Article V

I know the video is a little dated, but I encourage any of you with an interest in the Constitution and/or the function of our government to check out the videos below.

I will summarize:

Article V permits a majority of states (34) to call for a Constitutional Convention. Apparently, what most state legislators do not realize is that the Constitution does not provide any authority to the state legislatures to dictate the substance of the Convention once invoked. Delegates to the Convention can be appointed without any democratic process whatsoever. What this means is that an unwitting representative could be duped into voting for a Convention, restricted by any variety of stipulations, not realizing that the restrictions are stillborn. Article V provides no safeguards against this in its language. This does not necessarily mean that the outcome would be a 'runaway convention,' but the possibility most certainly exists. I mean, we're here now. The Philadelphia Convention of 1787... the Articles of Confederation... anybody?

I admit that sitting through nearly 40 minutes of a late 80's Constitutional documentary sounds about as pleasant as sewing your own eyelids shut with cinnamon dental floss, but at the very least you will [most likely] learn something. In the worst-case scenario, you will become a conspiracy theorist with exaggerated amounts of paranoia and hypochondria. It is alarming to think that the founding fathers omitted more precise language in Article V, but I do not think they envisioned a time when our elected representatives could or would be so aloof and corrupt. There is also that little matter of feeling hypocritical, considering our current Constitution is the direct result of such a process.

And while I'm thinking about it, we declared our independence in 1776. Our final governing document - as we know it today - was completed in 1787 (after completely revamping the original, ratified in 1777). That's 11 years. Our troops invaded Iraq in 2003. I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday Mom!

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http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za8_pdJ1dPo - 10 min.
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flHJrcdfbBg - 10 min.
part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly1Lh3bqtYM - 11 min.
part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5jKAlgvCgg - 8 min.