Originally posted by pnwbeers:

So is it your position that the framer's essentially fucked up when they wrote the constitution? That they really didn't mean for the constitution to be a flexible document that would endure thru the years? That is a valid position, as it is shared by more than a few constitutional scholars. My feeling is simply that I don't think the Framers were that short-sighted or stupid. I think the length and generality of the constitution sheds a lot of light on what the framers were trying to accomplish. As far as the Federalist Papers go, they really only give the perspective of the federalists (go figure) - don't forget that even back in the early days there was some serious disagreement between the Federalists and the Republicans.