Amendment is only hope

To the editor:

I thought I'd seen it all, but yesterday's headline was appalling. President Bush's political opponents are vilifying him for his stand in favor of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Bush is condemned by Democrats for "pandering to the right wing and tinkering with the Constitution." That means he had the nerve to take a stand and not roll over as more rogue judges stomp all over the numerous Defense of Marriage Acts passed by most states and Congress. Make no mistake. Our country is under a judicial tyranny that has nullified the democratic process time and again. Anyone who doesn't know that a constitutional amendment is our only recourse in the face of such tyranny needs to take a civics class.

Who is tinkering with the Constitution? Bush, who supports the legitimate amendment process outlined in the Constitution? Or rogue judges who negate the clear will of the majority of Americans expressed in duly passed legislation -- judges who invent rights not explicitly nor implicit in our Constitution.

I'm fearful we are headed toward the kind of judicial dictatorship that exists in Iran. There it make no difference what the legislature passes. The tyrannical judges rule supreme.

Fortunately, we still have one recourse left in this country, the one the president supports. The constitutional amendment process, cumbersome and difficult though it is, appears to be our only hope.

JANINE PFANSTIEL

Cape Girardeau