WEBVTT - Divide and Conquer 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:15.796 Pushkin. 0:00:19.636 --> 0:00:22.276 Not long ago, I had a dinner party at my house. 0:00:23.556 --> 0:00:26.836 My friend Michael Ryan came. He's a lawyer, and I 0:00:26.916 --> 0:00:29.716 was talking to him about my love of law review articles, 0:00:30.276 --> 0:00:31.156 which is genuine. 0:00:31.156 --> 0:00:31.596 By the way. 0:00:31.836 --> 0:00:34.716 Here's a profession trained to find meaning in the particular, 0:00:34.716 --> 0:00:39.076 in the arcane, to make the implausible plausible, to defend 0:00:39.116 --> 0:00:42.036 the indefensible. I mean, how are those not the perfect 0:00:42.276 --> 0:00:47.556 ingredients for a good read. Plus, law review articles have 0:00:47.716 --> 0:00:51.996 epic footnotes, scores are settled, subtle loyally, jokes are made, 0:00:52.476 --> 0:00:55.556 and the really outrageous arguments are slipped in just for 0:00:55.636 --> 0:00:57.276 the benefit of the reader who wants to wait. In 0:00:57.356 --> 0:01:01.396 Denote one thirty six on page eighty seven. I go 0:01:01.476 --> 0:01:04.836 on like this until Michael Ryan kind of rolls his eyes, 0:01:05.356 --> 0:01:08.436 because that's what lawyers do. I never know whether it's 0:01:08.516 --> 0:01:12.676 modesty or self hatred, but as you can imagine, I persist, 0:01:13.156 --> 0:01:17.876 and finally Michael says, well, you're right, there are moments 0:01:17.916 --> 0:01:21.396 of genius in law review articles. Let me send you 0:01:21.436 --> 0:01:26.916 two of my favorites. The next morning, in my inbox 0:01:27.476 --> 0:01:31.556 is an email from Michael Ryan with two attachments. I 0:01:31.596 --> 0:01:35.316 read the first, and I think that's pretty cool. And 0:01:35.396 --> 0:01:38.516 then I read the second and my jaw drops, and 0:01:38.556 --> 0:01:39.716 I say out loud. 0:01:40.476 --> 0:01:40.636 What. 0:01:44.116 --> 0:01:47.876 My name is? Malcolm Gladwell. Welcome to season three of 0:01:47.956 --> 0:01:55.756 Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. The 0:01:55.796 --> 0:01:59.956 definition of a shaggy dog story is an extremely long 0:01:59.996 --> 0:02:04.076 winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of irrelevant incidence and 0:02:04.196 --> 0:02:09.556 terminated by a pointless punchline. Halfway into this episode, you're 0:02:09.556 --> 0:02:12.756 going to think that this is a shaggy dog story. 0:02:12.956 --> 0:02:22.396 It's not. This dog is not shaggy. You wrote this 0:02:22.476 --> 0:02:24.876 paper how many years ago? Fifteen years ago? 0:02:25.396 --> 0:02:25.596 Yeah? 0:02:25.636 --> 0:02:25.956 What is it? 0:02:25.996 --> 0:02:27.716 Published? Two thousand and four, two. 0:02:27.556 --> 0:02:28.156 Thousand and four. 0:02:28.436 --> 0:02:32.956 Yeah, this is Professor Michael Stokes Paulson, co author of 0:02:32.956 --> 0:02:36.116 the Law Review article in question. Within days of reading 0:02:36.156 --> 0:02:39.036 his essay, I was in his office at Princeton University. 0:02:39.596 --> 0:02:43.836 Took the train down because it seemed urgent. In an 0:02:43.836 --> 0:02:47.316 email where he gave me directions, Paulson wrote, I'm always 0:02:47.396 --> 0:02:51.676 grateful to have anyone read my obscure, idiosyncratic Law Review 0:02:51.756 --> 0:02:56.116 articles exclamation point idiosyncratic. 