FARK.com: (6681005) Will you shed your label conservative or liberal and replace it with Constitutionalist? Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions?

(Some Guy)		Will you shed your label conservative or liberal and replace it with Constitutionalist? Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions? (forgottenmen.com)		144
		More: Interesting, Capital Hill, federal, Jack Kemp, exceptions, legislative director, presents, War Powers Resolution, constitutions

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144 Comments (+0 »)

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Joe USer

2011-10-27 08:38:28 AM

Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions?

Ok, but only if you work it into the flag pledge of allegiance. I don't want to spend all morning pledging.

ignatiusst

2011-10-27 08:44:00 AM

tl;dr.

hillbillypharmacist

2011-10-27 08:50:00 AM

Constitutional compliance is not that hard to achieve, dumbass.

Being a 'constitutionalist' doesn't help you with more practical voting decisions: half a cent tax increase for fire and police hiring and equipment, release of bonds for interstate improvement, should that plot of land go to the zoo or to the hospital?

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat

2011-10-27 09:03:17 AM

Joe USer: Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions?

Ok, but only if you work it into the flag pledge of allegiance. I don't want to spend all morning pledging.

Am I going to need another pin for my lapel?

Vodka Zombie

2011-10-27 09:06:26 AM

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Joe USer: Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions?

Ok, but only if you work it into the flag pledge of allegiance. I don't want to spend all morning pledging.

Am I going to need another pin for my lapel?

It's called "Freedom Flair," and you should be wearing at least 16 pieces.

ignatiusst

2011-10-27 09:07:06 AM

I realized that my allegiance to the republican party had to be replaced with a new found commitment to dual federalism so eloquently described by the Father of the Constitution, James Madison in Federalist 45:

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."

Subby, didn't you read your American history beyond the 18th century? We (the country) fought a war over State-vs-Federal rights. Your side lost. You lost bad. So bad, in fact, that the Supreme Court has ruled in case-after-case for the extension of Federal rights beyond the narrow confines which your side tried so valiantly (and yet, in the end, unsuccessfully) to contain them.

So, subby, let me suggest that - unless you are supporting this as a way to let off a little pent-up steam due to some personal dissatisfaction - then you should give this up. Your side will not win this fight. You cannot win this fight. This fight was settled 150 years ago, and you owe your allegiance to President Barack Hussein Obama. Get over it.

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat

2011-10-27 09:21:37 AM

Vodka Zombie: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Joe USer: Will you pledge your allegiance to the dual federalism of the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote...no exceptions?

Ok, but only if you work it into the flag pledge of allegiance. I don't want to spend all morning pledging.

Am I going to need another pin for my lapel?

It's called "Freedom Flair," and you should be wearing at least 16 pieces.

I have a suit made entirely out of freedom flair. That's how patriotic I am.

Lumpmoose

2011-10-27 09:25:20 AM

Yes, because if there's one thing Washington needs, it's more pledges.

IgG4

2011-10-27 09:27:47 AM

The problem is of course that a conservative view of the constitution is completely divorced from reality.

wyltoknow

2011-10-27 09:32:11 AM

I love the Constitution. I just don't agree with your incredibly strict, narrow, unchanging view of the document or the implications of its formation and laws or the intentions that the various founding fathers may or may not have had behind its formation and laws. Hence we delve into labels.

abb3w

2011-10-27 09:36:17 AM

James Waterman Wise, jr., in a recent address here before the liberal John Reed club said that Hearst and Coughlin are the two chief exponents of fascism in America. If fascism comes, he added, it will not be identified with any "shirt" movement, nor with an "insignia," but it will probably be "wrapped up in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and preservation of the constitution."

- The Christian Century, February 5, 1936 issue

RexTalionis

2011-10-27 09:38:08 AM

Calling yourself a Constitutionalist is meaningless when you can't even get people to agree as to what the text of the Constitution means.

Mugato

2011-10-27 09:39:03 AM

I don't pledge to anything. I don't even use Pledge on my fine wooden surfaces.

gilgigamesh

2011-10-27 09:40:23 AM

IgG4: The problem is of course that a conservative view of the constitution is completely divorced from reality.

Something something The Onion something.

