she added, "if you don't do it, somebody else will."
One only has to look at the lengths to which people went to deny others the right to vote to understand that we should never take its importance for granted, nor forget that it is an opportunity as well as an obligation.
Source: A Patriot's Handbook, by Caroline Kennedy, p.124
, Apr 13, 2005
Bill of Rights most comprehensive individual protection ever
Considered together, the 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights outline the most comprehensive protection of individual freedom ever written. But originally they were not even part of the Constitution.After the Revolution, the states adopted their own
constitutions, many of which contained Bills of Rights. But Americans still faced the challenge of creating a central government for their new nation. In 1777 the Articles of Confederation were adopted: the states retained their "sovereignty, freedom and
independence," while the national government was kept weak and subordinate.
[That proved unworkable], so in the summer of 1787 delegates from 12 states convened to draft a new Constitution. They proposed a strong national government that would assume
many powers previously exercises by the states.
As ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights protected individual rights from violation by the FEDERAL government. For example, the First Amendment begins, "Congress shall make no law."
Source: In Our Defense, by Caroline Kennedy, p. 15-16
, Mar 1, 1992
Page last updated: Jun 05, 2018