Watch Bill Whittle’s Afterburner on The Palin Haters. He pretty-much covers it all as far as the GOP goes.
In the words of James Longstreet in the movie Gettysburg: “We’d rather lose the war than admit the mistake.”
December 16, 2014 at 11:58 pm
HB
Yea—from the group of rinos, communists and rebrobates—we get an article 5 convention where they will rip up the existing constitution and screw the American people.
NO—HELL NO!!!
December 17, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Oliver Heaviside
I share HB’s concern. As much as I’d like to see the 16th amendment (income tax) repealed or at least modified, a constitutional convention of any sort opens the gate to a complete re-write. Think Obamacare is bad? Imaging a Constitutional “right” to healthcare…..
December 17, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Drumwaster
They might attempt a complete rewrite, but it would still have to be ratified by 3/4 of the States before it becomes valid (38 of 50). If they try to screw We The People over, it will never get by any of the red States (I could name 13, which would be enough to block it, just off the top of my head).
Another issue which no one has contemplated is that even if (not when, but if) 34 States – the necessary 2/3 specified in Article V – apply for a Constitutional Convention, it will be Congress that gets to decide not only where and when (and it may take a SCOTUS decision to force their hand), but also who will be attending by asserting that once the process starts, the States only have the right to decide yes or no on the result, not any of the process built into the Convention. It is not any of the States Constitutions being Amended, but the Federal one, so it will be up to the Federal Government to set the agenda, establish who shall attend the resulting Congress (not the States, especially since the 17th Amendment took away the States voice in the running of the Federal Government)* and put out the result, with a willing media to spin it in the proper manner throughout. (Conversely if any State chooses to amend their own Constitution, the Feds have no say in the process, except through legal action, such as California’s Prop 8.)
For that reason, I do not expect a positive outcome on even requesting the Article V Convention, mush less anything helpful to proceed from such a Convention after the year or two it will obviously take, and God alone knows what the Federal Government will be getting up to in the meantime. It was originally hoped that if Congress saw it getting close to that outcome, they would do on their own initiative what the States had been demanding, making the Article V Convention a moot point.
* – if the States insist on sending someone, the Feds can simply refuse to accept their credentials. In return, the States can vote ‘no’ on the outcome
December 17, 2014 at 12:42 am
SteveInCO
“They’re”, not “their”
The article 5 convention is scary–because Congress gets to prescribe how the delegates are chosen and you can only imagine what they’ll do.
IMHO it’s a big weakness in the constitution, states should have been able to propose a specific amendment and ratify it without congressional involvement at all. Having a convention wide open be the ONLY option states have is like handing them a nuclear warhead and them having that as their *only* tool–what if all you want to do is pound a nail? You won’t want to use it unless you are very, very desperate.
December 17, 2014 at 12:43 am
SteveInCO
Meh, never mind on the grammar correction; I misread the sense of the rest of the sentence. It really is a possessive.
December 17, 2014 at 1:16 pm
Bad Cyborg
Don’t you think you owe Chris an apology?
December 17, 2014 at 1:59 am
LifeofTheMind
Remember that Obama got nominated in 2008 after he lost the primaries because David Axelrod knew how to pack the conventions. If there is an Article V convention there is no reason not to expect the Left to pack it. They might emerge with a word for word copy of Stalin’s Soviet Constitution of 1936, full of “positive rights.”
We must not fall for trying the easy way. We need to focus on local politics. If the base takes control over local party organizations and then uses that to select state office candidates then we can use the 2014 Congressional elections map as our base. Outside of a few cultural outliers, like Minnesota, the vote for the Left is concentrated in a few centers of urban poverty and even fewer pockets of great wealth. If the conservatives control and work through the GOP then they will establish a record of governance at the state and local levels in 35 to 40 states. With that we can control Congress but not override a veto. After that it will simply be a matter of perseverance and courage. If they threaten to force a shutdown then let them. If they try to rule through the courts then make sure we have not allowed them to pack the SCOTUS, and fight them no matter what their agents in the Press say.
There are Constitutional Amendments that we should work for. Repealing the XVIIth Amendment is high on the list. We need to be careful not to enter a process where we lose more than we gain.
The Trilogy is almost scary in contemporary parallels, excellent read! And he is not too shabby in his other books also. I haven’t been paying attention, but it seems he should be due for another sometime soon.
