Ron Paul poised to take on the Fed at head of financial subcommittee

[DeistPaladin]

The constitution is but a prop, a luxury for the superstitious, whose fundamental efficacy in ensuring the survival of the constitutional system is much less than that of ensuring the persistence of those social and economic realities.

If nothing else, it ensures one critical aspect for a fair and just democracy: guard against what Alexis D'Tocqueville called "tyranny of the majority".

In a pure democracy, there's nothing that stops a majority from bullying an unpopular minority or treating them as second class citizens. Our constitution helps guard against that both by establishing a strict separation of church and state as well as making sure that the rights of minorities are respected.

This is not to say the system is perfect. We still have fundies trying to erode the wall between church and state. Civil rights was and is a long, difficult struggle. Still, the constitution is what allows us to stay within certain boundaries and offer a framework by which we can address these problems in ways a pure democracy could not.

It also ensures that change will occur slowly. Given the mood swings we American voters seem to have, I think this is a good thing for us. Give us a British or Canadian-style parliamentary democracy and you can bet we'd have a new Prime Minister every two years! We'd give the Italians a run for their money on who could have the least stable government.