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The left's assault on liberty never rests, so don't ever be sucked into supporting the dangerous idea of a new constitutional convention, even if its stated purposes purport to be limited.
Recently, CNN's Fareed Zakaria spoke admiringly of how "Iceland is actually junking its own constitution and starting anew and ... soliciting ideas from all of Iceland's 320,000 citizens, with the help of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube."
Zakaria beamed as he ticked off some of the wonderful ideas proposed by Icelanders, such as "guaranteed good health care" and "campaign finance systems that make corporate donations illegal."
Putting aside the obvious question of how Barack Obama, Russ Feingold and John McCain managed to get on Iceland's social networks, I hope idealistic Americans don't get any ideas from this tiny nation's dubious project.
Oh, wait. Our geniuses are already well ahead of Iceland's. A friend called me in February to tell me of a proposed resolution circulating in the Missouri House in support of a national convention to consider amendments to the U.S. Constitution. She asked me to help discourage the Republican leadership from pursuing this ill-considered idea. She didn't have to convince me.
I could have understood if just Democrats were behind it, but I was surprised that Republicans were also involved. Another highway to hell paved with good intentions, I assumed. I'm thankful that the initiative lost steam.
I understand the frustration conservatives feel about the federal government's virtually unchecked growth over the past 75 years and how this is destroying our liberties and bankrupting our nation. But the Constitution isn't the problem. Rewriting it isn't the solution.
Proponents of a constitutional convention might protest that their goals are far more modest than a new constitution. Well, so were the Framers' plans when they met in Philadelphia to (SET ITAL) amend (END ITAL) the Articles of Confederation. Fortunately, they drafted an entirely new constitution instead, which would be, in the words of former British Prime Minister William Gladstone, "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."
Don't ever make the mistake of believing that such a miracle of constitutional craftsmanship will ever occur again in this nation, especially considering the social, cultural, demographic, political and, yes, spiritual changes that have since occurred.
We can certainly support tweaking the Constitution through limited amendments, but a convention would open the floodgates to the nefarious devices of what Ann Coulter -- in her new book, "Demonic" -- describes as "the mob."
There is no surer way to turn over the fate of our structure of government to the left's formidable forces of populism and demagoguery. Just think of the groups that would descend on such a convention, along with the pointy-headed professors dedicated to indoctrinating our kids on the "evils" of America: the Service Employees International Union, Rainbow/PUSH, the armies of militant homosexual and feminist activists, environmentalist loons, Soros socialists dressed as free market champions, the Shariah lobby, Code Pink and Greenpeace. This would be their chance to work their revolutionary magic in one fell swoop. You couldn't give them a better gift.
Consider the untold damage the enemies of liberty have visited on our Constitution despite its formidable institutional safeguards against such assaults. Imagine what mischief they would concoct if they were allowed to directly reframe the entire system.
The Constitution, as written, is nothing if not a document designed to maximize liberty and prevent tyranny by limiting the unrestrained powers of government. The disparate leftist groups doubtlessly salivating at the prospect of a new constitutional convention are united in their contempt for the founding concept of limited government and the constitutional scheme of checks and balances designed to ensure it. If you think you've seen community organizing and activist thuggery -- just you wait.
Leftists, from the netroots to the radical activist groups to government officials, have all shown their willingness to twist the Constitution and thwart its provisions to achieve their policy ends. Indeed, those in the ruling class have demonstrated their disrespect for constitutional limitations on their power in their actions and in their shocking statements in which they expressed incredulity that they should be asked to justify their legislation on constitutional grounds. Leftists in the judiciary are just as bad.
If the mobs had their way, health care as a "right" and the suppression of speech dressed up as campaign finance reform would only be the beginning. I shudder to think of the panoply of other ingenious ideas leftists would seek to impose were they to sit down at such an anarchists feast.
The remedy to the generations-long encroachments on the integrity of the Constitution is to throw out the bums who insist on destroying our form of government and replace them with those who respect the concept of limited government and cherish our liberties.
