Zone1 What is the Conservative View of the United States Constitution

The people of the states get to determine their particular situation. Their constitutional rights protect them from the federal government. They are not inherent, nor are they universal. That was the whole point of federalism. And that is the government that was created in 1788. In a state, you have state laws. They were created by lawmakers elected to the state legislature by the people of the state.


This is zone one. There is nothing fascist about my statements as those are the same statements made by the founders. Read Federalist 45 if you need a refresher.

You can stop with the "I can't force you to take my point of view so I'll insult you" approach.


Roe was a violation of the 10th amendment. And you are correct, there is no right in there.


It's simply a different way of looking at it and how some people think the federal government can do things like that. The SCOTUS certainly thought they had a path making the call in 1973. As I said, it's a constant battle. The SCOTUS was wrong and that got corrected.


What I am saying is that the doctrine of incorporation didn't start until 1925, long after the 14th was passed. It was a fabrication by the SCOTUS based on ambiguous language in the 14th amendment. We didn't vote on it (incorporation). Some day, I hope we do. Roe was just dragged from Douglas' backside....sorry I brought it up...sheesh.



This site isn't the greatest, but the Lew Rockwell site is undergoing maintenance. There are several reasons this whole thing stinks....but I think this is the biggest....

But somewhere along the way, the true history of the Fourteenth Amendment's adoption has disappeared down a memory hole. When one reviews that history, it becomes clear why Pilon and Shankman prefer to discuss the amendment in the abstract, antiseptic terms of social contract theory. An "immaculate conception" account of ratification suits their argument better: the real story's a little too dirty for the kids.

We return to 1865. As the legally reconstituted Southern states were busy ratifying the anti-slavery Thirteenth Amendment, the Republican-dominated Congress refused to seat Southern representatives and Senators. This allowed the remaining, rump Congress to propose the Fourteenth Amendment, consistent with Article V's requirement of a 2/3 majority for sending a proposed amendment to the states. Never mind that Congress also clearly violated that Article's provision that "no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate."

Though the Northern states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, it was decisively rejected by the Southern and border states, failing to secure the 3/4 of the states necessary for ratification under Article V. The Radical Republicans responded with the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which virtually expelled the Southern states from the Union and placed them under martial law. To end military rule, the Southern states were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. As one Republican described the situation: "the people of the South have rejected the constitutional amendment and therefore we will march upon them and force them to adopt it at the point of the bayonet."

President Andrew Johnson saw the Reconstruction Act as "absolute despotism," a "bill of attainder against 9,000,000 people." In his veto message, he stated that "such a power ha[d] not been wielded by any Monarch in England for more than five hundred years." Sounding for all the world like Roger Pilon, Johnson asked, "Have we the power to establish and carry into execution a measure like this?" and answered, "Certainly not, if we derive our authority from the Constitution and if we are bound by the limitations which it imposes."

The rump Republican Congress overrode Johnson's veto and enacted statutes that shrank both the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction and the Court itself just in case the judicial branch got any funny ideas of its own about constitutionalism. Jackboot on its neck, the South ratified, but not before New Jersey and Ohio, aghast at Republican tyranny, rescinded their previous ratifications of the mendment. Even with the fictional consent of the Southern states, the republicans needed New Jersey and Ohio to put the amendment over the top. No matter; by joint resolution, Congress declared the amendment valid. Thus it you'll excuse the phrasing-- "passed into law."

The squalid history of the Fourteenth Amendment poses serious problems for Roger Pilon. Pilon's critique of the New Deal has always included withering scorn for FDR's extraconstitutional thuggery, in the form of the infamous Court-packing scheme. As Pilon tells the story, FDR muscled the Court into approving radical constitutional changes that could be enacted only by means of Article V's amendment process. The people never delegated to the federal government the powers it took for itself during the New Deal. But neither did they delegate to the federal goverment the powers it seized in 1868. Any New Deal aficionado who knows his history is entitled to wonder about Pilon's selective indignation: does he invoke the principles of consent and legitimacy only against constitutional changes he dislikes?
Wow! You put a lot of effort into not saying much but quoting opinions of people who agree with you. You advocate for states to be able to ignore rights enumerated by our Constitution. That is the epitome of fascism.

