What Does A “Living” Constitution Really Mean?

I hate to get all “scholarly” on a miserable rainy Friday. But there was a very interesting discussion a couple days ago on Sean Hannity’s radio program. A caller said that in his mind a good test for Harriet Miers, or any SCOTUS nominee, would be to ask them if they believed the Constitution is a “living document.”
My initial thought was, well of course it is! That is what I was taught throughout my public school education. The Constitution has a mechanism to be amended if enough Americans were moved to do so. In fact, we even have the capability to convene a Constitutional Convention to make changes. So I believe that it is in fact a “living document.” But this caller had another, very interesting interpretation.
He said that in his mind the phrase “living document” meant that judges could intepret the Constitution any way they want. That the words in it don’t mean anything except through the filtered eyes of lifetime-sitting judges. That thought had never struck me before. And it is most disturbing because many if not most of our Federal judges are elite academic types with their heads buried in case law and whose allegiances are with the American Bar, ACLU, and other liberal causes. There is a clear disconnect between the judicial branch and the people. So this caller is right, the Constitution has become a “living document” for the Federal judges, but no longer for “We, the People.”
And then he made a more important point in my mind. The Constitution is a “contract” between our Founding Fathers and “We, the People.” If you had a guy building your home based on a contract you both signed, would you want him to interpret the contract with his own “intent” halfway through construction of your house? Of course not. So why are we allowing our sacred Constitution to be altered based on the will of liberal special interests with undue influence on the Federal judiciary?
Our Federal judges are in “breach of contract” with the American people.
Our President’s duty to us is to reclaim this contract and appoint Federal judges and Supreme Court nominees who believe that as well.
I will be very interested to hear how Ms. Miers answers the question….. “Is the Constitution a ‘living document’?”
-Bruce (GayPatriot)