Spencer Palagi

Mr. Buescher
September 10, 2012
The Constitution: to Empower an Protect
The !.S. Constitution is wiel" consiere to be one o# the bra$est an most power#ul
political ocuments to not onl" be publishe but rati#ie. %t outlines the most e##icient an #air
go$ernment to ha$e risen throughout histor". %t alone is what grants our congressmen, senators,
presient, an &uges the power to act #or the people. 'owe$er, more importantl" than that, it
clearl" an asserti$el" limits those powers as to protect the people #rom a t"rannical go$ernment.
its main metho #or accomplishing this is through it(s malleabilit". )ur constitution protects us
#rom the goo intentions o# our legislators through being amenable. %n truth, the Constitution
protects the people #rom itsel# b" writing itsel# an alterable ocument, an without this *ualit",
nothing woul stop the go$ernment #rom la"ing own the supreme law o# the lan b" means o#
unrelenting an unstoppable #orce.
The +mening Clause o# the constitution allows #or the aition o# liberties an laws to be
ae to the Constitution ine#initel", although most on(t consier that it also allows the
go$ernment to correct its own mista,es. Ta,e #or e-ample the rati#ie 1.th +menment, the
prohibition o# alcohol. %n the earl" 1/20(s an o$erwhelming number o# a$ocates claime that all
crime an sin was the irect result o# the consumption o# alcohol an thus the" claime that all
alcoholic be$erages shoul be eeme illegal #or consumption, the amenment was rati#ie b"
congress 0anuar" 11th, 1/1/. The ones to propose the act ha goo intentions, the" belie$e the"
woul ri this nation o# crime an ma,e people wholesome again. 'owe$er, espite the goo the"
thought the" were oing, it too, onl" a little o$er ten "ears to reali2e the amenment onl" cause
more trouble than it trie to pre$ent. Crime rates went up signi#icantl" as crime lors an mob
heas began bootlegging alcohol an man" in the business were ,ille or imprisone. Than,#ull"
though, as the constitution is amenable, the eighteenth amenment was repeale b" the twent"
#irst amenment in 1/33. This is a clear e-ample o# how the political mista,es o# one(s intentions,
no matter how goo the" ma" be, can be #i-e through the same process the mista,e itsel# was
mae, amening the Constitution.
This one pro$ie e-ample iterates how the +mening Clause o# the Constitution acts as
the bac,space button on the rati#ication ,e"boar, an thus, guars the peoples rights #rom an"
elegate no matter how power#ul. +mbitious politicians with goo intentions ha$e been gi$en a
chance to ser$e their countr" #or the better, an possibl" better it in the process the" $er" well
ma". %#, on the other han, a legislator manages to rati#" a particular amenment, with the hopes
o# great promise, onl" to bring this countr" to its ,nees, that estructi$e amenment can alwa"s
an #ore$er be repeale b" an opposing amenment. +s long as the constitution remains
amenable, this countr" will ne$er stop impro$ing #or its political o##icers an people will alwa"s
ha$e another chance to ma,e the right choice.