General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs our Constitution obsolete?
There is no way in hell that our founders that wrote the Constitution wanted the President, or the Executive, to have the powers that are bestowed upon the office at this time.
We seem to have gradually evolved back to the power of George III?
Yes, there is a memo in a drawer at the DOJ that says a "president" cannot be prosecuted for breaking the law while he is in power?
Yes, the "president" has the power to nominate whomever he wants and the Legislature should never question his judgement?
Now, the "president" is immune from prosecution, even for treason, or even if found guilty by a jury of his peers, so long as he is in power?
We are no longer living under the same Constitution that was envisioned by the founders of this nation.

50 Shades Of Blue
(11,056 posts)Irish_Dem
(63,087 posts)Only of interest to historians and cultural anthropologists.
Beringia
(4,800 posts)

Irish_Dem
(63,087 posts)kentuck
(113,152 posts)Can you explain a bit further?
ForgedCrank
(2,517 posts)This is not the case, The President is still constrained by The Constitution
I would like to see a copy of this because there is nothing stating that The President can just break laws however he wants. There are very specific qualifiers that must be present in order to protect a President from prosecution. If Trump walked out into the street on 5th Ave like he said and shot an innocent person just for fun, he would be going to Prison.
The nominees will need to be voted on as always in order to to be approved. Whether we like it or not, the majority vote will decide it in the Senate
Tis is also simply not true. the rulings simply reinforce the guidelines already in place. The difference is that a President has to be convicted by the Senate rather than the normal justice system. This is in place for a reason too. Can you imagine what Trump would have done to Hillary had this not been the rule?
-misanthroptimist
(1,255 posts)The ideals, in general, definitely aren't out of date. However, the structural and procedural elements are archaic.
Not to worry. I am working on a new Constitution even as I post this.
CrispyQ
(38,946 posts)Yeah, the Constitution needs serious revision & updating to get rid of the rich-white-man bias but it's a living document with built-in mechanics to change it. The problem is our electoral process, which has been turned into a profit-making industry, & the very people who can change that are some of the ones who benefit greatly from it.
Response to CrispyQ (Reply #8)
PeaceWave This message was self-deleted by its author.
maxsolomon
(35,689 posts)It's useful for political veneration, if less so for Democracy.
dickthegrouch
(3,867 posts)It is anachronistic and these days requires more work to update it than was originally designed for. It is a whole lot easier to get 3/4 of 13 states to agree than the same proportion of 50. Proportional Representation would make a lot more sense today.
Changing wording from equal to equitable in most places would also be fairer and cause billionaires to have to pay more in taxes for instance.
Response to kentuck (Original post)
PeaceWave This message was self-deleted by its author.
jalan48
(14,645 posts)American's need to believe we are still a democracy, otherwise all hell would break loose and that wouldn't work well for the oligarchs.
Johonny
(22,638 posts)Judges live too long and politically game their exit, and simply congress doesn't function. We live in a vastly faster pace ld society and the inability of a gridlock led congress to address any modern problem leaves the executive branch to assume more and more power.
kacekwl
(7,837 posts)certainly needs to be updated but not in the way Republicans want.
Mysterian
(5,278 posts)The electoral college is how we ended up with a corrupt supreme court which is how we got Citizens United, which gave us unbridled plutocracy.
Clouds Passing
(3,480 posts)






Our new affable elder statesman told the truth that one time when he said its just a goddamned piece of paper.
If it were anything other than that trump wouldnt be rubber stamped into office. The Supreme Court is just making shit up as they see fit. Its all a pathetic joke and those who swore to uphold and protect it laugh in our faces while violating it. Just like international law. Its flexible for those with the most guns.
OldBaldy1701E
(7,042 posts)The corruption could be removed once we remove the party that is trying to destroy the country. Then, we could start tweaking the thing back to where it should be.