History in the Making

It has been all over the news this morning and was a topic of discussion on Fox and Friends.  President Obama used an autopen to sign the legislation which renews a portion of the Patriot Act.  This is the first time in history that autopen has been used to sign a piece of legislation.  Previous Presidents have used it to answer letters, but never sign legislation into law.  The discussion on Fox and Friends plus the news bites about this "historical" event got me thinking about how this will be regarded in 100 - 200 years.  This is such a small event but could have significant effect on how the future laws of our country are established.

When I was in 8th grade at Southwestern Junior High, I was in the humanties program which combined history and english.  Our history teacher was Mr. Sink and Mrs. Powley taught english and would work together to ensure that the two courses complimented each other.   Mrs. Powley instructed us on building our writing skills while selecting novels for us to read that reflected the period that Mr. Sink was covering in history.  I dreaded exams in Mr. Sink's class because they always consisted of a minimum of 5 essay questions which utilized the structure and grammer teachings that Mrs. Powley covered.  When the freshman moved to McCutcheon High School, Mr. Sink and Mrs. Powley moved with us and I had the privilege of having both of them in high school.  Mr. Sink made history fun.  He not only taught us the dates of the various battles in the Civil War, but also taught us the history that was not in history books.  He made history come alive and explained how even the smallest event (such as the Magna Carta) made a significant impact on the formation of the United States and its relationship with the world.

With President Obama signing the legislation using autopen, he has opened up several possibilities with how Congress will pass laws.  I can imagine a future where our Senators and Representatives no longer conduct business in Washington D.C, but use technology to hold debates from remote locations.  Instead of having roll calls for votes on important issues, they would be able to log in to a secure site and say Aye or Nay.  President Obama has set a precedent that no longer does a President have to physically sign legislation, but now can be in another country.  I wonder what type of impact this will have on our future generations.