I Can See Clearly Now!

I just had a revealing Twitter exchange with a woman who is a criminal defense attorney of 35 years in San Francisco and a self-described unrepentant liberal. She initially responded to my complaints about Barack Obama by reminding me that he was elected by a majority of Americans and telling me that I should just get over it. I replied that if a mob does a stupid thing, it is still a stupid thing. There ensued a discussion about democracy, majority rule, the Constitution and a republican form of government. While she avowed her understanding and allegiance to the Constitution and the concept of republican government, all of her arguments trumpeted pure democracy and majority rule. I'm not sure if she was being intentionally disingenuous or really did not understand her contradictions. Either way, it's very disconcerting. I am coming to believe that liberals, Democrats, the ruling class; whatever you want to call them simply believe that if a party or politician wins a majority of support they can go forth and do whatever they darn well please. They believe that winning a majority gives them permission to ignore and subvert the constitutional constraints and limits on their power to do things to the minority. That is pure democracy, which is pure majority rule, which is mob rule, which is tyranny. She was aghast that I would label pure majority rule as mob rule. She felt that I was disavowing the Constitution. How could she have passed Constitutional Law 101? It is this mentality that has lead to the bastardization, misinterpretation and misapplication of the rather narrow Interstate Commerce Clause to give unlimited carte blanche power to the federal government. At the same time they must completely ignore Article 1, Section 8 as if it does not even exist. Liberalism is indeed a mental disorder. It is the ability to hold two diametrically opposing ideas in the mind at the same time with no stress or anxiety. If the Interstate Commerce Clause does give the feds unlimited power to act however the majority chooses, why on earth did the Framers bother to write Article 1, Section 8? Sort of begs the question. It is because the Framers did not intend for the Interstate Commerce Clause to anoint unlimited power upon the federal government! They saw it as merely a means to prohibit the various States from erecting unreasonable limitations to the movement of goods across their borders to and from other States. AND THAT's IT! That understanding is why the Framers then went on to write Article 1, Section 8 to specifically describe the powers and limits of the federal government. The two portions of the Constitution were not mutually exclusive in the minds of the Framers, BUT THEY ARE TO LIBERALS! To liberals, Article 1, Section 8 limits the power of the majority which is why they simply act as if it does not even exist in the Constitution. They vest all of their energy and interest in their bizarre interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause because in their minds that gives the majority unfettered power--WHICH IS WHAT THEY SEEK! This woman has made it all perfectly clear. And it doesn't matter whether this mindset is intentional or instinctual, the outcome is the same. And the outcome is just as dangerous, which is why we must resolutely oppose it at every turn.