Mary Ellen and I have a standing argument – literally, a standing argument. She claims that the first thing I do when I enter a room is sit down. “That makes you seem old,” she said, “and I know you are concerned about not portraying that image.” Which surprised me, because I always thought …

Much like an only child of parents in a divorce proceeding, the U.S. Constitution has been clutched at by both sides of the ideological divide, each of which insists that its claim is the more legitimate and the other’s distorts reality. The right is certain the Constitution protects “religi…