Extra-constitutional power is what they’ve always wanted (Update — blaming those ancient “white dudes”)
So it’s refreshing when they say it
An Op-Ed in The New York Times from Georgetown Law Professor Louis Michael Seidman, Let’s Give Up on the Constitution:
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 downright evil provisions….
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.
As someone who has taught constitutional law for almost 40 years, I am ashamed it took me so long to see how bizarre all this is…. Constitutional disobedience may seem radical, but it is as old as the Republic….
No one can predict in detail what our system of government would look like if we freed ourselves from the shackles of constitutional obligation, and I harbor no illusions that any of this will happen soon. But even if we can’t kick our constitutional-law addiction, we can soften the habit.
If we acknowledged what should be obvious — that much constitutional language is broad enough to encompass an almost infinitely wide range of positions — we might have a very different attitude about the obligation to obey.
I find myself agreeing more frequently than ever before with Glenn Greenwald, at least on the issue of the willingness and desire of “progressives” to go where even the demonized George W. Bush was not willing to go, and the willingness with which the progressive intelligentsia embraces such ideas in the service of Obama. Or maybe he’s agreeing with me.
Just in under the wire, a clear winner for dumbest and most incoherent NYT Op-ed of 2012:is.gd/DCMMbp
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 31, 2012
. @ggreenwald calls it the “dumbest and most incoherent NYT op-ed of 2012.” I think it’s pretty good: nytimes.com/2012/12/31/opi…
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 31, 2012
There seems to be a “Progressives against the Bill of Rights” group rapidly emerging on Twitter: exciting!
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 31, 2012
@mattyglesias That’s what that Op-Ed you endorsed is saying – that’s ignore- rather than amend – the Constitution means.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 31, 2012
Update:
@dylanmatt @mattyglesias Yeah, those dumb “white dudes” & all their “free speech” this & “free press” that. So annoying
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 31, 2012
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