The following article was written by Jessica Russell, a supporter from South Carolina.
Sadly, many South Carolina residents have bought into lies, fear and conspiracy theories regarding a great tool provided to us by our Founding Fathers, called the Convention of States. Particularly repugnant is the gossip mongering that frequently takes place, which is usually directed at those who are exhorting citizens to at long last take back power from the federal government, rather than get together on a regular basis to gripe, complain and ultimately do nothing.
Our Overreaching Federal Government
United States citizens once governed themselves and most decisions about their lives were made on a local or state level. At the time the country was founded, the federal government protected life, liberty and property from foreign or domestic threats. Now, it has gone far beyond its limitations and has interfered with and disrupted essentially every area of our lives, from economics and education, to ordering us to buy Obama-approved health insurance. However, according to the Founding Fathers and the United States Constitution, these decisions are really in the hands of We the People.
Fortunately, the Framers were very intelligent men who knew this day would come and they provided the solution in Article V of the Constitution. The Solution is to call a Convention of States–COS. (ConventionOfStates.com)
Unfortunately, those who have bought into the propaganda regarding this solution have absolutely no true understanding about the COS Project or the people involved with the movement. In fact, they offer no concrete facts at all concerning why American citizens should not use this solution to stop an out of control government. They merely quote passages from conspiracy theory No.1, conspiracy theory No.2, conspiracy theory No. 3, 4, 5, and the beat goes on....
Therefore, it seems it is time to take a deeper look at the lives of the people whom certain South Carolinians have never met or spoken to, yet feel qualified to slander:
Mark Meckler–President of Citizens for Self Governance
Along with being co-founder of the National COS effort, Mark Meckler is President of Citizens for Self Governance, and was co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. Meckler left the Tea Party organization in 2012 to work in a broader capacity, fighting our ever-expanding government and moving beyond partisan restrictions to promote the powerful tool found found in Article V, which has yet to be used by We the People.
Through his work with Citizens for Self Governance, Meckler has helped to file a class action lawsuit against the IRS, alleging Privacy Act violations and violations of the Constitutional Rights that guarantee free expression and protection for all citizens under the laws of our nation. The lawsuit was created after the IRS targeted conservative organizations for additional scrutiny when they submitted applications for tax-exempt status and privileges.
Meckler regularly appears on cable news channels such as Fox News and CNN and is highly sought after by renowned publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, New York Times, Washington Examiner, L.A. Times and Politico. Meckler has a BA in English from San Diego State University and in 1988, he graduated with honors from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
Meckler stated that "By calling a Convention of States, we can stop the federal spending and debt spree, the power grabs of the federal courts, and other misuses of federal power. The current situation is precisely what the Founders feared, and they gave us a solution that we have a duty to use."
Michael P. Farris–Head of Convention of States Project
Michael Farris is perhaps one of the best constitutional lawyers in the United States. He is Chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association–HSLDA–which was founded in 1983, and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College. When HSLDA was founded, homeschooling was illegal in every state. Thanks to the efforts of Farris and the HSLDA, it is now legal in all 50 states.
Farris also heads the Convention of States Project with over 35 years experience as a Constitutional lawyer. Throughout his Constitutional law career he has served as lead counsel in the Supreme Court, in eight federal circuit courts and in 13 state appellate courts. Farris has over 30 years experience as a leader on Capitol Hill and is respected throughout the country as a role model in the defense of religious freedom, homeschooling and the preservation of the sovereignty of the United States.
Farris earned his Juris Doctorate with Honors in 1976 from Gonzaga University School of Law. He was the winner of the Linden Moot Court Competition and the Articles Editor of the Gonzaga Law Review. In 2011, Farris earned an LLM–also with honors–in Public International Law from the University of London. He attended Whitman College, and earned his BA–with high honors–from Western Washington State College. Farris has authored many law review articles books and editorials in major news publications and has testified before Congress on numerous occasions over the course of three decades. In addition, he has appeared on hundreds of national radio and television programs.
