Proposed Constitutional Amendment

[LuckyTheDog]

I call this the "Let's All Just Grow the Heck Up" amendment:

"We all agree that the Constitution is, in many places, vaguely worded and, depending on how you read it, even contradictory in places. That's why we pay judges to interpret and apply its provisions. Different judges will look at things differently, but that does not mean any of them are traitors. In the end, the Constitution says what the Supreme Court says it says. That's not perfect, but it's the system we have. And that is why this document is amendable. Don't like it? Move to China."

[FiveGoodMen]

1. The trouble there is: "the Constitution says what the Supreme Court says it says"

Scalia

[LuckyTheDog]

2. He's only one judge, plus...

... the SCOTUS has always had the last word on the Constitution.

[damntexdem]

9. And the SCOTUS is supposed to follow SCOTUS precedents.

So make changes that move away from those precedents only gradually. That is not what the Roberts Court has done.

[provis99]

12. it doesn't say that in the constitution

[LuckyTheDog]

14. But that has been the case...

... for more than 200 years.

That's what having "the judicial power" means.

[11 Bravo]

19. The Constitution doesn't mention public restrooms, either. Should we all shit on the curb?

[Drale]

3. I disagree

Scalia is a traitor to everything we have worked to achieve for 235 years.

[LuckyTheDog]

4. That might be true

But, on the whole, a judge does not become a traitor simply because he/she has a legal opinion that some others might disagree with. In Scalia's case, however, there is a lot more to it than just that.

[Drale]

7. I agree

but Scalia is the exception to the rule. He is a horrible horrible person and should probably be on the front lines in Iraq.

[LuckyTheDog]

11. Maybe we need another amendment...

... which cites him specifically.

[sweetapogee]

5. great amendment

except the constitution is already amendable, always has been.

[LuckyTheDog]

6. My amendment

Simply uses that fact as a way of reinforcing its own purpose.

[sweetapogee]

10. I see...

not really.

[LuckyTheDog]

13. I never said...

... that the Constitution is not already amendable. Everybody knows that it is. The amendment I proposed refers to the Constitution being amendable. It does not seek to establish that.

[sweetapogee]

17. so then

is the purpose of your amendment to foster awareness of the fact that the constitution is amendable or is there a different purpose?

[thetonka]

8. George Washington said

"This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government."

[LuckyTheDog]

15. OK

And your point?

[NuclearDem]

16. The conservatives on the Roberts court pretty much sealed their fate

with Citizens United.

They may not be traitors, but that interpretation of the law is going to destroy our democracy. And as long as corporations are going to be able to buy politicians with unlimited money, we'll never reach the 3/4 vote necessary for ratification of a new Amendment to overturn Citizens United.

Which, frankly, should be a higher priority than telling people to grow up.

[Statistical]

18. Wouldn't a PSA be a better method?

An amendment to merely outline the existing Constitution makes little sense.