Time for a performance review

I've often asserted the Federal Government is the agent of the States, not their master. One piece of evidence for this assertion is the fact the States have the Constitutional ability to take the extraordinary action of calling for a Constitutional Convention. This mechanism, which is not easy to employ on a whim, provides one final safeguard--short of dissolving the Union itself--by which the States can put their agent "back in its box."

This may in fact provide about the only remaining option to reset the relationship between an overbearing Uncle Sam and the 50 States he treats like permanent wards of D.C. That is, without a confrontation likely to be regretted by all.

Even this route is not without peril. Our nation is polarized more now than perhaps at any time save the 1860s. There is no longer a strong consensus about the limits of what we expect the Leviathan on the Potomac to do. A Constitutional Convention would bring this polarization out into the open, and it would take statesmanship on a par with that of the 1780s to remold our confederation into a shape ready to endure another two centuries.

It would need an agenda--one specific enough to address the core issues at hand, yet one flexible enough to garner consensus from many different political perspectives. I believe this editorial provides an excellent blueprint for such an agenda, and I highly recommend a thoughtful reading of its contents. Several States recently passed various resolutions asserting their residual sovereignty under the Constitution. Those are nice initial gestures, but just that--gestures. It's time for the shareholders to call the board of directors to account. Otherwise, the 'company' will shortly collapse, and there'll be a lot of fighting over the scraps. God forbid it comes to that.

And yet, as an unapologetic Southerner, I support this sentiment:

"A nation preserved with liberty trampled underfoot is much worse than a nation in fragments but with the spirit of liberty still alive. Southerners persistently claim that their rebellion is for the purpose of preserving this form of government."
--Private John H. Haley, 17th Maine Regiment