The Joplin Globe - Online Editions: "Mr. Justice Scalia was kind enough to sum up the idea before dismissing it as idiotic. 'That's the argument of flexibility,' he explained, 'and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break.'
Which is a fair enough summation of what those of us who speak of a living Constitution mean by the phrase. You can see why the judge did so well in law school. Alas, his wind-up produces only a beanball:
'But you would have to be an idiot to believe that. The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things.'
The justice makes the Constitution of the United States sound like a real estate lease or a last will and testament - and even some of those may be subject to different interpretations over the years."
Sigh. Moses came down the mountain with ten rules. They have not changed. So why aren't the strict interpretist crowd living by those rules. You know, like that not killing thing, and that not fornicating with your neighbor's wife thing. So strictly speaking, why can't I carry a gun to school and smoke crack on the street corner? The Constitution doesn't say I can't do that. Hmmm.
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