Other supporters of the Convention of States Project include:
• Randy E. Barnett–Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he directs the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. A Harvard Law school graduate, Barnett represented the National Federation of Independent Business in its Constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act.
• Mark Levin–one of America's preeminent Constitutional lawyers and the author of several bestsellers, including Men in Black, Liberty and Tyranny, Ameritopia, and The Liberty Amendments. Levin served as a top adviser to several of Ronald Reagan's cabinet members, and currently practices law in the private sector, where he heads up the prestigious Landmark Legal Foundation in Washington DC.
• Robert P George–Founding Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. George is also chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Additionally, the Project has the support of the following individuals:
• Glen Beck
• Sarah Palin
• Senator Ron Johnson
• Mike Huckabee
• Governor Bobby Jindal
• Colonel Allen West
• Senator Tom Coburn
These supporters are proof that the frequently heard conspiracy theories are extremely absurd–particularly the theory that George Soros is secretly behind the COS Project. Unless, of course, you believe that Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, Allen West, Sarah Palin, Mark Meckler, Michael Farris, Mark Levin and all the other top gun conservatives who support it are working for George Porgy behind the scenes. (insert chuckle here)
South Carolina's State Director Bob Menges
Bob Menges, South Carolina State Director for the COS Project and the constant target of gossip in many SC counties is a Christian who lives in Summerville, South Carolina, where he and his wife raised three daughters–all of whom were home schooled through 12th grade. Menges is a retired US Air Force veteran with over 20 years service on active duty. After retiring from the service, he worked as an Technical Writer and Aircraft Technical Analyst.
Menges has served as a teacher and Deacon in his church for over 25 years and his passion is to serve his country. Teaching believers how to "think like Christians," rather than have a secular world view is also something about which he is passionate. Menges is a Constitutional expert and scholar who has devoted hundreds of hours studying Supreme Court cases for the purpose of using them to teach citizens how the American government was designed to work, with an equal emphasis on how it was not designed to work.
Menges provides instruction on the principles of individual liberty and limited government, and offers consulting services regarding the United States Constitution. Throughout the past 15 years, Menges has taught his nine month course on American Government and Constitutional law to over 150 home schooled high school-age youths. Additionally, he has taught courses on the United States Constitution to adults of various ages at sizable conferences and seminars–the focus of which was to offer them the foundation of knowledge needed to elect appropriate officials, as well as hold them accountable to the Rule of Law after they are elected.
In 2010, he served as U.S. Constitution mentor and consultant for Tim Scott when the Congressman ran successfully for his House seat. Menges specifically trained Scott on Article I, Section 8; the part of the Constitution enumerating the limited and specific powers bestowed on the federal government by We the People. In 2013, Menges served as Senior Campaign Adviser for his friend, Curtis Bostic, who ran that year for a Congressional seat. In 2014, Menges also served as Constitutional adviser for Det Bowers' U.S. Senate campaign. In the fall of 2013, Menges accepted the volunteer position as South Carolina's State Director for the Convention of States Project.
The Renewed Mind at Work
Meckler, Farris and Menges have impressive resumes, do they not? Yet the conspiracy theorists continue to sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind by propagating fear and slander against these soldiers in the thick of the fight to save our country.
The purpose of the COS is to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution that will ultimately limit the jurisdiction and power of the federal government, and therefore is not something of which we should be afraid. If your goal is to live as a free American, you need to hear Menges (or hear him again, if you did not listen with an open mind the first time.) Then perhaps you will be willing to join the fight for freedom using the only tool we have to bring our out of control government back within the boundaries set forth by our Founding Fathers. The Framers of the Constitution saw into the future and knew this day would arrive. With aforethought, they equipped us with the solution.
Of course, at this moment they are probably saying "What the heck are you people doing sitting there on your hands? Call the COS already!”
http://towardsarenewedmind.blogspot.com/
http://MarkMeckler.com
http://www.conventionofstates.com/
http://www.parentalrights.org
http://www.michaelfarris.org/
http://www.conventionofstates.com/citizens_toolkit