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David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book, "Crimes Against Liberty," was No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction for its first two weeks. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.DavidLimbaugh.com.
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June 21, 2011 @ 7:25 am
Considering the fact that those Secular Progressive Democrat Demons have succeeded in aborting many of the Jeffersons, Adams, Franklins that were part of God’s original plan for modern America, and should be alive today to do the will of the creator and protect us from our own worst instincts, I would tend to agree with Mr. Limbaugh. Those whom they have not destroyed with the scalpel they have driven mad with the delusions of Liberal insanity. The Constitutional creative educational systems and media of the 18th Century had not yet been deluded by the socialist insanity to corrupt the developing American minds, that today have no real appreciation or concept of the true responsibilities that liberty entails. Today the progressive empowered socialist modern man of entitlement seeks only the benefits, and none the work required to maintain our Republic. This basic misunderstanding of the work ethic would be our undoing in any modern Constitutional Convention filled with Progressive Democrats who always take the path of least resistance.
People today confuse Liberty with License, and look to empower an un-empowering entitlement government of man not God edification, and have no concept of their own individual God given responsibilities to maintain that Liberty. They have been taught to believe that government is the source from whom all blessings and liberties flow, and have no concept of where their real Liberty and Rights come from. The great minds that should be the guardians of our freedom have been either been grafted into an infected socialist vine of corruption, or aborted to the ash heap of oblivion. The great Tea Party awakening still needs much time to fertilize and refresh the tree of liberty before this confused populace will be fit to tamper with the rights of men.
Let the lessons of the reawakening begin.
June 21, 2011 @ 9:25 am
Zakaria is one of the most dangerous people in the mainstream media today. Usually an immigrant coming to this great country can see how individual liberty and the free market have created the greatest nation on earth, where opportunity exists for everyone. Instead, he holds the typical progressive belief that prosperity is derived from the actions of the government instead of the individual. Under a cloak of reasonableness, he seeks to tear down the foundation of this country and recreate it as a socialist Utopia. This comment about rewriting the constitution is typical of his thinking. I called him dangerous because unlike clowns like Olbermann and Maddow, he projects himself as an independent, and an intellectual. Someone needs to expose him as a fraud. His big government solutions to every problem have been tried and failed and have caused much of the misery that exists in this country today.
June 21, 2011 @ 10:05 am
We don’t need a new Constitution. All we need to do is to enforce the one we have now.
June 21, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
What are the Republicans afraid of? Comments about the Jeffersons, Adams, Franklins scare me more. This isn’t 1791…the world has changed and we need to update the Constitution to eliminate the minority roadblocks that prevent the majority from exercising true democracy just like Adams, Jefferson and Franklin proposed.
June 21, 2011 @ 7:05 pm
Read Eccesiastes and you will realize there is nothing New under the sun.
Universal truths are true today, tomorrow and yesterday and are refuted only in the distorted Progressive situational moral compass and mind which seeks to control yours. The founders understood these truths. Oh that Obama could understand, but he will see the light of our truths and the darkness of his socialist come 2012 when we show him the door.
June 22, 2011 @ 12:54 am
ummm…..last time I checked there IS NO “democracy” in Marx, which I think is what you’re eluding to defending. This doesn’t HAVE to be 1791. The truths the founders set in the constitution are just as valid today as they ever were. Sad that your side sees the Constitution as outdated and obsolete, as if Marx’s COMMUNIST manifesto was “up to date and relevant”. I say communist because he was/is the father of communism despite what many libs want to deny. I’ve read the pages where Marx himself states “we the communists” calling for the destruction and forceable overthrow of all governments,etc.
I certainly hope/pray we will be “allowed” to show BO the door next year if he hasn’t suspended “elections” as we know them by then.
June 22, 2011 @ 11:47 am
Problem lies in that the Mission of the Constitution has been eroded since it was signed. The Democrats are the primary source of this erosion, but the Republicans have been just about useless in both preventing the erosion or repairing the damage.
