I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_Pg1of4_AC.jpg">National Archives</a>/Wikimedia Commons

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


The conservative fetish with the Constitution came to a new apex on Thursday, when lawmakers read the document aloud on the House floor—not quite in its entirety—at the behest of the new Republican majority. But even as they lavished praise on the venerated document, some Republicans were quick to ennumerate the ways they’d love to change it—as well as radically reinterpret its provisions.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) was slated to read out one of the last sections of the Constitution, but he was bumped off after other lawmakers had already finished the job. (Most of the passages weren’t divvied up beforehand.) Had he had his druthers, however, Gingrey said he would like to have read the 14th Amendment—precisely because he wanted to change the way it was interpreted. The amendment, Gingrey reminded reporters, is about “birthright citizenship and anchor babies.” He added: “I would have liked to have read Section 5 of the 14th amendment—that gives us, the Congress, the right to make changes with regard to that.” Gingrey, in fact, has already become a co-sponsor of an anti-birthright citizenship bill, introduced on Wednesday by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), that opponents have quickly described as unconstitutional. (Other right-wing opponents of birthright citizenship have demanded full repeal of the 14th Amendment.)

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) did get his chance to step up to the podium, and he got a choice selection at that: He read the 10th Amendment limiting federalism, which right-wing activists frequently seize upon in their battles against Big Government. But Goodlatte, too, had his qualms with the sacred text. After Thursday’s reading, the Virginia Republican told reporters he had introduced not one but two balanced budget amendments: one that originally passed the House under then-Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America—but failed in the Senate—and another that would reduce the percentage of US gross domestic product that the federal government is constitutionally allowed to spend.

The GOP has long blasted Democrats for trying to mess with the intentions of the founding fathers—a sentiment that helped motivate Thursday’s dramatic reading. But Republicans certainly don’t have any qualms about charging ahead to demand drastic changes they’d like to see in the way the Constitution has been interpreted—and in the document itself.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate