Constitutional commentary

The constitution was written to detail the limited powers of the federal government. The intent was to proscribe the actions of politicians and justices never to limit the freedom of citizens. The bill of rights was a controversial addendum precisely because it muddied the intent of the document by addressing rights of citizens rather than limits of government. The bill of rights was never intended to limit the free actions of people, rather it delineates, as examples, the sorts of things that the federal government is not allowed to stick its nose into.
Philosophically, in exchanges between divergent powers the more powerful gives to the less. The constitution empowers citizens by making them the grantor of limited authorities to the federal government. Which granting also means that upon these authorities abuse they can be revoked. The common misconception of the government as a grantor of certain liberties is exactly what the framers were trying to get away from. Let us please have no more talk about constitutional rights, since the idea is upside down. Let us rather speak about renewing our commitment to limiting the power of the juggernaut that once was and ought to be our, the people's, servant.