the Massachusetts delegation wanted the ten we have today, and they were influential enough to get their way. Not all the states adopted them immediately, though. In fact, three of the original thirteen states didn’t ratify the Bill of Rights until 1939.”
“This is all very fascinating, but—”
“Since that time, the Constitution has been amended only twenty-seven times in more than two hundred years. But there have been more than six thousand proposed amendments. Everything you can imagine. Abolish the electoral college. Limit private income to ten million dollars. Replace the presidency with a three-person council. Change the name of the country to the United States of Earth.”
“I’m amazed that one didn’t go through,” Gatwick said drolly. “So what’s your point, assuming you actually have one?”
“There are two things I’ve gathered from my research. One: the people, when they are thinking rationally, want a Bill of Rights. And two: we need a slow and deliberate process to prevent wacky amendments from becoming law.”
“Aw, hell. It’ll probably take forever. That ERA thing was tossed about for years.”
“But it never made it into the Constitution. Three states short. The timing wasn’t right. It was too soon.”
“So if this drags on for years—”
“The Twenty-sixth Amendment, on the other hand, became national law only three months and seven days after it came out of Congress. That was the one that gave eighteen-year-olds the right to vote. Of course, the Vietnam War was raging. If eighteen-year-old boys could be shipped overseas to be napalmed to death, shouldn’t they have a say in the government that was sending them? It was the right idea at the right time. The amendment was adopted practically overnight.”
“And your big worry?”
Zimmer looked up from his book. “This is clearly the right time for this amendment. Couldn’t ever be a better one. But what if it’s the right time—but the wrong law?”
Gatwick waved him away. “I think you worry too much. Because you’re depressed about what happened. Give it a week or so—you’ll see the light.”
Zimmer’s eyes seemed far away. “Perhaps.”
“Anyway, the states will never vote on it if it doesn’t get out of Congress. And how can it, with flaming liberals in the Senate like that kid from Oklahoma?”
9
U.S. S ENATE , R USSELL B UILDING ,
O FFICE S-212-D
W ASHINGTON , D.C.
“Y ou see what he’s trying to do, don’t you?” Christina asked. “The president is using the tragedy to promote his own agenda. After the Kennedy assassination, LBJ could get almost anything passed in Kennedy’s memory. This is the same thing. President Blake is using his wife’s memory to promote his own conservative goals. To get rid of those pesky civil rights once and for all.”
Ben stared down at the blue-backed bill resting on his desk. “I think that’s a bit extreme.”
“It’s a pretty extreme bill.” Christina paced back and forth across the length of Ben’s office. “Okay, here’s what we do. First, I’ll line up all the chiefs of staff and take the pulse of their bosses.
Tout de suite.
I think we can assume the president will get the votes of all or most of his fellow Republicans, but he’s going to need more than that to get this passed. He’ll pull his strings with the religious right and the wealthiest political donors. He’ll try to make it a matter of patriotism. He’ll suggest that people who oppose the amendment don’t care about the safety of the nation. They’ll be trotting out relatives of the victims, trying to make it an emotional issue. This amendment is already being met with cheers and applause in the red states and at least half of the blue. He may have sufficient support in thirty-eight states, and that’s all he needs to make this thing law—if it gets out of Congress. So we have to make sure that never happens.”
She grabbed her husband squarely by the shoulders. “You’ll
“This is all very fascinating, but—”
“Since that time, the Constitution has been amended only twenty-seven times in more than two hundred years. But there have been more than six thousand proposed amendments. Everything you can imagine. Abolish the electoral college. Limit private income to ten million dollars. Replace the presidency with a three-person council. Change the name of the country to the United States of Earth.”
“I’m amazed that one didn’t go through,” Gatwick said drolly. “So what’s your point, assuming you actually have one?”
“There are two things I’ve gathered from my research. One: the people, when they are thinking rationally, want a Bill of Rights. And two: we need a slow and deliberate process to prevent wacky amendments from becoming law.”
“Aw, hell. It’ll probably take forever. That ERA thing was tossed about for years.”
“But it never made it into the Constitution. Three states short. The timing wasn’t right. It was too soon.”
“So if this drags on for years—”
“The Twenty-sixth Amendment, on the other hand, became national law only three months and seven days after it came out of Congress. That was the one that gave eighteen-year-olds the right to vote. Of course, the Vietnam War was raging. If eighteen-year-old boys could be shipped overseas to be napalmed to death, shouldn’t they have a say in the government that was sending them? It was the right idea at the right time. The amendment was adopted practically overnight.”
“And your big worry?”
Zimmer looked up from his book. “This is clearly the right time for this amendment. Couldn’t ever be a better one. But what if it’s the right time—but the wrong law?”
Gatwick waved him away. “I think you worry too much. Because you’re depressed about what happened. Give it a week or so—you’ll see the light.”
Zimmer’s eyes seemed far away. “Perhaps.”
“Anyway, the states will never vote on it if it doesn’t get out of Congress. And how can it, with flaming liberals in the Senate like that kid from Oklahoma?”
9
U.S. S ENATE , R USSELL B UILDING ,
O FFICE S-212-D
W ASHINGTON , D.C.
“Y ou see what he’s trying to do, don’t you?” Christina asked. “The president is using the tragedy to promote his own agenda. After the Kennedy assassination, LBJ could get almost anything passed in Kennedy’s memory. This is the same thing. President Blake is using his wife’s memory to promote his own conservative goals. To get rid of those pesky civil rights once and for all.”
Ben stared down at the blue-backed bill resting on his desk. “I think that’s a bit extreme.”
“It’s a pretty extreme bill.” Christina paced back and forth across the length of Ben’s office. “Okay, here’s what we do. First, I’ll line up all the chiefs of staff and take the pulse of their bosses.
Tout de suite.
I think we can assume the president will get the votes of all or most of his fellow Republicans, but he’s going to need more than that to get this passed. He’ll pull his strings with the religious right and the wealthiest political donors. He’ll try to make it a matter of patriotism. He’ll suggest that people who oppose the amendment don’t care about the safety of the nation. They’ll be trotting out relatives of the victims, trying to make it an emotional issue. This amendment is already being met with cheers and applause in the red states and at least half of the blue. He may have sufficient support in thirty-eight states, and that’s all he needs to make this thing law—if it gets out of Congress. So we have to make sure that never happens.”
She grabbed her husband squarely by the shoulders. “You’ll
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