Fear prevents Article V opponents in North Carolina from seeing the truth

The COVID-19 crisis has shut down much of the world’s economy, including here in North Carolina. A simple, unseen virus brought us to our knees. Fear is controlling our behaviors and may for months if not years to come.

It could be argued that--relative to other threats to life--we have behaved irrationally. History will be the judge of whether that is true or not.

There is a parallel to fear trumping rational thought in relation to the effort in North Carolina to pass the Convention of States resolution in the state legislature.

Convention of States is a non-partisan project based on the premise that the federal government is out of control, and career politicians of both parties are responsible. They are drunk on power and money and will never restrain their own power.  

The project is an ambitious plan to use Article V of the U.S. Constitution to call a convention to propose amendments to the Constitution that Congress will never propose on their own. Those amendments would fall into three categories: term limits on federal officials, fiscal restraints, and restrictions on the power and scope of the federal government.

Our Founders knew this day would come and provided us the means in Article V to reset the power structure between the federal government and the states. 

The process requires two-thirds (34) of the states to pass a resolution in their state legislatures. Fifteen states have done so, but North Carolina is not among them. The resolution that is currently pending in the North Carolina House is called H390.

Why have we not yet been successful? It is fear from both sides of the political spectrum, though for different reasons.

An emotion, like fear, cannot be dismissed. To the person with the emotion, it is real and can lead to fervent behavior. I am not questioning their motivation. I simply believe that they are allowing fear to displace rational consideration of facts, much like what has happened in the COVID-19 crisis. 

For example, this article by a local Asheville Tea Party seeks to dismiss the COS project using fear-based arguments:

• Congress ignores the Constitution, so why amend it? (Then takes an opposite position later in the article. So, which is it?)
• There are no rules. Anything can happen. (Not true. There are well-established rules.)
• We will lose the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. (How exactly will that happen? What is the legal mechanism?)
• It is a constitutional convention. (No, it is an amendatory convention.)
• Congress will control the process. (False. The convention delegates control the process just like in all the other interstate conventions.)
• We just need to elect good people to Congress. (How has that worked out? We still need to elect good people, but they are working in a broken system.)
• The original constitution was a result of a runaway convention. (An accurate reading of history says otherwise.)

All of these arguments can be easily refuted if one is willing to consider what constitutional scholars say. But facts do not matter when fear drives behavior.

In my experience, it is virtually impossible to debate the merits of COS with someone driven by fear. Once you address a concern, they will repeat the same argument, refuse to acknowledge the facts presented, or present facts of their own. It is a circular argument without end.

Conservatives who oppose this effort never answer these basic questions: 

• Exactly how will the convention “run away” and replace the existing constitution with a new constitution or eliminate the Bill of Rights? What is the legal mechanism for that to happen?
• If you believe in the Constitution, but not this section of Article V, then how do you claim to be a constitutional conservative? Did our Founders get this wrong?
• If you fear this process that the Founders gave us, do you really believe in self-governance? Do you not trust We the People?
• If not this process, then how do you suggest we restrict the power and scope of the federal government? How do you propose to control the debt?
• You fear this process more than you fear Congress?
• Considering who opposes and who supports this effort, are you comfortable being aligned with those who oppose it? Are all the reputable thinkers wrong?

Is the COS Project a panacea? Will it solve every problem in the country? Of course not. But if you get beyond fear and look at the facts in a rational manner, you will discover that this effort is a practical solution for many issues. 

We need your help. Please go online and sign the petition. Volunteer to help. Complaining will not fix the problem. You must take action before it is too late. If not you, who will do it? That is what our Founders expected of us all.

Jeff Groh resides in western North Carolina and is a small business owner. He is also a Regional Captain for Convention of States, a non-partisan effort to rein in the federal government. Want to contact him? Email him or connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.