A lot of buzz today because MSNBC legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick described Republicans as worshipping the Constitution and having a ‘Constitution fetish’. It was only a few days ago when MSNBC contributor Ezra Klein said no one could understand the Constitution because it was “over 100 years old”.
What is the matter with these people? Are they idiots? I know they’ve hated the constitution for a long time, but what has emboldened them to be so forthcoming about it?
The constitution is the law of our land. Do you think this country is great because we are a bunch of cool people who are nice and have good ideas?
There are plenty of good, hardworking people in other struggling countries too. They just have not been BLESSED to live in a country with a legal structure that supports them in their efforts to live a good life. Without a legal system that enforces contracts you have no economy and no prosperity, but simply are left to drift at the whim of a king or dictator or what have you.
Your efforts would be futile unless you personally had the power to enforce your own security.
But in the United States this is not the case. And all this is made possible by this incredible document and those who defend it.
And to say that the existence of amendments show the weakness of the constitution is just ridiculous, since the very system for ratifying amendments is part of the constitution.
-Lynnae
Great post.
ReplyDeleteThe founders knew the Constitution wasn't perfect - which is why they built in the amendment process. The Bill of Rights was the first exercise of that process, in fact.
Other countries that we commonly hold to be free - like Great Britain - may have a veneer for freedom and liberty currently, but without a Bill of Rights (again, as in the UK), nothing enshrines that liberty - Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, prevention of unreasonable search and seizure (arguably much battered down in this country of late) and the right to bear arms.
Yes, I have a "fetish" for the Constitution - even though it was "written over 100 years ago".