Conservatives sometimes have a hard time holding on to (or maintaining) their constitutional arguments. "The second amendment means no gun control." And what about former convicts? "Oh, for them, gun control." "The constitution declares the importance of life; no abortion." What about the death penalty? "Umm. No comment." It is a circular and tiring argument to have with a conservative.

Well, Bush has gone even further. During today's press conference Bush single-handedly destroyed the cement in the conservatives' argument for a strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. Conservatives have long balked at the idea of a "living document." They state that the Constitution must be read in the mindset of the time that it was written. (Hello, civil rights. Goodbye.) But with Bush's (inadvertently purposeful) comments today, Bush has openly acknowleged what he feels is a constitutional crisis.

Bush denied trying to "circumvent" the nearly 28-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant from a special court to eavesdrop on communications in the United States.

"I am upholding my duty and at the same time doing so under the law and with the Constitution behind me," Bush said. But he added: "The FISA law was written in 1978. We're having the discussion in 2006. It's a different world."

Washington Post

Has anyone alerted Bush and conservatives to the fact that the Constitution was written in 1787! And it is a whole different world now.

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