Everyone engages in continuous self talk.* At any given moment many of them make careers out of self talk by writing down what they think. These are the novelists, screenwriters, biographers, columnists, poets, reporters, advertisers — even attorneys — who compose messages, tell stories and make arguments intended to inform, entertain or persuade an audience of one, or a multitude of thousands. Like all other professionals, writers chase money and fame, in that order, until each symbiotically feeds the other. As an inveterate blog junkie, you chase neither and neither comes calling. In fact, you routinely question what absurd level of ego drives you to transfer self talk to commentary that you dump on both familiar and often unsuspecting inboxes. Admittedly, you do covet attention to your opinions. And would be gratified to know that you might actually sway public opinion. But Fodder’s acceptance or approval is only a byproduct of a more important, personal mission — which is simply to leave your family a tangible piece of yourself — the gist of the principles that makes you tick. Frankly, in the mid-90s, there wasn’t even a hint of anything as esoteric as a mission. Fodder was a lark, a one page (two-sided) newsletter composed and typed on a manual Smith Corona typewriter, printed on brown paper and distributed to clients and media denizens via snail mail. Content centered on marketing principles, with bits of humor and a pinch of sarcasm and cynicism — “Seinfeldian” observations without Jerry’s virtuosity. But on 9-11, 2001, everything changed. War invaded America with physical destruction and death; and eight years later war infiltrated America’s Oval Office with the election of Barack Obama. America was under siege. Fodder’s frivolity came to an end. The enemy without became the enemy within. The enemy had names. Obamacare. Foreign Policy Appeasement. Fiscal Depravity. Affirmative Action. Illegal Immigration. Child Trafficking. Fentanyl Deaths. Black Lives Matter. Antifa Insurrection. Government Sponsored Abortion. Deliberate Inflation. Covid Treachery. DEI-Woke-ism. Critical Race Theory. Defunding Police. Unlawful Impeachments. Assassination Attempts. FBI/CIA Lawlessness. Media Deceit. Except for fiscal corruption, every plot above belongs solely to the Democrat Party. Therefore, unequivocally, you do blame the Democrat Party for its gang-like criminality. But you can’t pin America’s fiscal ruin on one party. That blame is shared by generations of lawmakers, GOP and Democrat alike, who stood by and in fact enabled the Supreme Court to eviscerate The Constitution. The damage was done when the Court decided to strengthen the runaway jurisdiction of the Federal Government, confirming the worst fears of the Founders and delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. To their everlasting credit, the Founders, at the last minute, gave The People Article V, giving them ABSOLUTE POWER over any type of Federal dictatorial overreach. And so here Fodder sits, asking a few of those people to speak out in North Carolina by writing a letter or by making a simple phone call in support of the Convention of States. Should they choose to accept responsibility, America is in the hands and hearts of The People.

Since 2015, when you realized the Federal Government was hopelessly broken, you dedicated Fodder to Article V. A year earlier, Georgia became the first state to adopt COS. Now, with the second election of Donald Trump, you see the proper beginning of a political course correction. But please face reality. The Federal Government will never, ever, limit its jurisdiction and freely yield one iota of power. And never forget this: Trump policy can be erased with the stroke of a pen. Politicians — even the best of them — will never relinquish authority, despite their criticism of the “system.”

COS remains the one and ONLY REMEDY that can keep America, American. You want your family to know it and remember it. You hope Fodder will survive estate sales and digital scrubbing to find a single set of family eyes, say in 2125, just as you found letters left behind by Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Hamilton and thousands of others whose scholarship continues to tell the true story of America’s creation. Likewise, all Americans should consider leaving behind their own self talk — to continue speaking to descendants long after they are gone.

*Obviously, “everyone” excludes those who are temporarily or permanently in coma, or unfit.

