Does anyone really know what it means to be an "Originalist"?

[rgusmc1]

 I was, foolishly, talking politics with a young Marine today.  He stated that one of his biggest problems with Democrats was that they are, in his words, too willing to change the "meaning" of the Constitution.  He then mentioned that he is a fan of the Tea Party movement because he is an "Originalist

Comments

[bonnie_halfelvn]

Originalists must want slavery and for women not to be allowed to vote.

[mellymell]

Well said.

[wildcard_47]

I love this entire post so much.

It's easy to see there's no big picture 'framer's intent,' even before the Alien & Sedition Acts. Even if you look back at the Madison Debates transcripts/the Constitutional drafting, there was no giant consensus regarding what would be 'constitutional' in the document and what wasn't. Just looking at how the issue of slavery was approached & how the 3/5ths Compromise came about proves that point.

tl;dr idiot Tea Party...UGH

[mishlai]

I really think the terms Conservative and Progressive sum up the spirit of the parties - one taking the essential stance that things were better yesterday, and the other that they will be better tomorrow.

I haven't found a neat pigeon-hole for myself. I'm sort of a liberal capitalist. Something like that.

Back to the Constitution, whatever intent may have been present on specific issues, one thing is clear: the framers intended for the Constitution to be a living document, one that could change as the nation changed. Even if there were a specific intent on some issue, I rather think the framers that we idolize would be pretty disappointed to find us living in this radically different world and still deferring to the thinkers of two centuries ago.

The country and Constitution are ours now, and our intellectual responsibilities cannot be delegated to dead men from the time of carriages and muskets.

[tripartite]

Whatever the reason for the growth of the Originalist philosophy, that pesky part of me that's ruled by logic and knowledge can't get over the fact that IT'S NOT BASED ON ANYTHING REAL!

So they are copies with no original? I believe that's called a "stand alone complex." ;)

Seriously though, perhaps it's the concept they're aiming for and not the reality. It's a nice thought that the founding fathers were all on the same page.