A very old saying says, “You can tell a lot about a person by the company he or she keeps.” Or, birds of a feather flock together.” In the case of Gene Lyons, the person he quotes verifies that the two sayings fit him and his babblings reveal his agenda which is pushing the left ideology as fast as he is able.

In his column, April 23, 2009, in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he showed that his scholarship is very lacking, especially when citing the Constitution of the United States. He quoted, “the indefatigable Glenn Greenwald” of salon. COM (that should alert the reader to whatever was forthcoming and it is a dandy of twist, spin, and out of context brain dead rendering) with an interpretation of Article VI of the U. S. Constitution. Liberals have a stupefying talent for making things say whatever they desire. Here is what Lyon’s quoted from Greenwald, “that all Treaties made … under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” To the unlearned, it appears that treaties shall be the supreme Law of the Land. Sorry Mr. Lyon’s, your vaunted Greenwald and you are both wrong. Both of them need a lesson in sentence construction to understand the meaning of Article VI, clause 2. The next paragraph begins their lesson.

Article VI, clause 1: All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. The conclusion is that whatever was done under the Confederation would remain in force under the new Constitution.

Clause 2 is where the confusion begins. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The word this is a pronoun that must have noun to which it refers for it to have any meaning. That noun is the word Constitution, the document which is the bible for the federal government and all the states. The Constitution is the subject of the clause and nothing else is supreme to it. There are two subordinate clauses, one beginning with and the laws, referring to laws made by Congress which must be made in conformance (pursuance thereof) with it, and the other and all treaties which refer to treaties made under the authority of the United States and which  must also be made in conformance with Constitution. If laws passed by Congress, treaties, state constitutions and laws of the states conflict in anyway with the Constitution, they aren’t valid and have no force. The founders were very clear on those two matters.

Clause 3 is The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. The duly elected leaders of the states are bound to comply with the Constitution and as such, they are bound to treaties that conform to the United States Constitution. (The religious test will be explained in later articles.)

The wording of clause two is simple when the subordinate clauses are eliminated. This Constitution … shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. It is folly to believe, much less proclaim, that treaties supersede the Constitution and are supreme as Lyons and Greenwald would have you to believe. That would open up our government to those who would try to rule us through a treaty. The founders made the document supreme and all else is subservient to it, including states and treaties.

The meaning of the Constitution is simple if it is read with understanding which Gene Lyons and his source have missed. That is nothing new for liberals. They miss the truth most of the time.

© 06-02-2009 DEC

Foot note: After the above article was written and published, an article on the subject was found during a search for other constitutional subjects. The only differences between the above and the article by George C. Detweiler are the length and choice of words. There are quotes from the works of the founders and Supreme Court Justices. http://www.unwatch.com/treaties.html