I was reading an article about people not understanding our system of government, and thought that someone should say something about our Ninth Amendment……
constitutioncenter.org/…
The Ninth Amendment basically says that the Constitution, as originally written, does not describe all of the rights the People hold. Madison et.al. were smart enough to understand that, as things changed, that other rights would come up, they may have missed something, and so forth.
law2.umkc.edu/…
Too many people think that the Supreme Court or Congress can deny the People a right that the Supreme Court has declared that the People may enjoy. In the words of Lee Corso (apologizes for non-sports fans), “not so fast, my friends.” In many cases, better explained in the second link, the Supreme Court declares a right of the People, and the People get to enjoy the enumerated right. End of discussion. Usually. However…...
talkingpointsmemo.com/…
We went through this analysis once.
books.google.com/…
When the Temperance movement wanted to introduce organized crime to the United States, they had to amend the Constitution to make Al Capone come to life (and ban alcohol). These conservative idiots of their day wanted to take away our rights. Or at least some people’s rights. They did a good job of granting organized crime new rights, which they didn’t like too much. So we had to amend the Constitution again to get this scar off of our body of rights.
constitutioncenter.org/...
So now, why do we want to go through this again?
And by the way, why is the press not challenging idiots who think that judges can do something about this? I know, sell that snake oil to the rabid reactionary right, but still… there’s no truth requirement any more, is there?
Bottom line: these politicians are promising what they must know they cannot ever deliver. Please show me the 38 states that will ratify something to discriminate against marriage, discriminate against a woman’s dominion over her body, or even our ongoing battle against housing too much of our population in federal prison over a plant that a sizable portion of our population wants to enjoy.
A little perspective and accuracy in our discourse, anyone? Guess not from the “left wing” media, I guess.