The Cynical Talk About a ‘Constitutional Crisis’ | The American Spectator

Since Donald Trump resumed the presidency in January, there has been a lot of talk about his bold, aggressive actions creating a constitutional crisis. Alas, those complaints ring hollow. They are decades too late, and most of those jabbering about such a crisis have themselves been chronic mutilators of the very Constitution they now suddenly pretend to care about.
Let me be frank: I am a constitutional pessimist. Don’t get me wrong — I hold our Constitution in the highest regard; I revere it. It embodies the pinnacle of wisdom and enlightenment in a governing document. Nobody should blame the Constitution for our pathetic predicament of having a federal government that is $37 trillion in debt and leaders who can’t agree on an off-ramp for this fiscal insanity.
For generations, too many Americans have lacked the moral integrity to honor the Constitution and abide by the limits on governmental mischief that it imposes.
The fault is with “we the people,” not our Constitution. For generations, too many Americans have lacked the moral integrity to honor the Constitution and abide by the limits on governmental mischief that it imposes. The Constitution, as noble as it is, is not self-enforcing. It is simply a codification of principles and guidelines that are only as effective as American voters and politicians allow them to be.
Years ago, I wrote that the Constitution had become more or less a dead letter due to the insidious notion that it is “a living, breathing document” that can accommodate every whim of avaricious special interests and craven politicians willing to sell themselves to the highest bidders.
Among other evidence of the demise of the Constitution, I cited our acceptance of unconstitutional money; our rejection of the Tenth Amendment that was intended to keep the scope of government activity strictly limited; and the perversion of the “general welfare” clause, inverting its meaning from forbidding special interest politics to enshrining special interest…