Why It's Stupid to Constantly Say We Need to Return to Our Founding Principles

As I posted last night, it suddenly dawned on me that our led-by-God Founding Fathers never intended, nor envisioned, a black man becoming president.  Now this is a Founding concept the right wing wouldn't necessarily agree with publicly.  But when they say things like "we need to return to our Founding Principles" Barack Obama's ineligibility for the Executive Office most certainly would happen.  They would be happy with such a result, not necessarily because of racism but because they would favor anything that removes a Democratic president.

Republicans would have no problem with Clarence Thomas as president because he's Republican.  Likewise for Michael Steele.  None of it has really anything to do with a desire to return blacks to slavery.  Anyone who would suggest such is crazy. But the constant rhetoric by Republicans to return back to our Founding Principles has everything to do with the fact that they do not believe Democrats as legitimate upholders of the Constitution. More precisely, it's because they have no clue what their rhetoric even means other than they just like to paint Democrats as being anti-Constitutional and thus anti-American.  Republican Representative Michelle Bachmann makes my point perfectly.

Asked via a Web questioner whether her Tea Party rhetoric might be considered divisive, Bachmann said that "far from being divisive in any way, what we're trying to do is bring together a great unity." The source of that unity? The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, documents about which differing interpretations are apparently of little use. "Our founding documents, they cannot be improved upon," said Bachmann, giving an almost Biblical rendition of the work product of the nation's first generation of politicians.

Frankly, that's just dumb. Of course our founding documents can be improved upon. That's why our Founders wrote into the Constitution a means to amend it. They intended for the document to be improved upon when necessary.  Actually, the very first thing our Founders did when they realized not every state was thrilled with the original document was they amended it ten times!!  In other words, they improved upon it.

I don't think for a second Republicans really want to return to the days where blacks were slaves and women were second class citizens.  Which is why it's so stupid for Republicans to suggest we need to return to those Founding Principles.  What they really want to do is be able to portray themselves as protectorates of the American way of life by constantly equating themselves to the people who founded this country.

Also, as Steve Benen makes mention, how can a group of people claim they want to return to our Founding Principles while simultaneously claiming our Constitution can't be improved upon, and yet have sponsored 42 Constitutional Amendments last year!?!  It's because they are stupid.  Plain and simple.

*Update:

In reading more about Michelle Bachmann's Freedom Fighting speech to her fellow tea baggers this week, Political Correction picks up on another completely false aspect of her completely stupid views of America and the Constitution.

BACHMANN: The people who came to the United States — other than the Native Americans who were here — all of us have the same story. And our story is, we come from someone who was a risk taker in their home country; doesn't matter what the country is. But they took a risk and they came here. And they knew when they came here they weren't coming for a welfare state, they weren't coming for unemployment insurance, they weren't coming here for health insurance. They were coming here for the thrill of writing their own ticket.

Nothing really could be any more inaccurate.

Millions of people from Africa were brought here without a ticket and against their will.  They were in chains when they landed on our shores for the sole purpose of a lifetime in bondage to their white owners.  The terms "welfare state," "unemployment insurance," or "health insurance" didn't even exist and highlight Bachmann's insistence to completely rewrite American history to fit her little Republican tea bagger vision.