To the editor:

I was just thinking today as I read the Constitution and some of the letters and writings of the Founders. Is there a delegation of elected or appointed men and women of today that could sit at a convention, such as the first convention that debated and wrote our Constitution, and write a Constitution from scratch? What would it look like?

Our Founding Fathers referenced ancient philosophers, past governing documents from somewhat successful and failed democracies, the Bible and so forth. They based everything on the individual and the belief that all human rights come from our Creator. That a government closer to the people was the best of governments.

Imagine for a moment that we are in the same situation as our country was before we had our present Constitution. Who, among the people that presently that occupy political positions as representatives and delegates, would you trust to write a Constitution that you would be prepared and happy to live under?

It has become apparent and very clear that many people do not have a clue as to the value of what our Forefathers gave us. Many people, younger and older, that I have spoken to about the Constitution have not read it, studied it nor understood the principles, virtues and values of our individual freedoms, liberties and property rights that protect us from a tyrannical government. That is the principle reason they formed a Federal Government that had limited, enumerated powers. Obviously, that is not what the Federal Government is today.

Roger Baumann

Wabasso