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Wednesday, January 05, 2011

The Coming War Over The Constitution

Despite a few victories in the lame-duck session of Congress, Democrats and progressives should be under no illusion about the new flood of know-nothingism that is about to inundate the United States in the guise of a return to “first principles” and a deep respect for the U.S. Constitution.
The same right-wingers who happily accepted George W. Bush’s shift toward a police state – his claims of limitless executive power, warrantless wiretaps, repudiation of habeas corpus, redefining cruel and unusual punishment, suppression of dissent, creation of massive databases on citizens, arbitrary no-fly lists, and endless overseas wars – have now reinvented themselves as brave protectors of American liberty.

Indeed, the Tea Party crowd so loves the Constitution that the new Republican House majority will take the apparently unprecedented step of reading the document aloud at the start of the new congressional session, presumably including the part about enslaved African-Americans being counted as three-fifths of a white person for purposes of congressional representation.

One also has to wonder if these “constitutionalists” will mumble over the preamble’s assertion that a key purpose of the Constitution is to “promote the general Welfare.” And what to do with Section Eight of Article One, which gives Congress the power to levy taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce among the states, and “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization”?

If one were to buy into the Tea Party’s interpretation of the founding document, you’d have to denounce such concepts as “socialism” and/or “intrusions” on states’ rights.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are we going back to counting black people as 3/5 of a person?

Anonymous said...

Another gratuitous slam against conservatives.
Perish the thought that the Congress should ever actually hear what the founding document says.
The libs are getting pretty testy, now that they've been soundly repudiated by the American people.
They're acting like schoolyard brats.

Anonymous said...

9:04 It was the Democrats who fought to keep slavery.

lmclain said...

I'm not a Tea Party member, but from what I've read and seen, their main ideas are smaller government, less spending, and judicial restraint. "Know-nothingism"? "Mumbling.."? Sounds like the writer has some sour grapes still stuck in his throat....and after they read the 3/5's of a person part, I'm SURE that they will soon get to the other parts that repudiate that. And not all "right-wingers" "happily" accepted the police state measures that took their first HUGE leap under Bill Clinton. AND, I haven't seen ANY "left-wingers" trying to stop the ruch toward a police state, either, although I DO see them doing their best to rush toward a "welfare state"....

Anonymous said...

The " Comming War" is correct!

Anonymous said...

there is going to be a "war" because the libs, progressives, socialists, marxists etc. are fighting mad. they have tried for years to ignore and dismantle our constitution. most of their "followers" were educated in the government (public) schools and don't have a clue about our history and have never read the constitution or the bill of rights.
this is what we're fighting. we must continue to try to educate those who want to know the truth and of course continue praying.

Anonymous said...

9:55 Your absolutely right and after civil rights laws were passed the southern democrats joined the republican party. Here on the Eastern Shore most of the population were democrats until the 60's did not work out to their liking.

Anonymous said...

Martin Luther King was a Republican..

don't the idiot dems love to hear that?

Anonymous said...

And now the Republican platform is "most blacks just want welfare, more kids, drugs, and abortions. Lock em up or give em the chair and the country will get better"

Anonymous said...

Come on folks you are showing your mind control ignorance of our Nation's history.

The NORTH did not count the blacks at all because they did not want the SOUTH to have the representation.

It was the SOUTHERN STATES who argued and finally compromised to count the black people as 3/5 of a person - so they could get more representation. The Sounthern States FAVORED counting the black people as a "person" but were forced to compromise.

The Civil War was Abraham Lincoln's effort to maintain power. He encouraged the Southern States to seceed so that he could use it as an excuse for the war. He couldn't care less about slavery one way or another.

Anonymous said...

4:19 just love the folks who read the cliff notes and chapter headings of the history books.