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Thursday, January 14, 2016

'Messing With the Constitution'

In recent years, a small but growing number of people have advocated a convention of states to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The reaction to the proposal has been hostile, out of all proportion to either the originality or the danger of such a convention.

The political left has been especially vehement in its denunciations of what they call "messing with the Constitution." A recent proposal by Governor Greg Abbott of Texas to hold a Constitutional convention of states has been denounced by the Texas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and nationally by an editorial in the liberal "USA Today."

The irony in all this is that no one has messed with the Constitution more or longer than the political left, over the past hundred years.

This began with Progressives like Woodrow Wilson, who openly declared the Constitution an impediment to the kinds of "reforms" the Progressive movement wanted, and urged judges to "interpret" the Constitution in such a way as to loosen its limits on federal power.

It has long been a complaint of the left that the process of amending the Constitution is too hard, so they have depended on federal judges -- especially Supreme Court Justices -- to amend the Constitution, de facto and piecemeal, in a leftward direction.

This judicial amendment process has been going on now for generations, so that today government officials at the local, state or national level can often seize private property in disregard of the 5th Amendment's protections.

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5 comments:

Thornton Crowe said...

This proves Liberals' "Watch what I SAY, not what I DO" motto. Sowell is dead on and those truly interested in the economy and governmental abuse of their said powers within it, should be well to study this man's works. The guy knows his stuff.

Anonymous said...

Be careful what you ask for...

If you have a constitutional convention...the entire document and ALL amendments are up for rewrite!

Considering what the congress of baboons can't do with regular legislation and have to trade this for that just to get stuff through - we're liable to lose the first, second and tenth right off the bat - since the government (both sides) want them gone!

Anonymous said...

The convention would be of the states with more direct connection with actual constituency. We are already losing much of what is stated in the document. This convention may give a last good alternative to a another possible armed revolution where the people finally realize they are intolerably unrepresented.

Anonymous said...

McCarthy was right we are being destroyed from evil marxist godless ideals from within our own Government agencies. God and Family has been destroyed. Soon the individual

Anonymous said...

@12:08

Not true. A convention of the states, not constitutional convention, would set rules as to what would be on the agenda before convening such a convention.

Sand Box John