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The Spectacle Blog
There’s a connection between the Prop 8 trial and my column today on the main site. Liberals like to argue, as William Brennan did, that when conservatives ask for the constitutional justification for a federal policy, they are “arrogantly” enlisting the Founding Fathers to their side of a contemporary policy dispute. But it is actually constitutional liberals who tend to argue that an evolving understanding of the Constitution — sometimes invoking particular Framers, more often by waving around certain phrases like “general welfare” and “equal protection” — mandate their policy preferences.
Serious constitutionalists believe the Constitution has a meaning independent of whatever the politicians or judges of the day personally believe. That meaning is instead based on what the people who wrote the original text thought they were writing and, more importantly, what the ratifying public thought it was ratifying. So when there is doubt about the meaning of the plain text of the Constitution, these — rather than our personal policy preferences — ought to be the things we look at. Otherwise, there is no point in having a written constitution.
This isn’t to say that conservatives don’t ever engage in “results-based” constitutional arguments. I even think results-based arguments are fine up to a point. Liberals are quite right to find strict adherence to the Constitution constraining of their political vision. Conservatives ought to understand that strict adherence to the Constitution would produce a government much more to their liking (although most self-described conservatives plainly don’t espouse strict constitutionalism). But those policy preferences don’t dictate what the Constitution itself means.
The so-called conservative approach to interpreting the Constitution imposes limits on federal decision-makers, as the Constitution was intended to do. The liberal approach empowers those decision-makers to take stray phrases in the Constitution and read into them their own beliefs,which they can then foist upon the American people through the exercise of raw judicial power. People on both sides often strain to interpret the Constitution in ways that will allow their side to do whatever they want anyway. Compared to this, “constitutional conservatism” doesn’t seem very arrogant after all.
View all comments (4) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/06/exploring-the-meaning-of-const
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simon templar| 12.6.10 @ 2:41PM
The reason we have these false arguments and discussions about the constitution is because very few people have read any of the tons of documentation starting with the Federalist Papers to the 5000 letters and essays written by our founding fathers specifically stating EXACTLY what there intentions and meanings were. The myth that has been purported is that the founding fathers left us with general meanings and vague direction about issues and meanings behind their actions and decisions. This is the Big Lie which conservatives have some share of responsibilty in inadvertently supporting. The truth of the matter is that liberals, progressives, socialist, democrats..whatever they currently call themselves know full well what our constitution stands for and what our founding fathers intentions and beliefs were. Since the 1920's they have been openly teaching in major institutions that the constitution is an archaic, irrevelant document and the ideas of the founding fathers are not applicable to a modern industrialized society. So, lets get this right!Stop listening to the leftwing propaganda and arguments and expose the REAL conflict here and the real struggle. There is no such thing as constitutional liberalism.
cheapairjordan | 12.6.10 @ 9:59PM
good post!
DVD drive Burner | 11.8.11 @ 4:13AM
How to Burn an AVCHD File to DVD
AVCHD is a new high definition standard created by Sony, and used in many of their HD Camcorders. The resulting AVCHD disc is then able to be played in many consumer Blu-Ray players, the Sony Playstation 3, as well as the camcorders themselves. These are capable of producing 1080p and 720p video.
Instructions
1
If you have not done so already, plug in your camcorder to your PC. If an autoplay box does not appear, locate the camcorder's files on your PC. Two folders are needed in order to properly burn an AVCHD onto DVD, and they are BDMV and Certificate. Once they are located, copy and paste these two files onto your desktop. This could take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes.
2
Once they are transferred to your desktop, go to the following web address and download the software:
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
Once downloaded, install the software by double-clicking the downloaded file and follow on-screen instructions.
3
Right click the AVCHD folder that you just transferred to your desktop and click on "Properties." On the General tab, locate the size of the file in order to specify how big of a DVD is needed to burn the files. Sizes up to 4.3GB will fit onto single layer DVD's. If the size exceeds 4.3 GB, a dual-layer DVD is needed. Once you figure out which DVD is needed, insert it into your PC's DVD-RW drive.