December 17, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Bad Cyborg
Thanks, Larry. If you or someone else hadn’t brought up Bracken’s “Enemies” trilogy, I was going to do so. Bracken’s work is almost prophetic. Like you, I believe Bracken’s vision of the results of an Article V convention are absolutely dead-center spot on. I don’t know if our favorite cartoonist has read Bracken but I am very certain none of the folks advocating/promotong/supporting a “ConCon” have. If they had they would not be interested in Article V.
The CC would only be good IF the states involved simply insisted on a return to THE ORIGINAL. To do a rewrite not including the guarantees of the original could be very hazardous to our freedom. And I don’t know about Damon’s experience level, but I can see Zed as V much more.
December 17, 2014 at 7:33 am
clayusmcret
My main concern with this is that it’s a double-edged sword. Murphy guarantees that there’s a near equal prospect that in the moments after the opening gavel, an Article V Constitutional Amendment Convention could be either used precisely as we would hope, or it could be used by the obamas, Clintons and Shumers of the liberal side of America to undo the last bit that still works. Hell, if the Ron Paul fringe of the conservatives finagled the majority of delegate seats, as is their way, the outcome could be as bad as the clintonites. Anywho, that’s my concern.
December 17, 2014 at 10:37 am
Observer
There are 300-500 MILLION guns in private hands in the United States. This past Black Friday, guns were selling at THREE PER SECOND. Since Obama took office, citizens have purchased more ammunition since the founding of the country in 1776!
The Founders made sure the citizens have the final say in anything done in this country.
Initially, I made the same mistake about the “beard”. And I had my eyes checked yesterday (and they are fine, thanks). I don’t think Chris needs a palace guard; most (if not all) of the commenters here like Chris and love dbd.
December 17, 2014 at 10:35 am
Observer
When will conventional wisdom admit this country is in steep decline and fall? A major natural disaster or something like a nuke strike on Washington or NYC will finish it. Then the shooting will start…
December 17, 2014 at 1:08 pm
Oliver Heaviside
A nuke on Washington might be a net good. We’d lose some fine people, but we’d lose even more traitors, fellow-travelers, and general all-around greed-heads. Even better, it would galvanize the “flyover” states into real action against the Federal government.
Not that I am wishing for such a thing; it is the death of thousands of innocents, as well as the guilty.
Dude. Kalifornia and Vermont are pushing this Article V thing. That tells me all I need to HELL NO.
December 17, 2014 at 12:12 pm
DDS
People, please read “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic” by Mark Levin. The Article V convention does not open the door for a total rewrite of the Constitution and could be safeguarded from takeover by rogue delegates and elites. The states control what happens independently from the federal government. The founders gave us a tool to rein in an out-of-control central government… now is the time to pull the power back to the states with some common-sense amendments. BTW, is that a beard or the baby’s ‘fro?
Have read Bracken and Levin, I’d put a lot of stock in Levin’s political Chops. Remember everything else that is going on during the Bracken CC (It does end well.), we’re not that far down the road yet, but we’ll be ready if it goes there. I’m not sure the Taliban Beard needs much imagination, just the right default scanning direction. (bing “old woman illusion”)
December 17, 2014 at 1:38 pm
JTC
“…common-sense amendments…” Why does that sound eerily familiar?
Oh yeah, “common-sense gun control”.
The road to commonism (communism) is paved with good intentions.
To the O it’s just another vote-buying scheme by executive fiat. But this one just might backfire on him…Cuban-Americans hate them some “communism”.
December 17, 2014 at 1:46 pm
JTC
“commonism” Damn autocorrect.
December 17, 2014 at 2:39 pm
Oliver Heaviside
Ahh yes, the old bugaboo of “common sense” anything. Heck even I favor keeping guns out of the folks who hear voices in their heads, or for that matter disguise a real gun by fitting inside one of those neon-colored super-soaker toy guns (as has been done). Common sense immigration? Sure! Common sense help with health care for the poor? Of course; we are a generous people.
We are not, however, collectively a people with much common sense. Dangit!
December 17, 2014 at 4:50 pm
Don in AK
Chicken Little lives! I can’t believe so many of you see an Article V Convention so negatively! And so much mis-information on the role of Congress. A Convention of States is our best chance of actually getting anything changed. A couple of key points to keep in mind: each state gets ONE VOTE in a Convention of States. Have you looked at a Red/Blue map of the US lately? 38 states have to agree to make any change, and it only takes 13 to block anything. In my wildest dreams, there’s no way there are not 13 states that would block any leftist damage to the Constitution.