0:02:56.396 --> 0:02:56.676 Sure. 0:02:57.276 --> 0:02:59.876 At least half of his piece dwelt on the meaning 0:02:59.916 --> 0:03:05.436 and interpretation of semi colons, but obscure. This is something 0:03:05.476 --> 0:03:09.436 with the potential to turn American politics upside down. Way 0:03:09.476 --> 0:03:14.316 could this article be obscure? So what was the reaction 0:03:14.396 --> 0:03:15.236 to it at the time? 0:03:17.396 --> 0:03:20.276 Thundering silence as far as I know. I mean, I 0:03:20.316 --> 0:03:23.436 haven't been trolling the internet for it, but I've never 0:03:23.476 --> 0:03:26.436 seen anything to suggest that anybody is remotely interested in this. 0:03:26.836 --> 0:03:28.076 Maybe you can convince them. 0:03:28.116 --> 0:03:29.996 Wait, am I the first journalist to call you an 0:03:30.036 --> 0:03:30.836 interview you about this? 0:03:32.756 --> 0:03:35.396 Yes, I'm trying to remember if anybody did back in 0:03:35.396 --> 0:03:40.516 two thousand and four, two thousand and five. No, people 0:03:40.596 --> 0:03:44.636 are inclined to view it as a wacky idea. Right, 0:03:44.756 --> 0:03:47.996 You're taking a legal concept of something that's one hundred 0:03:48.036 --> 0:03:51.236 and seventy years old, and you're saying it's still operative. 0:03:52.036 --> 0:03:55.156 If you think about it, logically, it is still operative. 0:03:56.276 --> 0:04:02.236 But people's intuitions are that that can't be right and 0:04:02.276 --> 0:04:05.476 so or that it can't be taken seriously. So, Malcolm, 0:04:05.476 --> 0:04:07.156 you've got to get people who take it seriously. 0:04:07.356 --> 0:04:10.476 You take it seriously. I don't think this is wacky 0:04:10.516 --> 0:04:12.716 as at all. I read this and I'm thinking this 0:04:12.876 --> 0:04:19.956 is dead serious. Paulson is fair haired, glasses composed, an 0:04:19.996 --> 0:04:24.556 intellectual author of serious books on the US Constitution. When 0:04:24.556 --> 0:04:27.636 we met, he was a visiting scholar at Princeton University 0:04:27.956 --> 0:04:30.316 hold up in one of those gorgeous old mansions on 0:04:30.316 --> 0:04:33.596 the outskirts of campus. But don't get the wrong impression. 0:04:34.156 --> 0:04:38.716 There's also something subversive about the man, a certain look 0:04:38.716 --> 0:04:42.236 in his eye. He's someone who likes to make mischief, 0:04:43.716 --> 0:04:46.596 like on page six hundred and eighteen of the journal 0:04:46.636 --> 0:04:49.956 containing his law review article, when he briefly addresses the 0:04:50.076 --> 0:04:53.156 question of why he has just spent tens of thousands 0:04:53.156 --> 0:04:58.036 of words descending down this particular rabbit hole, and his answer, 0:04:58.756 --> 0:05:03.236 because it's there, I don't know about you. That makes 0:05:03.236 --> 0:05:05.476 me nervous. There was a part of me that just 0:05:05.516 --> 0:05:07.996 wanted to walk out of his office and not say 0:05:08.076 --> 0:05:12.396 another word to anyone one. Let's sleeping dogs, lie, I'm 0:05:12.436 --> 0:05:16.236 running a podcast here, not starting a revolution. You're not Jewish, 0:05:16.236 --> 0:05:19.556 are you? Because let's say we could do a none 0:05:19.556 --> 0:05:20.796 of us are Jewish. What we can do? What do 0:05:21.036 --> 0:05:22.876 they call it? A mid rash? Is that what they 0:05:22.876 --> 0:05:25.596 call a mid Yes? Right, let's let's do a little 0:05:25.596 --> 0:05:28.356 bit of a midrash on Let's start with it. Start 0:05:28.596 --> 0:05:32.276 with Article four, Section three, and go th So I 0:05:32.276 --> 0:05:35.756 guess we're trying to answer the question of of why 0:05:35.796 --> 0:05:40.396 it is the case that that this article on its face, 0:05:40.516 --> 0:05:45.636 Section three, on its face does not prohibit subdivision. That's right, 0:05:45.676 --> 0:05:49.276 that's the issue at hand, right right. So let's I'll 0:05:49.316 --> 0:05:51.356 have you if you read it and then us break 0:05:51.396 --> 0:05:52.276 it down grammatically. 0:05:52.316 --> 0:05:55.996 Let's do the I'll do in dramatic reading. New states 0:05:56.036 --> 0:05:59.716 may be admitted by the Congress into this Union semi. 0:05:59.516 --> 0:06:03.076 Coleman Paulson carries a small copy of the US Constitution 0:06:03.476 --> 0:06:06.316 in his jacket pocket. This is what he's reading from. 0:06:06.916 --> 0:06:09.876 It's first clause. New states maybe admitted, you know, some 0:06:09.956 --> 0:06:13.956 powered tomit new states. But no new state may shall 0:06:13.996 --> 0:06:17.396 be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 0:06:17.476 --> 0:06:19.116 state semi. 0:06:18.796 --> 0:06:22.676 Colon the second semi colin pay special attention. 