Reply #29: It's a living document

[OldLeftieLawyer]

and that makes it grow.

Note how well it's served us since its inception. It's meant to be interpreted according to the customs and mores of the times, which is why it's such a brilliant document.

Changing the Constitution has always been an option - that's why there are Amendments. But, fortunately, adding an Amendment is a difficult task, as well it should be. And the concept of "activist" judges is something that comes along with the Constitution, since the framers meant for it to be a guideline, subject to interpretation and discussion.

Read "Marbury v. Madison," and see how beautifully the issues within that case were decided when, in fact, none of them were expressly delineated anywhere in the document - here's a nice place to get started (and I mean "get started" - Marbury v. Madison has consumed the lives of scholars, that's how complicated a story it is: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/9.htm

If you study the Constitution and its history very carefully - and there are some wonderful books out there devoted simply to the history of this marvelous document - you'll begin to grasp what an amazing piece of work it is, and how it continues to define America in its most ideal state.