About two weeks ago, the missus and I took the D.C. Metro into the city to see the Japanese Cherry Blossoms (we live in Northwest Maryland). We walked from the Smithsonian Metro stop to the Tidal Basin, where the blossoms were truly in full, beautiful bloom. Of course, the place was
packed with people, everybody from native Washingtonians to tourists from all points on the map. We stopped every so often to rest our feet, take in the breathtaking scenery...and see if the many vendors along the path had run out of bottled water.
We finally made it to the Jefferson Memorial, right at the tip of the Tidal Basin. We lingered for a moment at the crowded steps of the memorial, watching a troop of Japanese dancers perform on a makeshift stage. Then up the steps and into the memorial we went. After a quick visit to the gift shop on the lower level, we walked into the Rotunda and read the words of The Great Man himself inscribed on the walls. Of all the inscriptions, this one struck me the most:
I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
(Emphasis mine)
Why did that particular quote strike me above all the others? Because of Antonin Scalia's consistent denigrating of the idea of our Constitution as a "living document," and his stance that we must intrepret the Constitution according to the original intent of the Founding Fathers.
Fat Tony needs to head over to the Jefferson Memorial and truly learn what a Founding Father really thought about the Constitution.