In recent months we have seen a flurry of activity for and against a variety of schemes purportedly intended to rectify the problem of government abuse and its disinclination to abide by the Constitution.

These schemes have included, but are not limited to, a constitutional convention, or con-con, and a continental congress. One fails to see how any one of these initiatives could change the situation when all one has to do to ascertain this is ask two questions:

1. If the powers that be are already not following the Constitution, what makes anyone think that they would follow a new one?
2. Given the current political climate, who do you think would be elected delegates to either one of these events?

If we have a government of the people, then it means that the people will have to be involved in the process. All of the people. In a Republic, this means that it is done through the representative process, electing people to represent us at either a convention, congress, or in a legislature.

Who controls the elective process in this country? Generally, it is the Secretary of State of the various states. They decide what and who gets on the ballot. Arguably, this opens up a can of worms, a discussion on this limited by space here, but points to the problem of concentrated power in this area.

Does anyone think that the people who are pushing for either a con-con or a continental congress have the clout or the will to amass a campaign to hold an event with the types of people we had in the original conventions, such as Washington, Madison, Franklin, etc?

We are witnessing several online initiatives over the Internet beguiling good people into supporting some rather strange bedfellows along with a con-con purportedly to provide solutions to rectify the present abuses of the Constitution. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and several members of the Council on Foreign Relations are all being touted as conservatives concerned about the Constitution. Yet their history shows that while appearing to promote less government, after their rise to power in positions of authority they gave us exactly the opposite.

This should be no surprise if one reads everything that Newt Gingrich recommends, for instance. Students of politics for several years may recall that Gingrich recommended the writings of Alvin Toffler, specifically Toffler's book The Third Wave, to members of Congress in the 1990s.

In the final chapter of “The Third Wave,” Toffler begins with a letter to our “Founding Parents,” his term for the Founding Fathers. I quote:

For the system of government you fashioned, including the very principles on which you based it, is increasingly obsolete, and hence increasingly, if inadvertently, oppressive and dangerous to our welfare. It must be radically changed and a new system of government invented – a democracy for the twenty-first century…

For this wisdom, above all, I thank Mr. Jefferson, who helped create the system that served us so well for so long, and that now must, in its turn, die and be replaced.

Pray tell me the difference between a book Gingrich recommends and the words of Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his book Between Two Ages, wherein he states:

In a word, America is undergoing a new revolution, whose distinguishing feature is that it simultaneously maximizes America’s potential as it unmasks its obsolescence.

This is after Brzezinski stated:

That is why Marxism represents a further vital and creative stage in the maturing of man’s universal vision. Marxism is simultaneously a victory of the external, active man over the inner, passive man and a victory of reason over belief.

Why bring Brzezinski into the equation? Simply because he served as McCain’s foreign policy advisor during McCain's earlier bid for the presidency, while Brzezinski’s two sons each served this past election campaign season in the same position for both candidates: McCain and Obama.

The point is that within the Republican Party as well as the Democratic Party there are those who whisper sweet nothings in speeches but whose writings reveal much as to their real goal. This is the atmosphere that we see in regards to con-cons and congresses.

Even if good people were elected to such events, we see several dangerous aspects that many have not thoroughly examined, in addition to the two questions raised above:

1. If a good document or initiative came out of the events, what would be the role of the courts? (They have overturned the will of the people and the rule of law many times and gotten away with it quite handily.)
2. Given that the power rests in those who wish to destroy our Constitution now, what machinations would they pull to thwart any move to improve our Law? (There are several cases where the government could declare emergencies to retain power.)

And we could go on.

Instead of spending a great deal of time, energy, and money on trying to forge a new document, how about spending the same effort educating our fellow citizens about the wonderful Constitution we already have?

If enough people understood the original intent and underpinnings of our Constitution, it would be the beginning of an informed electorate voting for sound changes in Congress and the administration. If they are not so educated, no scheme to bring about a better system will work.

Isaiah 5:13: Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…

If the people are knowledgeable, they will be free, if not, they will be slaves.

Jefferson said it this way in a letter to William Charles Jarvis in 1820:

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of the abuses of Constitutional power.

Art Thompson is CEO of The John Birch Society.
 

