The "Constitutional" Argument

[Johnfromokc]

Is it not interesting how politicians and special interest groups cite the U.S. constitution as grounds to support their positions or to oppose positions they are against?

One of the most cited arguments is "States Rights". This has been used to justify all kinds of things, including slavery, and denying women the right to vote.

"States Rights" has been used to argue against universal health care coverage for all Americans.

"States Rights" has been used to argue against Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, and welfare programs that help the poor and lower working class Americans.

These same people that argue "States Rights" on the one hand, will argue the "Interstate Commerce" clause to work around the "States Rights" argument when it suits them.

So many cite the constitution as somehow sacred; but the fact is that it has been bastardized and twisted to suit various special interests since the day it was written.

Case in point:

RIGHTS, BUT NOT FOR EVERYBODY
The Bill of Rights seemed to be written in broad language that excluded no one, but in fact, it was not intended to protect all the people - whole groups were left out. Women were second-class citizens, essentially the property of their husbands, unable even to vote until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed and ratified.

Native Americans were entirely outside the constitutional system, defined as an alien people in their own land. They were governed not by ordinary American laws, but by federal treaties and statutes that stripped tribes of most of their land and much of their autonomy. The Bill of Rights was in force for nearly 135 years before Congress granted Native Americans U.S. citizenship.

And it was well understood that there was a "race exception" to the Constitution. Slavery was this country's original sin. For the first 78 years after it was ratified, the Constitution protected slavery and legalized racial subordination. Instead of constitutional rights, slaves were governed by "slave codes" that controlled every aspect of their lives. They had no access to the rule of law: they could not go to court, make contracts, or own any property. They could be whipped, branded, imprisoned without trial, and hanged. In short, as one infamous Supreme Court opinion declared: "Blacks had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."


It would take years of struggle and a bloody civil war before additional amendments to the Constitution were passed, giving slaves and their descendants the full rights of citizenship - at least on paper:

• The 13th Amendment abolished slavery;

• The 14th Amendment guaranteed to African Americans the rights of due process and equal protection of the law;

• The 15th Amendment gave them the right to vote

But it would take a century more of struggle before these rights were effectively enforced.

http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice_...m_immigrants-rights/bill-rights-brief-history

And then comes the "Patriot Act", which essentially dissolved the entire Bill of Rights for those arrested under its provisions.

It looks to me that if one has enough money, power and influence, one can get around that pesky constitution and get on with business.

Thoughts?