Happy Constitution Day! I had a lovely encounter with a HS history teacher the other day, which began when he came up and said, "Has anybody ever told you, you look a lot like Peter Sagal?" I had to tell him the truth: no, because, well, I am. He still uses "Constitution USA" to teach civics. - ThreadSky

petersagal.bsky.social • 163 days ago

Happy Constitution Day! I had a lovely encounter with a HS history teacher the other day, which began when he came up and said, "Has anybody ever told you, you look a lot like Peter Sagal?" I had to tell him the truth: no, because, well, I am.

He still uses "Constitution USA" to teach civics.

Comments

gyrate.bsky.social•163 days ago

In the words of John Hodgman, you’re “very self-similar”.

secretoriginz.bsky.social•163 days ago

I had a similar encounter with John Amos once. I was standing close enough for him to hear me when I spotted him & I said "You know who you look like"? And he said "Who"? in that unmistakeable voice. And I said "Who you are". He nodded & went back to his conversation.

mcford.bsky.social•163 days ago

I think this is called the Tony Hawk phenomenon. https://people.com/tony-hawk-gets-comments-he-looks-like-tony-hawk-all-the-time-starbucks-exclusive-8660638

chriswintersva.bsky.social•163 days ago

My favorite was Jim Baker’s line. He said someone came up to him and said “Does anybody ever say you look like Jim Baker” and he responded “yes” and the guys responded “Doesn’t that piss you off?!”

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

I used to opine on this day about the things I learned making that doc, which were important and relevant. These days, I think more about what I've learned since then, which is what I'd like to address today.

The Constitution (hereafter: "Con") as written and ratified, was fatally flawed.

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

Those flaws were directly and indirectly related to America's original sin: human chattel slavery. Not just the 3/5ths Clause, and fugitive slave clause, but also the Senate and the Electoral college. Thus, it doomed millions of people to lifelong immiseration: imprisonment, torture, rape.

shawninmontreal.bsky.social•163 days ago

2nd amendment too, right?

freedom2b.bsky.social•163 days ago

well regulated militia

We didn't have a standing army.

unlimitedblack.bsky.social•163 days ago

The 2A was a specific reactionary measure based on grievances brought up in the Declaration of Independence that the states wanted a guarantee about, and the flaw is less about the 2A itself and more about how the shifting political climate made (what was intended to be) a living document immutable.

shawninmontreal.bsky.social•163 days ago

I think I was remembering this POV, but I recognize that this is not the consensus view.

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002107670/historian-uncovers-the-racist-roots-of-the-2nd-amendment

unlimitedblack.bsky.social•163 days ago

Hmm. It's a feasible argument, all things considered.

kalidestroyer.bsky.social•163 days ago

The problem with 2A is the decision by radical right wing justices in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).

tonysomo.bsky.social•163 days ago

The founders (and especially those like Madison) were NOT democrats (lower case “d”).
They crafted a constitutional republic that enfranchised white male landowners, many of whom were slaveholders: they purposely excluded “common people”, whom they deathly feared, from power.

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

Was it also the first great experiment in democracy, which inspired a worldwide revolution? Yes. But as history showed, the sin of slavery was greater than any of its virtues. It could not survive, and didn't.

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

As Lincoln said, the nation could not survive half slave and half free, and it did not. After the Civil War, visionary democrats (the Radical Republicans) changed the Constitution in what many call the Second Founding. In addition to ending slavery and granting rights to former slaves...

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

... with the 14th Amendment they empowered the Fed Govt to guarantee rights to all. Their essential insight was that the true purpose of democracy is to guarantee liberty to all citizens, in defiance of the many forces determined to take it from them.

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

And then, shortly after this "new birth of freedom," North and South agreed that for the sake of peace and prosperity among Whites, our traditional racial hierarchy would be reimposed everywhere. The Supreme Court read the 14th Amendment out of the Constitution, with the 15th erased by Jim Crow.

amybutmoreso.bsky.social•163 days ago

Have you read Elie Mystal’s “Allow Me to Retort” yet? It digs deep into exactly this, and has impeccable research coupled with engaging readability.

I high recommend it!

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

I have a signed copy!

amybutmoreso.bsky.social•163 days ago

That’s awesome!

petersagal.bsky.social•163 days ago

I don't agree with all of Elie's arguments, but I love that he's making them and his perspective and style are invaluable.

dayv.wtf•163 days ago

And the second amendment, too!

liznorell.bsky.social•163 days ago

I love using Constitution USA when I get to teach American government to college students!

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