Note: According to COS founders, Donald Trump recently posted his endorsement of the Convention of States.

www.conventionofstates.com

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is running a TV ad asking Americans to join its organization — asking you to join up for the magic number of $19 a month. You call it a magic number since nearly every 5013c organization (Wounded Warriors, St.Jude, ASPCA) seems to choose $19, as if that amount has some type of hypnotic power over your consent. The ACLU suggests that it is in business to protect the civil liberties of all people, but the presentation doesn’t show all the varieties of the American public. It primarily displays women and minority audiences who apparently are the specific people being denied their civil liberties — what ACLU designates as “human rights.” Up front and center, the ad features women, relatively young, promoting reproductive rights. Equally visible, LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter adherents stand united against the forces which apparently deny their rights. In the ad, the ACLU cites America’s Constitution as the basis for its work; so you can take no issue with the ad — well — except perhaps to ask for a clarification. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that the people are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In addition, The Constitution has ten amendments called the Bill of Rights. In those founding documents, you don’t see any mention of any people who in 2025 should be denied those rights. Therefore, you have to admit that ACLU advertising, however well meaning, is a bit confusing. What might motivate you to send $19 to the ACLU is a list of which “rights” are being denied and who or what is doing the denying. You would call upon the ACLU to please enumerate where in the Declaration or the Constitution you can find a delineation of rights being ignored today. Perhaps it might help to examine your basic rights, one at a time.

Life
Undeniably, some bad people deny the right to life by killing all manner of human beings. Among the victims, you must assume some are women, some are black, some are LBGTQ+ constituents and some belong to other minority groups. But statistics don’t seem to show that these particular people are singled out to be liquidated.

Liberty
You know of no law that prohibits people from enjoying the benefits of freedom. Under the law, individual Americans seem free to make choices to conduct their own lives. Regardless of gender, skin color, political persuasion or sexual preference, no one has authority over you as an individual. Unless you break the law. And even then, as a lawbreaker, you have rights designated to you under the Bill of Rights

Pursuit of Happiness
Quite simply, you don’t know who or what stands in the way of your chasing prosperity or achieving happiness. Speaking personally, however, it is true you have stood in your own way.

ACLU advertising does raise a lot of questions, Matilda. To be fair, they should be addressed, dealt with. But you need help. With all due respect, the ACLU needs to fill in the blanks. 1. Publish a list of the “rights” denied.  2. Publish a list of who or what is doing the denying. 3. Then publish a list of injustices; and, finally, publish a list of what victims want for enduring these injustices. For instance, do Black Lives Matter disciples want Respect? Acceptance?  Do they and other special interest groups want a lifetime allowance? Do they want Jobs? Free Housing? Free Healthcare? Free Abortions? Free Food? Free Education? You hate to bring up politics, but is it possible that “rights victims” are lobbying for a Socialist or Communist government to provide the rights they deserve? You believe America can make progress with these issues if the ACLU would place its demands on the table. Meantime, in full disclosure, you recall often denying your four children their rights. But you don’t know the people in the TV ad and they don’t know you. So far, you’re relatively confident you are not among those denying them their civil liberties. If you’re mistaken or missing something, the ACLU definitely should lay out the grievances and expose you as an offender.

www.conventionofstates.com

Preface
Many people believe that a man does not have the capacity or qualifications to discuss certain subjects. This is one of them.

Is it murder?
It was a political event. Dinner preceded the program. You were seated between women friends of like mind, one your staunch friend, the other a dinner acquaintance. Brisk discussion landed on a polarizing issue that happens to be in hibernation, patiently waiting for the upcoming midterm elections. Abortion. It never fails to bring out a verbal brawl, with large helpings of indignation, hostility and intransigence. You freely admit that you fit right in with opinionated squabbles. But skip the prelude and get to the plaintiffs and their accusation. The like minded pair announced that abortion is murder — no exception for extenuating circumstances. Killing a fetus is murder. Life begins at conception. Factually, therefore, there can be no argument that ending life is murder. Before you stepped in it, your brain warned, “Don’t.” Almost like an onlooker, you heard yourself say, “So you want to indict and prosecute millions of people who are involved in abortion, including 15 year old’s and their parents? Another mistake. The question unquestionably was a counter accusation. Very quickly, “Look, I’m entirely against government sponsored abortion; but however true it may be, calling abortion murder can only lead to one place — a police state. Almost simultaneously: “You can’t deny it’s murder.” Eventually, the exchanges petered out when a voice introduced the evening program. Rescued from the warrior twins,  you followed the proceedings but couldn’t shake thoughts of abortion. Hours later, it followed you home, and here you sit, unqualified, induced once again to put a stake in the ground.

