Free Republic

In our Declaration, which itemizes certain self-evident rights among innumerable others, consent of the governed is the just basis of government, whose purpose is to secure our rights. Consequently, it follows that a government that secured rights, yet did so without the consent of the governed, was not just. An absolute, benevolent monarch ruling a happy and prosperous people, one who secured the people’s right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, violates Natural Law justice because rule without the consent of the governed is tyranny. Tyranny cannot be just. Yet, isn’t this the sort of rule the Progressive...

On June 11th, 1788 at the Virginia Ratifying Convention to the Constitution of the United States, Anti-Federalist George Mason remarked in reference to the House of Representatives, “They must form an aristocracy, and will not regard the interest of the people. Experience tells us that men pay most regard to those whose rank and situation are similar to their own.” Certainly, he did not mean a British aristocracy of artificial legal distinctions, special rights, duties, and privileges along perhaps with land from a centuries-long gone monarch. To what did Mr. Mason refer? In the revolutionary, radical Whig, American vernacular he...

The fact that we celebrate the Every Student Succeeds Act for shifting education policy back to the states is an alarming indicator of federal dysfunction. Instead of rejoicing about a reduced extent of unauthorized federal meddling in state affairs, we should work to remove the heavy hand of centralized government entirely from every sphere in which it has no legitimate authority. A quick visit to the U.S. Department of Education’s website reveals just how thoroughly the feds have burst the seams of their constitutional pants. There we find the agency reminding states about deadlines for submitting “State plans” for education...

There's never been a better time to call a Convention of States. While both Democrat and Republican legislators support limiting the power of the federal government, we've found that states controlled by conservatives are more likely to pass the Convention of States resolution. That's why this article from The Daily Signal is such good news: Republicans now control the governorship and legislature in 26 states and conservative leaders say this trend continues to grow in Republicans’ favor. “Over the last seven years since we have covered state legislatures and state executives pretty extensively, there’s been a significant shift from Democratic-controlled...

I am regularly taken aback by those who think our freedoms should depend on the character of those we elect to political office. If such men exist, then a simple assembly of these angels would do for a government. Grant a few hundred virtuous intellectuals the legislative, executive, and judicial power and be done with it. Why not? In fact, if such men exist, why not empower just one man with the three broad functions? To rely on the virtue alone of our rulers, Article V opponents guarantee a nation not of law, but of men and tyranny. Those who...

Former Governor Mike Hucakbee and Col. Allen West believe it could. Gov. Huckabee pointed out in a tweet last week that repealing the 17th Amendment, which instituted the popular election of Senators, would ensure that Senators work for their states and respect the 10th Amendment. "Time to repeal 17th Amendment," he said on July 28th. "Founders had it right-Senators chosen by state legislatures. Will work for their states and respect 10th amid." Col. Allen West made a similar point in a much longer piece on his website: Imagine if those GOP senators who blocked the repeal of Obamacare could be...

Hundreds of articles and blog posts since the COS movement emerged a few years ago deal with the impossibility of reform emerging from those who profit so well from DC corruption. Other posts, like those scattered about this ArticleVBlog, examined the historic foundations of free government from the 17th century English philosophers down to our Revolution and Constitution. When taken together, all the events and ideas which shaped the American psyche since publication of the King James Bible in 1611 may be grouped together by the term, ‘Tradition’. Today, I appeal to that which gets so little attention, but is...

DENVER — Jim DeMint brought bad news from Washington. Republicans run every branch of the government, but it was “no longer possible for the federal government to avoid a disaster.” “We have accomplished little more than to slow the growth of spending, debt, and regulations,” the former senator from South Carolina told a breakfast audience at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s policy conference on Thursday. “It’s very unlikely, after all the promises, that we’re going to repeal Obamacare and eliminate the federal control of health care.” For members of ALEC, a 45-year-old think tank that helps state legislators craft libertarian-leaning...

Often people can only take so much pressure before they seek to release it in rash and sudden ways, throwing caution and a careful consideration of consequences to the wind. There were good signs when President Trump was elected that many Americans were entering into that kind of moment. And now, with millions realizing just how widespread and deeply rooted are the problems cool-and-collected President Obama had helped us emotionally paper over, the urge to find release in rash words and deeds is kicking into overdrive. There’s talk of a “cold civil war,” a bitter longing for “national divorce,” and...

The fast-growing, grassroots Convention of States movement has been joined by former senator and head of the Heritage Foundation, Jim DeMint, a constitutional conservative who has been one of the leading champions of limited government and individual liberty in America the past two decades. “The Tea Party needs a new mission,” DeMint told USA TODAY on Monday. “They realize that all the work they did in 2010 has not resulted in all the things they hoped for. Many of them are turning to Article V.” Article V of the U.S. Constitution, often referred to as a “safety valve” provided by...

