An Evening in Support of Our Constitution

Larry Pratt
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

On May 1, 2015, a well-attended meeting of Virginians listened to arguments against the Article V Convention of States.

Some conservative factions are of the opinion that we have the world’s most perfect Constitution, 17 simple pages, and we don’t need to amend it or replace it in order to address a balanced-budget. Politicians must stop their out of control spending.

"There is nothing wrong with the Constitution," said the organizer of the event, Sevil Kalayci. She asked pointedly, "If politicians cannot abide by the current Constitution, what makes Americans think that this amendment will make any difference?"

An often stated fear has been that a Constitutional Convention has the potential to become a runaway convention that could replace the current Constitution with a progressive version.

So far, numerous states have already voted against an Article V Constitutional Convention: Virginia, Utah, Indiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, Montana, and North Dakota. North Carolina adjourned without taking any action.

Article V of the Constitution states,

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by Congress;”

Some ask the questions, Can we trust that they will only amend parts of the Constitution? Can we trust that they will not rewrite the entire document? If they are not honoring the current Constitution, what makes us think that they will honor a new one, “unless it is to their liking?” Would they be honorable men? “Self-serving politicians could plunge us into servitude or something much worse. Are there more honorable men or more self-serving politicians currently serving?”

Even though the Constitution is very clear on its intent and has been settled for a long time, progressives consider it an outdated document in terrible need of revision.  A new book, The Constitution in 2020 by Jack Balkin and Reva Siegel, and a companion website propose the progressive vision of the U.S. Constitution in regards to individual rights, citizenship, southern border, “personhood,” and the bizarre questions, “Who counts as an American?” and “What kind of law counts as American?” http://constitution2020.org

Progressives opine that the U.S. Constitution must be revised to agree with their political, cultural, and ideological thought, except in cases where the exact wording of the Constitution suits their agenda and intent. They would love to replace “freedom of religion” with “freedom of worship” because worshipping would then only be allowed in a church and nowhere else. “Individual rights” must include “social justice,” “economic justice,”  “gender justice,” and “environmental justice,” the hallmarks of global communism.

The keynote speaker was Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 “to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue.” GOA currently has over 300,000 activists who support the right to bear arms as described in the Second Amendment. “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  https://gunowners.org/

The first convention actually was a runaway convention but the participating men then were men of honor and the convention turned out well for the American people. Today, it is a different story, “people are playing with fire.” The delegates are already in power and are uncontrollable even in the face of re-election and have not kept their promises to represent the fiscal conservatives who have put them in power.

Time and time again, elected representatives have voted against the wishes of their constituents, continuing the out of control spending that has doubled our national debt in the last seven years. “We have no political control over the ruling class,” said Pratt. Look at the recent actions and votes of the Republican Party that support the Democrat Party’s agenda against the wishes of Americans who put them in power specifically to fight the destructive and anti-American Democrat agenda.

One of the monumental disappointments was the fact that the Republican majority in Congress was easily “cowed” and it failed miserably to stop Obamacare. “They are afraid of their shadow,” Pratt said. They had a chance to stop Obamacare. ”As long as the Republicans tolerate Speaker Boehner and leader McConnell, they are lying to us,” continued Pratt. “We are at a very critical point in our national affairs,” as if we are having a grand time on the Titanic, dancing and drunk, oblivious to the inevitable sinking.

Doctors were bought off; they are going right along with Castro Care, knowing how bad socialized medicine is, and agreeing to ask patients about their guns, a massive invasion of our privacy, a massive computer gathering data, using taking a mild pill against depression as a reason to confiscate guns from owners like they are doing in New York State.

Can politicians and bureaucrats be trusted that they are going to do the right thing in any instance, including a Constitutional Convention? Take for instance the case of ATF agents who were seen going into gun shops and illegally wheeling-in photo copiers and demanding records of anyone’s gun sales just in case some may have escaped the roving eye and ears of the NSA, said Pratt.

Why are prominent conservatives, with whom many agree on a variety of issues except the Constitutional Convention, support the Article V Con-Con? Pratt explained that perhaps they “have misjudged how the political system really works,” trust politicians to do the right thing, and want a balanced budget.

On the question of Jade Helm 15, Larry Pratt answered that it is an “Unconstitutional exercises of federal police power and it is menacing enough.”  Gov. Abbott of Texas, who “stands tall,” told the feds, Pratt added, he was going to keep an eye on them and so is his National Guard.

A rhetorical question begs asking, is the progressive Leviathan at bay or on defense? That remains to be seen, concluded Pratt.

Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

 

 

 

The Con-Con: Solution or Pandora's Box

The Article V Convention Forum: Solution or Pandora’s Box was organized by a coalition of conservative groups and met on December 8, 2014 in Falls Church, Virginia. The moderator and one of the organizers, Sevil Kalayci, discussed the necessity of such a meeting since most of the conservatives who oppose an “Article V Convention” have been shut out of the debate by other conservatives with the exception of Danville, Henrico, and Fair Lakes Tea Parties. “The Convention of states has divided the conservative movement,” she said. Kalayci asked, “How do you enforce the Constitution? How do you enforce the amendments?”

The speakers, who argued against state legislatures asking Congress to call for a convention to amend the Constitution, included:

-       Jeff Lewis, National Director of the Patriot Coalition

-       Richard D. Fry General Counsel, Patriot Coalition

-       Dr. Edwin Vieira, Author and Constitutional Scholar

-       Robert Broadus, former Congressional Candidate in District 4 Maryland

-       Mitchell Shaw, Citizens for Constitutional Government

-       Peter Boyce, political activist and Chairman leading the effort to stop a call for an Article V Convention in New Jersey

Mitchell Shaw was the first to address the audience. He described the Constitutional convention known as “con-con,” “amendments convention,” “article V convention,” all phrases referring to the same event, a “convention held for the purpose of proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution as authorized by Art. V of the present Constitution as it was written.”

He enumerated the conservative groups interested in this “con-con” are the Convention of States, Compact for America, Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, Middle Resolution, and other individuals interested in addressing what is wrong with America.  

Shaw mentioned many groups and individuals on the left equally interested in amending or potentially replacing the existing Constitution such as “Code Pink, Alliance for Democracy, Wolf Pack, Center for Media and Democracy, Independent Progressive Politics Network, Vermont Single Payer, Sierra Club, MoveOn.org, occupy groups,” and some billionaires.

Are there flaws in the Constitution? Why do we need to amend it in order to rein in an out-of-control government? What “magic language would an amendment adopt,” wondered Mitchell Shaw, in order to force Congress to abide by the Constitution that they are already ignoring? In his opinion, there are no flaws in the Constitution. Congress is ignoring it and American citizens allow it because they are too ignorant of their own Constitution. An amendment is not the solution, Shaw said, the solution is the creation of an informed electorate that understands the power of the state legislators to rein in the federal government. Unfortunately states compromise because they have become dependent on federal money to pay their bills.

Robert Broadus, a Navy veteran and the host of the east coast anti-federalist radio show, presented the anti-federalist viewpoint of an article V convention of the states.

Richard D. Fry explained that our current legislators no longer fear the people and God. They are no longer serving the interests of the American people; they are serving their own interests. We as citizens are not doing our job of holding them accountable. “This article V convention has been promoted for 50 years, starting with the Ford Foundation.” Fry concentrated his speech on the idea of sovereignty of a state with inherent power to regulate itself internally. “The states themselves are sovereign.”

Dr. Edwin Vieira, a Constitutional scholar, summed up the Constitution convention in three words, “imprudence, incoherence, and irrelevance.” He made the most important point of the evening that any kind of amendment, agenda, proposal, or draft are irrelevant in light of the looming national debt which is impossible to repay or manage currently or in the near future.

 “We are on a Titanic right now,” $18 trillion in national debt. If we add unfunded liabilities, we are at over $200 trillion.” That is the biggest threat to our national security. “And the solution is hyperinflation, followed by depression, or hyperinflation with depression.” He continued that the debt is unpayable and must be written off through currency depreciation. “We already have currency wars around the world in reference to the dollar being the reserve currency. This is the run up to WWI again. WWI was ultimately caused by trade rivalries between Germany and England. This war is going to be caused by monetary rivalries.”

Dr. Vieira believes that the Constitutional convention will not happen before “these monetary and geostrategic events come to fruition.” “The Ship is going to come down first,” he said, referring to the irreparably damaged ship of state.

When the monetary system and the banking system collapse, prices will go into freefall, there will be social effects, civil disobedience, a breakdown of society, and other unpredictable events caused by a devastated economy.

Preserving the original Constitution is most important. How long would an amendment take to pass if that is the only intent? Quoting Oswald Spangler and his “Decline of the West,” Dr. Vieira said that the “Untergang” (fall, downfall, doom) of the West will occur first. “The amendment might pass after the Carpathia shows up,” he concluded.

Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2014