Instapundit points out a New York Times editorial where they misquote the Constitution:

But that's to care for them as human beings, under that other constitutional right - to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And anyone truly familiar with the founding of our nation ought to be able to tell you that the pursuit of happiness is not a right secured in the Constitution.  "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is actually written in the Declaration of Independence.  What I find interesting is that by the time the Constitution was written 10 years later, they changed it to "Life, liberty and property."  This is not an insignificant change, but it is one that is lost on liberals and big government do gooders, because they have quietly removed the word "pursuit" from their minds.

You see, they think that government is supposed to guarantee a right to happiness, flat out.  Although it might be interesting to be able to go to a drive thru window somewhere and say, "Hi, I'd like a #3 Happiness with Cheese, and could you Super Size that for me?", it just doesn't work that way.  Of course the Founding Fathers knew this.  That's why they would never write such stupid words.  Instead, they said that you had a right to pursue your own happiness.  You have a right to chase it, to find it, to go after it... to try and get it.  Of course any time you pursue something, there is a chance you might fail in your pursuit.  This is life, which is why government simply can't guarantee happiness, nor should it try.

But you have to go further than this.  Because in the effort by many to have government give you happiness, they've also denied you your God given right to pursue it for yourself.  In pursuing your own version of happiness, you may go against what the government thinks makes you happy.  Every nanny state law that exists, which denies your ability to gamble, smoke, eat fatty foods, or do anything else that you think will make you happy, may seem stupid to someone else.  But that's the funny thing about happiness.  Everyone's idea of happiness is different, which is why government is inherently incapable of offering it.

And that's why the pursuit of it is the most important part of the right.  Perhaps the founders knew that "the pursuit of happiness" would be misconstrued, and so they changed it to something more concrete, like property.  What I do know is that I have a right to embark on a journey, not find a destination.  So the best thing government can do is to stop blocking the road, so I can walk it, and find out where it will take me.  The pursuit begins when this portrayal of life ends.