Overheard yesterday: "We should go back to the original Constitution, like it was in 1776."

[HopeHoops]

If I had been drinking something at the time, I would have passed it through my nose. The women had been yacking constantly and mostly re-runs of teabagger shit that's been posted on DU for months. Despite my efforts to avoid them, I still kept finding myself in the same aisles because there was something I needed there. I'm not sure how, but I did manage to hold my tongue and avoid trying to educate them on simple history. It probably would have been a lost cause anyway. If I had broken down, I probably would have said something like "Oh, you mean the Articles of Confederation, but technically they weren't ratified until 1781." Most likely, I would have just gotten blank stares reflecting the empty space in their heads.

[Barack_America]

1. Well, she had a point. In the original Constitution she, of course, had no voice...

...and I'm sure you would have appreciated that at the time. ;-)

[LeftishBrit]

2. Even if we accept this as 'Articles of Confederation'...

this means no Bill of Rights. No freedom of speech or assembly. No prohibition of 'cruel and unusual punishment'. No right to avoid self-incrimination. And, worst of all for a teabagger: no right to bear arms!

[HopeHoops]

4. Oh yeah, the urge to go on a rant was really hard to hold back.

I'd already gotten the milk and cheese so I didn't have time to spend two hours educating them on the Constitution, but it would sort of be like trying to knock down a brick wall with a strand of boiled spaghetti - no way to make progress.

On a side note, there was an SUV in the handicapped spot (no handicapped tag or rear-view mirror hanger) with at least a dozen teabagger-like bumper stickers. If I were the gambling sort, I would have found a bookie and put a major bet on that belonging to one of those two.

:rant: It really pisses me off when people park in the handicapped spot and don't have the right to, all politics aside. That's just sick. I have to use a cane but I don't have one of those tags because I see more than enough people who need the spots more than I do. Some people are just selfish assholes.
:rant:

[socialist_n_TN]

8. YEah, that Bill of Rights part was the FIRST ...........

thing I thought of. Then the 14th Amendment. Then no sufferage for women. Don't these people think at ALL?

[HopeHoops]

13. Um, no.

They at least have no clue about the so-called "Constitution" they want to go back to. It didn't even fucking EXIST in 1776. Even if they meant the version that was eventually ratified, that didn't include their so loved 2nd Amendment. They're just fucking idiots. "News? Well, FOX of course! What else is there?"

[hobbit709]

3. That level of stupid really should be excruciatingly painful.

If it was there might be less stupid about.

[bemildred]

5. I would bet if you say "Articles of Confederation" you get a blank stare.

Then something about the South in the Civil War.

[HopeHoops]

6. Well to be fair, I doubt that most people you ask would know they ever existed.

They aren't really covered well in history class because, although feeding into the draft of 1786, they really didn't have a lasting impact and were ultimately a horrible failure. You can see how they influenced the republic as detailed in the US Constitution, but it was at least a starting point, failure or not. With limited time, I can understand why they are glossed over in history classes, but the idea that the US Constitution magically came into existence along with the Declaration of Independence just makes me laugh so hard I fart.

[old mark]

7. HH - another victory for our edicatinal system-after W!

[HopeHoops]

11. I tried to be fair. I went to school in the 70's and they did a good job with history. Still,...

...they didn't take the time to deal with the Articles of Confederation and I understand why now. You have to read them to really understand why the Constitution was written as it was.

[TexasObserver]

9. It's that tea bagger stupidity which makes them comically amusing.

They don't know much, and what they do know is almost certainly wrong, but they're 100% sure of it.

[NoGOPZone]

10. I guess she doesn't care about her right to vote. nt

[HopeHoops]

12. I filed that in the "lost cause argument" bin.