Quote Originally Posted by Louis IV the Fat
I'm always surprised, a bit baffled even, by the way Americans regard their constitution as something set in stone. Granted, you got it a right mostly in one go, but still. They're no stone tablets, putting forth a set of rules for all eternity.
Thomas Paine believed this fully - my interpation of his opinion would lead me to conclude that he would not like the present course of events in the American Government nor some of the mind set of the American Citizens.

A constitution can be changed, adapted to the contemporary circumstances. It is not meant to be interpreted or amended only. It should be subject to constant revision by the people, not left to interpretation by the Supreme Court only. Plus it would allow for anachronisms like 'the right to bear arms and form a militia' to be discarded.
The constitution has always been the framework of the government in regrads to the United States. The number of amendments to our constitution show that it has been adapted to fit with the changing of times. Certain ammendment have a strong emotional appeal even now. Which is one of the reasons I suspect that the founding fathers placed them into the constitution in the first place.

We're already down to a fifth republic. And a sixt soon, once Louis finally seizes power.
Is that because of the changes of society or because of the violence of the time period. France has also undergone several despotic governments during this time period.

Yes, 'tis so. But, in it's historical context, the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen doesn't proclaim human rights. It doesn't state the extend of the rights of man, but rather, it adresses the government, and sets an absolute limit to it's power.
It proclaims the limit of the power that the government will be given by the people. This is what Thomas Paine meant with the delegated powers of government. The Right of Man is to determine how much power it will delegate to the government. This I believe is Thomas Paine's position - and I agree with it wholeheartly.