Sounding the Founders

I was auditing a seminar today. Bright young people were working hard to summarize arguments written by Jefferson and Madison.

I was struck by the way our grammar and word choice has changed, in 220 years, even though the words on the page are almost all still in use.

A friend on Facebook pointed out that this has relevance for constitutional interpretation, at least if you care about what that document was originally supposed to mean.

I have often heard, for example, that "regulation", for them, meant something like "establishing rules of the road" for driving.

Our contemporary meaning includes activist backseat driving, where the unwanted passenger periodically reaches up and fights you for the steering wheel.

He put the gear in neutral, and stomped down on the brake.
Get this economy rolling. How long can it take?