This fetish with the Constitution as though it were holy writ chaps me raw. FFS, these "constitutional orginalists" are the Amish of politics. Sure you can get from here to there in a horse and buggy...if here isn't too far from there and the terrain is navigable. The fact that the Constitution doesn't include a MANDATE that it be regularly reviewed and revised top to bottom is all you need to know about how fundamentally flawed it is. Geezus, these people.
“Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.” - Thomas Jefferson
A constitution is no more sacred than a piece of software, and a piece of software that doesn't get updated regularly is useless. It's a flipping tool, designed by a committee, FFS.
Exactly, Jefferson thought it should be updated as much as every twenty years. Some may argue that's too much. As an aside, I always thought it'd be interesting to compare that idea with Trotsky's idea of permanent revolution.
That said, I agree with Jefferson's line that the world belongs to the living. And I'll add we need to leave it in a good state for the next generation(s) too.
Such common sense made oh so painful because it will not be taken.
This fetish with the Constitution as though it were holy writ chaps me raw. FFS, these "constitutional orginalists" are the Amish of politics. Sure you can get from here to there in a horse and buggy...if here isn't too far from there and the terrain is navigable. The fact that the Constitution doesn't include a MANDATE that it be regularly reviewed and revised top to bottom is all you need to know about how fundamentally flawed it is. Geezus, these people.
“Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment.” - Thomas Jefferson
A constitution is no more sacred than a piece of software, and a piece of software that doesn't get updated regularly is useless. It's a flipping tool, designed by a committee, FFS.
Exactly, Jefferson thought it should be updated as much as every twenty years. Some may argue that's too much. As an aside, I always thought it'd be interesting to compare that idea with Trotsky's idea of permanent revolution.
That said, I agree with Jefferson's line that the world belongs to the living. And I'll add we need to leave it in a good state for the next generation(s) too.