Thomas Jefferson Says The Constitution Should Be Thrown Away

It's funny that these days you can't log onto Facebook without someone quoting the constitution.  As of late, all you hear is 2nd Amendment this, 2nd amendment that, and rarely do these self proclaimed "experts" have any idea what the rest of the constitution is or was ever intended to be (just ask them say, "what is the 9th amendment?" and watch them freeze up).  Okay stick with me here, this get's VERY interesting after the jump.

I've often said there should be an age limit on voting; once you reach a certain age, you shouldn't get to vote.  My reasoning is simple, a 70 year old only has to live with the consequences of his vote for a short time, a 20 year old has to live with it for 50 or more.

It turns out that this was basically the same thought that one of the architects of the U.S. Constitution had.  Thomas Jefferson (an atheist who would have laughed at all the fights over "under god" on money, the pledge, etc) said that the document should be rewritten every 19 years.  Jefferson said to enforce a constitution longer than 19 years was equal to "being enslaved by the prior generation".

Now, with all of this in mind, can you imagine our current knuckleheads, who can't even get a budget passed trying to rewrite our constitution? There is a point to all of this though.  The constitution is a "living" document.  The 26th Amendment sets the voting age at 18, the 27th establishes "pay day" for congress.  Do those Amendments seem sacred?  No, of course not.  Since those are not sacred, then NONE are.  So before you use 'the constitution" as your basis for an argument, keep in mind, it can be altered or changed at the will of the people who live under it.