30 Comments
Watch Bill Whittle’s Afterburner on The Palin Haters. He pretty-much covers it all as far as the GOP goes.
In the words of James Longstreet in the movie Gettysburg: “We’d rather lose the war than admit the mistake.”
Yea—from the group of rinos, communists and rebrobates—we get an article 5 convention where they will rip up the existing constitution and screw the American people.
NO—HELL NO!!!
I share HB’s concern. As much as I’d like to see the 16th amendment (income tax) repealed or at least modified, a constitutional convention of any sort opens the gate to a complete re-write. Think Obamacare is bad? Imaging a Constitutional “right” to healthcare…..
They might attempt a complete rewrite, but it would still have to be ratified by 3/4 of the States before it becomes valid (38 of 50). If they try to screw We The People over, it will never get by any of the red States (I could name 13, which would be enough to block it, just off the top of my head).
Another issue which no one has contemplated is that even if (not when, but if) 34 States – the necessary 2/3 specified in Article V – apply for a Constitutional Convention, it will be Congress that gets to decide not only where and when (and it may take a SCOTUS decision to force their hand), but also who will be attending by asserting that once the process starts, the States only have the right to decide yes or no on the result, not any of the process built into the Convention. It is not any of the States Constitutions being Amended, but the Federal one, so it will be up to the Federal Government to set the agenda, establish who shall attend the resulting Congress (not the States, especially since the 17th Amendment took away the States voice in the running of the Federal Government)* and put out the result, with a willing media to spin it in the proper manner throughout. (Conversely if any State chooses to amend their own Constitution, the Feds have no say in the process, except through legal action, such as California’s Prop 8.)
For that reason, I do not expect a positive outcome on even requesting the Article V Convention, mush less anything helpful to proceed from such a Convention after the year or two it will obviously take, and God alone knows what the Federal Government will be getting up to in the meantime. It was originally hoped that if Congress saw it getting close to that outcome, they would do on their own initiative what the States had been demanding, making the Article V Convention a moot point.
* – if the States insist on sending someone, the Feds can simply refuse to accept their credentials. In return, the States can vote ‘no’ on the outcome
“They’re”, not “their”
The article 5 convention is scary–because Congress gets to prescribe how the delegates are chosen and you can only imagine what they’ll do.
IMHO it’s a big weakness in the constitution, states should have been able to propose a specific amendment and ratify it without congressional involvement at all. Having a convention wide open be the ONLY option states have is like handing them a nuclear warhead and them having that as their *only* tool–what if all you want to do is pound a nail? You won’t want to use it unless you are very, very desperate.
Meh, never mind on the grammar correction; I misread the sense of the rest of the sentence. It really is a possessive.
Don’t you think you owe Chris an apology?
Remember that Obama got nominated in 2008 after he lost the primaries because David Axelrod knew how to pack the conventions. If there is an Article V convention there is no reason not to expect the Left to pack it. They might emerge with a word for word copy of Stalin’s Soviet Constitution of 1936, full of “positive rights.”
We must not fall for trying the easy way. We need to focus on local politics. If the base takes control over local party organizations and then uses that to select state office candidates then we can use the 2014 Congressional elections map as our base. Outside of a few cultural outliers, like Minnesota, the vote for the Left is concentrated in a few centers of urban poverty and even fewer pockets of great wealth. If the conservatives control and work through the GOP then they will establish a record of governance at the state and local levels in 35 to 40 states. With that we can control Congress but not override a veto. After that it will simply be a matter of perseverance and courage. If they threaten to force a shutdown then let them. If they try to rule through the courts then make sure we have not allowed them to pack the SCOTUS, and fight them no matter what their agents in the Press say.
There are Constitutional Amendments that we should work for. Repealing the XVIIth Amendment is high on the list. We need to be careful not to enter a process where we lose more than we gain.
Beware the Convention!
Have you read Bracken’s “Foreign Enemies and Traitors (Book 3)?
http://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Enemies-Traitors-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0056NOFKM/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418804091&sr=1-4&keywords=enemies+foreign+and+domestic
The Trilogy is almost scary in contemporary parallels, excellent read! And he is not too shabby in his other books also. I haven’t been paying attention, but it seems he should be due for another sometime soon.
