HEY, DON’T KNOCK HERMAN CAIN ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT. Sure, the Framers believed in free exercise, and there’s even evidence that they explicitly meant for it to include Muslims. But who cares what a bunch of dead white men — some owned slaves! — thought in a document that’s over a hundred years old anyway?

The Constitution isn’t a dead letter, but a living document that changes with the times. Religious freedom made sense back in the 18th Century, perhaps, but this is the 21st Century, the era of Facebook and smartphones and other new stuff that wasn’t around in the Framers’ time of over a century ago. So things are different now! Cain’s just acknowledging the reality, and one day those stuffy courts will follow along, at least if the right justices are appointed.

Rigid constitutional doctrines from dusty bookshelves will have to adapt to the modern needs of a modern people. The Constitution was never meant to be a straitjacket.