Want to Understand the Constitution? Don’t Ask a Lawyer!
Most Americans say the Constitution is important. Most Americans say it’s crucial for the government to stay within its constitutional bounds. But what exactly are the constitutional limits on federal power? How do we know? Well, whatever you do, don’t ask a lawyer. Most of them know very little about the Constitution. I can already hear some people protesting. Lawyers know a lot about the Constitution. They learn constitutional law, for goodness sake! But read closely what I wrote. I didn’t say they don’t know a lot about constitutional law. I said they typically don’t know a lot about the Constitution. There’s a huge difference. Constitutional law is made up of a bunch of lawyers’ opinions about what the Constitution means. But that’s not how you understand …
Left and Right Agree: Don’t Nullify Because it Will Work!
From left to right, the mainstream agrees. Don’t nullify. Why? Because it might actually work. Last year, Ian Millhiser, Senior Fellow at the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress Action Fund and Editor of Justice at the establishment-liberal ThinkProgess.org, made that very argument against nullification in an article headlined Why a Bipartisan Move Against the NSA Could Kill the New Deal. He was all twisted up in knots because many on the left rallied behind efforts to nullify in practice mass NSA spying through state resistance. “This might seem like a good idea to NSA critics unhappy with President Obama’s reform proposals, but the constitutional theory it depends on is profoundly dangerous. It poses a serious threat to that liberal touchstone, a …