When does life begin?
Essentially, the first step in saving human life is to accept the undeniable truth that a fetus heartbeat is detectable 4-5 weeks after fertilization. Those who disagree that life begins with conception cannot deny that a 5 week-old fetus is a human being. Civilized medical, educational and legal institutions must instruct the populous of this scientific fact to bury the assertion that a fetus is an “undifferentiated clump of cells.”

Who is responsible?
The female human has as many as ten ways to prevent pregnancy and at least one way to eliminate fertilization. Once and for all, abortion is the sole responsibility of individual females. Their decision to abort is their obligation alone — to seek and pay for medical mediation. Abortion is not the province of society and should not be the obligation of governments or cost to American taxpayers. BTW, fathers ( husbands, boyfriends or acquaintances) of the unborn have no legal rights whatsoever in the abortion decision.

Do the States have a solution?
The Supreme Court finally made a right decision in the right direction by putting the abortion question in the hands of States. Unfortunately, many State lawmakers play politics, scared stiff of restrictive policies that might lose the women’s vote. In any event, state policies run the gamut — surprisingly, 14 states ban nearly all abortions, basically at conception; two states impose a ban when the heartbeat is detected (5-6 weeks); nine states ban between 12-22 weeks. Most of the other states have restrictions based on fetus “viability,” meaning a provider’s judgment. Tom Jefferson’s state says you can kill a babe in the third term, meaning at full term. Virginia should be included in the six states (and D.C) that have no term restrictions. You are left with the belief that abortion has no universal solution. You are left only with a compromise that still doesn’t satisfy your belief that life begins at conception. But it does eliminate the tyranny of various special interest groups that want to inflict varying degrees of supremacy over individual freedom.

Who should decide?
Not the Federal Government. Take the Fed out of the issue altogether. Primarily, there can be zero federal, state or local funding for abortion, including any funding to abortion clinics, or subsidies to individual citizens. For the time being, leave the issue with the States, the lesser of two evils. You would charge the U.S. Senate to convene public hearings with the greater medical community to recommend a universal policy.  At the very least, you would want to hear a national pronouncement that life begins with a beating heart; and thus suggest that no medical provider be free to abort a baby past six weeks. Accordingly, the greater medical industry becomes the proper authority to police itself by denying abortion beyond that limit. This assertion would not satisfy your critics, but the statistics show that the large majority of abortions already occur inside the 13-week window. Yes, you can hear the naysayers. A plan like this would take us back to underground abortions — to medical quacks, witchcraft and horror stories. As callous as it sounds or is, you prefer the individual casualty of a botched abortion to corporate baby factories, baby harvesting and the disdain for millions of human lives — nothing less than a modern day holocaust.

My body, my choice?
“My body, my choice” is a global slogan that represents the idea that a woman has bodily autonomy, freedom of choice and self ownership. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that a pregnant mother owns her pregnancy as well as her fetus at any stage of development. That ownership gives her the right to terminate the life of her unborn child at any time, considering that a fetus is totally helpless — without speech, thought, understanding, mobility and all the other attributes of a living person. If that summary of helplessness is true, you must ask: Isn’t it true of a week-old infant, a month-old infant, a year-old infant? Surely, a parent owns her totally helpless offspring during early development and even later. Yet, when a parent terminates the life of a helpless infant, she is indicted, prosecuted and imprisoned by the legal system. Evidently, human rights apply only to babies who can see the light of day. Unborn babies have no choice and no rights. Oh, you forgot, they’re not really babies.

Note: Obviously, there are considerations that may dictate abortion: rape, the life of the mother and fetus abnormality. Ed.

www.conventionofstates.com