Forum Post: Making A Constitutional Convention Happen . . . the Logistics
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 9:06 p.m. EST by eric1
(152)
from Corona, CA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
A number of threads at this forum have indicated a desire on the part of some OWStreeters as well as others to have a National Constitutional Convention in order to bring about reforms. I think this is a very good idea and is really THE means to accomplish reform. That said, many individuals have ideas for reforms, but there is a time and a place for that. This thread will focus on the logistical problems associated with a Convention.
First of all, as previously mentioned, a LEGAL National Constitutional Convention is that which is authorized by Article V of the Constitution. As such, it is a state legislature driven operation. There is a problem though as I see it with respect to this and that is the state legislatures( in my view) mirror the Congress to a large degree. You have about 10-20% in there(being generous) who are trying to do the right thing, and the rest by and large are lackeys and/or political hacks out for self-interest or strictly party interest. Despite this, I believe with the growing dire economic conditions faced by many states, party politics may take second seat to state survival at some point.
To continue, there are hence 2 options with respect to getting state legislatures to act. The first is to lobby the existing state legislators for a Convention(primarily focusing on the 10-20% who look like they have some fight in their gut). The second is for OWS individuals and others who want to see a Convention come about actually run for state legislature positions themselves, thus making it more likely that a Convention could occur. Of course, if one chooses to run for election, one has to remember that vote rigging is still prevalent in many locales. As such, any campaign should allocate a certain amount of funds to help prevent vote fraud. There are a number of sites(see below) that can help in this regard.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org http://www.votetrustusa.org http://www.verifiedvoting.org
actually there are already more than enough requests to satisfy the requirements for an article 5 convention. just since the 70s actually. Wikipedia has them all listed since 1787. with the various reasons some are no longer valid.
all we need is to pressure Congress into ordering the convention convened. say, by getting people to organize into protests nation wide...
this short book outlines the method very well: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/a-plan-for-us/17801969?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_1183916_
I would love for this to happen.
But getting occupy wherever to agree on anything, especially the wording of a Constitutional Amendment that they want to see brought up in a National Convention is next to impossible.
Too many views of what's wrong, too many point of blame, no focus. I sadly think that the occupy movement will go down in history as the largest opportunity blown.
Occupy was supposed to be 1 message, said a million times. Instead, we've got a million messages said 1 time. Like tears in a rain storm.
And this is exactly why the Occupy movement needs some LEADERSHIP. It will help to FOCUS the group's message.
Looks like it's going to be an uphill battle. Perhaps at some point soon each Occupy location, the larger ones at least, should start identifying individuals with the knowledge and skills we'll need to take the movement to the next, more organized and coordinated level.
Politics is local as former House Speaker Tip O'Neill once said, and I agree with him. Instead of running for Congress and for President where the chances of getting elected are practically nil, people should run for local and state positions. The Registrar of Voters position as well as the Secretary of State positions are very critical because vote rigging when it occurs usually happens with their knowledge if not complicity in my estimation.
'Politics is local.' That's a good point. It would definitely be flat out impossible to get someone elected at the national level first. We would have to start at the bottom rung first, then work our way up. It would take a long time, but anyone that thinks this is going to be a quick fix is a bit naive.