What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Monday, January 28, 2013

The way the other half thinks

I heard this discussion replayed on Rush Limbaugh.  The oringinal airing was on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.  The speaker is Georgetwn U. Prof Louis Michael Seidman.  The topic- should we hold the constitution in such reverence?  I'll give you a link to the whole thing here,  but I want to pull out some of the "highlights":

To be clear, I don’t think we should give up on everything in the Constitution. The Constitution has many important and inspiring provisions, but we should obey these because they are important and inspiring, not because a bunch of people who are now long-dead favored them two centuries ago.

Suppose that Barack Obama really wasn’t a natural-born citizen. So what?

This is our country. We live in it, and we have a right to the kind of country we want. We would not allow the French or the United Nations to rule us, and neither should we allow people who died over two centuries ago and knew nothing of our country as it exists today.
If we are to take back our own country, we have to start making decisions for ourselves, and stop deferring to an ancient and outdated document.

Now, I can see that some people believe this is a legitimate point, and so it is.  But let's take a look at this, shall we?

The Constitution of the United States is one of the most emulated documents of all time.  Not one country that has cast out despots has not had as their first goal a constitution, ansd many of them want one based on ours.  People die to make it to this country and live under this constitution.  Does that really sound like an ancient and out-of-touch document to you?

The speaker says we shouldn't have to live under laws that no longer apply to "our country as it exists today."  But apparently he'd be more than happy if a foreigner, who is not germaine to this same country, was president.  Why stop at Barack Obama?  Why not Schwartzenegger?  Or Sarkozy? Or Hugo Chavez or Imanutjob in Iran?  Remember the last German not born in Germany to rule that country?  You know, little guy, mousy little mustache, yelled a lot?  He was born in the Austrian Empire, dontcha know.  I can't believe that this professor wants to get rid of the Constitution because it's like being ruled by a foreign power but thinks that foreigners who don't meet citizenship requirements are okay for president.  (Note that I am NOT, and will NOT, get into the birther thing.  I'm just pointing out that his "so what?" is hypocritical.)

Bu the key to the whole thing is the "take back our own country" line.  Take it back from who/what?  The Constitution?  It is obvious that what he is saying is that he approves of Obama's "executive decree" style of rule.  Just get rid of the Constitution, and apply whatever seat-of-the-pants solution to the problem de jure appeals at the time.  I think I can give you a very good example of the fruits of such a style will bring us, from a children's song:

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!
 
 
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In other news, while I didn't destroy the machine I'm using on my new job on day one, I certainly brought it to a standstill with a half-hour to go in the day.  Well, not only me- the problem was apparently fabric having built up around the axle that moves the belt.  After two people looked at it to find out what was making it jam for twenty minutes, I discovered the problem with 5 minutes left in the day, and it took me, the boss, and (mainly) the maintenance dude another 20 minutes to fix it.
 
I can't wait to see what I do Wednesday, when they have a bunch of big shots in for the building's ribbon cutting ceremony!

13 comments:

  1. This is scary. Nice point- "take it back from who/what?" As if everyone could agree on a new constitution anyway. "We have a right to what kind of country we want?" I mean, who is "we" and who gets more pull? I seriously am just left speechless by this. I can't even formulate the rest of a response...

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  2. The last election disabused those on the right that they "spoke" for America as a whole. We can only hope that something occurs to disabuse the left of that notion too.

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  3. The idea of getting rid of our Constitution is ridiculous. Plain and simple. Yes, our country has changed and so has society. That doesn't mean it THAT outdated - to the point that one would think it akin to being ruled by a foreigner.

    He probably likes Obamacare, too. I'm pretty sure that shit will make me live in a box under a bridge - paying for healthcare or paying the "fines" for still not being able to afford it. I'm already starting to sweat it.

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    1. Underneath the bridge... roof has sprung a leak..and the animals I've trapped have all become my pets... and I'm living off of grass and the drippings fromthe ceiling... it's okay to fish 'cause they don't have any feelings... Ah, old Nirvana.

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  4. I'll very probably end up in a box as well. I don't know about being under a bridge, but the box is a safe bet.

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  5. CWM:
    You managed to blog about what I was only thinking about...I thought about the SAME guy this weekend (and not in a good way, mind you).

    Love your talking points...ALL of which hit the center of that TEN-RING!
    (you've been practicing)

    I was telling Wifey yesterday, that we are STILL the ONLY country that has OUR specific form of Constitution (and governance)...and it STILL works...certainly a LOT better than countries with centuries (and even millenia in some cases) behind THEM.

    It might not be the BEST way to run a nation, but it's damn well WAY AHEAD of whatever is number 2.

    Must be something TO that old parchment that claims such STAYING POWER...
    Wonder if the "divine intervention" thing has anything to do with it, or the Founders' beliefs when they WROTE it, and accepted it as the law of OUR land?

    Some things are meant to be KEPT, because they stand for much more than anything that would govern us should we NOT have it in the first place.

    ((But hey, that's just my opinion.))

    Good post.

    Stay safe up there.

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    1. Of course the Constitution is the best form of government ever devised. And Obama's out there swallowing flies. Wish he'd get to the damn horse soon!

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  6. I heard this yesterday too and about drove off the road, CW!! You captured the feeling exactly - take it back from who?

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    1. Oh, the poor liberals! We harrass them and make their lives such a living hell. No wonder they want to get back to a country where they aren't constantly being accused of being lazy, pandering pseudo-intellectuals!

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  7. Now I found this to be an interesting post, maybe because I am not American and find it interesting to know what Americans think about things

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    1. Stick with me, kid, you'll be so confused about America you'll think all the land is Disney World!

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  8. >> . . . Of course the Constitution is the best form of government ever devised. And Obama's out there swallowing flies. Wish he'd get to the damn horse soon!

    Ha!-Ha! Hear!-Hear!

    Excellent post, SEE DOUBLE YOU (CW).

    Of course what Professor Sadman conveniently chose to overlook is that the Constitution specifically states HOW it could be changed by succeeding generations should those generations decide that the document needs a nip, a tuck, or an overhaul.

    No, altering the Constitution is not a simple matter and for good reason: The Founding Fathers knew that any changes made ought not reflect fleeting whims but be the outgrowth of a need perceived by a strong majority of We The People and enacted by our representatives.

    The Constitution is NOT "a living document" (by which Liberals mean it can be shaped and reshaped with the stroke of a pen to better reflect their Socialist agenda), nor is the Constitution "a dead document" (meaning that it's etched in stone and is unalterable by future generations).

    What the Constitution IS: "The Supreme Law Of The Land" which can be adjusted when a large majority of We The People determine that it should be. But "The Supreme Law Of The Land" - the Constitution itself - DICTATES the only way by which it can be legally altered.

    For anyone to change anything in the Constitution in any manner other than how "The Supreme Law Of The Land" itself states it can be changed, that person has committed an illegal act against We The People, and strictly speaking, the change is NOT legally binding.

    Good blog bit, Bro!

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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