Thanks, Larry. If you or someone else hadn’t brought up Bracken’s “Enemies” trilogy, I was going to do so. Bracken’s work is almost prophetic. Like you, I believe Bracken’s vision of the results of an Article V convention are absolutely dead-center spot on. I don’t know if our favorite cartoonist has read Bracken but I am very certain none of the folks advocating/promotong/supporting a “ConCon” have. If they had they would not be interested in Article V.
The CC would only be good IF the states involved simply insisted on a return to THE ORIGINAL. To do a rewrite not including the guarantees of the original could be very hazardous to our freedom. And I don’t know about Damon’s experience level, but I can see Zed as V much more.
My main concern with this is that it’s a double-edged sword. Murphy guarantees that there’s a near equal prospect that in the moments after the opening gavel, an Article V Constitutional Amendment Convention could be either used precisely as we would hope, or it could be used by the obamas, Clintons and Shumers of the liberal side of America to undo the last bit that still works. Hell, if the Ron Paul fringe of the conservatives finagled the majority of delegate seats, as is their way, the outcome could be as bad as the clintonites. Anywho, that’s my concern.
There are 300-500 MILLION guns in private hands in the United States. This past Black Friday, guns were selling at THREE PER SECOND. Since Obama took office, citizens have purchased more ammunition since the founding of the country in 1776!
The Founders made sure the citizens have the final say in anything done in this country.
Ouch!! Jan with a Taliban Beard, I can’t unsee it. [;o)
Ah, Paul? Look again. What you’re mistaking for a beard is the hair of the baby she’s holding. How long since you last had your eyes checked?
Bad Cyborg! Have you no imagination? Guess the positronic brain doesn’t have that capability yet.
Initially, I made the same mistake about the “beard”. And I had my eyes checked yesterday (and they are fine, thanks). I don’t think Chris needs a palace guard; most (if not all) of the commenters here like Chris and love dbd.
When will conventional wisdom admit this country is in steep decline and fall? A major natural disaster or something like a nuke strike on Washington or NYC will finish it. Then the shooting will start…
A nuke on Washington might be a net good. We’d lose some fine people, but we’d lose even more traitors, fellow-travelers, and general all-around greed-heads. Even better, it would galvanize the “flyover” states into real action against the Federal government.
Not that I am wishing for such a thing; it is the death of thousands of innocents, as well as the guilty.
Dude. Kalifornia and Vermont are pushing this Article V thing. That tells me all I need to HELL NO.
People, please read “The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic” by Mark Levin. The Article V convention does not open the door for a total rewrite of the Constitution and could be safeguarded from takeover by rogue delegates and elites. The states control what happens independently from the federal government. The founders gave us a tool to rein in an out-of-control central government… now is the time to pull the power back to the states with some common-sense amendments. BTW, is that a beard or the baby’s ‘fro?
Baby fro’
And you need to read Bracken.
Have read Bracken and Levin, I’d put a lot of stock in Levin’s political Chops. Remember everything else that is going on during the Bracken CC (It does end well.), we’re not that far down the road yet, but we’ll be ready if it goes there. I’m not sure the Taliban Beard needs much imagination, just the right default scanning direction. (bing “old woman illusion”)
“…common-sense amendments…” Why does that sound eerily familiar?
Oh yeah, “common-sense gun control”.
The road to commonism (communism) is paved with good intentions.
re communism, to wit:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-cuba-to-normalize-relations-obama-to-speak/ar-BBgUJV0?ocid=mailsignout
To the O it’s just another vote-buying scheme by executive fiat. But this one just might backfire on him…Cuban-Americans hate them some “communism”.
“commonism” Damn autocorrect.
Ahh yes, the old bugaboo of “common sense” anything. Heck even I favor keeping guns out of the folks who hear voices in their heads, or for that matter disguise a real gun by fitting inside one of those neon-colored super-soaker toy guns (as has been done). Common sense immigration? Sure! Common sense help with health care for the poor? Of course; we are a generous people.
We are not, however, collectively a people with much common sense. Dangit!
Chicken Little lives! I can’t believe so many of you see an Article V Convention so negatively! And so much mis-information on the role of Congress. A Convention of States is our best chance of actually getting anything changed. A couple of key points to keep in mind: each state gets ONE VOTE in a Convention of States. Have you looked at a Red/Blue map of the US lately? 38 states have to agree to make any change, and it only takes 13 to block anything. In my wildest dreams, there’s no way there are not 13 states that would block any leftist damage to the Constitution.