It's too bad that the real facts do not line up with your opinions.
 
If you have something to contribute, please do.

Otherwise, find another thread where you can type 10 sentences and say nothing of value.
Why? You just posted a whole bunch of nonsense. There was hardly a fact contained therein amongst all of the typos and misspellings.
 
Barron v. Baltimore (1833) is a landmark Supreme Court case that established that the Bill of Rights does not apply to state governments, specifically ruling that the Fifth Amendment's takings clause only restricts the federal government.

They were obviously wrong as the 14th Amendment corrected this.
In Post 48, you stated that the idea of state sponsored religion was challenged and you said it was in this case.

The idea of a state sponsored religion was never challenged. This was a challenge to federalism (of which the ability to have a state sponsored religion was a part....but that was never the focus in this case).

The SCOTUS was correct and the 14th is ambiguous in the due process clause. That is why SCOTUS has to pull incorporation out of it's collective ass in 1925, some 60 years after the 14th was ratified.

Again.....state sponsored religions were never challenged. They just went away on their own (which was a good thing in my estimation). Writing a dissent some 20 years ago, Clarence Thomas hinted that they could still be allowed to exist.

 
Why? You just posted a whole bunch of nonsense. There was hardly a fact contained therein amongst all of the typos and misspellings.
I am holding the purpose of the OP, which I posted.

If you don't like it, you are welcomed to bore someone else.

There were plenty of facts posted. You are the one misusing Barron.
 
Wow! You put a lot of effort into not saying much but quoting opinions of people who agree with you. You advocate for states to be able to ignore rights enumerated by our Constitution. That is the epitome of fascism.
And you clearly don't understand the scope of the Constitution.
 
It's too bad that the real facts do not line up with your opinions.
I had someone say the same thing about Roe when I told them there was no basis for the federal SCOTUS to stick it's nose in there.

And guess what ?

Also, I just showed you how, at least one SCOTUS judge says the Constitution can't prohibit states from establishing a state religion. Not something I want....but we are talking views of things might work if we had our say.

I am through arguing with you.

You clearly are more interested in demonstrating something other than a good knowledge of the issues at hand.
 
In Post 48, you stated that the idea of state sponsored religion was challenged and you said it was in this case.

The idea of a state sponsored religion was never challenged. This was a challenge to federalism (of which the ability to have a state sponsored religion was a part....but that was never the focus in this case).

The SCOTUS was correct and the 14th is ambiguous in the due process clause. That is why SCOTUS has to pull incorporation out of it's collective ass in 1925, some 60 years after the 14th was ratified.

Again.....state sponsored religions were never challenged. They just went away on their own (which was a good thing in my estimation). Writing a dissent some 20 years ago, Clarence Thomas hinted that they could still be allowed to exist.

No, I said it was reviewed whether states had to uphold the rights granted by the Constitution. Religions is one of those rights, don't you agree?

It wasn't pulled out of its ass. This issue was First Amendment rights that New York didn't believe in! It was a 7-2 decision by the way. Hardly a cliffhanger decision.

Justice Thomas was obviously having a bad day when he wrote that dissent because it flies in the face of everything he has ever stood for.
 
I had someone say the same thing about Roe when I told them there was no basis for the federal SCOTUS to stick it's nose in there.

And guess what ?

Also, I just showed you how, at least one SCOTUS judge says the Constitution can't prohibit states from establishing a state religion. Not something I want....but we are talking views of things might work if we had our say.

I am through arguing with you.

You clearly are more interested in demonstrating something other than a good knowledge of the issues at hand.
You are a funny guy! You create a thread and then get pissed off when people can show you are wrong in your assumptions. Are you sure you are not a liberal at heart? You seem to want to make the Constitution say what you think it says instead of what it actually does.
 
No, I said it was reviewed whether states had to uphold the rights granted by the Constitution. Religions is one of those rights, don't you agree?
I said state sponsored religion was never challenged. You said it was. You were wrong. We were not talking federalism.
It wasn't pulled out of its ass. This issue was First Amendment rights that New York didn't believe in! It was a 7-2 decision by the way. Hardly a cliffhanger decision.
60 years after the fact, you bet it was. Took them a long time to find up their digestive tracts.

