[steve50]

If the Constitution is not to be taken literally why don't our politicians amend it to say what they want it to say. Could they be afraid the states wouldn't give the federal goverment the powers they have usurped?

[fod]

Possibly so, but as the author states in a few cases (recall this is but a preface to a much larger work, follow the links to read the rest), the states are also partly to blame for subverting the law of the land...