NuttierThanEver

2011-10-27 09:44:57 AM

Too lazy to find it but insert hyperlink to the The Onion article entitiled "Local Man passionate defender of what imagines the Constitution to be" here

NuttierThanEver

2011-10-27 09:45:58 AM

Dammit gilgiamesh
that's what I get for leaving my browser open and not refreshing before posting a comment

RexTalionis

2011-10-27 09:50:55 AM

As a strict Constitutionalist, I believe that Congress should issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal to civilian vessels so we can have them plunder the ships of our enemies on the high seas. Take that, Iran!

sigdiamond2000

2011-10-27 09:50:56 AM

HAVE YOU MADE YOUR DECISION FOR CHRIST!?

gilgigamesh

2011-10-27 09:51:37 AM

NuttierThanEver: Dammit gilgiamesh
that's what I get for leaving my browser open and not refreshing before posting a comment

I was too lazy to even form a coherent sentence to get my point across, so I'd say you win.

DamnYankees

2011-10-27 09:51:48 AM

No. Why the hell would I do that?

ib_thinkin

2011-10-27 09:52:56 AM

RexTalionis: Calling yourself a Constitutionalist is meaningless when you can't even get people to agree as to what the text of the Constitution means.

Worse than meaningless the minute you acknowledge that the folks who wrote it couldn't agree as to what the text of the Constitution meant.

GAT_00

2011-10-27 09:57:06 AM

Pledging absolute adherence to a 225 year old document that was designed to be modified over time is stupid. Jefferson even said he wanted it to be redone every 30 years.

Demanding we follow exactly what the Founding Fathers wanted today is just stupid. So many problems of today don't apply to then. The best analogy I've thought up is this:

You're having a problem with your computer that's running Windows 7. You can get a Win7 help manual, or you can grab one for Windows 95 and insist it will help just fine because it worked then so it will help now. That's all well and fine, but a lot of things have changed since then. It might help, but it also might send you off with fixes that have no value. Go get a modern help manual.

impaler

2011-10-27 10:01:07 AM

The constitution can be somewhat vague and ambiguous, which is why thinking there is some strict "correct" way to view it is inherently flawed. The fact that one often uses the word "interpret" when referring to the meaning of the Constitution should be evidence of that.

vernonFL

2011-10-27 10:11:05 AM

Some "Conservatives" are strict Constitutionalists, except when it comes to torture, arbitrary detention, abortion, or marriage.

Bloody William

2011-10-27 10:17:25 AM

GAT_00: Pledging absolute adherence to a 225 year old document that was designed to be modified over time is stupid. Jefferson even said he wanted it to be redone every 30 years.

Demanding we follow exactly what the Founding Fathers wanted today is just stupid. So many problems of today don't apply to then. The best analogy I've thought up is this:

You're having a problem with your computer that's running Windows 7. You can get a Win7 help manual, or you can grab one for Windows 95 and insist it will help just fine because it worked then so it will help now. That's all well and fine, but a lot of things have changed since then. It might help, but it also might send you off with fixes that have no value. Go get a modern help manual.

The Founding Fathers were ideologically perfect demigods who understood the nature of liberty, law, and justice, and knew exactly how a government should work. There were no disagreements or massive ideological divides between the Founding Fathers, and the Constitution isn't the wisely formed compromise between those opposing sides in the wake of the first failed experiment with American government, but is in fact the flawless and unerring holy document that shall define everything about America and how it should be run, forever and always. To say that the Founders were, while relatively wise and clever, just men who did some very great things despite their differences, and who created this government's structure with the express intent for it to be flexible and ready to change while adhering to a basic and general collection of individual rights is simply wrong.

vernonFL

2011-10-27 10:17:50 AM

This might seem like a ridicules question

Your blog sucks so hard that you have a spelling error in the first sentence.

stpauler

2011-10-27 10:20:16 AM

I read the whole thing. He's a conservative and I don't think he understands most of what he's talking about. But I repeat myself.

PC LOAD LETTER

2011-10-27 10:23:24 AM

This is as retarded as Biblical literalism. And that's pretty damn retarded.

chimp_ninja

2011-10-27 10:33:11 AM

From the blog: "My road to rediscovery of the principles of liberty pronounced in the Declaration of Independence and codified in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights demanded a change to how I viewed national politics."

From the Declaration of Independence: "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."

From the Constitution, v1.0: "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."

I guess this blog meant to say "Principles of liberty for some people".

