Opinion: Capt. Kirk Was Right -- Read the Constitution

It's been amusing to read the reaction in some quarters to the House Republicans' decision to read the entire U.S. Constitution at the start of the new Congress.

Last week, Washington Post columnist and blogger Ezra Klein called it a "gimmick."

Post blogger Greg Sargent added his two cents, calling it "a cheap way of humoring activists."

A blogger on Firedoglake went a little further, dismissing it as an example of the House "shamelessly pandering" to the tea party.

David Corn over at our Politics Daily site said the House GOP was turning the Constitution "into hollow political ammo."

Seriously? What's the beef?

It's a waste of time? True, but we're talking about a legislative body that spends the vast bulk of its legislative efforts naming post offices.

It politicizes the Constitution? It's hard to fathom how reading a document out loud is akin to politicizing it.

It's purely symbolic? Maybe so. But then again, Americans are woefully uninformed about what's in the Constitution, according to a survey last fall by the James Madison's Montpelier organization. So reading it in public every once in a while can't hurt.

In my mind, the only real question is not whether the U.S. Constitution should be read on the House floor, but who should read it. A bunch of boring lawmakers nobody's ever heard of? No way.

If the GOP really wants people to sit up and pay attention to the country's founding document, they need to think big.

Here are a few suggestions:

How about getting William Shatner to do it? After all, he's already read the preamble, in a stirring speech at the end of "Star Trek's" "The Omega Glory" episode (in which he makes an impassioned case for reading the Constitution).

Or maybe try James Earl Jones? I mean, the guy can make counting to 10 engaging.

What about Sam Elliott? (Watch the clip if you don't recognize the name.)

Why not get that movie trailer voice-over guy, Hal Douglas? (Of course, he might be tempted to replace "We the people" with "In a world where ...").