Here’s a profound paradox: Republican candidates for president are competing for conservative votes by advancing increasingly radical proposals for eviscerating the federal judiciary.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry favors a constitutional amendment giving Congress veto power over Supreme Court decisions and would end lifetime tenure for federal judges. Rep. Michele Bachmann says Congress should bar the courts from considering controversial issues such as same-sex marriage. Rep. Ron Paul would give voters the right to oust federal judges they don’t like. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich rejects the basic concept of judicial supremacy that was established in 1803 by the case of Marbury v. Madison.

None of these proposals is the least bit conservative. They pay no attention to established precedent or procedure. Instead, they seek a revolutionary change in the core foundations of the legal system that has served this country well for more than 200 years. To his credit, Mitt Romney has not joined in the court-bashing. But the other candidates are taking dead aim at a document they profess to revere. In effect, they’re running on a platform that says, “We have to destroy the Constitution in order to save it.”