Constitutional Question

Goodwin Liu, Obama's nominee for a seat on the 9th District Circuit Court is being challenged by conservatives. I know, you're shocked, aren't you?

At age 39, Liu has compiled an impressive resume: Rhodes Scholar, Supreme Court clerk, top grades at both Stanford University and Yale Law School and now law professor University of California, Berkeley.

Liu has also aligned himself with progressive legal groups, including the American Constitution Society, where he is chairman of the board of directors. That's prompting opponents to argue that Liu is "too far outside the mainstream" to take a seat on a court just one step below the Supreme Court of the United States.

"He believes the Constitution is something judges can manipulate to have it say what they think culture or evolving standards of decency requires of it in a given day," said the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

Here's what I don't understand.

Conservatives are always saying we HAVE to follow The Constitution as it was written, that it can't be "interpreted" for the modern world. How can that even be remotely possible?

In and of itself, The Constitution is a "living" document, able to be molded, amended, and changed with enough votes. Many attempts have been made - some failing and some not - so how can conservatives say that this document isn't mailable?

The main point likely to be made by conservatives is "Founder Intent". That's merely an extension of the fetishistic nature by which conservatives approach this topic, and a pseudo-clever way of ultimately dodging a question far too complex for them to answer.

Did "The Founders" have the foresight to see telephones, cars, the internet, or even people like Liu being chosen as a Judge on one of the most widely respected courts in the land? Absolutely not.

Far too many conservatives love to use the "what if..." meme and claim that people like Thomas Jefferson would be so ashamed at where the country is at, would call into action a "revolution". And while that rhetoric works predictably well with the conservative base, and Jefferson would likely be shocked at many things ( though not what conservatives are going to admit ) I'm sure that he would be more enamoured with things like television and computers.

The question has to be asked to conservatives until they can give us a straight answer - would you really like to follow The Constitution to the letter, because I'm pretty sure you won't like all the results.