Real Clear Thinker

Are liberals getting the wake-up call that Scott Brown’s election represents, or is it wacko business as usual in Democrat circles?

New Hampshire penned the nation’s first constitution in 1776, binding until the end of the Revolutionary War. With the war won, the state in 1783 ratified a new one that opens with the words, “All men are born equally free and independent.’’

Now, some say another rewriting is in order.

A few years ago, New Hampshire turned Blue. Long a bastion of conservative thinking, the state was tipped by an influx of residents moving to the Granite State to escape the high cost of living in liberal Massachusetts. They proceeded to vote to self-destruct. Today, Republicans are preparing to retake control.

The word “men” might once have referred to those with rights and power, but no longer, and the constitution should be amended to reflect as much, says a group of New Hampshire legislators seeking to excise the word men and similar references and replace them with gender-neutral ones. In a state that now has the nation’s first majority female legislative body, backers say that changing the language is imperative.

The Democratic machine is built on a foundation of special interests whose needs are pandered to by the party. They play identity politics games to highlight their devotion to those groups – providing cover for the fact that they don’t deliver on improving lives.

“It’s a very simple thing in my mind,’’ said state Senator Kathy Sgambati, a Democrat and chief sponsor of the legislation, which has 18 cosponsors. “The constitution should reflect our government, and that includes women.’’

Who cares more for minorities? Why, it must be the Dems, who work to ban words from the vernacular that some might find insulting! Meanwhile, they fight against better schools in poor neighborhoods to keep the unions happy.

But the constitution is historic, sacred even, others say, and to insert gender-neutral language into the text would alter its natural rhythm and fundamental expression.

“There is a lyric quality, a literary quality, that expresses the ideals of the founding fathers,’’ said Representative Jordan Ulery, a Republican. “The bland gray socialist language just destroys all that.’’

The economy is in tatters, and the people have sent a powerful message through the election of Scott Brown. Stop trying to change our country into the Soviet Union, start working to fix its problems. Are they getting the message?

A number of states have amended their constitutions to include gender-neutral language, including Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, California, Florida, Hawaii, and New York. Other states, such as Nebraska, have tried to amend their constitutions and failed. Massachusetts has kept its original language, as has the US Constitution.

Mmmm, women sure must be feeling empowered in Rhode Island (does it have the nation’s highest unemployment rate? Nope, they’ve crawled down to third highest), California (the state is imploding under the weight of fiscal irresponsibility and illegal immigration), and Florida (where the real estate market is among the nation’s worst).

New Hampshire has employed gender-neutral language in its legislation since 1994, but four efforts have failed to amend the language of its constitution.

Four efforts. And they’re not giving up. Because Democrats just have so much compassion!

Now, New Hampshire legislators supporting the amendment say circumstances again bolster the case for the change. Not only does the state Senate have a female majority, but New Hampshire counts four women in the state’s top seven offices (including a US Senate seat captured by Shaheen from incumbent John Sununu).

Let’s see if voters are impressed with the focus on gender politics when election time rolls around in November. I have a feeling you’re going to see the state’s two congressional seats return to Republican hands, and the GOP just might hang on to the senate seat being vacated by Judd Gregg.

For the amendment to pass, it would need approval by three-fifths of the House and Senate and two-thirds of voters. The gender-neutral changes would be made only to new printings of the Constitution and would not alter the way government is conducted, since the use of he in the Constitution has long been interpreted to include women.

On the other hand, if the liberals in New Hampshire can campaign on the fact that they’ve done nothing that would “alter the way government is conducted,” they just might be the most effective Democrats in the country.