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Kevin Bleyer: "Me The People: One Man's Selfless Quest To Rewrite The Constitution Of the United States of America"

June 11, 2012
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In a letter to James Madison in 1789, Thomas Jefferson said the U.S. Constitution should naturally expire after 19 years because "the earth belongs always to the living generation." By Jefferson’s standard, the Constitution should have been rewritten 11 times by now. Kevin Bleyer took it upon himself to update our founding document for the 21st century. A writer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Bleyer noted that “for two centuries, we have been expected to abide by it, live by it, swear by it ... yet we have no idea what it says.” He joins Diane to discuss how he used history and humor to bring attention to long-standing constitutional debates.

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Author portraits courtesy of "Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America" by Kevin Bleyer. All rights reserved.

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Excerpt from "Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America" by Kevin Bleyer. Copyright 2012 by Kevin Bleyer. Reprinted here by permission of Random House. All rights reserved.

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