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Originally Posted by ratbastid
Except that that IS how it works. Check out the history of abortion law in this country. Current law stands because of a very famous Supreme Court case. Prior to that, that wasn't the law. The gavel banged, the law changed. Ta daaa!
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I didn't say that isn't how it works, I said it doesn't work. If it did, we'd all be happy go lucky with every ruling and there wouldn't be any conflict after a decision. Instead, we have to deal with groups of an ideological bent either agreeing or disagreeing on plain word meanings of what a well regulated militia was in 1798, or what probable cause meant, or shall make no law really means that they can prescribe free speech areas.
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Originally Posted by ratbastid
People who think that even such a fundamental document as the Constitution is somehow written in stone and unchangeable for all time are just not thinking from where the founding fathers were thinking from. The founders were clear that the times would change, and they designed our structure to be malleable to keep up with the times. It takes some work--amending the Constitution isn't a trivial task. But it's designed in there precisely because they KNEW they couldn't predict the future, and they weren't going to try and pretend they could.
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there is a huge difference in accepting that the constitution is allowed to be changed by the prescribed method and the so called 'living document' theory that allows judges to change the meanings of words on the fly. The constitution IS written to be firm, but does allow for changes if a greater portion of the population deem it needs to be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratbastid
There IS no "what the Constitution says". It's a brilliantly constructed thing that deliberately leaves room for interpretation. Despite its claims to the contrary, strict constructionism is just one possible interpretation. It claims NOT to be an interpretation, and can therefore lay claim on being Right. But it's not--it's just one of many possible ways to read the document. This is the beauty of our nation; it's ours to invent, rather than being some dusty Truth to be pulled off a shelf and referred to. People think democracy was the big innovation of America, but I think it's the power to re-invent ourselves that makes us unique.
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allowing 'interpretation' is exactly the reason why we have the political divide in this country. The founders were extremely clear when it was written. All evidence from that era concludes it's truth. It took dozens of debates to get the words just right for the citizens of all 13 states to ratify it.