0:06:23.396 --> 0:06:26.636 Nor any state be formed by the junction of two 0:06:26.716 --> 0:06:30.756 or more states or parts of states, without the consent 0:06:30.996 --> 0:06:34.556 of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as 0:06:34.596 --> 0:06:35.516 of the Congress. 0:06:35.756 --> 0:06:37.676 Where you left at some comments I left out. 0:06:37.716 --> 0:06:40.476 I didn't read all the comments. Yeah, okay, let me 0:06:40.596 --> 0:06:41.276 let me do it again. 0:06:41.876 --> 0:06:45.196 Outrageous for you that I've read so much about the 0:06:45.236 --> 0:06:46.116 grammar to leave out. 0:06:45.956 --> 0:06:49.196 A common Okay, new states may be admitted by the 0:06:49.196 --> 0:06:53.116 Congress into this Union semi colon, but no new state 0:06:53.156 --> 0:06:55.876 shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any 0:06:55.916 --> 0:07:01.116 other state second semi nor any state be formed by 0:07:01.156 --> 0:07:04.636 the junction of two or more states comma or parts 0:07:04.676 --> 0:07:08.756 of states comma, without the consent of the legislatures of 0:07:08.796 --> 0:07:13.156 the states concerned, as well as of the Congress period. 0:07:13.956 --> 0:07:14.956 That's the whole precussion. 0:07:15.236 --> 0:07:17.796 So question one, as I understand it from reading you, 0:07:17.996 --> 0:07:21.076 is what is the sense of the second semicole? 0:07:21.396 --> 0:07:21.636 Right? 0:07:23.356 --> 0:07:33.716 This is about to get very serious, I promise. Right 0:07:33.756 --> 0:07:37.516 across the Texas border. In Ardmore, Oklahoma, there is a 0:07:37.636 --> 0:07:42.556 quality in on West Broadway Street, two stories courtyard, Big Pool. 0:07:42.996 --> 0:07:45.116 It used to be a holiday inn until a few 0:07:45.196 --> 0:07:49.156 years ago. Just to be clear, the Ardmore holiday slash 0:07:49.236 --> 0:07:51.996 quality in has nothing to do with Michael Paulson's law 0:07:52.036 --> 0:07:56.556 review paper, not directly anyway. It's context. You have to 0:07:56.596 --> 0:07:59.436 know about Ardmore if you want to understand where Paulson's 0:07:59.516 --> 0:08:03.196 argument begins. The very first line of his article, in fact, 0:08:03.196 --> 0:08:06.996 which is, and I'm quoting Texas Republicans have been thinking 0:08:07.156 --> 0:08:14.436 way too small, that's way with five a's. It's the 0:08:14.476 --> 0:08:18.076 early two thousands. Results from the national census are in, 0:08:18.636 --> 0:08:22.276 which means state legislatures around the country are redrawing the 0:08:22.276 --> 0:08:26.036 boundaries of congressional districts based on the new population numbers. 0:08:26.396 --> 0:08:29.156 It's a ritual power struggle that happens in America every 0:08:29.156 --> 0:08:33.636 ten years. In Texas, the legislature is controlled by Republicans. 0:08:34.236 --> 0:08:37.236 They want to redraw the congressional map so Democrats get 0:08:37.276 --> 0:08:41.436 fewer seats, but it doesn't work. Even with the new borders, 0:08:41.556 --> 0:08:44.276 the Democrats hold on to their seats. So in two 0:08:44.356 --> 0:08:47.796 thousand and three, the Texas Republicans introduce a bill to 0:08:47.916 --> 0:08:51.876 draw the boundaries all over again, and the Democrats are furious. 0:08:52.476 --> 0:08:55.676 If you can keep redrawing the boundaries of electoral districts 0:08:56.076 --> 0:08:58.556 over and over until you put your opponent out of business, 0:08:59.356 --> 0:09:02.836 then you're not really in a democracy, are you. The 0:09:02.996 --> 0:09:05.916 organizer of the revolt was Jim Dunham. He's now a 0:09:05.956 --> 0:09:08.716 lawyer in Waco. Back in two thousand and three, he 0:09:08.876 --> 0:09:11.516 was chairman of the state House Democratic Caucus. 