Bind Them From Mischief With the Chains of the Constitution

Convinced beyond reason and data that the American people find delicious the sandwich of socialism being force fed down their throats, the left does not understand what is happening in this country and what is coming.In fact, the media does not understand what is happening either. Largely socializing with the same elites and liberals who are fomenting unrest in the country, the media is missing warning signs that revolutionary conduct amongst middle class conservative and independent voters is at hand.Mind you, it is not revolution with bayonet, but revolution with ballot and advocacy. But it is building. It will come. And if left unsatiated by November’s elections, something worse will come.There is a growing disconnect in this country between average Americans and the largely center-left political elite. That disconnect is what will destroy the Democrats in November and, should the Republicans offer no better, cause potentially cataclysmic change in the republic.Consider the Rasmussen surveys of late:

86% of voters believe there should b “limits on what the federal government can do.” 54% of the political class¹ disagrees.
84% of mainstream voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction. 67% of the political class think the country is headed in the right direction.
75% of mainstream voters believe the free market works better than government at regulating the economy. 44% of the political class prefer government control.
56% of mainstream voters want Obamacare repealed. 97% of the political class want it kept.
52% of mainstream voters believe increased government spending is bad for the economy. A majority of the political class disagrees.

Then consider gay marriage. More than three-quarters of the states and a majority of the people in each of those states have prohibited gay marriage. But one judge in California has, through his own “fact finding” decided gender no longer, after 5000 years, plays any role in marriage.There is a great and growing divide between those who govern and those who are governed. But those who govern are forgetting that they only govern by the consent of those who are governed. That consent is being revoked.As conservatives see the nation piece by piece ruined by socialist policies and the same left-wing values that destroyed the nuclear family, it is time to consider Article V of the Constitution.Many conservatives are scared of Article V and the potential of a run away constitutional convention. They would rather see the left amend the constitution in the courts than actually amend the constitution to stop the left because of the fear of the great unknown.But what about Dan Greenberg’s idea. States should demand a constitutional convention to consider one amendment: amending Article V to make clear that two-thirds of the states can call for a convention to consider just one amendment.

Arkansas legislator Dan Greenberg recognizes that Congress is unlikely to propose constitutional amendments to limit its own power. The legislatures of two-thirds of the states can bypass Congress by calling for a convention to propose amendments. Greenberg notes that some people worry about the prospect of a “runaway” convention, but thinks that political and legal constraints could prevent that from happening — and that the first convention should consider an amendment to Article V that would explicitly permit state legislatures to limit a convention to the consideration of a single amendment or eliminate the requirement that the requisite number of states must call a convention in order to propose an amendment. It would be in state legislators’ interest to propose and ratify such an amendment because revitalizing the states’ ability to propose amendments to the Constitution would “enhance their power in dealing with Congress.”

That would alleviate the fear of a runaway convention and let the states start reining in Congress by, in Thomas Jefferson’s words, “binding [them] down from mischief by the chains of the constitution.” Any amendment put forward at a convention specifically designed around clarifying that conventions can be restricted to single amendments would be roundly mocked and opposed.If we do not restore balance and the elite center-left politicians in charge keep spoon feeding us unwanted socialism, we will find ourselves at a point we dare not go.To alleviate the pressure, we must start petitioning state legislatures to amend the constitution and reassert state power against what is supposed to be a limited federal government.

Rasmussen provides this description of the “Political Class”:

The Political Class Index is based on three questions. All three clearly address populist tendencies and perspectives, all three have strong public support, and, for all three questions, the populist perspective is shared by a majority of Democrats, Republicans and those not affiliated with either of the major parties. We have asked the questions before, and the results change little whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the government.In many cases, the gap between the Mainstream view and the Political Class is larger than the gap between Mainstream Republicans and Mainstream Democrats.The questions used to calculate the Index are:– Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more – the American people or America’s political leaders?– Some people believe that the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group?– Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors?To create a scale, each response earns a plus 1 for the populist answer, a minus 1 for the political class answer, and a 0 for not sure.Those who score 2 or higher are considered a populist or part of the Mainstream. Those who score -2 or lower are considered to be aligned with the Political Class. Those who score +1 or -1 are considered leaners in one direction or the other.In practical terms, if someone is classified with the Mainstream, they agree with the Mainstream view on at least two of the three questions and don’t agree with the Political Class on any.

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