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To: Mr. Know It All
Ah, yes! But what is important is what was meant by the people who wrote the Constitution.

ML/NJ

61 posted on 03/22/2009 7:52:47 AM PDT by ml/nj
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To: ml/nj
Ah, yes! But what is important is what was meant by the people who wrote the Constitution.
With regard to the meaning of "dollar," obviously not. I doubt that Jefferson et al could have conceived of what we call a "dollar" today, but nevertheless, the codified it as a somewhat significant denomination of currency, and that still works even in the world of the Federal Reserve.

Also, I am not a Constitutional scholar (obviously), but for practical purposes, isn't the important thing what the Supreme Court thinks was meant by the authors?

I'm also a little wary of "original intent" arguments, because they tend to be used in arguments about limiting freedom. "When the 2nd Amendment was written, they didn't have machine guns," or "When the 1st Amendment was written, they didn't have the Internet."

The Constitution works so well because while the details change, the principles still apply. Thus, we can have an understanding of "natural born citizen" that changes with the world and still stick the the principles that gave rise to it. McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, something that would have been alien to the Founders, but only the extreme moonbat fringe tried to claim that he wasn't a citizen. Obama was born on US soil to a US mother. He's a natural born citizen, and I think Jefferson and Madison would have had no problem agreeing with that.

The evidence that Obama was born anywhere else but Hawaii is grade-Z quality conspiracy theory fodder. It is no coincidence than many of the prominent people keeping this embarrassment alive are also "9/11 Truthers."

64 posted on 03/22/2009 11:20:35 AM PDT by Mr. Know It All
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