Last week, the International Business Times wrote that the Koch brothers – yes the evil Koch brothers – "Want a New Constitution – And They're Closer than You Think." With a headline like this, there is little doubt of IBT's intent.
The article regards one of my favorite topics, Article V, Convention of States. For a while now, leftist "news sites," have been trying to scare their readers into opposing such a "radical" departure from the norm of centralized governmental authority – and largess.
Of course, they don't describe the Convention of States in such a way. IBT, as does every other progressive outlet, must lie about the purpose of Article V and never mention the reasoning behind the article by the founders.
(If you wish to read of the founders' intent, you may read one of my previous articles here.)
Instead, IBT describes the push by conservatives as a "call for a convention to change the U.S. Constitution."
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I suppose technically IBT is correct. A convention to propose amendments to the Constitution could "change" it – much like the 27 amendments already enshrined in the document. This was the reason for the amendment process.
But the way IBT's Josh Keefe writes the article, it's clear it's merely meant to frighten the ill-informed – that "changing" the Constitution really means to rewrite it in a way that suits the evil Koch brothers.
Fortunately for IBT, most of its readers have little knowledge of the Constitution, much less the arcane Article V. If they did, the reader would reject the weak argument presented by Keefe while also embracing the need and the genius of Article V.
"According to Article V of the Constitution, just two thirds (34) of the 50 state legislatures need to call for a convention," Keefe writes. This is just a pathetic word game, attempting to downplay the achievement of convincing 34 states to sign on. Then 38, or 75 percent, of the 50 states are required to pass an amendment.
In any endeavor, this would be a monumental feat. Imagine if Karen Handel had defeated Jon Ossoff in Georgia with a 67 percent majority, much less 75 percent. It would have been considered a wipe-out. Take any 50 people in place them in room. Pose a situation to them and see how often you can get three-quarters, or even two-thirds, of them to agree on a solution.
It would be difficult, which is why the founders, in their unending brilliance, set it up this way. They wanted to make it difficult to amend the Constitution. The way IBT explains it, it's as easy as just getting the word out. Well, the word has been out and, to date, I believe there are but 12 states that have signed on. That's less than 25 percent after years of advocating.
IBT's Keefe further attempts to frighten readers by citing unknown constitutional law experts. IBT writes that the only other convention was convened in 1787 to "improve" the Articles of Confederation. Instead, these unknown experts say the founders provided "a harrowing precedent. Delegates tore up the Articles of Confederation they had convened to improve, and produced a whole new governing document." They forget to add that the founders then threw the scraps on the floor, lit them on fire and danced around the flames.
Naturally, the IBT article neglects to mention that the founders had no Constitution and, therefore, no "rule book" for how to make changes and that any amendments must now be "part of this Constitution." In other words, we can't tear it up and write a new one. It's as plain as day, if one bothers to read Article V.
But IBT is acutely aware of the ignorance of its audience. Readers of Keefe's article are of the same ilk who think there is constitutional right to free health care and that separation of church and state is mentioned in the founding document.
Instead, they choose to quote liberal talking points, void of constitutional authority. Tugging on leftist heart strings, they claim that the right and the Koch Brothers only wish to rid our nation of a "social safety net," like Social Security and Medicare, etc.
They claim that this is the Kochs' end game. The evil Kochs know they can get enough federal legislators to vote down these programs, so they will just rewrite the Constitution to achieve their dastardly ends.
Oh if only it were that simple.