It wasn’t written in pencil

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may someday become president if Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones has her say. Morgenthaler-Jones and Mimi Chen created the Web site at www.amendforarnold.com to start the process of amending the U.S. Constitution to put Austrian-born Schwarzenegger in the White House.

Our Constitution has been amended for important reasons: protection from illegal search and seizure, outlawing slavery and giving women the right to vote. Now, Morgenthaler-Jones and Chen think that an effective use of scarce taxpayer dollars is to rewrite the Constitution to please their “last action hero.”

The process of changing the U.S. Constitution requires a two-thirds vote from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then, 38 of the 50 state Legislatures must ratify the amendment.

What Morgenthaler-Jones and Chen don’t understand is that the Constitution is the document that retains the fabric of our democracy and our society. It is disrespectful to monkey with the most important document in the history of our country to win the favor of an actor who is working a temp job in California politics.

Would a foreign-born white male make a better president than an American-born minority or woman? Morgenthaler-Jones and Chen seem to believe that our country’s resources are best spent rewriting the most important document in our existence to reaffirm this “peculiar institution” of the good ol’ boys club.

I won’t deny Governor Schwarzenegger the opportunity to be all that he can be in this land of plenty. I just question his national commitment. Until his bid for governor, Schwarzenegger maintained dual citizenship in both Austria and the United States. Which country is his priority?

We could really benefit from more-responsible government and from legislators who won’t spend our money solely to provide even more opportunity to the already blessed. We could really benefit from political action that respects the spirit that was intended when the founding fathers created the Constitution, instead of rewriting it to allow presidential access for Hollywood royalty.

But Morgenthaler-Jones and Chen do not understand these things. After all, they have six years of political experience combined, earned while volunteering for Arnold’s 2003 gubernatorial campaign.

Call or write your representatives and senators. Tell them there’s a reason the Constitution was not written in pencil. It was designed to withstand the test of time—and of stupidity.