Amending the Constitution would be more than worth it to make it happen. I’m pretty sure Simon Schama had to be carried out of this debate on a stretcher:

In a chapter called Knights and Squires, right after a chapter where Ishmael defended the dignity of whaling on the grounds that whale oil is used to anoint the kings of England, Melville has Ishmael praise democracy and equality. Ironic, no? (more…)