This is the end of the story.

When his one-hour lecture and 30-minute question-and-answer session was finished last Friday night, constitutional scholar Dr. David Gray Adler created something so unlikely, so foreign, it took a moment to actually comprehend.

The crowd of just over 100 people comprised as disparate a melting pot of North Idahoans as you're likely to find anywhere. At least one Recall CDA button was spotted. Mike Kennedy, a target of the recall and the person responsible for bringing Dr. Adler to Coeur d'Alene for the talk, was also there.

Mormons mixed with Catholics, evangelicals and others. Republicans from the far right end of the political spectrum shared the room with Democrats equally far left. There was a high school student in the front row and some senior citizens in the back. The wealthy were there, and so were the poor.

For 90 minutes Dr. Adler kept his audience's attention riveted. He cursed mildly once - paraphrasing a hypothetical person - and his speech was uncluttered by verbal detritus like "um," "er" and "ah."

Nor during his presentation, packed with dates, quotes, paraphrases and other historical facts, did he ever refer to a single note or cheat sheet. He is as familiar with his subject, with topics also including the American presidents and the US. Supreme Court, as most of us are with the directions on heating up a can of soup. If any in the audience came ready to pronounce him a constitutional fraud, they would have been wholly disabused of that premise in the first five minutes.

Oh yes - the end of the story. When it was over, when applause erupted and many in the crowd moved forward to meet Dr. Adler, there wasn't a frown to be seen. To a person, his audience of just over 100 people was smiling. In 90 minutes, Dr. Adler had apparently broken down barriers that in some cases had required a lifetime to construct.

That's a testament not just to Dr. Adler's knowledge and speaking prowess, but to the power of the U.S. Constitution as our Founding Fathers so wisely envisioned it: An 87-sentence document able to unite Americans not just over the centuries, but over the most pronounced political, religious and economic divides.

We can't think of anything that would mean more to our community right now than sharing with readers, in some depth, editorials on the major conclusions of Dr. Adler's presentation. We might all argue like hell, but if we can shake hands and smile when the debate is done, we will be honoring our nation's founders and our children's children.