Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Constitution: to be or not to be

In light of the first order of business for the 112th Congress (the reading aloud of the Constitution in the House chamber), particularly with all the grumblings from liberal politicians and media types, this might present an opportune time to look at the contrasting ways that liberals and conservatives view that foundational document upon which all our laws rest and all our elected officials take an oath to uphold.
“Constitutionalists vs. ‘Interpretationists’” by Cal Thomas
http://poststar.com/news/opinion/columns/cal_thomas/article_8d070b62-179b-11e0-9822-001cc4c03286.html


James Madison said it best when he could not "undertake to lay [his] finger on that article of the Federal Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." It is Congress's JOB to present 'constitutional' legislation, and should NEVER be left to the courts to determine constitutional authority of any given bill AFTER passage.
“Congress Rediscovers the Constitution” by Roger Pilon
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703384504576055632235572362.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


This debate should make it crystal clear that those who'd swear an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States" and then turn their backs on it, do not view it as a 'living and breathing' document at all, but rather an irrelevant and dead one. And upon their repudiating displays, they should immediately be justifiably expelled from Congress!


ADDENDUM: And to provide a suitable postscript to this discussion, I of course found this one a day later: "The fact is that the Democratic Party and the political Left in this country use the Constitution as nothing less than an instrument of pure demagoguery." A-FREAKIN'-MEN!! "The great question of our time is this: will the public demand that government adhere to the Constitution and "control itself," or will the public not give a damn what the Constitution says as long as government provides bread and circuses?"
“The Constitutional Hypocrisy of the Left” by Michael Filozof
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/01/the_constitutional_hypocrisy_o.html