In Which Zandar Answers Your Burning Questions

Steve Benen makes some observations on Republicans and Constitutional amendments, and the latest idiocy, an amendment to protect the rights of parents to be able to spank their kids.

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child isn't, or at least shouldn't be, especially controversial. In fact, there are a grand total of two countries in the U.N. that have not ratified the treaty -- Somalia and the United States. Both President Obama and Ambassador Susan Rice have stated publicly they'd like to see this change.

But this, in turn, has only encouraged far-right Republican lawmakers and their allies to push a new constitutional amendment to protect "parental rights" from protections for children. One GOP activist, Michael Farris, who helped craft Hoekstra's proposed constitutional amendment, said the right of parents to "administer reasonable spankings to their children" must be protected.

Putting aside just how foolish this is, I can't help but notice the right seems to want quite a few constitutional amendments. Hoekstra's measure comes shortly after Rep. Michele Bachmann's proposed constitutional amendment to ensure the U.S. doesn't adopt some imaginary "global currency." And that measure came just a couple of months after several high-profile Republicans renewed an effort to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

What's more, just over the last few years, conservative officials have also pushed for, and even voted on, amendments on flag burning, abortion rights, and gay marriage. There was some talk about a "Victims' Rights Amendment" for a while. Three months ago, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) even introduced an amendment on school prayer.

Aren't conservatives supposed to support conserving our constitutional traditions? Granted, none of these amendments are going anywhere, but this push to treat the Constitution as a rough draft strikes me as odd.

Why should that strike anyone as odd? George W. Bush famously said that the "Constitution is just a piece of paper." Rule of law means whatever Republicans say it means, and that goes for the highest law in the land, the Constitution.

They don't exactly give a damn.