4
Imgburn Software
Open the ImgBurn program that was just installed. Click the option that reads "Write files/folders to disc." The next screen is where you need to click some options. The image provided locates the options that need to be checked and unchecked. Make sure the "Auto" box is checked and the "Verify" box unchecked. After this is done, add the 2 folders (BDMV and Certificate) into the large open space. This can be done by either clicking on the magnifying glass and adding them, or by simply dragging and dropping them into the program.
5
Once the files are loaded into the program, the settings will verify you want to change to UDF 2.5 burning mode. Click "Yes" when prompted. Next, simply click on the large icon located near the bottom. You will be greeted by a few pop-ups verifying your disc burning session and allowing you to name the disc. Click "OK" and your burning will start.
6
Once the burning is complete, remove the disc and insert into appropriate Blu-Ray players or Sony Playstation 3. If all went well, you will be enjoying your home movies in amazing quality, also allowing you to start a library of HD home movies, instead of storing them on a hard drive
Tips & Warnings
Memorex and Verbatim DVD's have the best success rate. Verbatim Dual Layer DVD's are the best to use when needed. Be patient, burning might take a couple tries.
Depending on your PC's DVD drive and Blank disc, you may go through a few DVD's until one works perfectly. AVCHD does not work on all Blu-Ray players, so check with the manufacturer first. Do not pirate copyrighted material.
DVD drive Burner | 11.8.11 @ 4:16AM
How to Burn an AVCHD File to DVD
AVCHD is a new high definition standard created by Sony, and used in many of their HD Camcorders. The resulting AVCHD disc is then able to be played in many consumer Blu-Ray players, the Sony Playstation 3, as well as the camcorders themselves. These are capable of producing 1080p and 720p video.
Instructions
1
If you have not done so already, plug in your camcorder to your PC. If an autoplay box does not appear, locate the camcorder's files on your PC. Two folders are needed in order to properly burn an AVCHD onto DVD, and they are BDMV and Certificate. Once they are located, copy and paste these two files onto your desktop. This could take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes.
2
Once they are transferred to your desktop, go to the following web address and download the software:
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
Once downloaded, install the software by double-clicking the downloaded file and follow on-screen instructions.
3
Right click the AVCHD folder that you just transferred to your desktop and click on "Properties." On the General tab, locate the size of the file in order to specify how big of a DVD is needed to burn the files. Sizes up to 4.3GB will fit onto single layer DVD's. If the size exceeds 4.3 GB, a dual-layer DVD is needed. Once you figure out which DVD is needed, insert it into your PC's DVD-RW drive.
4
Imgburn Software
Open the ImgBurn program that was just installed. Click the option that reads "Write files/folders to disc." The next screen is where you need to click some options. The image provided locates the options that need to be checked and unchecked. Make sure the "Auto" box is checked and the "Verify" box unchecked. After this is done, add the 2 folders (BDMV and Certificate) into the large open space. This can be done by either clicking on the magnifying glass and adding them, or by simply dragging and dropping them into the program.
5
Once the files are loaded into the program, the settings will verify you want to change to UDF 2.5 burning mode. Click "Yes" when prompted. Next, simply click on the large icon located near the bottom. You will be greeted by a few pop-ups verifying your disc burning session and allowing you to name the disc. Click "OK" and your burning will start.
6
Once the burning is complete, remove the disc and insert into appropriate Blu-Ray players or Sony Playstation 3. If all went well, you will be enjoying your home movies in amazing quality, also allowing you to start a library of HD home movies, instead of storing them on a hard drive
Tips & Warnings
Memorex and Verbatim DVD's have the best success rate. Verbatim Dual Layer DVD's are the best to use when needed. Be patient, burning might take a couple tries.
Depending on your PC's DVD drive and Blank disc, you may go through a few DVD's until one works perfectly. AVCHD does not work on all Blu-Ray players, so check with the manufacturer first. Do not pirate copyrighted material.
more info:
http://www.drives-storage.com.au