"I'd love to thwart the Census form, but I want a constitutional basis for doing it - and here's the tricky thing. I think even constitutional purists would tell you that just because something isn't in the Constitution does not mean the government cannot do it"
About this Quote
The subtext is a quiet concession: the Constitution functions less like a rulebook and more like a rhetorical weapon. Davis points at the dilemma constitutional purists face when they treat the document as both sacred text and flexible charter. He s circling the tension between enumerated powers and implied powers: the founding-era fantasy that you can strictly limit government by listing what it can do, versus the lived reality that modern governance runs on interpretation, precedent, and necessity. The census, notably, is actually in the Constitution, which makes the joke sharper: even the best target for anti-state performativity may be a bad one.
Contextually, it reads like a comment on our culture-war style of legal debate, where "constitutional" becomes shorthand for "morally clean". Davis isn t arguing policy so much as diagnosing a mindset: people want to feel anti-authoritarian without leaving the comfort of the system s own language. The trick isn t legal. It s psychological.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Davis, Mark. (2026, January 16). I'd love to thwart the Census form, but I want a constitutional basis for doing it - and here's the tricky thing. I think even constitutional purists would tell you that just because something isn't in the Constitution does not mean the government cannot do it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-love-to-thwart-the-census-form-but-i-want-a-97116/
Chicago Style
Davis, Mark. "I'd love to thwart the Census form, but I want a constitutional basis for doing it - and here's the tricky thing. I think even constitutional purists would tell you that just because something isn't in the Constitution does not mean the government cannot do it." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-love-to-thwart-the-census-form-but-i-want-a-97116/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'd love to thwart the Census form, but I want a constitutional basis for doing it - and here's the tricky thing. I think even constitutional purists would tell you that just because something isn't in the Constitution does not mean the government cannot do it." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/id-love-to-thwart-the-census-form-but-i-want-a-97116/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
