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Last Updated: Jun 17th, 2008 - 15:46:17
With Honors: Our Brilliant Founding Fathers
By "With Honors"
Jul 5, 2007, 08:33 PST
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Movie: With Honors
Characters: Simon (Joe Pesci), Pitkannan (Gore Vidal)
Our founding fathers knew a lot of things, including the idea that they didn't know everything...
Excerpt:
Simon: You asked a question, sir, let me answer it. The genius of the Constitution is that it can always be changed. The genius of the Constitution is that it makes no permanent rule other than its faith in the wisdom of ordinary people to govern themselves.
Pitkannan: Faith in the wisdom of the people is exactly what makes the Constitution incomplete and crude.
Simon: Crude? No sir. Our founding parents were pompous, middle aged, white farmers, but they were also great men. Because they knew one thing that all great men should know--that they didn't know everything. They knew they were going to make mistakes, but they made sure to leave a way to correct them. They didn't think of themselves as leaders; they wanted a government of citizens, not royalty. A government of listeners not lecturers. A government that could change, not stand still. The President isn't an elected King, no matter how many bombs he can drop because the crude Constitution doesn't trust him. He's a servant of the people. He's a bum, okay Mr. Pitcannon? He's just a bum. And the only bliss that he's searching for is freedom and justice.
© Copyright 2007 by Classbrain.com
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