Published on May 12, 2017 On May 12, 2017, the Show Me State became the 12th to successfully adopt the Convention of States Article V application to impose fiscal restraints, term limits, and other limits on federal overreach. Thank you to the thousands of COS Missouri warriors! http://www.cosaction.com

The enduring crime of scotus is the enshrinement of social justice feel-good nostrums as rights. Over the course of two posts, I will differentiate between justice and scotus-derived concoctions, social justice that assault our senses and society. To this end, my attention is drawn to the Declaration of Independence and Preamble of our Constitution. I will connect the ‘just’ of the Declaration and ‘Justice’ of the Constitution’s Preamble, and their mutual reliance on Natural Law. We will find that no court decision can legitimately harm the societal foundation of our republic. Equivalently, if a newly discovered 'right' from scotus harms...

On his nationally syndicated radio talk show Thursday, host Mark Levin suggested that the biggest news yesterday was not about Obamacare but was instead the fact that Texas joined the Convention of the States movement, and “this is going to be an earthquake.” “You wanna hear the biggest news today, the very biggest news today?” asked Levin. “The Texas House just passed Article V Convention of States resolution. The Senate already passed it. So, Texas is state number 11, state number 11 out of 34 needed. ... “I am telling you, this is going to be an earthquake as we...

I cast my first vote in 1972. I was four months into my eighteenth year, and pulled those levers with pride. Unlike republican Rome, America doesn’t have a formal coming of age ceremony in which teenagers leave adolescence, don a toga, and are recognized as men worthy of self-government. When I voted for Richard Nixon, I felt the rush of being a citizen, of one burdened yet privileged to partake in the civil society and having a say in local, state, and national affairs. Since then, I never missed a congressional election . . . until 2016. While I voted...

Full Title: As the anti-constitutionalists mount their opposition, be sure to stay informed with our Article V resources. The anti-constitutionalists are getting nervous. Radical activists on both the left and the right who support the status quo have realized that the Article V movement is taking off, and they're beginning to mount an opposition. Don't get caught flat-footed. Get informed. Be prepared to defend the Founder's solution to federal overreach with the resources located on the Responses to Opposition page on our website. Here you'll find clear, concise answers to all the most common objections to an Article V Convention...

A quick blurb. It is flashing red siren alert time for the Convention of States movement. Hopefully everyone who is signed up with COS received an email to contact six Nebraska senators who are filibustering LR6, the Convention of States Resolution. Should the single house legislature pass this resolution, Nebraska will be the eleventh state to apply for an Article V convention. For what it is worth, below is my email to these senators: Senator Lydia Brasch: lbrasch@leg.ne.gov Senator Matt Hansen: mhansen@leg.ne.gov Senator Tony Vargas: tvargas@leg.ne.gov Senator Bob Krist: bkrist@leg.ne.gov Senator Sue Crawford: scrawford@leg.ne.gov Senator Adam Morfeld: amorfeld@leg.ne.gov Dear Senator,...

From a study of the debates at the 1787 Federal Convention and contemporary discussion in the States, our Framers anticipated Article V would be employed far more often than has proved to be the case. A fundamental part of our Constitution is the provision for future changes. Since all earthly creations suffer from decay and corruption, our Constitution is likewise in need of maintenance and repair. Defects accumulate in our governing form. Unless corrected and reversed in the reserved setting of a convention of states, errors and contradictions will accelerate until a divided society erupts in revolution. We must accept...

Subtitle: The Federalist No. 40 Recall from the Introduction to this series, Brent Dunklau, COS District Captain (HD 33 Texas), noted James Madison' seemingly contradictory stances in The Federalist No. 40. Is the Constitution an amended version of the Articles of Confederation (AC) or is it an unauthorized and radical departure? Brent regularly encounters this question, and it is one which Article V opponents use to delegitimize the Constitution. James Madison opened No. 40 with a quick reference to No. 39, in which he distinguishes between national and federal systems. A national system is democratic. A majority of the people...

Subtitle: The New Jersey Plan.In this post, we’ll see why continuance under the Articles of Confederation (AC) was certain to destroy the Union. The commissions for delegates to the convention were, at most, slight variations of the wording of the report from the 1786 Annapolis convention, “to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” It is on this clause that Article V opponents hang their collective hats. To them, entire state delegations intentionally disregarded their instructions to strictly stand by improvements to...

As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington knew like no other man of the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation (AC). From the despair at Valley Forge in 1777-78, and a congressional recommendation that he plunder the Pennsylvania countryside for supplies, George Washington and his men felt the full measure of inadequate government. On March 15th 1783, Washington prevented a mutiny of his army encamped at Newburgh NY that would have changed the course of American history. The Revolutionary War did not end with victory at Yorktown; British troops still held New York, Charleston, Savannah, and western outposts. Ironically,...