The fundamental problem with the politics of so many is stated by a Washington Post 'journalist' here:
Key statements:
"It [The US Constitution] has no binding power on anything."
"The issue is that the text is confusing because it was written more than a hundred years ago." (It was published September 17, 1787, 223 years ago.)
H/T to TAH, Iowahawk, and Ace of Spades.
If this were just one stupid pundit, we could all sit back and laugh at him and the education system that produced him, but it's not. Several politicians in the last year have issued supporting statements to his ideology, i.e. that they will do what they want because the Constitution may not allow it, but no one is able to force them to act within its constraints.
Though the prevalent precedent is for politicians and judges to ignore the constraints of the Constitution, in favor of empathy and political platform, in favor of an ever increasing federal government, the legislation which is unConstitutional is just as illegal as it would be if the people in power abided by Constitutional Constraints.
The Klein statements are valid, only in that those in power have acted illicitly, with impunity, against the constraints of the Constitution. Those actions are no more made legal by the lack of action against them, than does possession of heroin become legal because a police officer watched a junkie shoot up.
Others have told us the Constitution is a "living document," and the statement is true, but not their "interpretation." The founders provided a means of amending the Constitution so that it would not require a complete rewrite if something was compelling enough to change a small part. What its living status does not mean is what they mean, that elitists get to change the meaning of what it says. The only way of changing the Constitution is to amend it, which is a necessarily difficult process.
Unfortunately, too few have bothered to read the Constitution, but those that have can see it is written in plain English using absolutes like "shall not." The true power of the Constitution is its brevity and simple language. Contrast it to recent legislation like Obamacare and one can see how the KISS principle is so powerful. Even as some political stripes attempt to eradicate education about the Constitution, they also try to convince the people that it's too daunting a document for them to understand. The same tact used in the Middle Ages when priests were teaching that paying indulgences to the priesthood was the path to heaven. The same tact used by Islamists who simultaneously promote illiteracy while telling their prey to commit cardinal sins.
Ignorance is a tyrant's ally.
George Washington said the Constitution's "only keepers" are "the people." Read it, know it, quote it when your politicians subvert it. And understand why the founders wanted your city leaders to control as much of your government as it could and for the federal government to wield only the power it must.
When you vote for mayor, your vote is one of thousands. When you vote for a Representative, your vote is one in hundreds of thousands. When you vote for a Senator, one in millions. When you vote for President, one in hundreds of millions. Which one is most likely to care when you call their office? Which one is more likely to be swayed by the position of your neighborhood? Which one is most likely to blow you off as clinging to your guns and religion?