0:09:11.796 --> 0:09:14.236 I had members coming up to me and say, you know, Jim, 0:09:14.236 --> 0:09:16.916 you got to do something right, And I was like, well, 0:09:16.956 --> 0:09:17.676 what are we going to do? 0:09:17.916 --> 0:09:19.316 So I will can bust a quorum. 0:09:19.756 --> 0:09:22.956 There are one hundred and fifty legislators in the Texas Assembly. 0:09:23.596 --> 0:09:27.236 Quorum is one hundred. If Dunham can get fifty one 0:09:27.356 --> 0:09:30.356 Democrats not to show up, the vote can't happen. 0:09:30.756 --> 0:09:32.316 Well, the bill was coming up on a Monday, and 0:09:32.316 --> 0:09:34.716 I think it was the preceding Wednesday that I had 0:09:34.716 --> 0:09:37.636 in the first meeting, and I'll tell you, I thought 0:09:37.636 --> 0:09:38.956 I was totally wasting my time. 0:09:38.996 --> 0:09:41.676 I told everybody, this is foolish. Nobody's going to do this. 0:09:41.876 --> 0:09:45.396 It's because you had to go across state lines because 0:09:45.436 --> 0:09:47.676 the Speaker of the House has the authority to issue 0:09:47.756 --> 0:09:50.996 arrest warrants and if you're in Texas, they can grab you. Now, 0:09:50.996 --> 0:09:54.756 if you're outside of Texas, that then you know it 0:09:54.756 --> 0:09:55.676 doesn't have jurisdiction. 0:09:57.356 --> 0:09:59.236 Oh, I see, that's why you had to go to Oklahoma. 0:09:59.276 --> 0:09:59.436 Yeah. 0:09:59.476 --> 0:10:01.756 Actually, you have my arrest warrant on my wall. It's 0:10:01.916 --> 0:10:05.116 it's pretty cool and it says, go you were directed 0:10:05.156 --> 0:10:07.516 to go arrest and detain Jim Dunham and bring him. 0:10:07.436 --> 0:10:08.276 To the Texas House. 0:10:08.316 --> 0:10:12.276 So when'd you guys leave? 0:10:12.916 --> 0:10:15.476 Left on Mother's Day Sunday? 0:10:16.236 --> 0:10:19.996 And you know, about Thursday, when I figured out we're 0:10:19.996 --> 0:10:22.796 going to actually get enough people to pull this off, 0:10:23.476 --> 0:10:24.756 I was like, good Lord, where we're. 0:10:24.596 --> 0:10:27.196 Going to go? You know? And I will tell you. 0:10:27.316 --> 0:10:29.396 I had some members say, well, let's go to like Charles. 0:10:29.196 --> 0:10:32.836 Louisiana or Shreeport, Louisiana. And I said, well, we're not 0:10:32.876 --> 0:10:35.036 going to go there because the casinos there, and in 0:10:35.276 --> 0:10:37.636 no way we'll keep the Democrats out of the casinos 0:10:37.636 --> 0:10:38.996 if we're in Shreeport. 0:10:39.356 --> 0:10:42.036 And I'm serious, you know. 0:10:42.116 --> 0:10:47.956 And so my wife's family is Marmore, Oklahoma, and God 0:10:48.036 --> 0:10:50.436 love Ardmore, but there's nothing to do in Ardmore. 0:10:52.516 --> 0:10:55.756 Dunham Hire's buses gets everyone to meet at a hotel 0:10:55.796 --> 0:11:00.476 in Austin, does a head count fifty plus himself, doesn't 0:11:00.516 --> 0:11:02.916 tell anyone where they're headed or when they're coming back. 0:11:03.476 --> 0:11:09.316 Need to know basis only. It's an undercover operation. It 0:11:09.356 --> 0:11:12.316 comes and when the Republicans are ready for their triumphant vote, 0:11:12.436 --> 0:11:15.396 they suddenly realize that they don't have a quorum. They 0:11:15.436 --> 0:11:19.236 launch a manhunt for the missing Democrats. Texas Congressman Tom 0:11:19.276 --> 0:11:22.796 Delay gets involved. He's the House Majority leader in Washington 0:11:22.836 --> 0:11:23.116 at the. 0:11:23.036 --> 0:11:25.516 Time, one of the members showed up in a plane 0:11:26.436 --> 0:11:30.836 and delay evidently called Homeland Security and reported the tail 0:11:30.916 --> 0:11:34.276 number was missing, and in an effort to figure out 0:11:34.316 --> 0:11:37.036 where that plane had gone, and it was I don't 0:11:37.076 --> 0:11:39.716 know what to say, but Homeland Security couldn't find us. 0:11:39.796 --> 0:11:41.476 But the Dallas Morning