Tonight on MSNBC-TV Brian Williams is interviewing Pres. George W. Bush about the Iraq War and the decisions relating to it.
President Bush cited as progress in the war effort that Iraq had adopted a constitution which the Iraqis will in the future improve on.
We improved on our own Constitution the president said, "It's a living document."
I almost fell out of my chair to hear the conservative, Republican president characterize the Constitution as a "living document," considering that Justice Scalia, one of the most conservative constitutional law interpreters on the planet, dislikes that characterization with an intensity that would be difficult to overstate. As best I understand him, the constitution is a piece of paper that was written in 1787 and the text hasn't changed at all, except for an amendment here and there. All the rest of constitutional law is less legitimate stuff read into the Constitution by 'activist' judges, particular the liberal ones of the Warren Court. You know, the Court that declared segregation a violation of equal protection when based on race in the public arena, such as schools, at first, and polling booths, restaurants, hotels, parks, beaches, golf courses, etc., later, with a boost from the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, which the Court found constitutional over opposition; and the Court that uncovered a right of privacy in 1965 in the Constitution in a decision called Griswold that led to Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas.
I'm glad to hear my president say on national TV that the Constitution is a living document, just as so many students claim on exams (they also say that it 'evolves,' but I don't want to get into evolution here. I'm still looking for the intelligent design). I guess this tells Justice Scalia that his view of the Constitution is not shared by all conservative Republicans.
Bush for the Supreme Court!