What You Can Do

What Can You Do?

You can do plenty! For starters, you can wake up to what the real problem is with our national government and be willing to do something about it. Going to the polls, marching on Washington and speaking out are good things. But fundamental changes are needed to restore Congress to what it once was and should be.

The Next American Revolution: How to Demand Congressional Reform NOW is a book about courage, your courage. The very first illustration in the book is Emanuel Leutze’s painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. In spite of the painting’s inaccuracies, it nevertheless captures a moment of supreme American courage. Washington and his men took a huge gamble on that bitter Christmas night of 1776, and it paid off. Some try to say Americans have lost that kind of courage, and to them I say hogwash. American courage is all around us. You can see it every single day.

One quote from the book cites Thomas Paine, who said “To preserve the blessings of liberty, we must, as men, endure the fatigue of protecting it.” Sometimes the only way we can change things is to set aside the comfort of sameness. Members of our military, police, fire and medical profession do this on a daily basis. It is time for caring Americans to step out of their cocoons, break their shell of partisanship and unite to restore a citizen’s legislature. Such a Congress will benefit all Americans, regardless of party. Doing this might not be as brave as crossing the Delaware, but it is courageous to set aside personal beliefs for a higher national purpose.

My book reminds you of your authority and power, tells you how Congress is broken, and outlines an action plan that uses the convention clause under Article V of the Constitution to force congressional reform. Here is how you can make it a reality.

FIRST, open your minds. Don’t stop your research after watching a few YouTube videos because much of it is disinformation. But, do watch it because it will make you skeptical about an Article V convention, and challenging ideas is a good thing. Doubt is great, but don’t stop there! It’s good to proceed with caution, but please DO proceed.

SECOND, as you research, try to set aside your political passions. It is completely harmless to do this. Nothing will change if you think as an American instead of a Democrat or Republican, a conservative or liberal, a libertarian or an independent. Having a political base is great; it keeps us tethered to others who share our beliefs. However, we face a national emergency requiring urgent action.

THIRD, if you have studied Article V from all possible angles with as little bias as you could muster, and still can’t support it, then share your reasons. Use the discussion page on my website to sound off. Nobody will know who you are, but what you have to say does matter. All I ask is that you be civil.

FOURTH, if you’ve researched Article V dispassionately and with an open mind and decided you can support the idea, help get more people involved. Talk about it with family and friends, and speak out on social media sites. Link people to this website or any others you choose. Call radio shows and write letters to the editor. Start a local group, and expand it as far as possible.

FIFTH, combat ignorance and connivance. Most people have never heard of an Article V convention, and those who have fall into one of four camps:

• They’ve heard about it, but have done little to no research, or have studied it with their minds already made up, or are driven by the beliefs of somebody else and allow their minds to be made up for them. They refuse to defend their beliefs…because they can’t. They fear a convention because somebody else does.
• They’ve heard about it but don’t know enough to make up their minds and want to learn more. You would want these kinds of people on your jury.
• They’ve heard about it and oppose it, some bitterly so. Some aren’t convinced by the evidence or don’t believe that it is our last and only hope of reforming Congress. Most oppose it because it might actually fix a broken federal government that they benefit from, either directly or indirectly. To maintain this broken system they promote fear and misinformation, relying on myths to prop up their belief.
• They’ve heard about it and have decided a convention is the only solution for fixing Congress.

SIXTH, write letters to your state legislators. Ask them their opinion of using an Article V convention to reform Congress. Take note of which camp they fall in and challenge their opinion if they oppose the idea. Many state legislators are surprisingly ignorant about Article V, and you can help educate them.

SEVENTH, help form mock conventions. Contact schools and universities and publicize the event. The primary purpose is educating the public about Article V.

These are good starters, but if you have other suggestions, please post them on the discussion page.