#10 Russ

That makes the assumption that those calling the “Convention” are operating within the framework of the Constitution. That is a given that may not obtain. Remember, what counts is “the end result” to authoritarians, not the means. If they can produce a facade of a process that gives them the power that they want, they will declare the result legitimate.

Political cultures are a collective set of shared assumptions about how things are to be run. If those who control the levers of power have different assumptions, the end will have to be resolved by conflict because any restrictions on their actions implicit in the assumptions are no longer operative.

Depending solely on the text of a document after a regime decides it to be non-operative is not a successful bet.

And then there is the fact that a depressing number of states [like my own] have Democrat control of both houses of the legislature and the governorship. If “Democratic Centralism” is invoked, they would vote to reimpose chattel slavery, serfdom, and would repeal the XIXth Amendment if they were directed to from above and were also promised increased taxes. [OK, slight rhetorical flourish there, but state Democratic parties are not any more a haven for liberty than the national party; and the Republican party at all levels is a collection of gormless and ghoolie-less wonders.]

Subotai Bahadur