# What if the U.S. Constitution were amended as follows . . .? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 8, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071 "2005-08-08T04:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071/61 "2005-08-10T19:00:51Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I assume you’ll want to rephrase your criticism of the way I have read the OP. No, it just means that my criticism applies to both you and the OP equally. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071/62 "2005-08-10T20:16:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I call bullshit on that. All that does is demonstrate how thoroughly disconnected from reality your ideas are. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071/63 "2005-08-10T20:20:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > As I envision the Tribunate (see the thread linked in the OP), individual tribunes would have unlimited access even to classified information. They would not have an unlimited right to **publish** classified information; only the whole board could approve that, and any tribune who published classified materials without board approval would enjoy no immunity from criminal or civil prosecution for his/her act. But everything would, at least, be brought to the whole Tribunate’s attention. But would they still have the power “to indict and prosecute any government official or employee”, even on the basis of unpublished information? Sounds like a nice way to get rid of whistle-blowers: just put them on secret trial. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071/64 "2005-08-10T20:52:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Second – and this requires more than one :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: – assuming I were proposing something far more radically different – please bear in mind that the United States **is not its constitution.** This is a nation-state like France, not an idea-state like the Soviet Union. The US is very much an idea-state. We don’t have a majority ethnicity. Anybody who’s born here is a citizen. Our national history is only 230 years old, most of that under one government. We define ourselves as a nation by our revolution and the liberal ideas underlying it. Somebody becomes a citizen by swearing to support the Constitution, our armed forces take an oath to support the Constitution, and our President takes an oath to support the Constitution. When somebody makes the claim “That’s un-American!”, they’re not talking about ethnicity or culture, they’re talking about values. We say, “Locking people up without trials is un-American” or “Prohibiting freedom of speech is un-American” because those violate the shared values we claim to belive in as a nation. The United States is an “idea-state”…a “civic nation” versus an “ethnic” or “identity” nation. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071/65 "2005-08-11T01:06:51Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The United States is an “idea-state”…a “civic nation” versus an “ethnic” or “identity” nation. Thank you for saying it much better than I did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-u-s-constitution-were-amended-as-follows/316071.md?page=3)