John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN BY JILL ABRAMSON
“Brett Kavanaugh's nomination [to the US Supreme Court] is a victory for 'originalists'”
The "original intent" people in America are a strange group.
Their strongly-held beliefs about the Constitution closely resemble those of religious fundamentalists who believe the Bible is the literal word of God and not subject to interpretation.
The belief is a big part of what has been called the American Civic Religion with its Holy Writ (Constitution and Declaration of Independence), its Apostles (the constitutional Convention figures), its Judas (Benedict Arnold), its cross symbol (the flag), and even a form of Christ (Lincoln, as he is portrayed and not how he actually was), etc.
Of course, there were so many American Founders who descended from the Puritans (the Pilgrims) it should come as no surprise. In America, the Puritans (referred to as the Pilgrims and who feature heavily in Thanksgiving myths) are portrayed as the people fleeing religious oppression rather than what they were, intolerant religious extremists fleeing the law and public dislike. The influence of that nasty narrow group has been immense in America, even for many Americans no longer embracing Christianity.
The Constitution, which is so hallowed by this group, proved over the years to have many errors and still has outdated undemocratic concepts, the Founders as a whole definitely not being people who embraced democracy.
In any event, it is indeed a strange belief that rules laid down in the 18th century should govern the 21st.
The net effect of the conservatism of the Supreme Court (and it has always been conservative by any meaningful measure, only varying in degree through its history) has been the growth of the modern dark state with its plutocratic elites, its duopoly of parties (who agree completely in all things imperial and militaristic), its immensely powerful lobbies, and the powerful agencies like the CIA and Pentagon who protect and serve the whole thing to keep it going.
All of the recent efforts of America in foreign affairs and now trade have been aimed at reasserting the American establishment’s world authority in the face of relative economic decline. That effort included Obama as much as it does Trump.
You may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/lessons-from-the-american-revolution/
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/reflections-on-the-origins-and-meaning-of-americas-independence-day-re-posted-from-6-years-ago-nothing-having-changed/
