Forward into the Past -- Part I

Having mediated on the State of the Union vis-a-vis my duty as a Citizen, I have concluded that the first three Articles of that most sacred social compact have now been preverted beyond all redemption.  Article I – “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives” has lost its original intent to the mean money politics of today which make a mockery of balancing the concerns of the States – through the originally set state legislative elected Senators – and those of the people – one representative per 30,000 citizens to now one representative per 800,000 citizens.  Hence, no succor from that quarter is likely or possible given the entrenched money interests controlling both houses.

Likewise, Article II – “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America” – has created a monarchy in which the President rules by the divine-right-of-kings without any accountability for his actions.  Indeed, this President mocks the public which elected him by refusing to reveal his basic identity records.

Last, the final bulwark of liberty which is Article III – “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish” – has been elevated to an un-accountable super-legislature ruling by decree and refusing to allow challenges to the excesses of the first two branches of the government.

Which brings me to the last resort envisioned by our founding fathers when they crafted this sublime document which rules our lives: Article V (Article IV only concerns relations between the states and thus has no teeth in this matter). Article V states, parsed to eliminate the Congressionally-proposed amendment process which I deem impossible, reads: 

“The Congress . . . on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress . . .”

Here, to my mind, resides the sole salvation of the Union which has brought more peace and prosperity to this Planet than any other social compact.

As I commence my investigation of the interpretation of the meaning and intent of Article V, I am compelled to begin at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Indeed, this Constitutional Convention is the only source of construction as there has been no direct judicial or legislative action in this matter since 1787.  

And it is there that my journey in and through time begins . . .