This Fodder posting is an interruption to the traditional self appointed judgment and opinion dumps that routinely plow the ancient ground of human folly. Instead, what follows is a report from Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Convention of States (COS) movement. You should pay the closest attention to this historic undertaking. And you should leave the sidelines and take the field. No matter where you live, if you do nothing else, simply take a minute to read below and add your name to the COS petition. If you believe the Federal Government will restrain itself from growing exponentially and restrain itself from meddling in every facet of  your life; if you think Donald single-handedly can restore The Constitutional limitations on the Fed; you better lay off the Kool-Aid.  Ed.

Excerpts from Mark Meckler & COS Team
It’s easy to idolize people, to put them on a pedestal and assume they’re better than they are. Actors, athletes, politicians and many other celebrities disappoint us. Some make their flaws more obvious than others. Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace; Bill Clinton was impeached. Most have failed us in some way. Conservative hero Ronald Reagan – a favorite here at the COS office — vowed to do away with the Department of Education. Yet the Federal Government grew under his administration; and, yes, his DOE swelled even larger.

Now, many of you are hopeful about Donald Trump’s presidency. So are we. But no matter his good intentions, Congress will resist and his power as President is limited. You have witnessed Congress blocking improvements time and again. No one has earned the distrust of American voters like the current established political leaders. Ideally, Trump will try to “drain the swamp” as he colorfully promised. But ask yourself, “How can he remove the sludge of ego and corruption from Congress?” Electing and appointing better leaders and Cabinet members won’t cut it. Changing people is only temporary. We didn’t amass a $20+ trillion debt by electing better people.

Thankfully, our Founding Fathers planned ahead. They created three separate branches of government to help keep each in check. The checks and balances haven’t worked out quite as they expected, have they? But the Founders weren’t naïve – hardly. They anticipated excessive Federal control and the threat of tyranny. So they gave us an “emergency cord” in Article V – so that we the people could pull that cord if the three branches fail to keep each other in check. Tom Jefferson warned against having “confidence in man,” but that we should “bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

As Trump (and Reagan before him) have used the phrase so well, we do want to “drain the swamp” ego, incompetence and corruption. Thanks to our Founding Fathers, we – and only we — actually have the power and the obligation to do it. Donald Trump said this in his Inaugural Speech, “Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.”

North Carolina is on the front lines in the fight for liberty. Because you stood with us from the start, I wanted to give you the “inside scoop” of what has transpired to date and where we stand today in The Tar Heel State regarding the COS Resolution.

NC filed the Article V Convention of States resolution on February 7th in both houses. Since 2016 was a budget only session, this is our time and we must take advantage of it. Representative Bert Jones is leading the way as our Sponsor. With a strategic plan in place, it is North Carolina’s time to shine.

On the national front, Washington DC will undoubtedly resist  President Trump’s promises. It is human nature. Even Reagan failed to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. This is no time for ‘We The People’ to rest. We can’t rely on those inside DC to do this, no matter how well intentioned. What is needed is not just a change in personnel, but a change in structure to create long-term permanent change.

Everywhere, people are waiting for a long-term solution. State by state, Americans are fighting to restore liberty and North Carolinians are no exception. Over 17,000 of you have signed the COS petition asking their legislators to vote yes on the COS Resolution. NC will take a stand and stand behind the Constitution.

UPDATE
44 STATES HAVE FILED THE COS RESOLUTION
8 STATES HAVE PASSED THE RESOLUTION
COS HAS HOUSE FLOOR VOTE WINS IN 18 STATES
COS HAS SENATE FLOOR VOTE WINS IN 11 STATES
COS HAS COMMITTEE WINS IN 24 STATES

Sign the petition here and now.
www.conventionofstates.com

Reminder to those of you who are new to the objectives of this movement:
This is not a Constitutional Convention. It is a Convention of States to offer amendments as empowered under Article V of The Constitution. With ratification approval of 34 states, the COS would call the convention to offer amendments in three legally restricted areas: 1. To place fiscal restraints on the Federal Government; 2. To limit the Power and Scope of the Federal Government; 3. To set Term Limits on Federal officials. MM

