The Only Tool That Can Fix This
If your house was on fire, would you fear the extinguisher? That’s the twisted logic behind rejecting Article V, all while our republic is burning to the ground.
If the Constitution were a toolbox, Article V is the fire extinguisher.
It hangs there quietly, all but invisible, bolted to the wall for emergencies. And let’s be honest, most of us never gave it much thought, until we have a fire. But my friends, the fire is burning! And the people who should be yanking that thing off the wall and putting out the blaze are instead standing around, arguing that it might malfunction. Or that it could spray too hard. Or that it hasn’t been tested lately.
Meanwhile, the kitchen’s gone, the floorboards are glowing, and the foundation is cracking.
Let’s stop pretending this is theoretical. The federal government is in full-blown crisis mode. It spends money it doesn’t have ($37,608,579,117,446.00 as I write this), enforces laws Congress never passed, and gives lifetime appointments to bureaucrats more powerful than elected officials. The balance of powers? Shattered. States’ rights? Gutted. The Bill of Rights? Mostly ignored.
And we’re over here squabbling about whether it’s “safe” to use the one mechanism the Founders explicitly wrote into the Constitution for this exact moment? Give me a break already!
I do know the fear. I hear it almost every day. “What if an Article V Convention runs away? What if they rewrite the Constitution? What if it spirals out of control?” Just this last Sunday at church, a prominent “Republican” stated these exact points when I mentioned COS and Article V. I’ll be getting back to her soon… But I digress…
Let me flip that. What if it doesn’t?
What if this tool, this Convention of States, does exactly what it was designed to do? What if the states propose term limits, fiscal restraints, and power reductions? What if we actually rein in Washington instead of whining about it on cable news or social media?
And for the record, the idea that a Convention of States could magically rewrite the Constitution is a flat-out fantasy. It takes 34 states to call the convention and 38 states to ratify any “proposed” amendments. That’s a nearly impossible bar for any amendment to clear let alone bad amendments. And in reality, the bar exists to stop bad ideas, not to stop the process altogether.
My friends, the Founders were not reckless. They weren’t naive. They knew the federal government would one day break its own chains. They gave us Article V because they knew Congress would never limit itself. Why would it? Power doesn’t self-correct. That’s why this bypass exists. It’s not a glitch. It’s our built in escape hatch.
So ask yourself this: If the Founders came back today and looked around, saw the $37+ trillion debt, the alphabet soup of agencies writing laws, the surveillance state, the lifetime politicians, what do you think they’d say?
Would they tell us to just keep voting harder? To wait for Congress to fix itself? Or would they ask why we haven’t used the tool they gave us to fix this mess that they foresaw? And I believe that they’d be asking us with a look of utter and complete disbelief. Don’t you think?
Look, we’ve tried voting. We’ve tried lobbying. We’ve tried pleading with the very people who broke the system to please, oh please, put it back together. They won’t. They can’t. And why should they; they have no incentive.
But We the People do. We have 19 states already on board with the Convention of States movement. We need 34 to call it, 38 to ratify any change. It’s hard, it’s supposed to be. But that doesn’t make it dangerous, it makes it secure.
I’m going to say this plain and extra loud for those in the nose-bleed seats: THE DANGER ISN’T THE TOOL. THE DANGER IS REFUSING TO USE THE TOOL.
If your house was burning, and you had the extinguisher in hand, would you set it down because maybe, possibly, hypothetically it might not work perfectly? Or would you pull the pin and aim at the flames?
Washington is the fire. Article V is the extinguisher. Let’s use it before it’s too late!
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We need something to fix where we have landed today. The convention of the states with thirty-four agreeing to modify what we need modified is the only way to move forward. Term limits balanced budgets and stop free things to every other country and people were not willing to put forth effort to receive. Welfare should not be something given without an expectation of getting something back, either for individuals or countries. if you're down on your luck and you need to receive a hand up, not a hand out, The expectation should not be that that is free and without strings, it should not be free, never ending and with no expectation for repayment or a return or exchange of labor for goods. Can you say $37,967,851,608, 835 at time of my response!
All these needs and wants are common sense (in my opinion) and I am sure many would disagree. However, Article 5 convention of states is now the only way I see us moving forward in a positive and successful future for the US.
Great article Ken! I've neglected commenting lately – all of your writing has been great – but I've been busy putting out fires also! Let others be aware the people are gathering as we speak. Those who understood the danger first are becoming impatient, when patience and leadership are required to continue to build the support and share the message with passion! We will get this done, or we will be living under the rule of those who do not share our ideals. I asked my husband recently if our country were overthrown by a foreign power or culture, which do you prefer to take control of our lives? He thought about it for a while and then answered. The answer is not important – the process of elimination was enlightening. The true enemies to our peace and way of life emerge, and if anything, the mental exercise helps identify how life might become very different in the United States if we don't engage now and do our part to protect our republic from without and tyranny within. We need to be farseeing in our wisdom at this time in history.