Fred Thompson: The Constitution is Not a “Living, Breathing Documentâ€
Posted on January 18, 2008
Fast forward to about 4 minutes.
I firmly believe that the Constitution must be interpreted according to its original meaning, and flatly reject the notion of a “living Constitution.â€
Fred Thompson says…woah, I don’t think so partner!
This morning I heard that one of the other candidates commented that the Constitution is a “living, breathing document.â€
Frankly, I assumed this came from Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. It is identical to what Al Gore said when he was running for President in 2000, when he said he would look for judges “who understand that our Constitution is a living, breathing document, that it was intended by our founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people.â€
Imagine my surprise when I learned that this statement actually came from my opponent, Governor Huckabee, in an interview with CNN this morning. Now I know Governor Huckabee was talking about amending the Constitution, but I don’t think he understood that he was using code words that support judicial activism.
He does not appear to understand that reliance on the notion that the Constitution is a living, breathing document is precisely the kind of wrong-headed thinking about the Constitution that gave us Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion across our nation, and Lawrence v. Texas, which decriminalized sodomy.
I do not believe the Constitution is a living, breathing document. I am committed to appointing strict constructionist judges to the bench if I am elected President, strict constructionists who believe the Constitution has a fixed meaning that can be applied to cases that come before the courts today. They do NOT believe the Constitution is a “living, breathing document,†whose meaning, constantly changing with the sifting sands of our culture, can be determined and applied by unelected judges.
I fear that this loose language about our Constitution calls into question Governor Huckabee’s appreciation and understanding of the issue of judicial activism and raises questions as to what kind of judges he would appoint were he to become President.
I really hope you are listening South Carolina.
Protein Wisdom: What do you do with a candidate like Mike Huckabee? Part IV
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, ACLU, Elections, News, Politics As Usual, Video
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9 Responses to “Fred Thompson: The Constitution is Not a “Living, Breathing Document—
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Huckabee is like most politicians; he will say anything he thinks will get him elected. I hope everyone is listening!
ol’ Huckabee came out and said yet another idiotic liberal statement
Exactly what part of amending the Constitution to follow God is liberal? That’s a religious conservative’s wet dream last time I checked
Man, every time Thompson gets it together and really articulates his vision, he hits a home run. I really hope he is the nominee. One guy has Jesus, one guy has terrific hair, one guy was a great mayor on 9/11, one was a POW, and on and on. I don’t believe any of them will fight for the important causes. I think they’ll get along and go along, and we’ll have more education bills with Kennedy, more entitlements (donut hole bill), more “guest workers”, and more bailouts.
When he talks about judges I imagine an endless parade of Scalia’s, Thomas’s and Alito’s swarming on to every Federal bench. It almost makes me think we can salvage what is left of our liberty.
Fred Thomson is either mistaken or intentionally lying since he should know quite well the Mr. Huckabee was speaking of using the Amendment process that is provided in the U.S. Constitution. It makes you wonder what other mistakes he is willing to make in order to obtain his agenda. He backed McCaine over Bush in the 2000 election even though Bush is closer to Reagan on his stances. Now he is targeting the same people Huckabee is targeting and attacking Huckabee at every opportunity. I wonder if he is really trying to win or is instead helping his ally.
Kerwin is correct. The Constitution was designed to change (albeit slowly) so long as Article 5 is followed.
I appreciate Fred’s willingness to talk the talk about federalism, but his Issues page shows that he blatantly ignores the 10th amendment almost as often as a typical politician.
The Arkansas Moron, Mike Huckabee,ought to go back to Arkansas and they there. The only thing which precludes Huckabee from being a joke is that his not funny.
The term Living Constitution has an accepted meaning or which Huckabee was either endorsiug or of which he was ignorant. Neither befits a president.
The constitution as a living breathing document makes it as valuable as ..say..last year’s SuperBowl tickets.
You can’t call a yardstick anything you want folks, for a reason. The constitution is also a standard -one by which law is to be measured.
Flexibility is through amendment only not pennumbras and emminations and lawmakers in black robes.
If you want to see what the true FRAUD Huckabee is visit
http://www.pinnaclecascade.com/huckabee.html and http://www.pinnaclecascade.com/huck2.html
No logins, no signups, no registrations, no blogs, no commentaries, no emails; just the facts.
We don’t need a Republican Jimmy Carter.
Most liberas reject the constitution just like all socialists do