On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:06:37 -0500, aemeijers
wrote:

On 1/11/2011 11:56 PM, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:11:20 -0500,
wrote:

On 1/11/2011 10:56 PM, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:45:10 -0500, wrote:


(clipped)

Short version- Congress proposes an amendment. Somebody in DC sprinkles
holy water on it to make it official, and it is routed to the state
legislatures for a yes or no vote, within a defined time limit. (They
started adding time limits mebbe a century ago, to avoid 'timeliness'
challenges.) If enough legislatures send their official blessing back to
DC, the keeper of the paperwork declares it passed, and alerts the media.

There IS another way to change the constitution- In theory, if the
various state legislatures as a group decided to, they could force
another constitutional convention, and open up the whole damn document.
As you might expect, that scares the PTB ****less, not to mention anyone
who understands what average intelligence means. So, they have never
gotten around to spelling out the exact procedures and legal
requirements. IIRC, that was on the list of stuff to be worked out later
when they started the country.

It's been a few years since I read the whole document, so I may be in
error on some of the details, but the basic concepts are correct.

All in all, we were damn lucky the first time around. The compromises
they had to make the first time to get it accepted by the states
festered for 80+ years and led to the civil war, but even with that
horrendously bloody detour, we are better off than if they hadn't gotten
it written. And unlike the various countries that copied it (at least in
part)with no intent of living up to it (like North Vietnam), this
country has mostly tried to live by it. It isn't perfect, and the people
in charge are flawed and unreliable, but at least we are trying to Do
The Right Thing.

I appreciate that. Not being a lawyer myself (but some understanding
of the basics involved) I was challenging "bpuhari", regarding his
statement about Congress "ruling". As if they are the supreme beings
and all-knowing of what is best for us.