First Impression of Me the People

Although I usually blog about fiction, I recently found Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America buried in the crevice of a bookshelf. This political parody was given to me for Christmas. Given the choice between an iPhone and a book... well, you can understand why Me the People ended up in The Pile. (Contents include: brotherless socks, late HW assignments, and history-books-I-got-for-Christmas)

My very first impression of it was slightly biased, to say the least. 

"The Constitution has served us well for centuries. Thanks to Kevin Bleyer those days are over. -Stephen Colbert" 

Me: OMIGAWD its Stephen Colbert! I love his show! I guess I have to give this book a try. But only in the name of Stephen. 

Aside from that, I didn't really know what to expect from this book. First of all, my knowledge of the Constitution is pretty limited. Case in point: Remember "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"? I thought that was part of the Constitution. Nevermind that it's actually the second sentence of The Declaration of Independence. 

Oh, stop laughing. 

In all seriousness, I realized how pathetic I was. Here stands Connie Mi, a proud US citizen... who doesn't even know the Seventh Amendment. (Turns out it has to do with civil trials.) Besides, Stephen Colbert.

And thus begins my reading journey.

The first chapter was a pleasant surprise. Heck, the first sentence was unexpectedly humorous. Kevin Bleyer's egotistical, All-American voice captivated me from the very beginning. He makes fun of typos in the Constitution. He makes fun of the George Washington's wooden teeth. And just when you think ol' Kevin's running out of jokes- he proceeds to make fun of Congress.

"Article II: Congress, the Opposite of Progress (Yeah I said it.)"
Bleyer makes a valid point. Although the US Constitution has been effective for 200+ years, there's always room for improvement. Me the People is a carefully mixed cocktail with a dash of satire, a bit of analysis, and a whole lotta funny. 

I started Me the People just as I finished Fahrenheit 451. I tried to imagine all the horrible things Beatty would do to authors today... If it weren't for the Constitution, we would all be living in a society like Montag's. (See: First Amendment “Congress shall make no law...abridging freedom of speech.”) 

We change it (27 times to be exact), misquote it, and passive-aggressively write books about it- in the end however, the Constitution has protected our most basic right: freedom of expression. The purpose of Kevin Bleyer's book was not to criticize our government. Instead, it was simply proof of the power of freedom. 

It seems that I have found a treasure in The Pile. 


And as for all my History geeks out there... here's an original transcript of the US Constitution, clear and bold in blacke and whyte : http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html