The Constitution is the instrument by which we arrange for our own government to act in accordance with the noble principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, it is sometimes the Court, sometimes the States, sometimes the populace, and so forth which I support in a given struggle, so long as that actor forwards a position more in keeping with the purposes in the Declaration.
I do not find it difficult at all to “reconcile” Constitutional conservatism with advances in society which are beneficial. The three branches of the federal government act to check and balance one another, just as the states, the feds, and the numerous individuals act to check and balance one another.
It is entirely conservative to support change if that change brings a particular balance of two otherwise Constitutional understandings of rights and responsibilities more in line with the intent of the Declaration of Independence. As an example, I broadly support States’ rights vis-a-vis the Federal government, but am not even slightly troubled by the actions of Lincoln in preserving the Union and abolishing slavery over the protestations of the States. Likewise Jim Crow. The States, in those cases, were simply wrong in attempting to selectively limit the blessings of liberty and the fruits of labor to men (and for that matter women) whose differences are in no way a function of free will.
The ultimate conservative position is not that you have the right to do whatever you wish, but that you have the same rights as any other person.
