[rayra on January 23, 2013 at 11:32 AM]

The Constitution was completed and issued for ratification in September, 1787. By the Fall of 1788, over 11 states had ratified it, some with amendments. This all occurred while the need for a Bill of Rights was hotly debated. Actually the first federal congress under the new Constitution considered those amendments including the Bill of Rights and, a list numbering 12 amendments was passed by the House and Senate and was sent to the states for ratification in the Fall of 1789. Ten of those were ratified by three fourths of the states by 1791.

Another one of the original 12 was finally ratified and entered as the 27th Amendment, in 1992. Here’s a brief post from yesterday on that one.

And remember, the Bill of Rights was put forward after the Constitution had been drafted and sent to the states, and added after it was ratified, for the sole purpose of spelling out what rights of individual citizens were immune to the controlling power of the Federal or State governments.

Dusty on January 23, 2013 at 10:12 AM

I’d always understood the we’re added at the constitutional convention as a counterbalancing compromise in order to secure the necessary votes for ratification from the anti-Federalists.

And “graffiti = racism” in 3…2…1…

NickelAndDime on January 23, 2013 at 8:58 AM

Yep. ‘graffiti’ = racist dog whistle. All the Journal-Listers will be saying so before Chris Mathews even gets on-air tonight. All the illiberal dipshits will seize up right there as their excuse to ignore the whole thing.

Blind people can drive cars. They just cannot do so on public rights-of-way. If they own a race track, or even a dirt oval in their back yard, they can drive it in those locations.

Dusty on January 23, 2013 at 10:18 AM

Ray Charles ones drove a car for a car commercial. They shot it out in the middle of nowhere. He said it was one of the coolest things he’d ever done.

BTW, for perspective, blind people can buy cars even if they can’t drive them.

[Happy Nomad on January 23, 2013 at 10:08 AM]

Blind people can drive cars. They just cannot do so on public rights-of-way. If they own a race track, or even a dirt oval in their back yard, they can drive it in those locations.

That’s nonsense, of course, especially because the crafters of the foundational legal document provided the mechanism to amend it to adapt the Constitution as the country sees fit.

Be careful in offering the casual suggestion that the process allows amendment of the Bill of Rights, or more specifically the first ten amendments of the Constitution. It is not so, they are inalienable rights of the people that are to be guaranteed by the Federal government, not rights given by the Federal government, a government, which, after all, is merely the collective representation of the people themselves, all of whom have the obligation not to infringe upon and none of whom have the right to do so.

And remember, the Bill of Rights was put forward after the Constitution had been drafted and sent to the states, and added after it was ratified, for the sole purpose of spelling out what rights of individual citizens were immune to the controlling power of the Federal or State governments.

Should Stevie Wonder be allowed to buy a firearm? Turns out it is legal. Stevie Wonder calls it part of our “crazy” gun laws. But where I come down is that it is a right and with that right comes a responsibility for being able to use it safely. Only the blind person can make that assessment.

BTW, for perspective, blind people can buy cars even if they can’t drive them.

Happy Nomad on January 23, 2013 at 8:22 AM

I am.

“That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

Obama falls into the trap. Captain James T Kirk frames the question right in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989), … “What does God need with a starship?”

Why does God need us to do anything ? God is God, the omnipotent.

Every time I head something like that uttered by Obama, I think of the Crusaders and the Jihadists, the holy warriors, who tell us they are going it for God. No, they are not. They are doing it for themselves. An omnipotent God just doesn’t work that way.

Use a handgun and a rifle to murder twenty and its the rifle that’s the pariah.

Obama sees the Constitution as something to smoke…

[Mooch rolls her eyes]

Electrongod on January 23, 2013 at 8:37 AM

Is it only a coincidence that if you pronounce Mooch backwards you get Choom? How can that be?

You don’t need Obamateurism every morning when you wake up with Obama.

Electrongod on January 23, 2013 at 8:26 AM

Ewwwwh! I did not need that image in my head.

“When absolutes are abandoned for principles, the U.S. Constitution becomes a blank slate for anyone’s graffiti.”

*blinks*

LaPierre 2016!! :D

BigGator5 on January 23, 2013 at 8:19 AM

And “graffiti = racism” in 3…2…1…

So tell me, based on this idiotic “absolutism” philosophy, when the next looney-tune maniac decides to invoke mass murder and mayhem with something like explosives or crossbows, who the hell will Obama and the Left go after then?

pilamaye on January 23, 2013 at 8:16 AM

We just better hope it’s not a white christian male.

[Mooch rolls her eyes]

Bishop on January 23, 2013 at 8:26 AM

Some states have parental-notification requirements, but in many of them a judge can order it set aside on a case-by-case basis. Teachers have been given seminars on exactly how to ‘help’ an underage student go through the court for such an order. Cuomo’s new proposal totally removed any requirement for parents to be informed by anyone; it’s up to the minor to decide if or when she intends/has had an abortion.

“When absolutes are abandoned for principles, the U.S. Constitution becomes a blank slate for anyone’s graffiti.”

“You say that as if it’s a BAD thing” – Barack Hussein Obama

That’s nonsense, of course, especially because the crafters of the foundational legal document provided the mechanism to amend it to adapt the Constitution as the country sees fit.

Well a lot of people don’t seem to understand that.
I often ask my HS students things about the Constitution. Especially the seniors.
They don’t seem to know much. From what I see, they aren’t getting educated on our government system continually. They hit a few things here & there throughout grade screwl, get US history in the 11th grade, which the Constitution is not being studied, & then they’ve got US Govt as a Sr.
This is not enough. They need a separate civics class & reduce the electives. You don’t need to add another requirement for graduation.

“When absolutes are abandoned for principles, the U.S. Constitution becomes a blank slate for anyone’s graffiti.”

Barack Obama does not want to draw graffiti on the United States Constitution, he wants to burn it to a cinder.