Yes, the principles that are Codified in the DOI and were supposed to be protected by the Constitution are timeless, however we have 23 decades of proof that these principles have been overridden, under secured, and just plain forgotten. So while the Mission of the Constitution must remain static, it is the Methods that are ‘Living’.
Can you not agree that the Socialist Clauses need to be clarified for everyone? You know the ones The General Welfare, The Necessary and Proper, and The Commerce Clauses.
What if a Constitutional Convention went awry? Would immigrants be free to invade our nation and put unsustainable pressures on our welfare systems? Would our Congress be authorized to mandate healthcare for everyone even if it must be tied up in the Courts before a Supreme Court decides 5-4 with a stacked deck that for the Good of the People yet another right must be abrogated?
The list goes on. I keep hearing that “Anything can happen at a ConCon . . .” Fact is anything can happen because only our Rulers are allowed to interpret our Rights for us and have given themselves authorization to abrogate them when they decide it is necessary and proper. We are not permitted to dissent.
June 21, 2011 @ 3:15 pm
Rick is an ill informed person. True democracy is not what America is about. Officially, at least, we are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. People of his ilk have, through instruments such as the 17th Amendment, transformed us into a Democracy. That can and must be changed. That particular amendment needs to be repealed.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are the two documents that make America, America. They define us as exceptional in the world. They elevate us to a much higher standard than any other nation on earth.
But they are not fixed in some ancient time. In fact, the constitution provides for us to amend it from time to time as we see ways to improve how our government works. Most of the amendments have been improvements, although a few have been of questionable wisdom. But the remarkable thing is that amendments can be made and repealed and it does not require a Constitutional Convention to do so.
Such a convention would, by its nature, involve scrapping the current Constitution and completely rewriting it. Never again would there be protections for personal and religious liberty such as we have now. Free speech and right of assembly would be relics of the past. The whole idea is a terrible idea. America would no longer be America. And here’s a thought: it would no longer fit in a pocket edition. Today’s framers would make it at least 2500 pages in length. That’s how poorly our marginal literacy has taken us compared to the well read literate writers of the Constitution and every other great historical document.
June 21, 2011 @ 3:32 pm
Thank you for your comment. It states my beliefs. NO to a new Constitution Convention. It is the worse thing that could happen.
Please read the research Kelleigh Nelson has done on some of our Republican candidates and also speaks on a new Constitution Convention. The site is as follows which will be for Part IV, but you have access to Part I, II, & III which I suggest you read first.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Nelson/kelleigh124.htm
June 22, 2011 @ 12:59 am
Thank you…I agree wholeheartedly. If allowed to happen it would be the very LAST “constitutional convention” to ever take place as the constution would be totally scrapped and replaced with Marx. The libs would turn us into the Soviets.
June 21, 2011 @ 9:42 pm
David and ConCon detractors. I bet I and people I can find can create the Mission, Rules, and Transition Plan for a Full Blown Constitutional Convention that a majority of Americans will get behind.
“Don’t ever make the mistake of believing that such a miracle of constitutional craftsmanship will ever occur again in this nation, especially considering the social, cultural, demographic, political and, yes, spiritual changes that have since occurred.”
Balderdash! Not only will we recreate the Miracle, we will exceed the 1787 Convention in most ways. How can we not? We have their Notes, we have their writtings, we have 235 years of experience that they did not have, and I personally know many people who have the motivation to outdo them. Not for glory, but quite simply to Restore the Rights and Independence they codified in the DOI and Constitution.
Pity there are those who think so low of themselves as to believe it not possible nor required.
June 22, 2011 @ 1:02 am
Thing is…..you WOULD NOT consider the founders writings nor the original constitution and you know it! I truly beleive you would do the opposite of what the original founders wanted and turn the USA into the USSA! “Baderdash indeed!