News good. 0:11:43.556 --> 0:11:47.196 To recap. The Texas Republicans want to increase their numbers 0:11:47.236 --> 0:11:50.676 and influence in Washington, so they try a jerrymander, then 0:11:50.756 --> 0:11:54.236 when it fails, do a re gerrymander in violation of 0:11:54.236 --> 0:11:58.476 every state norm, leading to a full scale state constitutional crisis, 0:11:58.916 --> 0:12:01.796 causing the states Democratic caucused to flee in buses to 0:12:01.876 --> 0:12:05.596 a holiday and in Oklahoma, leading to a statewide manhunt, 0:12:05.836 --> 0:12:09.036 convincing the House Majority leader to call in Homeland Security, 0:12:09.396 --> 0:12:11.636 triggering an international media frenzy. 0:12:12.556 --> 0:12:15.316 What is the situation like in ard More for the 0:12:15.356 --> 0:12:16.836 Texas Democrats right now? 0:12:17.276 --> 0:12:19.276 John, Here at the holiday inn, I've been witnessed to 0:12:19.316 --> 0:12:24.276 a courageous scene of defiance. Texas Democratic legislators hunkered down, 0:12:24.356 --> 0:12:27.436 trying to conduct the people's business while subsisting only on 0:12:27.476 --> 0:12:29.196 the contents of their mini bars. 0:12:33.036 --> 0:12:39.196 Homeland Security officials attempting to find some missing state legislators 0:12:39.236 --> 0:12:41.676 who hung out at the Holiday Inn for a couple 0:12:41.716 --> 0:12:44.436 of days. You know, we got a lot of deserters 0:12:44.476 --> 0:12:48.316 down there, guys that are afraid to stand and fight 0:12:48.596 --> 0:12:49.996 like our arm services do. 0:12:51.516 --> 0:12:54.676 The legislative process was so broken that they had to 0:12:54.836 --> 0:12:55.796 leave for Ardmore. 0:12:56.676 --> 0:13:00.996 Thank god we didn't have those democrats at the Alamo. 0:13:01.196 --> 0:13:01.996 God bless you. 0:13:04.636 --> 0:13:07.716 I will tell you, probably most of the time was 0:13:08.316 --> 0:13:11.356 dealing with the ten or eleven satellite news trucks that 0:13:11.476 --> 0:13:13.636 showed up after a dire or two. 0:13:14.036 --> 0:13:18.356 And who's watching all of this? Michael Paulson and Vasan Casavon, 0:13:18.876 --> 0:13:20.956 authors of the Law Review article that found its way 0:13:20.996 --> 0:13:24.316 to my inbox. They're working on their article as the 0:13:24.396 --> 0:13:27.556 drama unfolds in Ardmore, and they look at everything that's 0:13:27.556 --> 0:13:34.076 happening norm violation, constitutional crisis, Ardmore, Holiday in homeland security, 0:13:34.276 --> 0:13:39.356 media frenzy, and their conclusion is Texas Republicans have been 0:13:39.396 --> 0:13:52.836 thinking way too small. Michael Stokes. Paulson's argument is about Texas, 0:13:53.436 --> 0:13:57.716 but it's also more significantly about grammar. His Law Review 0:13:57.796 --> 0:14:00.156 article spends far more time on grammar in fact than 0:14:00.196 --> 0:14:04.556 on anything else. Specifically, the grammar of the US Constitution, 0:14:08.156 --> 0:14:11.796 so much so that immediately after I visited Paulson at Princeton, 0:14:12.236 --> 0:14:15.796 I realized that I needed an emergency session with Mary Norris, 0:14:16.516 --> 0:14:20.556 author of the brilliant book Between You and Me, Confessions 0:14:20.756 --> 0:14:21.556 of a Common Queen. 0:14:21.916 --> 0:14:28.036 I wonder, lookie, I have a fresher racer. 0:14:28.116 --> 0:14:28.316 Here. 0:14:29.476 --> 0:14:34.396 We're in Mary's Manhattan apartment. Books everywhere, creaky hardwood floors. 