Madison on Article V
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| Madison on Article V |
“You wish to know my sentiments on the project of (an Article V) Convention as suggested by New York. I shall give them to you with great frankness. If a General Convention were to take place for the avowed and sole purpose of revising the Constitution, it would naturally consider itself as having a greater latitude than the Congress appointed to administer and support as well as to amend the system; it would consequently give greater agitation to the public mind; an election into it would be courted by the most violent partizans [sic] on both sides; it would probably consist of the most heterogeneous characters; would be the very focus of that flame which has already too much heated men of all parties; would no doubt contain individuals of insidious views, who under the mask of seeking alterations popular in some parts but inadmissible in other parts of the Union might have a dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the fabric.”
So he's warned us that an Art.V Convention will be populated mostly with "violent partisans", and "people with insidious views", who would be looking for "a dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the fabric."
ReplyDeleteyeah, I think he nailed it. It's not clairvoyance; it's simple logic, and a purposeful commitment to follow all the paths of contemplation to their inevitable ends.
You've seen me use the word "inevitable" quite a bunch lately.
Frankly, it's a word I hate. It suggests that what I do is irrelevant.
But hate it or not, some things are inevitable, like our final Judgment.
And others are made inevitable by men who seek to destroy through corruption...
It is this latter category of which I speak. For we have given them the time, resources, and opportunity to make certain events inevitable. We have effectively given them permission to corrupt and destroy our society, by our silence and passivity.
Go ahead, and let the anger well up. It's true. We gave them permission, and power, and resources to build this infernal machine.
Silence and passivity. We gave it to them.
When will we withdraw that silence and passivity?
When will we withdraw our consent?
Because until we withdraw our consent,
we are not resisting.
Now, NOW I say!!!
Today, do some small thing against the machine. Resist.
Today, and every day, do SOME SMALL THING to impede the evil machine. Some small bit of ACTIVE RESISTANCE.
And if we all do this, every day, then the resources of the machine will be drawn thin, and the apparatchiks will be made frustrated and wary.
And we will be wearing away at them, as they have been wearing away at us for years.
Turnabout is truly fair play.
And let the games begin!
.
I am continually amazed at the brilliance of these men.
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