I don't just mean having kids and all that (although I know from my siblings just how busy they keep a person). I mean the reading you have to do to keep up with all the stuff going down on the political landscape. And then the composing of diaries and all that.
If you can spare a couple minutes, check this out.
As you may or may not remember I was originally john10 (proud user number 6164 [hey is there any way I can get that handle back?]). Then I went away and worked on a political science project, and when it developed into something larger than one voice, I came back and registered with my own name.
I forget how long ago it was, but one day I posted a diary where I said you'll be held accountable for your actions (or inaction as the case may be). I'll admit I was hanging on a little tight then. There was personal stuff I was coping with, and that, coupled with the fact I love my country and take citizenship seriously, and how bleak things looked prior to 11/04, I'm sure I came off as more of a kook than I actually am.
It’s just that I found out some things, one has led to another, and in order to sleep sound, I have to know I’ve done everything I can to try and make happen what my convictions have compelled me to do. If my convictions were different than yours, I wouldn't be bothering you with the occasional diary like this. But our convictions are the same Kos. We're Democrats and we believe the party ought to lead this country in a new direction. We also believe the status quo is untenable.
The other night we had Biden, Kucinich, and Gravel all saying bits and pieces of truth, and I’m sure someone has mentioned Biden's declaration that if we wanted to get down to it, we'd have publicly funded campaigns. This is essentially my pet issue--electoral reform. I’m not sure all aspects need to be publicly funded, I just want elections to be fair, convenient for everyone, and to accurately express the will of the electorate. This can be accomplished a number of ways but the current status quo is running counter to making it happen. If any of the candidates were serious about winning, that's all they'd have to campaign on--that they'll effectively end plutocracy in America with an electoral system free from corruption. It’s not impossible, it’s not rocket science, and it's non-partisan. Fair and accurate elections are what will make GOTV and blogging really meaningful. And that’s what we all want, right? For action to be meaningful and free from obstruction? The current Congress, to others and myself (based on comments I’ve read), is showing that special interests have the final say--not how we vote or the popular sentiment behind those votes.
Anyway, the political science project is still alive. I thought it was dead and finished last October 27th when the Supreme Court denied certiorari in regards to Walker v. Members of Congress. As you may or may not remember that suit was concerned with the convention clause of Article V of the Constitution and asked whether the Congress "shall" ever call a convention. Since over five hundred state applications have piled up all these years, and one Congress after another has ignored them, i.e. congressional laches (to ignore something on purpose), the denial of cert has turned a "shall" into a political question. It’s now officially up to Congress whether it will obey the document which authorizes its existence. This might seem a bad thing, but we recognize it doesn’t have to be. It just means that as soon as the notion is popularized, Congress will get out of the way and let the Constitution do the work it was designed to do. To paraphrase a quote by Jefferson, the two enemies of the people are criminals and government, and the Constitution is designed to prevent the latter from becoming a legalized version of the former. We aren’t taught it in school, but the convention clause is the legal mechanism set down in words which articulates Jefferson’s thought (and a libertarian disposition--something I bet a lot of us can appreciate).
I personally believe the government should convoke a national convention simply as a civic ceremony. Just to bring everyone together. The MSM has us unnaturally polarized, and the traditional fear of a convention is that it will open up the Constitution to be tampered with, if not destroyed altogether. It’s not true, and it can't. The only thing it opens up is political discussion, and delegates aren’t politicians in that they aren't elected to an office. They’re simply elected to propose ideas, and it’s not likely any delegate will stand up before the country and propose that the status quo must remain the way it is when 90%+ of the country is sick of it. If things are getting too dark to see, and all kinds of scary things are going bump in the night, no one’s going to suggest we remain in the dark. Thus, the beauty of the clause.
The reason I wrote this diary today was to let you know we’ve had a number of Kossacks join the movement for a national convention, so I’m asking you to look past me, and how I’ve come off here at Dkos, to the issue. It’s been difficult trying to raise awareness of it without it coming off as my issue. It’s not mine and it never was, it’s ours. And I mean ours in the best sense--the non-partisan sense.
Unless I get hit by a bus or something before August, I’m going to be in Chicago. I don’t know if all the panels are worked out, but I sure would like a spot to talk about what the courts have ruled, and what the convention clause of the Constitution means. I’ve spoken publicly about this a number of times and I know the issue forwards and backwards. I’m asking you this for one reason Kos, because I love my country, I believe in it, and I want to help restore its greatness. If we get a convention it will go far in showing the world we Americans mean business in regards to getting our house in order, and this is good for us, and good for those who come after us. A convention is an amazing panacea. It will do all kinds of things, and all of them good.
If you have not already, please review the site, and please sign on as an American who wants to dust off the Constitution and the principle that makes us who and what we are--land of the free, home of the brave, and all that good stuff. http://www.foavc.org
I still believe we’ll be held accountable if we fail to stop special interests from privatizing The Vote (that’s what I came here for as john10 back in 2003, to voice concern about the dangers of e-voting). So if HR811 moves forward, or some other bill which allows a voting machine lobby to come into existence, I think a terrible consequence will result. If you, unwittingly or not, are aimed elsewhere in your efforts--fair enough. I’m not here to judge, just to fulfill my obligations as an American citizen and someone who thinks another world--a much better world--just and free--is possible. With you having kids who will one day be adults, I’m asking you to take a serious look at what Article V states and what it means. And if you do, and it dawns on you, and you want to take this issue and popularize it--by all means compatriot--it’s all yours. And in the grand scheme of things, wouldn’t it seem the natural progression? Some Democrat created a space for discussion and political action, and out of that emerged the rebirth of the American ideal.
Sounds good to me.