public:cb_mirror:what_s_wrong_with_the_constitution_as_written_txt_blogposts_16949
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What’s wrong with the Constitution “AS WRITTEN?”
The Founders understood that without a “Bill of Rights” to limit the scope of the new Federal Government, the temptation to overreach the powers yielded by “We the People” was too great and too immediate.
| I often hear the “opposition” say that we do not need an Article V Convention of States because the Constitution is perfect “AS WRITTEN” and only needs to be followed to the letter. Anyone making such an assertion in totally unaware of the history of ratification of the Constitution in the months following the Philadelphia Convention, and further wearing blinders regarding the courts’ interpretation of the Constitution “AS WRITTEN,” which has resulted in the bloated “Annotated Constitution” consuming close to 3000 pages of text. Some of my favorite Founders were very unhappy with the Constitution “AS WRITTEN,” as it made its way through State Ratifying Conventions to be ratified by the required nine states. George Mason and Patrick Henry of Virginia, John Hancock and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, George Clinton and Robert Livingston of New York all insisted that unless the first Congress as its initial item of business recommend a list of amendments to be sent to the states for ratification, then these states and others would withdraw their ratification. An Article V convention was widely discussed to recommend these amendments, but since the Constitution had not yet been ratified, Article V was not yet an appropriate route. Forcing Congress to act immediately was the most expedient route to amend an unacceptable document in their view. These patriots understood that without a “Bill of Rights” to limit the scope of the new Federal Government, the temptation to overreach the powers yielded by “We the People” was too great and too immediate. Thank God for that insistence and for our Bill of Rights. Without the first ten amendments, how quickly would we have found ourselves where we are right now? Maybe the Ninth and Tenth are all but dead, and the First, Fourth and Sixth Amendments have taken quite a hit during the COVID/Insurrection era, but the limits that have been in place for over 200 years are part of our institution. Amendments are good. We need more to shore up the first ten and to re-establish federalism and the balance of power between state and federal authority. It is time that we follow the lead of our skeptical Forefathers who had just won independence from the King by demanding limitations – this time using the authority contained in Article V. 235 years was too long to wait. # | PETITION_WIDGET{petition_tag:;coalition_id:;anedot_url:} | # |
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| Login Required to view? | No |
| Created: | 2022-09-11 07:04 GMT |
| Updated: | 2022-09-17 07:00 GMT |
| Published: | 2022-09-10 06:00 GMT |
| Converted: | 2025-11-11 12:00 GMT |
| Change Author: | Amy Hill |
| Credit Author: | Mike Harper |
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