{"id":8694,"date":"2014-08-06T17:38:44","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T17:38:44","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2014-08-06T17:38:44","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T17:38:44","slug":"article_v_an_alternative_to_impeachment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/08\/06\/article_v_an_alternative_to_impeachment\/","title":{"rendered":"Article V: An Alternative to Impeachment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: So there is impeachment<\/a> to deal with a lawless president, a lawless executive. But there is another way, and it is right in the Constitution. It\u2019s right there in Article V of the Constitution. Mark Levin has written a book about it called The Liberty Amendments, and essentially, you should read the book. The book explains the entire constitutional process and also contains some new amendments to the Constitution, the purpose of which is to simply affirm the Constitution as it was.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that we\u2019re at this point, but the Liberty Amendments<\/a> are simply amendments to restate the original purpose of the constitution and just pound it into everybody\u2019s head what the Constitution is. Article V allows for the states to establish a constitutional convention for the purposes of dealing with circumstances such as we are experiencing today. If the Congress will not impeach, it\u2019s right in Article V: The states have the power, if they want to do it.<\/p>\n

I forget off the top my head, but it takes two-thirds or three-fourths. It\u2019s a big task, but the states have the power. (interruption) Well, no, no, no, no. This is not Al Sharpton calling a constitutional convention and rewriting it. That\u2019s not what this is. That was an original fear, by the way, that even Levin admits he had when looking into this<\/a>. But an Article V convention, which is state-sponsored for specific purposes — controlled by the states by virtue of the number of states required to put this ball in motion — gives them control over the process.<\/line><\/p>\n

I cannot possibly explain a full book to you here in a small monologue. The point is, there is another way of going about this. It\u2019s not as direct as impeachment<\/a> would be, but the Republicans have taken that off the table (which is crazy). It\u2019s three-fourths of the states that would be required to establish a constitutional convention set up and run by the states, for the express purpose of amending the Constitution or enforcing it or dealing with circumstances such as that we\u2019re faced with today. <\/p>\n

If Congress won\u2019t do it, the point is, the Founders established a way. The Founders… I don\u2019t want to get too esoteric here. The people that founded this country, by virtue of what they were doing, believed that corruption of people in powerful places was going to happen. They wrote of the importance of character and honor in powerful executives and elected officials, but they knew what human nature was. <\/p>\n

They know the seductiveness of power and how easily powerful people could be corrupted. So they set various things up to counter this process. One of them was the three branches and the separation of powers, commonly called “checks and balances” in Civics 101 in the sixth grade. Well, the checks and balances have gone by the wayside right now. The Supreme Court doesn\u2019t check anything. The Congress isn\u2019t checking anything. <\/p>\n

The Congress has given up its power to Obama. The Democrats in Congress particularly, for the moment, couldn\u2019t care less, because Obama\u2019s advancing their agenda. Their agenda matters more than the Constitution. So whatever Obama\u2019s doing and however he\u2019s doing it, fine and dandy. That leaves it to the Republicans. The Republicans aren\u2019t doing it for the whole host of reasons that we\u2019ve been through over and over and over again. <\/p>\n

So if Washington will not reform itself, if Washington will not employ the techniques built into the Constitution to preserve the Constitution, Article V provides a mechanism for the states to do it. It is a… I\u2019m getting confused on two-thirds and three-fourths because I got people shouting in my ear here over what it is. I think it\u2019s three-fourths to ratify changes, two-thirds to get it going. Whatever. For the purpose of the discussion, that\u2019s incidental. <\/p>\n