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If you've ever talked about "activist judges" and meant what you said, henceforth cease your foolish commentary and only start up again once you've read some legal history. This has been an issue ever since good ole' Judge Marshall seized the power of judicial review in Marbury.

There have always been, and always will be, people who refer to activist judges and constructionists. What these people fail to realize is that these are nothing more then buzzwords. The strictest readers of the Constitution sometimes overstep it, and sometimes the living document people are its strongest defenders.

As examples, check out the recent history of gay rights cases. Despite a lack of wording in the Constitution supporting their view, supposed constructionists have declared that gays were never meant to have sex and that denying them the "pursuit of happiness" is perfectly all right.

And on the other side, living document proponents will typically claim that rights and liberties need to be expanded beyond the clear wording of the Constitution. Mysteriously, this seems not to apply to gun ownership. They hold strong to the idea that gun ownership must be restricted to the militia. This concept is completely out of date, as the membership rates in militias have declined drastically from the time of the Founding Fathers. The concept of expanding gun rights is horrific, despite the concurrent expansion of every other kind of right.

Judges piss off both sides. Making the right decision is not and never can be the same thing as making everyone happy. But somehow, despite their interfering and busybodying, we've managed to muddle along so far. They know what they're doing. The most partisan and mutable branch of government should not be able to manipulate the objective purveyors of justice.

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