The British colonel rested his arms on the railing of his enemy’s recently constructed bridge. He peered into the early morning mist. It was a moment of reflection. He spoke quietly, haltingly. “But there are times . . . when suddenly you realize you’re nearer the end than the beginning. You wonder . . . you ask yourself . . . what the sum total of your life represents . . . what difference your being there at any time made to anything . . . or if it made any difference at all, really . . . particularly in comparison with other men’s careers. I don’t know whether that kind of thinking is very healthy . . . but I must admit I’ve had some thoughts along those lines . . . from time to time.” Big movies tend to send big messages. Healthy thinker or not, Colonel Nicholson had every reason to ponder his life. In wartime, at a jungle POW camp, death was his ready companion, only a heartbeat away, ever present. Eventually, in war or peace, everyone reaches the season of death. You don’t make speeches about it. You don’t stand on a bridge and mutter platitudes. But you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t occasionally consider the conduct of your life — to ask if your existence has meant anything beyond your own survival — if by intent or by chance you moved the needle a fraction or raised the bar an inch. To be sure, your resume won’t break new ground. Maybe dig up some anticipated things somebody can list in an obit or say during final ceremonies. Creditable stuff, to be fair.  Exaggerated stuff, perhaps. Typical involvements, yes. Military. Civic clubs. Chambers of Commerce. Churches. Social Clubs. Political activism. Charities, awards. plaques and pats on the back. No transformative exploit to mention. No invention. No feat of heroism. Anyway, if you insist on living too long, no one’s around to know or remember the journey, especially your dislocated years — the apprehensive, anxious boyhood, the thirst for attention, the need for acceptance, the scratching and clawing to dig out of economic deprivation. And no one knows, or wants to know, about the stuff in the closet. God forbid. Unfortunately, God already knows. Well, Colonel, you were right. This kind of thinking isn’t healthy. Even more, it’s a shabby brand of narcissism and vanity — of morbid self pity in the face of loss, staring at mortality. You’re better served to get off that bridge. Forget the epilogue and remember things worth remembering. When you wrote the petition in 10th grade biology class that all but two students signed, refusing to take an unjust test from a  luscious female teacher fresh out of college. The scandal rocked the school and you prepared for maximum security at the state penitentiary. When you stood at the urinal under Duke indoor stadium and bummed your first cigarette off a New Jersey freshman whose swarthy kisser easily passed for a 40-year-old good fella. On a moonlit night, in Duke gardens, lusting for coed Pat Petit whose name you thought couldn’t be coincidental. When you stood on the mound, staring down at 6’7″ clean-up hitter and All American Frank Howard of the Ohio State National Champions, waving a club that looked 10 feet long. Then, on that still, summer afternoon, when you saw the brunette doll in her backyard, wearing cuffed blue jeans, white sweat shirt, white socks and saddle oxfords; and heard the tinkling laugh. Her name was Nancy. In that instant, real life began. So you see, Colonel, self evaluation is a pointless exercise. You’re better served  to ask , “What difference her being there at any time made to anything.” That’s easy. All the difference in the world. Ask anyone.

The election is over. Say that again. The election is over. Political TV ads have ended. Say that again. Political TV ads have ended. Donald won. Say that again. Donald won. Hillary lost. Say that again, again and again. Hillary lost. America won. Say that again. America won. You’re happy to leave post election analyses to the self avowed experts who astonishingly earn money stating the obvious — after the fact. Unlike those experts, you must avoid taking credit for predicting (perhaps wishing) in advance the rise of a new political coalition that transcends the GOP and for suggesting months ago that pollsters were overlooking the long overdue awakening of a silent majority. You see, amateur opinions tend to evaporate more quickly than a single raindrop on sizzling concrete. All the silent majority can do now is wait to see if a true Outsider can be true to his stated agenda — to see if he relentlessly “drains the swamp” or to see if the swamp sucks him into its suffocating, cloying grasp. You have no illusions. For appearances sake, the Establishment of both parties may let Trump visit The Club, but his name will never come up for membership. The GOP will cooperate with him, but only on a few key issues, and only because career pols would rather kill their first born than risk a midterm pink slip. You have no illusions. Despite Trump’s far reaching agenda announced at Gettysburg, there is nothing in it about reducing the size and reach of the Federal Government by shrinking or eliminating departments and agencies. Nothing about the Department of Education, about HUD, about the EPA, about Energy, about FEMA, about the IRS and hundreds of agencies that help drive America deeper and deeper into cataclysmic debt. You have no illusions. Undeniably, the unelected Federal Bureaucracy behaves as the Fourth Branch of government, created by decades of Congressional abuse, ambition and greed. Eliminating lethal toe fungus would be a picnic compared to expunging that bureaucracy. You have no illusions. Trump is one man. The swamp is vast. The forces aligned against him now are the same forces aligned against him during the first GOP debate — which includes everyone but the “deplorables” who voted for him. Realistically, he can lower the swamp a foot or two. But there is only one remedy to save America from becoming what the Founders feared most — centralized tyranny. That remedy is a Convention of States provided through Article V of The Constitution. At the beginning, the States created the Federal Government. The States have always had the power. The States have abrogated that power. It’s time to exercise it. You have to help make it happen. It’s time.

http://www.conventionofstates.com/