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MarkGlen said:

	Democracy Democracy is indispensable to socialism. V.I. Lenin Democracy is the road to socialism. Karl Marx The goal of socialism is communism. V.I. Lenin George Bush's desire to spread democracy through out the world played into the hands of the communists.
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June 10, 2009 | url
Votes: +3

harpchild said:

	... Awesome article. I'll be forwarding this to a few people.
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June 10, 2009
Votes: +5

Pat Henry said:

	Join the JBS! Marxism. There you have it. And playing both sides of the "two party" SYSTEM. For spiritual roots, see Richard Wurmbrand's thin but powerful volume Marx & Satan. Mr. Thompson modestly failed to recognize the John Birch Society's effective role in preventing a previous push for the Con-Con. Join the JBS, and help defeat anew these modern Jacobins.
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June 10, 2009
Votes: +7

Ken Creech said:

	Citizen of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA ART THOMPSON as usual has done an excellent review on this subject; however has left it to people who might be referred to this article to determime who Zbigniew Brzezinski (CFR}is and how his sons fit into the parties of political tyranny.
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June 10, 2009
Votes: +2

Bill Walker said:

I can't belive it! The JBS finally allows comments to its articles I can't believe it! The JBS finally is allowing people to respond to their comments on their web page rather than as has always been the case posting something without allowing anyone to respond. Bravo! My congratulations to Mr. Thompson. I will only make a comment to part of his article. He talks about a "constitutional convention" and writing a new Constitution. As far as I can tell, JBS is the only one saying that anyone wants to have a new Constitution. FOAVC, for example, only advocates a convention to propose amendments the language of the Constitution meaning it is limited to proposing amendments to our present Constitution. You can read the 750 applications from all 50 states at www.foavc.org. Perhaps if Mr. Thompson took his own advice of "how about spending the same effort educating our fellow citizens about the wonderful Constitution we already have." he's realize only the JBS has such fears. The rest of us realized long ago that many federal laws as well as the Constitution itself prevents this fear. Maybe Mr. Thompson will set yet another trend. To begin discussing how to address the fears they have created these past 30 years such that everyone is afraid of their own form of government and begin to offer solutions to these fears. For example, if he fears a "runaway" convention, suggest a federal or state law be created to make such action by a convention a criminal offense.

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June 11, 2009 | url
Votes: -4

realtorgal said:

The "silver bullet" syndrome The men that were sent to the original Constitutional Convention in 1787 by the various states were sent there with very specific orders to amend the Articles of Confederation. What happened? Simply they didn't follow their states' mandate and the Philadelphia convention turned into a "run away" convention. Happily it was a good "run-away" con con and the new document was deliberated upon by the states and finally ratified in 1789. Can a 2009 Con Con do better? Not in this political climate! When those who foolishly champion such "silver bullet" "solutions" can point to a majority of Governors and state legislators who appreciate and understand our present constitution calling for one won't look so foolish. When the majority of Congress, House and Senate; when the Supreme Court judges and the lower federal court judges also adide by the original intent of the Constitution your calls for one won't be looked upon as "tilting at windmills." And when the president is not controlled by the Council on Foreign Relations a new Con Con will still be cause to "fear a new one" as one of the Framers wrote! The CFR has a choke hold on Washington, the major media and the other centers of political power. To go into a convention knowing this is tantamount of walking into a den of lions with only a feather as your weapon. Insofar as your snide remark that The JBS is finally allowing comments to their articles you are misunderstanding the whole mission and purpose of The JBS- it is in the business of winning the war for freedom and not in opening itself up to silly and inane comments from those who haven't the foggiest notion of what they are up against and how to win the struggle for freedom. The CFR and their allies are conspiring to destroy our Constitution and people like you are making it easy for them with your "silver bullet" solutions and hair brained ideas.

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June 12, 2009
Votes: +5

us and them said:

	... Just as our forefathers and those who have come before us, i believe we will have to bear arms to protect our constitution. One big difference is the enemy is within.
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June 12, 2009
Votes: +3

Richard Robinson said:

	Open Doors Communists will do anything to edit our Constitution including going to jail just as long as they can open the door. Opening the door to edit this precious document will surely mean the end of our now fragile country. This should NOT be allowed to happen.
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June 13, 2009
Votes: +2

J.R. Smiley said:

Specific route to change Govt. rule. It has been evident for years that the left has used our constitution as a tool to force their philosophy on us. They push the limits of freedom such as flag burning to achieve a limit on free speech and protest. They file lawsuits in liberal dominated circuits to achieve goals that majority Americans oppose. Barack Obumbler, Pelosi and Reid are puppets for the marxist George Soros and the DemoNazis in the U.S. The fight is not Dem.-Repub, since both differ only in few areas, it's liberal/progressive/marxist vs. conservative. First step is RUN DON'T WALK to polls in Nov.'10 and vote out as many Dems. as possible, Republicans are more responsive to the will of the people. Stop voting for Dems. period until they are willing to reform party goals, which they won't. It's time to force Republicans, especially conservatives, to stand up and act as representatives of the people. We need independents to run and force confrontation on Repubs. to enforce conservative values, once the Dem. party has been relevated to an afterthought after elections. The people of this country have to show up and voice their will, the majority of citizens are center right conservatives and it's time to demand American values, principles, ideas! the people

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June 20, 2009
Votes: +0