A liberal friend recently tut-tutted that “never since the founding of the nation has our Constitution been at such at risk” as under Bush.

Among the emotional and the ignorant, of whom there are many, such canards ossify into truth.

“Oh, more than FDR trying to stack the Supreme Court or FDR seizing Japanese-American citizens and locking them up in camps?” I asked. ”Or Nixon unilaterally freezing wages and prices? Or the Alien and Sedition Acts?”

Wasted words, as always.

Now comes a NYT Op-ed suggesting that stacking the court might a peachy idea, given that the court is no longer reliably liberal.

If the current five-man majority persists in thumbing its nose at popular values, the election of a Democratic president and Congress could provide a corrective. It requires only a majority vote in both houses to add a justice or two. Chief Justice John Roberts and his conservative colleagues might do well to bear in mind that the roll call of presidents who have used this option includes not just Roosevelt but also Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and Grant.

Take note: liberal positions are “popular values” while conservative positions are “ideological.”