During debate amid the third reading of LR 14, the Article V Convention of States resolution in the Nebraska legislature on January 28, a senator opposing the resolution made some extraordinary remarks about COS volunteers and supporters.
The senator, in a condescending fit of arrogance and ignorance, characterized those in favor of a Convention of States as "playing patriots and Founding Fathers" and wearing "three-cornered hats," as if participating in Dungeons and Dragons or fantasy cosplay. The remarks were an obvious and ham-fisted attempt to link COS supporters with the events of January 6, 2021.
Had the senator some imagination, perhaps a more vivid slur could have been deployed -- that COS supporters descend upon state legislatures dressed as brigades of Revolutionary War re-enactors from Colonial Williamsburg, perhaps even going so far as to smear ketchup on bare feet to invoke Valley Forge.
Flippant critics of COS should be glad of the particular effort that we are making and particularly the manner in which we are conducting that effort.
Convention of States is federalism in action. Volunteers are engaging state representatives and senators in every state with the express purpose of making the central government answerable to the people.
COS volunteers and leadership look to the Constitution for redress. We do not seek or pursue violence or anarchy. We are devoted citizens attempting to work within the parameters of the existing structure in peace, good faith, and cooperation.
Testimony in several states -- including Nebraska -- has starkly detailed the long train of abuses that we, the sovereign, have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of the federal government.
Public officials should keep in mind that we aren't "playing patriots and Founding Fathers." They should remember that the Founders took to the streets and battlefields over far less.
The effort is serious. Volunteers sacrifice time that could be spent with family playing actual games in order to work with their representatives and return the federal government to its limited role in our lives. This was demonstrated once again on Friday in Nebraska.
To those who attempt to belittle and mock the effort, please know that we who are acting as a free people utilizing the gift bestowed to us by the Founders are working for the liberty of every American -- even those who insult us.
We are halfway home. We are not stopping. We won't stop until the game is up for the runaway federal government.
