The Convention of States movement is gaining momentum, and if a recent Huffington Post article is any indication, the liberal establishment is getting veeerry nervous.
The article, penned by reporter Travis Waldron, warns of impending doom led by a group of radical, violent, racist insurrectionists at the Convention of States Project.
"Opponents... see a far more nefarious plot: a master class in astroturfing that could open the entire document up to a radical rewrite meant to serve the right-wing corporate interests that already dominate our politics, especially at the state level," Waldron reports. "The convention, they argue, could lead to the demolition of everything from the social safety net and environmental protections to civil rights laws. Or maybe even the Constitution itself."
The article warns that the 1st Amendment, the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment along with "any civil rights, any constitutional protection in the Constitution" would be destroyed by calling the first-ever Article V Convention of States.
The hit piece and those quoted in it makes all kinds of false and baseless claims about the Article V process. We don't get into that right now. (If you'd like to read responses to the five most common myths about a Convention of States, download this document. Prof. Natelson also does an excellent job within the article responding to the claims of anti-Article V "experts.")
But we do want to speak out against the character attacks Waldron levels against the patriots of the Convention of States movement. Not because we believe they're true, but because they demonstrate how much the liberal establishment fears the Article V effort. When leftists bring out accusations of racism and radicalism, you know they're scared.
First, racism. Waldron claims that the Convention of States idea gained attention in 2010 among conservatives, "who weaponized racism and the national debt in an effort to thwart the biggest aims of Barack Obama’s presidency, including the Affordable Care Act and efforts to kickstart the economy after the Great Recession."
In other words, the Article V movement experienced a resurgence not because Americans were rightly concerned about fiscal irresponsibility, government overreach, or federal abuse of power. The Article V movement began because a group of racists (probably former Tea Partiers) didn't like the fact that the country had elected the first black president.
Right...
If you believe that, we have a bridge in Brooklyn we'd like to sell you. But that's typical of the radical left. Rather than engage with their opponents' ideas, they just assume that their opponents are racist.
Moving to the end of the article, Waldron warns his colleagues in the media that if the Convention of States movement fails, its supporters are geared up for a violent insurrection.
The right, meanwhile, has spent the last decade wading deeper and deeper into the fever swamps, bathing itself in conspiracy theories and the increasingly extremist notion that the country has been stolen from them. An entire political party is now premised on and beholden to false beliefs so rampant that they generated an armed insurrection in the United States Capitol. What happens inside that movement ― especially as Meckler and his allies continue to foment anger and court extremists ― when a convention that has been sold as a cure-all fails to produce what they want?
Radical, crazy, racist. That's what our opponents believe about us — or, at least, it's what they want others to believe about us.
We know the truth, of course. You won't find a group of more thoughtful, passionate, or welcoming patriots than Convention of States Project volunteers. Far from being racist, these men and women are eager to recruit as many Americans as they can from any background or heritage. Far from being radical, these men and women want to protect the very freedoms and liberties that have made this nation great.
If the Huffington Post is publishing hit pieces on the Convention of States Project, we know we're on the right track. It's time to get to work.
Sign the Convention of States Petition below to join the movement!
