Happy Independence Day!

So this is the official Independence Day holiday, the Monday after July 4.  A couple people recently impressed me with lessons about our government. "Judges," Elena Kagan declared during her confirmation hearing, "should realize that they're not the most important people in our democratic system of government."  And a week or so ago, one of our military leaders learned that generals (and "Team America?") also aren't the most important people in our democratic system of government.

"Who is?" says Virginia.

"We, the ordinary citizens, are," I say.  "Unfortunately, you, Virginia, don't qualify.  Now, now, don't get huffy.  You're important in other ways and, who knows, some day you might find ten minutes of fame."

So to celebrate, I'm going to return to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. On second thought, this would be a good day to re-read the U.S. Constitution: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2708/pages.html#volume/1/page/1.