THE EMAIL THAT NEARLY SCARED ME TO DEATH!

By Edwin Cooney

Okay, here’s the email:

            I think this is a marvelous idea. What say you?

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) states to convene a Constitutional Convention.

This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on.

This is an idea that we should address.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that passed ... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

If each person that receives this will forward it on to 15 people, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ..."

Exactly what the privileges of congressmen and senators have to do with overburdened states is a little beyond me.  Furthermore, this email is loaded with misinformation.  First, congressman and senators don’t retire with full pay after one term in office.  Second, Congress has not exempted itself from “Obamacare.”  Third, State Attorneys General, not governors, sue the federal government.  Fourth, legislatures, not governors, call for a Constitutional Convention. Only a handful of state legislatures are controlled by Republicans and thus chronically opposed to the philosophy of the national administration.  Fifth, the U.S. Constitution provides in Article I, Section 6:

            The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be

  

            ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases,     

            except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their  

            Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the 

            same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any 

            other Place..            

The above was written into the 1787 Constitution to protect the legislature from ever being harassed by an angry executive as was the case at the time of the American Revolution.  Congress couldn’t possibly be investigating the incident that took place in Benghazi last September without that constitutional provision.   Additionally, the last time I checked, sexual harassment is both a felony and a clear violation of the peace.

As for the proposed 28^th Amendment outlawing congressional self-service, it’s hard to be against it on its face until one wonders how effective a constitutional amendment against drinking might be.  Hmmm! I wonder if we’ve ever tried that before!

My first reaction to the above email, sent me by at least two readers, was incredulity over the misinformation within and the idea of a new constitutional convention.  I regard this email as downright unpatriotic.  It’s loaded with lies. (I insist on labeling them lies because the author surely knows better!  I wouldn’t dare to write a column like this without doing at least some basic research on civil or constitutional law!) I insist that it’s unpatriotic because it is inflammatory in both tone and factual design thus disturbing the confidence of the public in their elected officials.  It’s paramount to crying fire in a crowded theater.

Before getting to my final concern, I invite you to consider the following: The proceedings of the 1787 Constitutional Convention were held in the strictest secrecy. Despite the intense heat of the Philadelphia summer, George Washington, President of the Convention, ordered all windows and doors sealed during the meetings against a curious press.  Additionally, all notes were collected at the close of each session.

That convention, which established the most creative and ingenious civil document up to that time, was seriously flawed insofar as human rights were concerned. The Constitution of the United States is as valuable and ingenious as it is because it provides a structure for laws that can be changed to fit the times in which each generation lives. It has stewardship over our national body politic.  Thus, a constitution is most effective at the start of a nation’s journey rather than as a repair mechanism.

Finally, just imagine for a moment what a constitutional convention called at this quarrelsome time in our history could mean to your legitimate individual civil rights!  Would you dare to bet on the survival of your pension, your mortgage, your job, or your social security?  How about the sanctity of your privacy?

For me, the scariest line of this email wasn’t provided by the mean-spirited author but rather by the well-intentioned, neighborly, ill-informed citizen/reader who made the comment: I think this is a marvelous idea. What say you?

I say I think it’s time for me to go fishing!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY