In the first week of Constitutional Law class, law students learn one simple lesson: The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land.?That's a lesson that is commonly understood. If President Bush hasn't learned it, I am confident that all of the lawyers hired to advise him have.

For Christmas, my son gave me a copy of Natan Safransky's The Case for Democracy (2004). It opened with the provocative accusation that in "the world of freedom . the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil" (p. xxii). This set me to thinking about the origins of this obfuscation of evil.

Did you know that there is currently a civil war raging in Sudan? Did you know that the majority of the gun-toting soldiers there are not men but rather young boys? Did you know that these young children are abducted from their homes, taken out into the bush and taught to kill? Did you know that in three months' time in Sudan, 640 civilians were killed and more than 2,000 children abducted? Did you know all this? I didn't-not until tonight.

If one were to ask, "What is the fundamental purpose of a Saint Louis University education?" the likely answer would be, "To become men and women for others." While this response would be true on one level, it would not explain how a SLU education produces its desired result.

Ah, New Year's. A time for new beginnings. A time to start fresh, ready to blaze the trail to a better life. A time when you wake up after New Year's Eve, amazed that you were able to drink four handles of the Captain AND still beat Predator 2 star Danny Glover in a full-contact game of Scrabble.

I remember when I was in elementary school and I would look forward to Christmas all through the first semester. There was always a boatload of stuff that I would want. I would have a nice long list, chock full of predictable things like a Red Ryder Ranger Model Air Rifle.