0:14:35.876 --> 0:14:38.276 I've known Mary for years. We worked together at The 0:14:38.316 --> 0:14:40.916 New Yorker. The New Yorker is a good cop bad 0:14:40.956 --> 0:14:46.156 cop operation. The good cops are the editors. They coddle, courage, soothe, 0:14:46.796 --> 0:14:49.876 let you go on and on. The bad cops are 0:14:49.876 --> 0:14:53.476 the copy department. For most of my time there, the 0:14:53.516 --> 0:14:56.956 copy department was a murderer's row of three women. First 0:14:57.036 --> 0:15:00.396 was Anne, who was a national caliber marathoner who gave 0:15:00.436 --> 0:15:03.796 the impression that in any disagreement she would simply outlast you. 0:15:04.636 --> 0:15:07.836 The second Carol, who reminded me of the proper West 0:15:07.836 --> 0:15:10.636 Indian ladies I grew up with, who could silence you 0:15:10.676 --> 0:15:15.076 with a disapproving glance. The third was marry If Mister 0:15:15.156 --> 0:15:18.396 and Missus Santa Claus had an irrepressible youngest daughter, it 0:15:18.436 --> 0:15:24.716 would be marry. I have written down here three sentences 0:15:25.596 --> 0:15:28.476 from the Constitution. I just want to introduce listeners to 0:15:28.516 --> 0:15:31.876 the proposition that frist of all, that punctuation in particular 0:15:31.956 --> 0:15:35.996 really matters on a document like the Constitution. And two 0:15:36.076 --> 0:15:39.716 they were a little bit sloppy with their comments and 0:15:39.716 --> 0:15:43.036 seven caltons at times. We're sitting at Mary's kitchen table, 0:15:43.756 --> 0:15:46.716 a handle a sheet of paper with my constitutional selections 0:15:46.756 --> 0:15:49.876 on it. She takes out a black number two pencil sharp. 0:15:50.556 --> 0:15:53.636 We start with the sentence that has driven Grammarians crazy 0:15:53.876 --> 0:15:56.396 for two hundred and fifty years, the second. 0:15:56.156 --> 0:16:00.076 Amendment, A well regulated militia being necessary to the security 0:16:00.116 --> 0:16:01.956 of a free state, the right of the people to 0:16:02.116 --> 0:16:05.996 keep and bare arms shall not be infringed. 0:16:07.276 --> 0:16:11.796 A well regulated militia comma being necessary to the security 0:16:11.876 --> 0:16:15.156 of a free state Comma the right of the people 0:16:15.196 --> 0:16:20.116 to keep in bear arms comma shall not be infringed. Well, 0:16:20.116 --> 0:16:24.236 first of all, that comma is wrong before shall so yeah, 0:16:24.276 --> 0:16:29.116 they should be. That's the that's the third comma, right, Yes, 0:16:29.996 --> 0:16:31.676 the other two commas that you're fine. 0:16:31.396 --> 0:16:37.476 With, well, no, they don't make sense either. Because with 0:16:37.636 --> 0:16:41.996 the two commas, the sentence in its essence would read 0:16:42.156 --> 0:16:45.476 well regulated militia the right of the people to keep 0:16:45.476 --> 0:16:48.196 in bear arms shall not be infringed, which doesn't make 0:16:48.236 --> 0:16:48.796 any sense. 0:16:49.276 --> 0:16:52.276 It's like they loaded a shotgun with commas and fired 0:16:52.316 --> 0:16:54.356 it at the second Amendment. It's a mess. 0:16:55.116 --> 0:17:01.196 So a well regulated militia being necessary to the security 0:17:01.476 --> 0:17:05.876 of a free state, comma comma, the right of the 0:17:05.876 --> 0:17:09.076 people to keep and bear arms shall not be in fringe. 0:17:09.796 --> 0:17:12.196 That I would lose two of those comments. 0:17:13.076 --> 0:17:15.276 Mary had covered up the two other sentences on my 0:17:15.356 --> 0:17:18.076 list with the legal pad. She moved the legal pad 0:17:18.116 --> 0:17:20.996 down just enough to expose sentence number two. 0:17:21.436 --> 0:17:23.596 The right of Citizens of the United States who are 0:17:23.676 --> 0:17:25.796 eighteen years of age or older to vote shall not 0:17:25.836 --> 0:17:29.076 be denied or abridged by the United States or by 0:17:29.116 --> 0:17:31.996 any State on account of age. 0:17:32.556 --> 0:17:36.356 Twenty sixth Amendment the United States Constitution. It's a terrible sentence. 0:17:36.476 --> 0:17:37.356 Oh, it's terrible. 0:17:37.436 --> 0:17:40.316 Yeah, So what if you rewrite that sentence from me? 0:17:42.036 --> 0:17:44.756 Mary has her pencil out. She's marking up the piece 0:17:44.756 --> 0:17:47.756 of paper like a New Yorker galley, covering the page 0:17:47.796 --> 0:17:49.756 with graceful number two pencil lines. 0:17:50.556 --> 0:17:56.676 The right of citizens who are eighteen years of age 0:17:56.876 --> 0:18:01.956 or older to vote. That's it. You should just say 0:18:01.956 --> 0:18:05.836 they're right of the United States citizens who are eighteen 0:18:05.876 --> 0:18:06.476 years of age? 0:18:06.476 --> 0:18:10.796 No call to vote. No call, because by having no commas, 0:18:11.876 --> 0:18:16.116 what it turns into is a defining clause. By putting 0:18:16.116 --> 0:18:18.236 commas around it, it becomes a descriptive clause. 0:18:18.316 --> 0:18:18.756 That's right. 0:18:20.996 --> 0:18:25.036 A defining clause in grammatical terms is a clause necessary 0:18:25.076 --> 0:18:27.556 for the meaning of a sentence. The house where I 0:18:27.596 --> 0:18:30.036 live is on fire. You don't put commas around the 0:18:30.036 --> 0:18:32.796 phrase where I live because the fact that it's my 0:18:32.956 --> 0:18:35.636 house is essential for understanding what I'm trying to say. 0:18:35.876 --> 0:18:38.476 The house where I live is on fire. But in 0:18:38.516 --> 0:18:41.796 the sentence the house comma built in nineteen seventy eight, 0:18:41.876 --> 0:18:44.836 comma is on fire. We put commas around the phrase 0:18:45.156 --> 0:18:48.156 built in nineteen seventy eight to mark it as descriptive. 0:18:48.676 --> 0:18:51.356 It's not necessary for the meaning of the sentence, but 0:18:51.396 --> 0:18:54.916 it helps us understand more about the house. So the 0:18:54.956 --> 0:18:58.556 twenty sixth Amendment has commas around the clause who are 0:18:58.636 --> 0:19:00.556 eighteen years of age or older? 0:19:01.916 --> 0:19:02.596 Big mistake. 0:19:05.436 --> 0:19:06.596 When was this one written? 0:19:07.076 --> 0:19:10.556 Well, it was past in modern times. 0:19:10.836 --> 0:19:15.596 Yeah, that's what I thought. But rus reads as if 0:19:16.196 --> 0:19:19.316 all the citizens of the United States are eighteen years 0:19:19.636 --> 0:19:20.556 of age or older. 0:19:22.236 --> 0:19:25.676 American citizens are people either born here or who have 0:19:25.796 --> 0:19:29.516 been granted citizenship, And what the twenty sixth Amendment means 0:19:29.556 --> 0:19:32.796 to say is that a subset of that group, those 0:19:32.876 --> 0:19:35.436 who are over the age of eighteen, have the right 0:19:35.476 --> 0:19:39.276 to vote. But the authors of the twenty sixth Amendment 0:19:39.436 --> 0:19:44.676 used commas interpreted grammatically, the twenty sixth Amendment says that 0:19:44.716 --> 0:19:48.956 a citizen of the United States is anyone over eighteen anyone. 0:19:49.716 --> 0:19:52.596 Canadians who crossed the border into Detroit to by gas 0:19:52.676 --> 0:19:55.876 are citizens so long as they're over eighteen. Russians who 0:19:55.916 --> 0:19:59.076 go apartment shopping in Miami with Duffel bags full of 0:19:59.076 --> 0:20:01.756 cash are citizens so long as they're over eighteen. 0:20:02.476 --> 0:20:06.636 Good Lord, clarity is of the utmost importance in a 0:20:06.716 --> 0:20:12.276 legal document, right. I don't think lawyers have special rules 0:20:12.276 --> 0:20:16.476 about semi colon's. I also don't know if there's such 0:20:16.476 --> 0:20:20.676 a thing as a legal grammarian, but there probably should be. 0:20:20.756 --> 0:20:24.356 You know, a US grammarian to take care of these things. 0:20:24.796 --> 0:20:26.116 You should not volunteering. 0:20:26.156 --> 0:20:28.596 Why you would be the perfect person to be the 0:20:28.716 --> 0:20:29.676 grammarian in chief. 