(H/T Instapundit) This comment is going to haunt Ezra Klein for the rest of his career as a ‘wonk:’
…as it should, because it was an incredibly stupid thing to say – even considering that it was said on MSNBC, which means that almost nobody saw it anyway. For those without video access, Klein (in the process of sneering at the GOP’s plan to start the 112th Congress with a reading of the Constitution*) rather bravely admitted that he has a learning disability which makes it difficult for him to read English properly:
The issue with the Constitution is not that people don’t read the text and think they’re following it. The issue with the Constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than a hundred years ago.
At least, I assume that’s what he’s admitting. Because the alternative is to take seriously his notion that there really is something difficult to comprehend about a document so simple and straightforward that its mere existence argues strenuously against the notion that nothing well-written ever comes out of committee.
As you might have guessed, I am not taking seriously Klein’s notion.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: I am stepping lightly over the fact that Klein apparently had to have somebody with a working knowledge of American history correct him over the actual age of the US Constitution (note the difference in the quote here and here). We all make these little mistakes, to be sure. Although usually not on TV and in the national spotlight, to be sure.
*A practice that might have stopped the Senate from mucking up passage of the recent food safety bill during the lame duck session. As you recall, they passed their version in clear violation of Article 1, Section 7: All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. For the benefit of Ezra Klein and other liberals, what that passage means is that the Big House of Congress is the one in charge of getting money for Uncle Sam; but the Little House of Congress can nag the Big House about it by changing bills around. At any rate, the Little House didn’t let the Big House go first, and the Big House had to yell at them a little for that until the Little House mumbled that it was sorry and that it wouldn’t do it again.
Hope that helps, Klein: I can’t dumb it down much more.
[UPDATE]: I have been reminded that there is a history, here.
I think Klein’s point is that he doesn’t give a rip about the Constitution.
A commenter over at AoSHQ had an excellent point: Someone should ask Ezra exactly which parts of the constitution he finds confusing.
Ezra must have a helluva time with Shakespeare, then.
“Someone should ask Ezra exactly which parts of the constitution he finds confusing.” My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that his comprehension drops away somewhere around the close of the phrase “We the People” and starts to pick back up with the signatures. I would say the confusion continued right through the amendments, except I’m honestly not sure if he knows there ARE any.