Regardless of your ideological bent, it’s clear that our nation is at an historical crossroads if not an outright impasse. Our federal government has gone off the rails established by the Constitution, and we are powerless to change it. At least, if we’re counting on our elected representatives to do something about it. They’re too invested in the status quo, so why would they want to reform anything?
More importantly, what can we do about it? While tar, feathers, and pitchforks might be emotionally gratifying (if not downright appropriate), there is a better way.
And the best part? It’s already spelled out for us in Article V of the Constitution:
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.
So the amendment process originating in Congress as we’re all familiar with has a corollary that until now most of us probably weren’t familiar with: we have the authority to originate Amendments ourselves, beginning at the state level. And if they pass the three-fourths-of-the-states threshold, then guess what? They become part of the Constitution and there isn’t a damned thing the Congresstards can do about it.
If you listen to Mark Levin, then you know where this came from because I’m certainly not smart enough to have figured it out myself. I was incredibly excited about this undertaking when he first started talking about it a few weeks ago, and now that his book’s finally out I’m itching to read it.
The big question is are there enough of us with the will to restore our country to something resembling its founding principles?
As this movement builds momentum, I have no doubt that it will reveal stark differences between ideologies within each party. Honest liberals like Ron Wyden (D-OR) will probably be a lot more receptive to it than the leftist thugs who currently run his party. Likewise, there’s a huge chasm between principled constitutionalists like Ted Cruz (R-TX) and statist tools like John McCain (R-Crazytown).
There’s an enormous difference between garden-variety liberals who think the rich should pay more or that gay marriage is no different than desegregation, and leftists who embrace those ideas in the service of marshaling forces towards something far more radical. If you don’t believe me, then believe Saul Alinsky. The slimy sonofabitch knew exactly what he was doing and entire institutions have sprung up to train up activists in his methods. The “New School” and Midwest Academy are two leading examples, and our President is a disciple. That’s not made up, and it’s not a fevered tin-foil-hat fantasy. He’s a radical as is most of the current Democrat leadership.
The Alinskyites knew that collectivism could only be imposed on America from the inside-out; no Red Dawns or Worker’s Revolts here. So he set about figuring out how commie radicals should infiltrate establishment institutions until they reached the point where they held the power and could use it to impose their will. That is, turning our nation into something that our founders (hell, even our grandparents) wouldn’t recognize: a socialist “utopia.” In a country where states cannot tame the federal beast, citizens quickly become subjects to the whim of a credentialed elite who frankly couldn’t find their own asses with both hands and a map.
In other words, Socialism is just Communism with better manners.
Yet it all ends up the same way: in ruins. The EU is falling apart, having run head-first into Thatcher’s axiom about socialist states eventually running out of other people’s money. Even the homogeneous cultures of Norway and Sweden are beginning to rethink their commitments to an overly-generous welfare state. I expect they’ll resolve it in a more civil manner than the Club Med basket-case countries, but one shouldn’t hope for too much.
And while we can mourn the distant memories of principled Democrats like Sam Nunn, Pat Moynihan, and Scoop Jackson, the really sad truth is we have no effective oppostion whatsoever. The Republicans are only marginally better than the Dems in that they’re not actively trying to subvert the country. But the party leadership is made up of corporatists, which is the end state of politicians who are pro-business but too clueless to recognize when they’re being played.
If you don’t really appreciate the difference between Big Business and Free Markets, it’s not too long before you’re supporting all kinds of lefty nonsense while shirking your constitutional duties and crapping all over the people who make up your core voting bloc. You end up standing for nothing but your own re-election because you’ve never quite internalized the fundamental principles of free people and free markets in a free country.
Eat it, commies. WE THE PEOPLE still hold the power, and it’s high time we started using it.
The Chiles Files 