MOMENT OF DEMOCRATIC INTELLIGENCE – TELL YOUR CHILDREN – AT 3:56 P.M. ET:  Maybe the Democrats in the House finally got the word.  Or maybe they just got the latest poll results.

For days many leading House Dems, and their interns in the pundit class, have been ridiculing the Republican plan to read the Constitution aloud in the House chamber on the first day of business.  But ridiculing the Constitution is not generally a good idea, and maybe some adult came by and hinted that the Dems might change course.

Boy, did they ever change course.

The Constitution was read this morning, with an unexpected cast of characters.  From The Politico:

The new Congress kicked off with a reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House today, a first in the chamber’s history.

Republicans proposed the reading, but it turned into a rare moment of true bipartisanship on the floor.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) went first, followed by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

House Republicans made the reading a requirement as part of the new Congress’ rules. Initially, there were questions about who would read the “three-fifths” compromise section, which counted three-fifths of the slave population for apportionment of members of Congress in the original document. The House skirted the issue by reading the amended version of the constition.

Republicans and Democrats alternated reading passages from the document.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil-rights era activist, read the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery. Members from both sides of the aisle applauded, while Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who ran the reading, shook Lewis's hand after he finished.

In the immortal words of Staples, that was easy.

We hope this is the start of a great tradition.  We also hope that schools will pick up that tradition, and make certain that their students know what is in the Constitution.  It is somewhat more important than knowing the lyrics to a Lady Gaga song.

January 6, 2011