Russ, just some constructive criticism...
It is clear that by looking over the actions of the branches of the government over a long period of time, nobody really believes or wants to understand what those words in the Constitution mean, at least most of the time. After all, those words that define the limits of political power in the general government and the rights of the states and the people get in the way of the nationalist authoritarian agenda.
Second, if you want people to read the Constitution that's all well and good, understanding those words in the Constitution is another matter which takes a lot more study and would inevitably lead you to the conclusion that Lincoln, aside from those pretty words in his speeches was the original worst offender of the Constitution, and those constitutional criminals since, Democrat or Republican still use his model for justification for their actions.
The Real ConstitutionBy Clyde Wilson
The Abbeville Institute
September 26, 2017
Quote:The real U.S. Constitution, which was scrapped long ago, does not permit judges to be its final interpreters, executive orders, coercion of the people of a State by the federal government, delegation of control of the currency to a private banking cartel, the subsidy of private corporations, or calling the militia to active service except in case of invasion or rebellion and at the request of the State.
The Constitution should have been reverently buried long ago. Except that its rotting corpse provides lucrative pickings for lawyers and pseudo-respectable cover for power seekers. The central government has no check on its power that is not determined by the politicians in control of its various branches. They seldom check each other but frequently check the people and the States. The 14th Amendment, illegitimately promulgated in the wake of Lincoln’s revolution, has provided power seekers with everything they need to fulfill their limitless ambitions.
The Constitution died when Abraham Lincoln decided to treat the solemn constitutional acts of the people of eleven states as mere “combinations of lawbreakers” to be destroyed by the force at the command of the party in control of the federal executive. One may celebrate or abhor that fact, but fact it is. And Lincoln so acted even though in the election that brought him to power, 60 per cent of the people had voted against “a policy of coercion.”
The document that was designed to provide specified operational powers to a federal government was changed into an unappealable instrument of power. There is a great unnoticed peculiarity in the name of this country. Before Lincoln, “United States” was a plural—in all laws, treaties, proclamations, and in the Constitution itself. It was a “Constitution FOR the United States of America.” And while Americans sometimes referred to a common identity as a “nation,” their common government was usually referred to as the “Union” or the “general government.”
More...
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/the-real-constitution/