I have found that at times in my life when things seemed darkest, as though the last glimmer of hope was about to be extinguished by the continued efforts of forces too powerful to resist, that is the moment when that glimmer explodes into light – blinding and blessed, burning with truth, faith, and good, old fashion whoop-… Ok, enough with the hyperboles.

In typical fashion, hope has pushed back. This week, the NDAA lawsuit has taken a huge leap forward in its march to victory.

For those who were unaware (and those who covered their eyes upon its signing and have still not peeked between their fingers), a team of activist, journalists, lawyers, and others filed suit against the federal government several months ago.  The lawsuit attempts to repeal the clause for indefinite detention that blackened this year’s version of an annual renewal for a bill that funds American troops and renews our commitment to them.

Never before had this bill been called into question, but this year it was, and for good reason.  The President, unwilling to compromise his timeline for constitutional correctness and the Republican controlled House unwilling to compromise anything (ever), passed a bill that suspended habeas corpus: the thing that entitles all American citizens to a fair trial, swift and clear charges, an opportunity to mount a defense, protection from cruel and unusual treatment, and more.

The National Defense Allocation Act included not only the suspension of these inalienable rights, but it assigned the power of arrest to the military and named the President as the only person with any authority over military judgment.  Additionally, the justifiable causes for such an arrest (and the indefinite detention that would follow) were so vaguely worded that one could essentially be arrested for just about anything even remotely related to anything else that sounded terroristic in any way.

Not only was the language of the bill dangerously ambiguous and the power it entitled to one person easily corruptible and unacceptably bloated, but the clause was thoroughly unconstitutional.  Now, in the America of the very recent past, this bill would have gone unnoticed.  We would have continued in our daily grind, drunk on food additives and blinded by supermodel marketing, but in a post-Occupy America, it was contested by the public before it was even passed by the House.

Today, not only is the bill being rejected by the public, the public is actually doing something about it.  Moreover, the public is winning, because – despite their best efforts at the degradation of our promised freedoms, despite the constant legal antics of hyper conservatives and those who would rule by religion and gender, despite the growing nerve of the growing-rich who are attempting to develop an elitist sect of political aristocrats – the Constitution is still there to defend us.

I live near Philadelphia.  I love history because it is the ultimate piece of literature, real life human drama marked by the stories of once-living people who made personal choices that yielded amazing results.  The combination of my geography and my interests gives me a distinct appreciation for our national documents.  Drafted by people who walked on the cobbled sidewalks that I have walked upon, in buildings I have been in and around for decades, and fought for on fields I’ve picnicked and pondered on, the Constitution is as much a part of Philadelphia as the cheese steak and Rockie Balboa.

More than just the product of my city, more than the work of my favorite (and the most quintessential) Philadelphian: the beer-loving and brilliant Benjamin Franklin, more than that which stuck it to a British king, the Constitution is a living document.  It is the central belief system on which we not only base but build our nation.  It guides us into a future in which its fundamental values of equality and hope can be made a reality in which we all dwell and from which we lead the world.  It protects us from the foolish whims of selfish men who would attempt to rule for themselves and their benefit alone, and it stands as an impenetrable force between all of us and a few of them.

The Constitution is alive because we have kept it thus, and for as long as we honor and love and know it, for as long as we revere and protect it, for as long we respect and preserve its core values, it will honor and love and know, revere and protect, respect and preserve us.

It is no easy take, all these “men… created equal.”  The Constitution constantly asks us to look beyond the confines of other societal traditions.  It begs us to see things in ways that are often counter to our personal and religious beliefs, that stretch our tolerances, and that challenge our ideas about the role of government.   What’s more, it asks us not only to change our perspectives but to evolve our nation’s politics with each passing generation.

Since it was penned, we freed the slaves, liberated the women, and made equal the minorities.  All of these things, in their time, were fought over by those who attempted to constrain the Constitution, who wanted to keep freedom for themselves, something that is in direct conflict with its very message.  Did the founding fathers foresee a society in which we would use their words to do these things?  Most likely not, but the cultural impressions of their day should not limit the ideology behind their vision.

Throughout our history, we have been asked to fight for the vision of a handful of men who believed that oppression and tyranny were wrong under all circumstances.  Those battles brought us to the forefront of the world, making us the wealthiest, safest, strongest nation on Earth.  Even now, as we fight to restore our tribunal rights, we fight for the Constitution – and it returns the favor… as it will, so long as we keep it central in our hearts, our lives, and our nation.

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A note to my regular readers:  Thank you for your patience.  My post this week is late because my old and faithful computer finally took the nosedive into “obsolete.”  With the help of my loving husband, we were able to quickly recover the mess and get back online with a brand new piece of technology.  Also, I have – for now – reduced my posts to bi-weekly (which you probably have noticed).  With several large life-events on the horizon, I felt this would take some pressure off me and allow me to take the time to generate more researched and meaningful posts.  I hope you continue to read and share these posts, and I thank you for your support and readership.