The Good Is The Enemy of The Perfect

Monty Pelerin / EconomicNoise.com

Ken in Tyler has responded to the Tom Lester piece on A Constitutional Convention?:

The demise of our Republic is not due to flaws within the Constitution. Rather it is caused by ignoring the principles and original intent of the authors and understood by the ratifiers. All three branches at the federal level are guilty of circumventing the limitations intentionally placed in that wonderful document.

The Congress has no concept of their authorized role within Article 1, Section 8.
The Courts have become filled with political hacks who have no desire to keep the other branches in check.
And for some time now, the chief executive, seeing that there is no limit to the power he might assume to his office, has become worse than King George ever was.

We the people have become we the sheeple and meekly permit- even invite- this assault on Liberty to continue. And now the “problems” can be fixed by some wordsmithing? Nay, the only thing that will keep us from continuing our decline is a change in the hearts of the people to reawaken the love of Liberty.

When the collapse finally arrives and the real pain of tyranny makes itself known to America, the best we can hope for is to rebuild with the existing Constitution as our guide and a commitment to hold fast to the principles of the Founders.

As Ken points out, there is nothing wrong with the Constitution. The problem is the men running the country that ignore this document.

There is an old saying: “the perfect is the enemy of the good.” It is a variant of the adage: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”. In short, both mean that you shouldn’t try to improve something that is working satisfactorily. In this particular case, we have something that isn’t working properly. But just what is it that is not working properly. It is not the Constitution.

Calling a Constitutional Convention seems to be a juxtaposition of one of the adages above. It is the equivalent of stating that “the good is the enemy of the perfect.” There is nothing wrong with the Constitution. It is as close to perfect as anyone has ever achieved. Does anyone really think this group of retarded pygmies in Washington can improve anything, no less the greatest document ever penned? I shudder to think of what these clowns would produce.

Our problem is not the operating system that we call The Constitution, it is the operators (and that seems to be an especially appropriate term for these slimy creatures that inhabit our government).

Another reader, Bill, offers these thoughts:

… the Constitution states that a convention shall be called upon two thirds applications of the several state legislatures. There is no requirement regarding same amendment subject or any other term or condition except that two thirds of the states must apply for a convention call. This means 34 states, 34 applications. You can read the applications from 49 states and their 748 applications at http://www.foavc.orgThe reason a convention has not occurred is not because the states have not applied but because Congress refuses to obey the Constitution and call the convention.

What good is it to change a nearly perfect document when you have imperfect people who are willing to ignore it or whatever changes might be made to it? Our problem has nothing to do with an old piece of parchment which represents the best attempt at limiting power and maximizing freedom ever produced. The problem lies with the criminals who won’t adhere to the laws and restrictions that they swore to uphold. That is the problem and that is what needs to be fixed.

That cannot be fixed by changing the Constitution. It likely can only be fixed with torches, pitchforks and plenty of tar and feathers.

http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/01/06/the-good-is-the-enemy-of-the-perfect/