Alito on "Constitutional interpretation":
"I think the Constitution is a living thing in the sense that matters, and that is that it is -- it sets up a framework of government and a protection of fundamental rights that we have lived under very successfully for 200 years. And the genius of it is that it is not terribly specific on certain things.
It sets out -- some things are very specific, but it sets out some general principles and then leaves it for each generation to apply those to the particular factual situations that come up. ...
The liberty component of the Fifth Amendment and the 14th Amendment ... embody the deeply rooted traditions of a country.
And it's up to each -- those traditions and those rights apply to new factual situations that come up. As times change, new factual situations come up, and the principles have to be applied to those situations.
The principles don't change. The Constitution itself doesn't change. But the factual situations change. And, as new situations come up, the principles and the rights have to be applied to them."
Are we to expect any less from a man hand-picked by Dubya? The fundamental principles are correct but the factual situations change...give me a break. The whole document is open to interpretation within the context of the current administration and he knows it.
