Degs: Where we differ is in your thinking the "government over individual rights position" is conservative. I hold that that position liberal. It is always the liberals who call for more regulation, more control of gasoline, or tobacco, or speech. In my entire life I've never heard the call for reducing individual rights come from the right. All those calls come from the left, where we can eliminate free speech in the name of eliminating hate speech; eliminate the right to weapons in the name of "a temporary measure of security" ( a non-quote of not Franklin) and that we can't defend the remaining rights via any force that might actually use force.

So when you have said, repeatedly, that we can't know the actual meaning of the words written by the framers of the Constitution, you are denying that you can: "...construct exactly that sort of arguement despite fully being aware of how much my CONTEMPORANEOUS cognition cannot be eschewed." Either the writer's intent is obvious, as I believe, or it is not -- and you cannot logically have it both ways.

I regard Terry and Raich as opposite of conservative thinking -- the conservative want less government interference and stricter adherence to constitutional limits. The SCOTUS rulings in both instances promoted government interference -- expanded government power. That is antithetical to the desires of small-government conservatism.

Now, as you may or may not be aware, I'm pro abortion. I don't, however, find any constitutional protection for it - I thinkthe constitution is silent in the matter, and it should be left to the states or to the people. SCOTUS did indeed "make law out of nothingness" in finding abortion in the unwritten penumbra of other rights.

We agree on Terry and Raich. We disagree on Bush v Gore (once the second machine count was tallied, there should have been no additional votes counted -- particularly not the selected counties as the Gore campaign wanted. SCOTUS was correct to finalize the issue). It is, well, illiberal for a liberal such as yourself to look to find limits to government powers in the actions of the court. You don't believe in the limits undeniably written into the constitution. People like you took the cuffs off government in the 1930s. You have sown the wind -- reap the whirlwind. Don't blame conservatives for doing what you empowered them to do.