Review by Regina Duncan,
Title: “The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land”
Author: Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Publisher: Nelson Current, 2006
Genre: Non-fiction, American History
Page Count: 241
Title: “The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land”
Author: Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Publisher: Nelson Current, 2006
Genre: Non-fiction, American History
Page Count: 241
Overview:
The following things are some things not defined in the Constitution and yet the federal government likes us to believe they are: The Department of Education, federal regulations on the size of toilet flushes, federal gun-free school zones, and national drinking ages. In the more than 200 years since the Constitution was adopted, the size of the federal government has grown steadily, much to the detriment of individual rights. In this book, Napolitano starts at the beginning of our country’s history and explains how the federal government has grown over time, citing key laws and Supreme Court decisions that were truly insulting to the original intent of many of our founding fathers.
Congress seems to have interrupted the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and 18 Powers as it best pleased them – in a way to gain the power they wanted. Much like the way people interpret the Bible today. No thought is given to the Author (authors) of these important documents and how He (they) wrote them and meant for them to be interpreted.
Napolitano pulls no punches in this book. He travels back in history to show that many of the controversial issues facing us today, like the current War on Terror, are nothing new, and that some of the presidents that history shows as great trampled on our civil liberties much more than we ever realized. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush are mentioned for the negative ways they have obtained their own wants, instead of seeking what was best for the country.
This book covers several of the major abuses of the Constitution, and how these holes have been gradually enlarged over time. From enlarging the commerce clause to controlling the private growth of wheat in farms and weed in California, to using “general welfare” to bribe states to do what they don’t want to do, it is truly surprising at the ways the federal government has been allowed to go where it was never intended. As a nation, we live under so many regulations that when another is slapped on we don’t even think twice about it.
Positives:
Any U.S. Citizen should read this book or a book like this to become more informed on the country we live in. I believe this book is a great book to read, maybe not as a first read like it was for me having never given the federal government much thought, but you must start somewhere and this is just as good of a place as any. This is a very informative book from a well-informed man.
Negatives:
The author seemed to hint at Christianity, but from reading this book I don’t believe he is a Christian. I would have preferred to have read about the Constitution from a Christian perspective. On the other hand, reading after this man just proves that we don’t need to be Christians to see what a mess the U.S. is in today and how big government has become.
Other Books by this Author:
“It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong; The Case for Personal Freedom”; “Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America”; “A Nation of Sheep”; “Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws”; “Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History”
Final Words:
I grew up in the Public School System for thirteen years, plus six years of college. I don’t say that to boast on myself, but just to say that in all those years I should have learned more than I did about the federal government. I always assumed what I was taught was a true and closely accurate account of history. However, I was taught what was regulated by the federal government to be allowed to be taught in public schools. I was taught what they wanted me to learn.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
The following things are some things not defined in the Constitution and yet the federal government likes us to believe they are: The Department of Education, federal regulations on the size of toilet flushes, federal gun-free school zones, and national drinking ages. In the more than 200 years since the Constitution was adopted, the size of the federal government has grown steadily, much to the detriment of individual rights. In this book, Napolitano starts at the beginning of our country’s history and explains how the federal government has grown over time, citing key laws and Supreme Court decisions that were truly insulting to the original intent of many of our founding fathers.
Congress seems to have interrupted the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and 18 Powers as it best pleased them – in a way to gain the power they wanted. Much like the way people interpret the Bible today. No thought is given to the Author (authors) of these important documents and how He (they) wrote them and meant for them to be interpreted.
Napolitano pulls no punches in this book. He travels back in history to show that many of the controversial issues facing us today, like the current War on Terror, are nothing new, and that some of the presidents that history shows as great trampled on our civil liberties much more than we ever realized. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush are mentioned for the negative ways they have obtained their own wants, instead of seeking what was best for the country.
This book covers several of the major abuses of the Constitution, and how these holes have been gradually enlarged over time. From enlarging the commerce clause to controlling the private growth of wheat in farms and weed in California, to using “general welfare” to bribe states to do what they don’t want to do, it is truly surprising at the ways the federal government has been allowed to go where it was never intended. As a nation, we live under so many regulations that when another is slapped on we don’t even think twice about it.
Positives:
Any U.S. Citizen should read this book or a book like this to become more informed on the country we live in. I believe this book is a great book to read, maybe not as a first read like it was for me having never given the federal government much thought, but you must start somewhere and this is just as good of a place as any. This is a very informative book from a well-informed man.
Negatives:
The author seemed to hint at Christianity, but from reading this book I don’t believe he is a Christian. I would have preferred to have read about the Constitution from a Christian perspective. On the other hand, reading after this man just proves that we don’t need to be Christians to see what a mess the U.S. is in today and how big government has become.
Other Books by this Author:
“It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong; The Case for Personal Freedom”; “Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America”; “A Nation of Sheep”; “Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws”; “Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History”
Final Words:
I grew up in the Public School System for thirteen years, plus six years of college. I don’t say that to boast on myself, but just to say that in all those years I should have learned more than I did about the federal government. I always assumed what I was taught was a true and closely accurate account of history. However, I was taught what was regulated by the federal government to be allowed to be taught in public schools. I was taught what they wanted me to learn.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6