0:20:29.956 --> 0:20:32.076 Only if I could wear one of those wigs. 0:20:34.836 --> 0:20:37.756 And now we turn to the constitutional sentence at the 0:20:37.756 --> 0:20:40.556 bottom of the page, the one I really care about, 0:20:40.956 --> 0:20:44.556 the one that explains why Texans have been thinking way 0:20:44.636 --> 0:20:47.836 too small, the big one. 0:20:48.356 --> 0:20:51.836 New states may be admitted by the Congress into this 0:20:52.036 --> 0:20:56.716 Union semi colon, But no new state shall be formed 0:20:56.796 --> 0:21:01.036 or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor 0:21:01.116 --> 0:21:03.236 any state to be formed by the junction of two 0:21:03.356 --> 0:21:06.356 or more states are parts of state without the consent 0:21:06.476 --> 0:21:12.916 of the legislatures of the states concerned as well the Congress. Well, 0:21:12.956 --> 0:21:16.636 that seems clear to me. You can't form any new 0:21:16.676 --> 0:21:21.396 states without everybody agreeing that the new states can be formed. 0:21:22.356 --> 0:21:30.796 I repeat, not a shaggy dog story. Michael Paulson first 0:21:30.836 --> 0:21:33.756 became drawn to Article four, Section three of the US 0:21:33.876 --> 0:21:37.276 Constitution when he was teaching a class at the University 0:21:37.316 --> 0:21:41.116 of Minnesota Law School on the Civil War. The question 0:21:41.156 --> 0:21:44.596 of West Virginia came up. As you may remember, Virginia 0:21:44.756 --> 0:21:47.596 was a Confederate state during the Civil War, but a 0:21:47.676 --> 0:21:50.996 number of counties in one corner of Virginia were anti slavery, 0:21:51.356 --> 0:21:54.956 so they broke away and formed West Virginia, which was 0:21:55.036 --> 0:22:00.116 admitted into the Union in eighteen sixty three. The question 0:22:00.156 --> 0:22:04.556 Paulson had for his students was was that constitutional can 0:22:04.636 --> 0:22:06.756 a new state be formed from a piece of an 0:22:06.796 --> 0:22:12.636 existing state? What a trivial question? And Article four, section 0:22:12.716 --> 0:22:17.436 three is the part of the Constitution that addresses this issue. 0:22:17.516 --> 0:22:20.396 It was written in seventeen eighty seven. As with the 0:22:20.436 --> 0:22:23.516 Second Amendment and the twenty sixth Amendment. However, it is 0:22:23.676 --> 0:22:28.596 grammatically ambiguous, and as a result, it's precisely the kind 0:22:28.596 --> 0:22:31.916 of matter that appeals to the baroque legal tastes of 0:22:31.996 --> 0:22:36.116 Michael Stokes Pulsary. He gets together with the son Casavon. 0:22:36.636 --> 0:22:39.636 They happily disappear down the Article four Section three rabbit 0:22:39.676 --> 0:22:42.836 hole for god knows how long, and they emerge with 0:22:42.916 --> 0:22:46.596 an exhaustive analysis of the question published in Volume ninety, 0:22:46.956 --> 0:22:50.956 issue two of the California Law Review, pages two ninety 0:22:50.996 --> 0:22:54.236 one to four hundred. This is not the Law Review 0:22:54.276 --> 0:22:56.276 article that landed in my inbox and blew my mind. 0:22:56.876 --> 0:23:01.156 It's the precursor the compulsory figures, if you will, before 0:23:01.196 --> 0:23:01.836 the free skate. 0:23:03.836 --> 0:23:07.956 Now there is this language, but no new state shall 0:23:07.996 --> 0:23:10.636 be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 0:23:10.716 --> 0:23:15.876 state semichel. You could read that if it were just 0:23:15.996 --> 0:23:20.316 that as a flat prohibition on carving out a news 0:23:20.316 --> 0:23:22.116 state from within an existing state. 0:23:22.196 --> 0:23:23.876 If it stops there, If it had stopped there and 0:23:23.916 --> 0:23:26.516 there was nothing that came after, we have no arguments here. 0:23:26.956 --> 0:23:29.716 No new state shall be formed or erected within the 0:23:29.796 --> 0:23:33.316 jurisdiction of any other state. No ambiguity there. 0:23:33.876 --> 0:23:35.476 Right, it would say, you can't do. 0:23:35.436 --> 0:23:38.316 It, you can't, so West Yugrainia would not be right legitimate. 0:23:38.796 --> 0:23:42.076 But then it goes on after the semi colon. And 0:23:42.516 --> 0:23:45.716 this real question is is that semi colon more like 0:23:45.796 --> 0:23:49.556 a period that ends one prohibition and then another prohibition 0:23:49.796 --> 0:23:52.476