Heavy lifting on a Monday

I have often held the 14th Amendment as a piece of legislation worthy of liberals worldwide. It is filled with good intentions, but the daily application of the language brings us a great deal of illegal immigration problems, Gay Marriage and the virtual death of the 9th and 10th Amendments.

The way this Amendment was ratified is interesting. After the Civil War the radical Republicans, the equivalent to today's flaming liberals, wanted to end the slavery question for ever. Just as now most of these radicals hailed from the Northeast (f-ing Yankees). There were not enough states on board to ratify the 14th Amendment. Benjamin Wade and his cohorts came up with a brilliant plan. As a condition of returning to the Union, the former Confederate States had to ratify the 14th Amendment.

This raises several issues. One, the Civil War was fought under the guise that a State could not leave the Union. How can you rejoin a club you never left? Second, not following the various Reconstruction measures was never a choice. Under the harsh measures of Reconstruction many Southern leaders lost the right to vote amd hold public office, so many of the States' Legislatures were filled with carpetbaggers of questionable residency credentials. Finally, if the various Confederate States were not part of the Union, the ratification of the 14th Amendment before they were readmitted means the ratification was not legal. In other words, were they full-fledged States or not?

Discuss among yourselves.