June 22, 2011 @ 10:30 am
Phillydawg and other non-believers see http://endisfar.org
I quit my $150k Federal Contracting Job and have lost just about everything in pursuing the restoration of the Rights codified in the DOI and Constitution. I’ve read the 1787 Convention Notes, the Federalist Papers (the Anti-Federalists have been vindicated), several personal letters of the Founders, ‘The Wealth of Nations’ by Adam Smith that served as a blueprint for our Free Market economy, a few books by Hayek, several papers by Mises, and the list goes on.
I quit because while I and most of my coworkers were whining about gov’t waste and arbitrary control over the lives of Americans I was participating in it. I am no liar and I am no thief, at least no more.
I challenge you to dismiss my understanding or desire to see my claims through in open debate. Up to it or are you just going to throw batteries from the stands?
June 22, 2011 @ 1:27 pm
Not dissmissing your “understanding”, but if you’re talking about a “con con” to return everything to what the founding fathers intended I’m with you. But these “rulers” in office now do not beleive in the Constitution nor the DOI. They like Marx! I’ve read Marx and vehemently oppose him. Even BO supposedly “taught” about our constitution. Doesn’t mean he agrees with it.
$150K eh? If those in office NOW get to do a “con con”, especially the Nancy Pelosi’s, Van Joneses, Anita Dunns, Hilllary Clintons,Harry Rieds and their ilk, things like $150K “jobs” will dissapear because eventually there won’t BE any “currency” to deal with. Just total dependence on the “new government” that will “provide all our needs”,etc.
June 22, 2011 @ 2:10 pm
@Phillydawg
I understand your suspicions, not asking you to trust me, quite the contrary, test what I and others can do with a clear Mission, the Preamble as a Strict guide for that Mission, and today’s collaboration tools. Nothing will be done behind closed doors it will be purposely OVERT. Yeah I know you’ve heard that before, but what I am proposing has no force in law and will simply show that ‘We the People’ using Common Sense can deliver a superior product than the D’s, R’s, or anyone else for that matter.
If the urge to participate strikes you even if it is to point out an error I welcome it.
As for Federal Contracting and $150k, I worked private industry implementing SAP and supporting systems for all but 3 years when I worked for HHS. I thought I’d do my public duty and found out that Public Duty entails helping write 1,500 page Blueprints for systems that can never be scoped because of bureaucracy which is designed to spend money. Accomplishing something is forbidden because then you’ve got to figure out something new to spend all the money on which is terribly difficult because you’re competing with other Depts or Agencies to be pretending to be doing something.
If someone can think of it, someone in the Gov’t is already working on it. Oh, and of course no one at the Agencies are experienced enough to do the work so they hire consulting firms to supply very expensive contractors. They are too busy getting Masters in Public Policy which is shorthand for “How to spend as much money as the Dept can acquire”. Once they get their Masters they automatically get a raise for learning how to spend our money faster. It’s sick, that is why I quit.
Only time will convince you of my motivation. I thought of staying in the system because most people are too busy whining about ‘New Leadership’ to figure out that it is the Scope of Gov’t that is the problem more than it is the so called “leaders”. Why not just use the taxpayer just like thousands and indeed millions of people? Listening to naysayers sometimes makes me wish I did. But I didn’t and now this is my road.
Anywho, you’re welcome to participate or not, but my bet still stands that I and whoever I can find can deliver the US from our de facto Oligarchy. Goes for you too David Limbaugh and anyone you can convince to compete with we commoners.
June 22, 2011 @ 10:18 am
As stated a few times already, there is NO need for a new constitution it is fine as written. What America needs is to replace our current leaders with those that are really there for the PEOPLE! Any changes should be ammendments as designed and the only one really needed is one which would preclude big buisiness from donating a single *****!
June 22, 2011 @ 11:04 am
Our ‘Leaders’ are our ‘Rulers’. I no longer ‘consent’ to being arbitrarily Ruled by a bunch of Weiners and the occasional Obama even if our Rulers are peppered with a few Paul’s, Reagan’s, and Nunn’s. There are certainly others, but the point is Benevolent Rule is still Rule.
You may think that because you consent to Benevolent Rule that I must as well if a majority approves. You are wrong and I aim to prove it.