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March 9, 2005
Words and Meanings
onah Goldberg explores Justice Kennedy's Mind and provokes us with what it means to interpret the U.S. Constitution. Here's the opening paragraphs. (No, there are no typos in the first paragraph.)
This article points to areas I will explore later in the series of posts Evil Dictionaries and Money. Where should meaning reside in law and courts? To what extent do we allow changing definitions in the minds of humans, and when do we hold those minds to external language? Is it proper to amend the Constitution without resorting to its stated means of amending it?Imagine you were asked to protect, uphold, and defend the framfra of the United States of America. Or ask yourself, What if you were appointed to faithfully execute the queenestray of the land?
You'd be forgiven if, before holding up your right hand, you asked, "Uh, what's a framfra?" or "Could you explain what a queenestray is?" After all, you wouldn't want to take an oath that required you to kill puppies or watch Carrot Top movies. Mature, sensible people generally don't agree to obligations they don't understand.
But that is precisely what our elected and appointed leaders are asked to do today. When taking office, they swear an oath to protect, defend, and enforce the Constitution of the United States. Yet it is becoming more and more difficult to say exactly what that means. Sure, on one level, anybody can read what the Constitution says. But, apparently, knowing what it says doesn't necessarily mean we know what it means.
Stay tuned. (More Richard Mitchell to come.)
*** I'm going two-level with you.
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Posted by witnit at March 9, 2005 12:35 AM
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