Changed it.
Duh how did I miss that.

already trashed the rights of life, liberty. and the pursuit of happiness. Womens' right to life is being jeopardized by forcing them to go through at risk pregnancies even if medical experts proclaim the fetus is no longer viable. Doctors aren't even allowed to use all treatment options to try and save the at risk woman, for fear they will lose their license or worse.

Not to mention they plan to take away some people's right to pursuit of happiness by enacting laws that would prevent some individuals the right to establish relationships that would make them happy.

Magna Carta?

There IS NO US Constitution without the Magna Carta.

I tried to think of a way to slip it in. I really did.

Actually I had a first draft with the MC mentioned.

But it diluted the punchy impact I was going for.

So I had to go clean with DoI and Const.

At least you made a comment about it.
I feel better.

than the Magna Carta. It's a written list of grievances and remedies of the barons at the time; it did not have that great a long term influence on rights or democracy for the world in general, or, for the most part, in England (it's not about democracy at all; in amongst it is the right, not just restricted to barons, to a fair trial).

The Magna Carta was big step in the right direction.

Maybe in the U.S.. The Code of Hammurabi and the Magna Carta should be included.

I have seen and touched the Code of Hammurabi at the Louvre in Paris. An artifact muy importante.

in the history of the world.

They are sacred documents and more important than the Bible.

This is my belief system.

Corporations are NOT people.

Money is NOT speech.

Federal tax dollars should not finance religious schools.

Cops should have never been given qualified immunity.

All votes should have been recounted in 2000 etc.

Being the grandchild of Irish immigrants makes me think quite differently from the rest of
Americans.

The Irish faced one thousand years of persecution, loss of rights at the hands of their oppressors.
The British.

For the Irish, it was illegal to practice their faith, to be educated, to read or write.
Forced to subsist at the barest minimum. Constant deliberate starvation
and ruthless barbaric treatment.

America is the greatest democracy in the history of the world.
Its founding fathers were true geniuses and enlightened thinkers for their time.

In my US military family, as a teenager grousing about one thing or another,
my first generation Irish Catholic Dad would tell me to get on my hands and knees
and thank God I lived in the greatest country on earth, the USA.

I rolled my eyes of course, I was just a kid and took it all for granted.

But the older I get, and especially with the loss of our democracy quite possible,
I see things quite differently now. My Dad was 100% correct.

Thank you for your post.

so while these documents are undeniably significant, in the context of the entirety of world history, not so much.

moreover, there's plenty of less-than-admirable aspects to those documents. the constitution, in particular, had quite a number of deep flaws due to the desire of the founders, who largely represented wealthy northerners and slaveholding southerners, who ultimately agreed on a series of anti-democratic provisions, many of which remain problematic to this day.

we addressed slavery and the right of women to vote, but the electoral college is a disgrace, senate representation by state isn't really consistent with a real democracy, the constitution is too hard to amend, the senate and the electoral college give too much power to smaller states for no good reason (these were largely a way to preserve slavery, which is no longer relevant; well, with donnie and the magats i should hedge that a bit...).

the declaration of independence largely objected to taxation without representation, and then the constitution doesn't even provide for the people to elect a president. historically, all 50 state have always had presidential elections (well, elections for electors to elect the president, anyway) but any state legislature could constitutionally simply appoint the electors.

the donnie/magat rise to power took great advantage of corrupt provisions in the constitution, such the way they took over the supreme court and managed to get in the white house and remain viable while a majority of america strongly disapproves of him.

the constitution is deeply flawed and we continue to pay a price.

class citizens. We wouldn't need a Democratic Party if it had real meaning. A fascist who wants to destroy our institutions and take away our democratic rights could be elected in November. What has the constitution done to stop that? Nothing. Not a darned thing. America is not the center of the universe, and the US Constitution is not one of the two most important documents in the world.

denied woman the right to vote. But I would totally be on board posting the modern version with the amendments.

I get your point. But it's pretty blinkered.

I too am descended of Irish immigrants, who fled in the 1910s because it was far too violent to live there any longer and they weren't free living under English rule (ironically I now live in the UK and cannot get an Irish passport for love nor money). I would be far freer in Ireland now than in the US and my rights are under no threats from the Tories (may their power perish in 10 days from now).

So what does that say about the power of our founding documents?

In regards to TCF, if they say he is above the law in all regards. Turning back the clock to before the year 1215!

The Magna Carta marks an important moment when the people stood up for themselves and broke the absolute authority of kings. Same idea when Martin Luther challenged the Pope. Our Constitution is a codification of many of the values and attitudes set forth in earlier documents, and its importance is reflected by the fact that so many other countries copied it.

Except maybe the 18th Amendment.

While the Magna Carta was no doubt important, I have never taken an oath to defend the Magna Carta.

That being said, If you're looking for predecessor documents for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, I suggest the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath of 1320.

"As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself"

That the 'History of the human race' equates to the history of TomSlick. Can't believe you would make this call, bro.

The Magna Carta is an important predecessor document to the U.S. Constitution, but it pales when comparing when compared to the Constitution.

In the US, the Mayflower Compact may be a more important predecessor document.

It sounds almost trumplite.

They are not sacred.

They are not infallible.

I'm also grandchild of Irish immigrants - we do NOT think differently than everyone else...there are plenty of us around.

Magna Carta. Number 1 and only.

Your citation of two American foundation documents reinforces the inability of Americans to see beyond their own historic (well intentioned) failures.

* I've got a line for this: Kennel down kids.

Article 1, Section 2