BTW: Roe was a 7-2 decision also.

Justice Thomas was obviously having a bad day when he wrote that dissent because it flies in the face of everything he has ever stood for.
Did he ever say that? No. You lose.

We are done.
 
It was necessary to have a federal government powerful enough to ensure that the various states could function as one cohesive nation and not do economic or physical violence to each other.
Clearly the Federal Government needed teeth. That was the issue with the government formed by the Articles of Confederation......NO TEETH.
Also a central government that could do what the individual states could not realistically do themselves such as make trade agreements that promoted the general welfare instead of just targeted constituencies, provide the general defense, establish a common currency, etc.
No argument here. To the outside world, we are one nation. Internally, we had (and still have) a lot of latitude when it comes to customizing our areas to our liking.

It was important to restrict the federal government to those functions and ONLY those functions that the private sector or the various states could not reasonably do as efficiently or effectively themselves.
One of our problems here is the metrics you would use to determine if this is actually occurring. Some have called Social Security great. While others have called it a great fraud. How do you decide? That can't happen at the end, it has to be established up front.

And of course to recognize, secure and defend the unalienable rights of the people so that they could form themselves into whatever sorts of societies they wished to be and govern themselves.
I am not sure what you are saying here and it is a key contention (if you've read the past page and a half). The Constitution formed a federal government and protects people from abuse by the federal government. With respect to the states, it clarrifies things in terms of scope and perview.

However, states were pretty much free to do whatever. They knew that the 2nd would not stop state governemnt from enacting gun laws. That is why 44 of 50 states have the equivalent of the 2nd amendment in their state constitutions. That is one of the laughers of incorporation.

Somehow, people think the 2nd protects them from states and cities taking their guns away. If it were not for incoproration (which I truly hate), they could.....except their state constitutions prohibits that from happening. Not sure what the other 6 do.
 
Are you a conservative? Just asking.

What, in the current constitution, displeases you and why?
I don't think that any document is "perfect", and even if it was perfect like the Bible, can simply ignore it as they do today.

In fact, Bible and the Constitution have this in common, and that is, they are warnings that most unfortunately ignore.

Ben Franklin had it right regarding the Constitution, in that it will only prevail so long as the moral fabric of society prevails. Once that moral fabric is gone, so will the Constitution and the Republic.

As I have always said, take a moral people and they will fix an imperfect government, but take a perfect government and turn it over to the hands of an amoral people, and they will ruin it.

But how does one improve the moral fabric of society? More than one Founder mentioned the importance of the church in maintaining this, as they viewed that only a religious people could be a free people, because you either regulate your own moral actions, or the state must be forced to do it for you which forces the state to take away all your freedoms.

But I don't think the Founders had a clue about such religions as Islam. Even though many view it as a legitimate religion, I'm not sure how Islam has improved any society in which it flourishes. In fact, it is quite the opposite as every Islamic dominated society leads the world in terrorism and violence and oppression. I simply don't know how virtue can spring from Mohammad who started their religion, someone who converted with the sword, viewed women as property, and married a 6-year-old child. It is no small accident that these Islamic societies all act as Mohammad did. And no, Sharia law does not make one virtuous as we see across the world.
 
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Clearly the Federal Government needed teeth. That was the issue with the government formed by the Articles of Confederation......NO TEETH.

No argument here. To the outside world, we are one nation. Internally, we had (and still have) a lot of latitude when it comes to customizing our areas to our liking.


One of our problems here is the metrics you would use to determine if this is actually occurring. Some have called Social Security great. While others have called it a great fraud. How do you decide? That can't happen at the end, it has to be established up front.


I am not sure what you are saying here and it is a key contention (if you've read the past page and a half). The Constitution formed a federal government and protects people from abuse by the federal government. With respect to the states, it clarrifies things in terms of scope and perview.

However, states were pretty much free to do whatever. They knew that the 2nd would not stop state governemnt from enacting gun laws. That is why 44 of 50 states have the equivalent of the 2nd amendment in their state constitutions. That is one of the laughers of incorporation.

