By guest host Jane Clayson:
If ever there was a shared, sacred text in this country, it is the US Constitution. And the people who drafted it –the James Madisons, the Ben Franklins and Thomas Jeffersons– are, for most of us, the high priests of all that has gone right in our history. They were the men who somehow understood in an earlier, simpler time the fundamental rules of human nature and built a system of government that perfectly balanced our best and worst natures.
Wrong, says constitutional scholar Sanford Levinson. The constitution is old hat, and the framers are from “another age,” he says. It’s time for today’s best minds to get together for a historic rewrite; time for a bold, beautiful new document.
This hour On Point: One scholar’s call for a modern, democratic US constitution.
Quotes from the Show:
“I do not advocate shifting into a parliamentary system.” Sanford Levinson
“I suspect a lot of Republicans would prefer that John McCain were president.” Sanford Levinson
“Presidential veto powers turn out to be politics-based, not constitutional.” Sanford Levinson
Guests:
Sanford Levinson, professor at the University of Texas School of Law and author of “Our Undemocratic Constitution”
John McGinnis, professor of law at Northwestern University
Jack Beatty, On Point News Analyst, senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly.
