Posted on 08/17/2013 5:45:09 PM PDT by dontreadthis
But fortunately for Levin (and us all), there is a solution to the runaway convention problem, and his "natural allies" could find reason to hop on his Article 5 bandwagon. There is a group based in Washington DC of highly influential constitutionalists who call themselves the Madison Coalition and who have found a workable solution to afford states the right to propose single Constitutional amendments while avoiding the dangers of a runaway convention. The first article in the nation to report on the Madison Coalition was published on these pages. Very briefly, the Coalition's strategy is to first have the states draft carefully crafted legislation that would eliminate the possibility of the delegates in an Article 5 convention from "going rogue."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
By having the Red States withdraw we can then implement a Constitution once again.
The great experiment has taught us much.
The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers
The second is a 1973 report from the ABA attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention.
Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee
“Runaway Convention”, “Convention Going Rogue”
All undefined terms wrapped in fear and hyperbole.
Levin and others have said from the beginning there is no Constitutional Convention possible. Article V calls for a convention to ***propose*** amendments, but such proposed amendments still need 2/3s to pass and 3/4s to ratify.
These requirements:
*2/3s to pass
*3/4s to ratify
are the safety valves that prevent a disorderly process.
What this commentator is saying is (snooty air and all) “we have to have an esteemed group of constitutional experts in order to avoid a runaway situation”.
I smell B*llSh*t. We don’t need some expert group. We need only elected delegates that represent us.
The ‘Runaway Convention’ is a myth perpetrated by Beltway groupies. God forbid they think that ‘we the unwashed denizens of fly-over country should take matters in to our crude hands’ even though the founders left us that option right there in the Constitution when all else failed.
Excuse my Irish but F’em.
thanks, I find this fascinating
Problem is, we have them right here on Free Republic, spreading their poison. Everywhere.
I nearly threw my phone at the wall reading a thread this morning with “Runaway convention” groupthink that couldn’t read the actual Article V to save their lives.
The question; Are we a democracy or a republic?...
Needs to be asked.. Some say a democracy others a republic still others a democratic-republic.. The proven fact that a democracy is always in every case Mob Rule by mobsters.. True of every democracy ever invented and inflicted on modern man.. the conversation MUST BE HAD...
Democrats HIDING under this term need to be EXPOSED..
The word democracy has been made almost a HOLY WORD when democracy is a lie.. ALways was..still is.. and always will be.. Democracy is a lie.. a scam.. a boondoggle. it is the political disease that causes socialism..
America NEEDS to have this conversation.. and face the fact there are two words OMITTED from the american constitution ON PURPOSE.. 1) democracy and 2) democratic.. No where to be found within it.. For very good reason as well..
A Constitutional Spelling Bee needs to happen... by the States..
For the Federal Givernment is double talk without support from the States.. If 2/3rds of the States withdraw unlimited support of it, it becomes a Mushroom.. a cartoon..
Mark Levin is correct.. a dialog MUST HAPPEN.. if only to expose what “IS” and what “ISN’T”... politically in the United States.. The U.S. has NEVER been a democracy.. and trying to make it one.. is sedition and espionage.. and a subtle form of CONQUEST.. Sometimes not too subtle..
America NEEDS to find out what democracy “IS” and ISN’T”..
because currently very few know.. i.e. deprogramming MUST begin..
***
So even if the convention decided on a proposed amendment that declared the USA to be under a dictatorship for example, the states can choose to ignore such a propoposed amendment as opposed to ratifying it. So the only loss with a runaway constitutional convention that produces an unpopular proposed amendment is that the convention was a waste of time. Corrections welcome.
On the other hand, if patriots really want to clean up DC with minimum effort, please consider the following. Patriots and former Obama supporters need to get off of their couches and elect a 2/3 conservative majority to each House of Congress in the 2014 elections. This is because supermajority control of Congress by conservatives will have the power, under the Constitution's Clause 2 of Section 7 of Article I, to override presidential vetoes. In other words, Congress will be able to repeal Obamacare, for example, without Obama's signature.
FR can’t prevent slivering snakes and trolls from disrupting discussion threads unless they break the rules. Most such trolls are newly registered; a new registration date provides evidence. Others are longtime paid detractors who are outed by posting the same garbage on other conservative sites.
We just keep hammering the facts so that lurkers get what they are looking for, a sense of perspective and insight.
Sometimes the constitution just means what it says.
Fifteen percent of America listens to talk radio more than once a week.
Id suppose his audience is about half that.
It seems to me the odds of reaching anyone but the true believers is about zero...
If a conservative wants to get the message out the echo chamber of talk radio/TV is not the way to do it IMHO
The guy who was on with Huckabee rattled off a website but I can’t find it - did anyone catch the exact url?
I think the apprehension regarding the original convention is a red herring because we didn't have the existing Constitution in force at that time.
Our Constitution today says that it can only be changed by amendment, otherwise EVERYTHING in it now is "supreme law of the land." You can't have a convention of delegates change the way the amendments are ratified when the rules for ratification are laid out in the Constitution. The amendment process has to follow the law as it exists now, not how others would amend it to be, nor how the law was during the Articles of Confederation before the Constitution was ratified.
You can't have a runaway convention decide to rewrite the Constitution unless they do it one amendment at a time, such as "Amendment XXVIII: The Constitution as written is abolished and replaced with the following..." then get the delegates to vote for it, then get 3/4ths of the states to ratify it.
They would have to do it incrementally, and then form a voting bloc to vote for the liberal set of amendments and against the conservative ones. Then the states get to ratify the amendments that pass the convention, again one amendment at a time.
One WOULD have to watch for the sequencing of ratifying amendments, because early ratified amendments would be law that could affect later ratification of amendments, unless "start dates" are included to defer their effect untile the entire ratification process completes.
One thing the convention cannot change is the concept of 50 states. The states predated the Constitution, and the People and the States "ordained and established this Constitution" to create a Federal Government as a body to manage the relations between the states vis a vis foreign governments. The states still remain as sovereign entities. If a radical group tried to create a new constitution that terminates the sovereignty of states and replaces them with a single continental government, I can't imagine that 3/4ths of the states would vote for their own demise.
-PJ
And to the REPUBLIC for which it stands!
A meeting with parliamentary procedure is "democratic"...sort of.
But there is nothing democratic about the RATs.
Ok I have a question, What if we DO get some(or all) of these Amendments passed and the then Illegitimate Federal Govt flips us the “bird” and refuses to leave, then WHAT do we do?!
Democracy is one of Plato/Aristotle’s bad forms of government. Politia (republic) is the corresponding good form good because of its limits on power.
I suspect Mr. Levin is well aware of the Madison Coalition. I’d love to hear his thoughts.
I suspect if he felt something like that were needed, he would have included it in his book.
I've been asking that question in various forms for 6 years.
Haven't had an answer that makes sense yet.
It's like we're up against something pervasive that qualifies for RICO prosecution, but all the entities, groups and individuals who have the ability/power to deal with the problem are either not interested, complicit, or scared s******s!
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