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Very strong words, and I wouldn't post them here had it not been for a dream I had this morning, one that woke me up and made me think a bit more than I am usually wanting to do at that hour...

Apparently, these words (or similar phrases), are attributed as a quote by our current POTUS. The jury is still out, but it is looking likely that it is a hoax; something you would expect our illustrious and unfallible to say, something you would think any politician would know not to say, even it they privately thought it, but if anyone was stupid enough to say it out loud, it very well could be him...

Regardless of the truth, though, these words and others must have been the trigger in some manner for my dream: I was basically following around Bill Clinton, asking him some questions, when I said something to the effect of "I think politicians should be tested for their knowledge and understanding of our Constitution, before they can be considered for election", to which Mr. Clinton turned to me and said, "Ok, you first."

I had no good answer for that, upon which I woke up. Reflecting on that exchange afterward, though, I realized that I was being hypocritical. I am probably as ignorant as a lot of people are about our own Constitution, what it says, and what it means (or at least, my own interpretation of it). I would probably fail the very test I was proposing. That realization, coupled with the fact that the conversation I had in a dream had to be an internal dialog I was having with myself, about my own doubts and failings - caused me pause.

Indeed - I know the basics of the Constitution, and the rest I look up when I need to - but my understanding and knowledge of most of it is vague or non-existant. Believe me, I support the wisdom and aspirations that our Constitution embodies, I support what it sets up. But, I also realize that I don't know that much about it. Furthermore, I realize that most people know (or care to know) even less than I do.

That isn't to say there aren't people (or even politicians) who don't know much more (or everything, for that matter) about the Consitution. I am perfectly certain these individuals exist. Still, they must make up a very tiny percentage of the population (or the population of politicians). This is troubling, to say the least.

For, even if those words aren't something the POTUS actually said (and I must reiterate: it seems like these words are a hoax of some sort), they are truer words than most of us may be willing to admit. Most people don't care about what those words mean, most politicians probably don't either. These words are words which define who we are as a country, what we stand for, and what we support.

However, if most of us don't know what those words say or mean, that piece of paper, for all of its wisdom and knowledge, might as well be effectively blank. As it is said, those who forget history...