Sybarite

2011-10-27 10:41:21 AM

Do you want to run out all the colored folks? Dual federalism offers you the ability to do so.

downstairs

2011-10-27 10:50:36 AM

ignatiusst: tl;dr.

Somacandra

2011-10-27 11:01:55 AM

FTFA: A Constitutionalist decides that the Constitution is not a living breathing document that entitles us to vote for politicians that will give us what we want...It is really that simple. A Constitutionalist demands allegiance to the Constitution, all the time, every time, every vote....no exceptions!

i.imgur.com

BigTuna

2011-10-27 11:36:44 AM

He perfectly identified the chief problems of the conservative movement over the past decade, and his solution is to double down on the derp. If you're a Christian white male you're gonna love dual federalism!

Code_Archeologist

2011-10-27 11:45:51 AM

One problem with your thought process there Subby

I consider myself as a "Constitutionalist" in so much that the Constitution is a living document and one must apply it to the moment pragmatically instead of dogmatically. I imagine though from the way that you are shaping your blog (which sucks) is that you believe in preserving the original meaning/intent of the Constitution as it pertained to the world in the 18^th century. This is a nice thought if one assumes that the framers of the Constitution were divinely inspired beings and that there is no fault in the document as it was originally written and intended.

GreenAdder

2011-10-27 11:53:06 AM

Zoltan!

BKITU

2011-10-27 12:00:13 PM

gilgigamesh: IgG4: The problem is of course that a conservative view of the constitution is completely divorced from reality.

Something something The Onion something.

NuttierThanEver: Too lazy to find it but insert hyperlink to the The Onion article entitiled "Local Man passionate defender of what imagines the Constitution to be" here

You're welcome. (new window)

Lionel Mandrake

2011-10-27 12:08:38 PM

Having followed and been intimately involved in national politics for decades now, in my former years I would have thought that in all cases a Constitutionalist was the same as a conservative.

This is where I stopped reading. If it took you that long to differentiate the terms, you are too stupid to merit further attention.

Your blog sucks.

Headso

2011-10-27 12:12:26 PM

right wingers love to pledge... it's almost whoreish how loose their are with their pledging.

vygramul

2011-10-27 12:17:26 PM

I prefer not to think of the Constitution as a suicide pact. So, no, I would never make that retarded pledge.

xanadian

2011-10-27 12:38:55 PM

What a ridicules blog.

BKITU

2011-10-27 12:39:39 PM

xanadian: What a ridicules blog.

I believe the fourth a on the left ridicules blog.

xanadian

2011-10-27 12:45:34 PM

Also: most crazy-ass spending thing the government has done (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, etc) is generally covered under Article I. If Congress passes a bill dealing with money, and the President signs it, it's perfectly constitutional.

So, suck it.

sprawl15

2011-10-27 12:45:35 PM

Maybe if the Constitution gets all of its idiocy fixed, sure.

A Dark Evil Omen

2011-10-27 12:46:52 PM

Is this a STAETES RITES!!!!!111 thing? This is going to be one of those, isn't it...

*click*

I was right! What do I win?

meat0918

2011-10-27 12:48:02 PM

Sounds like this guy is voting for RON PAUL!

Conservatives tossed Constitutionality out when they became joined at the hip to the Religious right, and actually probably WAY before then even.

Hollie Maea

2011-10-27 12:48:39 PM

I like how conservatives breathlessly exclaim how the constitution is the greatest document ever, and as proof, they note that it has survived far longer than most constitutions or compacts.

And then they work tirelessly to get rid of the "living document" interpretation that has dominated the history of this country, and which is the only reason why the constitution has been able to survive so long.

Knara

2011-10-27 12:50:53 PM

I love how some folks seem to believe that we should ignore 200 years of legal jurisprudence with regards to Constitutional issues.

/well, really, they want to ignore the parts that don't help their "got mine" selves

Bag of Hammers

2011-10-27 12:51:12 PM

I'm guessing the shiatty Blogger and Subby are the kinds of people who just scroll down to the bottom of the EULA and just click I Agree without reading it.

DirkValentine

2011-10-27 12:52:29 PM

[whatthefarkamireading.jpg]

Paschal

2011-10-27 12:52:48 PM

"I pledge allegiance to . . . the Black Widow!"

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