The Constitution isn't working

The Hill ^ | Dec 28, 2021 | John Kenneth White

[where's_the_Outrage?]

The U.S. Constitution is the sacred text of American government and civic life. But it's time to face facts: The document, written in 1787, isn't working. The signs are all around us. Just 38 percent of Americans in a recent Gallup poll expressed either a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the presidency, down from 48 percent in 2001. Congress, never high in the public's estimation to begin with, fell from 26 percent to a mere 12 percent. The Supreme Court has also taken a hit, down from 50 percent to 36 percent during the same period.

One reason often cited for the failing Constitution are the people who inhabit its carefully crafted institutions. In Congress, serious legislators are scarce, as many members aim for viral recognition on social media. Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) freely admitted, "I have built my staff around comms [communication], not legislation." Cawthorn is hardly alone: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) represent a new breed of legislators who seek recognition and are largely uninterested in passing actual laws.

Disappointing presidents have become the norm. George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump failed to bring the country together, with Trump leaving office amplifying spurious claims of election fraud that led to the insurrection on Jan. 6. Although it is early in the Biden presidency, voter disenchantment is already clear, and the unity he promised in his inaugural address seems as elusive as ever. In the 19th century, James Bryce famously remarked that great men do not become presidents. Indeed, great presidents such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt are the exception, not the rule.

[beancounter13]

You can choose to live in your own Wet Dream if you wish.

If the liberals have their way, then all of the things you support will be trashed anyway.

Would you rather live in a country that has a government like Peru or Costa Rica, or would you rather live in a country with a government like China or Russia?

When Texas first dissolved its relationship with Mexico and subsequently joined the United States, Texas had more in common with the United States. Now, I think Texas has more in common with Mexico than we do with people from California or New York.

How can you subscribe to ‘unity’ when two different cultures are clashing?

[Antoninus]

Where have these people been for the past 40 years? The Constitution hasn’t been working for a long time. The difference is that it’s becoming obvious even to the lamebrains in the media right now.

[The Great RJ]

The bedrock of our Constitution is from the Declaration of Independence where it was boldly declared that we have inalienable rights derived from God. These rights were delineated in our Bill of Rights. Sadly we have become a Godless society where those inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not seen as God given but to be bestowed by whim by an all powerful government or societal elites. I believe our decline as a nation can be linked to the acceptance of abortion. My father, who was an old time country doctor and who delivered scores of babies, frequently said that God would surely punish our nation for allowing abortion. I think he was right.

[William Tell]

The Constitution wasn’t written to unite the people and make them happy with government. It was written to limit the reach of government in order to preserve freedom.

”Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

Our Founders might be disappointed with what we have today but I very much doubt that they would be surprised.

[GingisK]

That is the crux of the problem, isn’t it?

[BiteYourSelf]

Exactly!

[sport]

You are right. We are far from moral today. The words. “Liar, “traitor” “lie” have lost their meaning. What used to be a lie are now, “miss speak”, “miss spoke”. And there are others.

[DiogenesLamp]

Even if Bush or Obama or Trump had had any interest in uniting the country, which they didn't, the country is too divided for any president to unite again.

It seems like I have heard this notion somewhere before. :)

[DiogenesLamp]

Zero. Which begs the question how do you have an insurrection without any insurrectionists?

You screech up and down that they are "insurrectionists!" and you lock up the people working at news sources if they disagree with your assertion that an insurrection is occurring.

You then write history books declaring them to be "insurrectionists" and you use that accusation to hold onto power in Washington DC.

The word means whatever those in power want to declare it to mean.

[DoodleDawg]

It seems like I have heard this notion somewhere before. :)

The voices in your head again?

[DiogenesLamp]

The 16th made citizens in every state wage slaves to the federal government,
the 17th made states subservient to the political parties and
the 19th allowed women the marry the federal government.

And once again, the 24th and the 14th are no where to be found in a list of amendments which seriously damaged the nation.

The worst Amendment is number 14.

The second worst amendment is 24. (a very close second.)

All the others are of lesser damage.

[kabar]

Yeah right, the end of the world is neigh. There are far fewer people in the streets of America than there are in Europe and Australia. The biggest revelation of the pandemic is how docile and compliant the American people are to having the government take away their civil liberties. The MSM, public education, and Big Tech have created a nation of sheeple. There will be no Revolution.

[DiogenesLamp]

I guess you must have forgotten that little event known as the “Civil War.”

[Fury]

Even if Bush or Obama or Trump had had any interest in uniting the country, which they didn't, the country is too divided for any president to unite again.

Well, that's why the military is running a shadow government, and President Trump is still President, and why devolution is going to save the US, etc, etc, etc.

Well, at least that is what several FReepers claim.

[kabar]

Would you rather live in a country that has a government like Peru or Costa Rica, or would you rather live in a country with a government like China or Russia?

Phony strawman. So those are my only two choices: Live in an insignificant, corrupt Third World country or in a despotic global hegemon? I prefer to live in the USA, which is not going to break up into 50 distinct countries. We are inextricably intertwined, and dependent upon one another as a society. We share the same space. There is no secure geographic space that we can retreat to and form a sovereign government.

Now, I think Texas has more in common with Mexico than we do with people from California or New York. How can you subscribe to ‘unity’ when two different cultures are clashing?

In 2020 5,259,126 Texans voted for Joe Biden. That is 46.44% of the electorate. The clash of cultures is taking place in Texas and it won't be resolved by trying to secede, We have two choices, either leave the US entirely and go elsewhere or develop a modus vivendi to keep the society intact.

Here is a little dose of reality. The map below shows the gas and other hazardous liquids pipelines in the US. This web of pipelines enmeshes the entire country. You live in a fantasy world.

[Dead Corpse]

The Constitution is almost wholely IGNORED by the Powers that Be.

Art 1 Sec 8 is a SHORT list. Compare the various things listed there that the government is specifically ALLOWED to do, to the list of Federal agencies exercising extra-Constitutional power.

Then it becomes abundantly clear why "faith in institutions is way down".

[no-to-illegals]

I agree but we know what democrats would says

[HKMk23]

So...a beheading, then.

Of sorts.

Wonder what these pukes would do if Jan. 6th repeated x10 fully armed.

[DoodleDawg]

I guess you must have forgotten that little event known as the “Civil War.”

Ah, the actual insurrection.

[Kevmo]

I like maps.

From my home page:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secession

It's time for us to jettison those who reject our national values because there's no changing them. Time to secede.

We should extend the invitation to secede on a county by county basis.

img src = While we're at it, since we'd be forming a new country, we should extend the invitation to counties in Canada and Mexico as well.

Note that this option is becoming increasingly popular.

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