ALLISON: Washington in this pre-election year has a kind of nervous energy that borders on psychosis. Grinding poverty for half the population since the third collapse of the world economy in less than ten years; international humiliations of the U.S.; armies of homeless people on the streets; terrorism; scandals; rioting; the collapse of Social Security; the relentless bickering of hate radio; the endless partisan impeachment struggles between armies of lawyers; these are just some of the complex factors that have brought us to this Second Constitutional Convention. Here is our political reporter in the field, Peggy DeMetrio, for a convention center update. Peggy, can you give us a complete update and analysis of what’s at stake, and where the Second Constitutional Convention is right now?
PEGGY: Sure. I’m standing before the Atlantic Hotel and Convention Center, near the Islamic Mosque and Cultural Center along Embassy Row. It seems hard to believe that CON2 has been in session now for two weeks. Remember how, when the first bus loads of delegates rolled in, everyone was so upbeat and excited? To quote one delegate I spoke with, “We’re tired, we’re angry, and we’re going to do something about it. The Constitution is close to 250 years old and needs to be amended. We’re going to take our country back from the criminals, the foreigners, and the liberals. We’re going to stop the constant sniping, the impeachments, the censures, the stealing of our money.” That sentiment may still be there, but the exhilaration has faded in the midst of gridlock. The convention has been stalled for two weeks now on procedural issues. Radicals of the left and of the right, as predicted, are pushing the center to allow for more amendments. The limit of ten very carefully predetermined amendments so far still stands firm, but one has to ask for how long. People here are beginning to talk not about amending, but about rewriting. People are saying that it was a long, arduous road to this point, and they want to make it count.
There are signs that the American people’s confidence in this convention is slipping. Polls show the support level is down to just under 50% today, down from 75% six months ago when this movement roared through the state legislatures like a brush fire. This convention was approved by the legislatures of 45 states as a handshake with the American people—a carefully crafted compromise of positions on abortion, creationism, gay rights, a balanced budget, and other positions—designed to resolve a number of long-standing conflicts without tipping the game to either extreme.
The majority agree on what are called the core amendments—balancing the budget, eliminating the Federal debt, creating a replacement for Social Security, joining every other civilized nation in guaranteeing full medical coverage to every citizen regardless of class differences. Then there are the so-called special interest amendments, designed to mandate positions on abortion, creationism, gay rights, furthering the separation of church and state by taking away the right of clergy to create marriage contracts, and so forth. This is only the first such national convention since 1787, and there are a lot of questions about what to do next at every step.
The most dire warnings were that this convention could not possibly be such a big tent and hold together so many opposing views; that the convention would fall apart, resulting in no new document. That would leave the United States without a new Constitution, but the old one, the 1787 Constitution, would be tarnished. It would be seen as just another piece of paper now that its glory had been poked through. Those warnings have not come true so far, Allison, but we are holding our breath.
The key to the whole thing is if the limit of ten amendments is breached. Right now, the Procedures Committee is deadlocked as extremists of the left and right want to remove the limit, and centrist moderates are fighting desperately to keep the limit, get the convention rolling, finish the business, and go home. The extremists don’t want it that way. They want a whole new piece of paper, and they’ve got to eliminate the center before they can go at each other’s throats.
ALLISON: Is there any progress in the committee at all?
PEGGY: The next vote in the committee should tell the tale. Right now, we have 50 committee member delegates wrangling in a room off the side, while the other 950 are engaged in arguments in the main hall. Those 50 are going to hold one final vote in the next few days. I cannot over-emphasize how critical this will be. If the center holds, the number of amendments will remain at ten; the convention will do its business and go home. If the committee again deadlocks, the extremists have promised to walk out and hold a floor fight. If they have the numbers, they can open it up, and then we could have a hundred amendments, a thousand. The entire Constitution might be thrown out. No telling where we'd go from there.
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