NY Times Opinion Writer: ‘Give Up’ On The ‘Archaic, Idiosyncratic’ And ‘Evil’ Constitution

Mediate ^ | 12/31/12 | Noah Rothman

[Nachum]

Georgetown University constitutional law professor Louis Michael Seidman has just about had it with the focus of his 40 years of academic study. As he writes in the New York Times on Monday, it is the Constitution itself which has allowed for the series of legislative follies that finally resulted in the “fiscal cliff.” Seidman says that it is time for Americans to realize what lawmakers have known since the constitution’s inception – it is okay to ignore it.

“As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downrght evil provisions,” Seidman writes.

Our obsession with the Constitution has saddled us with a dysfunctional political system, kept us from debating the merits of divisive issues and inflamed our public discourse. Instead of arguing about what is to be done, we argue about what James Madison might have wanted done 225 years ago.

He goes on to detail the number of American politicians who have used every opportunity to sideline the Constitution; from John Adams to Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

[lentulusgracchus]

This is some big time kook stuff. Even for the whack left NY Slimes. A reputable paper it is not.

"Pinchy" Sulzberger (that's what Michael Savage calls him) slammed the tiller over hard left as soon as he occupied his ancestors' office. He's working hard at making the NYT the highest-circulation alternative-weekly birdcage liner in TriBeCa.

[SuperLuminal]

Louis Michael Seidman...Another candidate for the town-square list...

[4Liberty]

I - I’m stunned.

His thoughts should be in the dictionary next to “throwing baby out with bathwater - see illust.”

[Pining_4_TX]

Thanks, that was interesting. You’re right, I wasn’t thinking beyond modern history.

[Pining_4_TX]

.... but then, communism and socialism are recent history, and that was what I addressed. :-)