It could be irony... or it might not be. However without some idea of a fundamental principle, we end up with consummate Calvinball.
That what we have. Posner's point, and I submit it is well taken, is that the historical meaning or interpretation of the cosntitution is irrelevant, becuase SCOTUS rewrites it.
David Strauss is right: The Supreme Court treats the Constitution like it is authorizing the court to create a common law of constitutional law, based on current concerns, not what those 18th-century guys were worrying about.
Are law professors too respectful of the Supreme Court? - Richard A. Posner
Now, he is going to try to walk this back by saying he is referring to professors, and that the rest of us should respect SCOTUS decisions as having foundation in "the constitution."
But fact of the matter is, the constitution was murdered by the courts decades ago.