Philadelphia and the National (un)Constitutional Center
Apoplectic. That’s probably the best way to describe my emotions by the end of our Scouting trip to the Constitutional landmarks in Philadelphia yesterday. I hope you’ll bear with me as I describe our trip, since I am hoping writing about it will be cathartic for me. I’m still stunned about the things I saw at the end of our trip.
About 45 parents and elementary school aged Scouts (both Cub Scouts and American Heritage Girls) took our end-of-the-year trip to Philadelphia yesterday. Our family – and me in particular, because of my love of both history and politics – were looking forward to the trip for some time. We were awed, amazed, impressed, and moved by the historical sites we visited throughout the day. And then we arrived at the National Constitutional Center. I’ll post pictures so you can see some of what set me off. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Our first stop was Independence Hall. Also in our tour group were people from all across America and several foreign countries, coming to learn more about our beautiful country and how and why it was founded. Independence Hall is a beautiful, impressive old building with incredibly high ceilings. I got a bit teary-eyed knowing I was in the same rooms where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. It was a bit overwhelming knowing that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin had once walked on the same floor I was walking on and had sat and debated for hours on end in the rooms I was standing in.
We walked next to Christ Church, which was built in 1727 and was the church of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. This is another beautiful old building and it is still in use for services today. As the church guide told us about the church’s history, he pointed to the pew across from the pew I was sitting in and announced that it was George Washington’s family’s regular pew. Fascinating! Overwhelming! Humbling!
We toured the Betsy Ross House (tiny!)
We toured the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin is buried. I asked a girl working a small souvenir booth at the cemetery entrance why people were tossing pennies on Ben Franklin’s grave, then smacked myself in the head when she replied, “Have you ever heard of his saying, ‘A penny saved is a penny earned’?” The girl stated that the cemetery brings in about $3,000 a year in pennies from his grave towards the upkeep of the cemetery.
Our family was having a terrific day and I couldn’t have been happier with all we had seen and heard. Everything was very true to history, without the political or liberal taint that we see nearly everywhere today. But that was about to change.
Our last stop was the National Constitution Center. I was looking forward to this venue, excited to learn more about the Constitution and the men who had thoughtfully crafted such a miraculous document to guide our fledgling country. I was expecting to see displays on each of the writers, perhaps displays of some of their clothing, books, and other personal items. I wanted to see a pen Ben Franklin wrote with, an entry from George Washington’s diary, perhaps a bonnet worn by Thomas Jefferson’s wife.
As we approached the National Constitution Center, which (according to its website) bills itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan institution devoted to the U.S. Constitution and its legacy of freedom,” the first thing I notice is the immense banner on the exterior of the building promoting the Center’s current exhibit: “The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.” Now, it’s no secret that Springsteen is a huge liberal and a huge union guy, so this caused me a moment of concern, but I figured I was simply being a bit tin-foil-hatty and tried to dismiss my moment of uneasiness.
Once we were inside the Center, I was again disconcerted when I saw the name of the Center’s education room: The Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach. Annenberg? Like Bill Ayers’ friend? How many politically-involved Annenberg families are there in America?
We were ushered into a circular room with stadium-style seating and a large floor in the middle. This was where the multi-media presentation took place. Once we were seated, a young actress took her place in the middle of the floor and gave a live presentation while images flashed on the circular walls around the room and on the floor below. The actress talked very briefly about why the Constitution was created and barely mentioned any of the men involved. She then delved into how the Constitution is a LIVING, BREATHING DOCUMENT, how it took another 90 years after the Constitution was signed before slaves were freed, and how America is still trying to sort out whether to give rights to homosexuals and whether to take away abortion rights from women. At this point my head was spinning. On the walls and floor flashed images of our country’s history: pictures of some of the Founding Fathers, pictures of slaves (lots of pictures of slaves), smiling images of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and a picture of a newspaper headline from when Nixon was forced to resign.
The presentation ends and I am pretty upset at this point. We are ushered out of the multi-media room and into the museum gallery, where I had hoped to learn more about the Founding Fathers and see glimpses of their lives. As we stepped out into the gallery, the first display is a very eye-catching, 20’ tall cone-shaped bank of about display screens that show the faces of “100 People Who Make America Great.” The faces alternately light up and fade out. All around the display are touch screens where you can touch on a person's face to learn more about them. Keep in mind (because this will be very important in a moment), we were with a group of kids under the age of 11. The first face I pressed to read about was Billy Graham. I wanted to see how he was presented. The little biography said he was a world famous preacher. The Billy Graham quote that the Center chose to use at the end of his biography was that Jesus would not have had a political party.
The next face that was pressed was a smiling older gentleman. Image my shock that this man who supposedly helps to make America great was Larry Flint. Yes, the publisher of the pornography magazine, “Hustler.” Jaw-dropping. We are with a group of Scouts from a Baptist church and Larry Flint is someone the children are supposed to look up too. The Scouts were quickly ushered on to another display but I decided to stay and see who else was on this list of wonderful Americans. There were several people I was unfamiliar with, and then a face that nearly knocked me out of my shoes flashed on the screen. So I clicked. Here’s what I learned about George Soros:
“His true passion is democracy. Soros plans to give away most of his money during this lifetime. He began giving cash to grassroots organizations and dissidents in 1979, helping black students attend college in South Africa. Many of his investments in open societies are simple; he donated 400 copy machines to Hungarian libraries and schools to make spreading ideas easier. He’s funded dozens of independent radio and television stations in Eastern Europe, which elude government controls to promote democratic ideas. The Soros Foundation has poured close to $3 billion into these activities since 1980.
At this point I have a pit in my stomach and I feel like a caged animal. I wanted to get out of this building and take a shower but I stayed to see what the rest of the displays are about. There is a display where you can vote for President and a computerized banner provides “up to the moment” data based on your votes as to who would win the election. Although 40 people from our group voted Republican, Obama’s 8% lead over the Republican ticket never changed – even though no one else was at that display voting.
The placard next to a KKK robe on display curiously did not specify that Democrats founded the KKK. I wonder why?
A huge display on Nixon’s resignation and disgrace was quite prominent. A bit further on in the room was another display about Nixon, conveniently located right next to a display about Reagan. No mention of Reagan’s Cold War achievements, freeing the Iranian hostages, etc. But the display pointed out that Reagan and the Moral Majority were anti-abortion and wanted to bring prayer back into school.
There was a display about Clinton’s intern scandal and how because it was a moral blunder it was excusable. Clinton’s political party was not mentioned. A quote from Barbara Boxer on the display: “The Constitution does not say to remove the President if he has not been a good role model for our children.”
“We debate presidential power in an age of terrorism” was the name of another display. Featured at the top of the display was a quote from Sandra Day O’Connor: “ A state of war is not a blank check.” The display then reads: The President [Bush] has taken strong measures in the years since the 9/11 attacks. He has ordered suspected terrorists to be held indefinitely without trial at the Guantanamo detention center, authorized harsh interrogation methods and approved secret surveillance of telephone calls without getting warrants. (Note: While I think DHS has WAY too much power, the display was obviously written to make Bush look like a criminal)
So what was missing from this display about the Constitution? How about – THE CONSTITUTION? How about information on the writers of the Constitution? How about GOD? God was not mentioned once in any presentation or display. How about the Bill of Rights? How about how amendments are created? Note: I am putting as many pictures of this liberal garbage as I can into our HARP photo file so you can see it for yourselves. I'm still apoplectic.
Our nation is effectively over.