Somehow, people think the 2nd protects them from states and cities taking their guns away. If it were not for incoproration (which I truly hate), they could.....except their state constitutions prohibits that from happening. Not sure what the other 6 do.
Yes, apart from the very limited requirements and controls the federal government put on the states in the original intent of the Constitution, the Founders had a deep belief that when allowed to to do, with reasonable controls to ensure they did not do physical or economic violence to each other, the people in each state or local community should be allowed to form whatever sorts of societies they wanted to have. But people were free to move from state to state as they wanted or to move back to Europe or to explore and settle the yet uncharted territories to the west. So nobody was required to participate in any specific society.

Thus you had some who started out as essentially little theocracies, some much more flexible, some embracing their 'hellfire' days over the next several decades. The Founders allowed each state to try its own systems, policies, laws, etc. knowing some would get it more right than others. But each states would be its own little laboratory of sociopoltical economics where its mistakes and trial and error would not affect everybody else. All could learn from the mistakes and successes of others and gradually most would get it right. Which is what happened.

All those little theocracies had dissolved by the turn of the 19th Century and no new ones developed. Over time the more lawless areas became much more civilized and governed by law/social contract rather than anarchy.

The great American experiment of government of, by and for the the people rather than monarchy, Church authority, dictatorship, feudalism, etc. turned out to be more successful than even the Founders had imagined. Most of the more serious mistakes had been corrected. As happened in Europe, Mexico, Canada, etc., we abolished slavery.

And the USA became the most powerful, most free, most prosperous, most democratic, most benevolent nation on Earth.
 
What is the advantage of having a state sponsored religion? For example, if Virginia declared Christianity to be its official and favored religion, what would Virginia gain? What would Christianity gain?
 
What is the advantage of having a state sponsored religion? For example, if Virginia declared Christianity to be its official and favored religion, what would Virginia gain? What would Christianity gain?
The only advantage would be to the church itself (the sponsored one). It could get government support.

In general, this was picking "winners and losers" (if there is such a thing in religious competition).

And most didn't see much which is why this was slowly written out of several state constitutions.

It's not a place for government to be.

However, government should also not be in the business of shutting down religion in the public arena as it does now.
 
Most of the more serious mistakes had been corrected.
And one HUGE MISTAKE was committed in the adoption of the 17th amendment which structurally weakened the Constitutional Government it originally established.
 
15th post
The United States Constitution formed the Federal Government. The Constitution spelled out at functions for the Federal Government. The Bill of Rights also provided specifics around things like religion, free speech, arms, and other things.

But, we are in a constant battle regarding what constrains or unconstrains our Federal Government. The courts, constant challenges and outright disregard all have a hand in how things proceed.

Curious to know, from conservatives what their view of the constitution is and how that view affects what is determined by the U.S. Constitution.

Rules:

1. Disagreement is encouraged in a productive way. No absolute pronouncments.
2. No bashing of those on the other side or their opinions.
3. No predictions of the future.
The purpose of the Constitution was to constitute a new government, like you say. It was to regulate the government, which was to discharge constitutionally specific duties.

Now, since the Progressive Era, it not only regulates the government, but it also regulates the people.

The left has corrupted it.
 
The only advantage would be to the church itself (the sponsored one). It could get government support.

In general, this was picking "winners and losers" (if there is such a thing in religious competition).

And most didn't see much which is why this was slowly written out of several state constitutions.

It's not a place for government to be.

However, government should also not be in the business of shutting down religion in the public arena as it does now.
How do you see the government shutting down religion in the public arena?

It seems to me that if a religion enlists the force of government (approval) to sustain the religion somehow, that suggests that the religion is weak and cannot stand on its own.
 
The oath to protect and defend, I presume. Yes, so did I.

The larger point I'm trying to make is that the document does not make a single command to any citizen. If you know of one, I would appreciate your pointing it out.

The document simply creates the federal government, our liberty grants it specific and enumerated powers, defines the relationship with the states who created the federal government, and defines the rights retained by we the people in creating this government meant to serve us.
That seems to be the problem.( Meant to serve us.)
Not the whims of either political party.
 
That seems to be the problem.( Meant to serve us.)
The government has a very narrow (specific) function.

That it now performs hundreds of functions not included in the constitution tells you how bad things are.

In my world, all that gets repealed. Some of it over decades because things like S.S. are not going away overnight.

Or pass an amendment specifically for S.S.
 

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