Convention of States: Good or Bad?

[*michaelsean*]

(09-19-2017, 11:39 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, there are a couple of things about this that I both like, and dislike.

First, we must look at the efforts by the Koch brothers to pack state legislatures with their people. They have intentions of a constitutional convention with their goals in mind. This has been the long game for them for years. They are the reason the states are gerrymandered the way they are.

Second, I do think we need a new constitution. But is right now the right time for it? We are more divided, ideologically, than we have been in 150 years. Is that the best time to be taking a hard look at the framework for our country? We have the oldest written constitution still in use, today. This is a point of pride to some people, but to me I see it as our country having this warped sense of reality that is based in nostalgia. Our founding fathers were, admittedly, smart people and I would consider them to be visionaries. But they were still people, they were flawed, and so is the document they created. We have to keep in mind that what we use today was the second go round of it. The reason the document says "in order to form a more perfect union" is because the union they formed the first time crumbled. Yes, the second attempt stuck much longer, but not without patching things up with a lot of amendments that can be interpreted one way by one court and another by a court a decade later.

I'm for a new constitution, but I am for starting from the ground up at a time when things are less volatile.

Does gerrymandering affect state seats?