Since I arrived in Washington, I have found it awash with people who viewed the Constitution as a nuisance. There was an attorney general who vouched for a legislative proposal that would give the District of Columbia representation in Congress, even though experts within his own Department of Justice explained that the Constitution allows only states such representation. There was a president who bullied and badgered the Supreme Court after it issued a free-speech decision with which he disagreed. And there was an outgoing Speaker of the House who, when asked about the constitutional authority for Obamacare, answered with scorn and incredulity by simply replying, “Are you serious? Are you serious?”
Even in the Republican Party, far too many elected officials have been reluctant to engage the public in a meaningful constitutional discourse. President George W. Bush, for example, signed the McCain-Feingold Act even though he knew major parts of it violated Americans’ right to free speech. He explained that “certain provisions present serious constitutional concerns,” but in a shocking abrogation of his duty to defend the Constitution, he washed his hands of responsibility by saying, “I expect that the courts will resolve these legitimate legal questions.” When the Supreme Court did exactly that in Citizens United, liberals went wild, heaping on the Court the criticism Bush had deflected and that continues to this day.
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