Neo-Logic
Reality Checker
James Madison it's hard to say. I'm always amused when people say comments like that since the individual's are obviously not able to defend themselves on the issue. James Madison didn't even believe in having a Bill of Rights and was all for a federal government with no checks and balances like that. He argued in his writings to Jefferson (his mentor) that he thought the fed government would never get too powerful. Of course that is all depending on one's definition of "too powerful."
Guessing original intent does have problems, especially if one uses their supposed intents as a premise for their argument. But we can get a general sense of their understanding and the spirit in which they crafted the constitution through their letters, personal memoirs, and official essays like the Federalist Papers. It's not so hard if we try and read between the lines.
The U.S. Supreme Court case from 1941 with the Chinese man proved other wise. In the 14th amendment it mentions nothing about an individual's parents status. When the Chinese man's parents went back to China the Supreme Court said he could stay since he was a citizen since he was born here. His parents had nothing to do with him.
Oh gosh, there's something I find absolutely hilarious every time I read you write "the case from 1941 with the Chinese man".
On a serious note ... I know this is a contentious topic, but maybe if you ratchet down the attitude a bit and approach your rebuttals with more tact or less hostility or discussions of your intelligence, people will take your posts seriously. I know I would.