Some members of the Supreme Court have this cockamamie theory that they should decide cases on the basis of the Constitution exactly as written at the time it was written. Of course, if they really believed this, there is no way they would approve of AR-15 guns, since the rifles in 1787 were muzzle-loaders. In any case, here is what Thomas Jefferson said:
You moderns have a tendency to worship at the altar of the Fathers. “The First Amendment is sacrosanct!” “We will die to protect the Second Amendment!” So dramatic. Do you know why we called them amendments? Because they amend! They fix mistakes or correct omissions and they themselves can be changed. If we had meant for the Constitution to be written in stone we would have written it in stone. Most things were written in stone back then, you know. I’m not trying to be difficult but it’s bothersome when you blame your own inflexibility and extremism on us.
OK, it’s not really Jefferson. It is from the Foreword of the textbook entitled America: The Book written and edited by Jon Stewart, et. al. (New York: Warner Books, c. 2004), p. x.
No comments:
Post a Comment