{"id":76,"date":"2016-03-17T19:59:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T01:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/?p=76"},"modified":"2016-03-17T20:14:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T02:14:43","slug":"america-doesnt-have-to-be-in-political-chaos-over-scalias-replacement-heres-how-to-solve-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2016\/03\/america-doesnt-have-to-be-in-political-chaos-over-scalias-replacement-heres-how-to-solve-it\/","title":{"rendered":"America doesn&#8217;t have to be in political chaos over Scalia&#8217;s replacement &#8211; here&#8217;s how to solve it"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/515910506\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/515910506?et=b1QoS9b6QIVqGYYw1rKy7A&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=OVtlwbtrA29SaxPMmkHt0jQqI-eOd7BIEVZPbTU-6bk=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has thrown this nation into a political turmoil.\u00a0\u00a0Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately said, \u201cThe American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.\u201d\u00a0 Not to be outdone, Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid didn\u2019t let any time pass before he had a statement of his own. \u00a0\u201cIt would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat,\u201d he said. \u201cFailing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate\u2019s most essential Constitutional responsibilities.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frenchrevolution\/2016\/02\/16\/6-prominent-liberals-celebrate-scalias-death-on-twitter\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\">Prominent liberal pundits actually celebrated Scalia\u2019s death<\/a>, while conservatives wondered if there was any foul play in his death. If you think the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was politically touchy, you better fasten your seat belts for the fight that will inevitably occur after Scalia\u2019s death.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t have to be with this way.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine if the American people had more of a role in how our nation is governed.\u00a0 Imagine if there was more accountability for both our members of Congress and the Supreme Court.\u00a0 Luckily, the Constitution\u2019s Article V has a provision where all this could be possible and more.<\/p>\n<p>That is why the people must invoke our Article V constitutional rights to call a convention to amend the Constitution to solve so many of the problems facing us today, perhaps including the battle we face now to replace Justice Scalia on the Court.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have a list of constitutional amendments that we\u2019d like to see pushed through.\u00a0 The states and their delegates will be able to decide what kind of specific changes would limit the power, jurisdiction, and scope of the federal government.\u00a0 However, one possible change I\u2019ve heard discussed as I go around this nation is placing term limits on members of Congress and justices on the Supreme Court.\u00a0 This allows the people to rule themselves more frequently and more consistently.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, one of Justice Scalia\u2019s most recent dissents from last summer reveals his wit, his way with words, and his conviction that our Constitution should guide everything our government does.\u00a0 In\u00a0<i>King v. Burwell<\/i>, the case in which the majority upheld a regulatory rewrite completely contradictory to the letter of the ObamaCare law,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/14pdf\/14-114_qol1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Justice Scalia scathingly dissented<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cJust ponder the significance of the Court\u2019s decision to take matters into its own hands. The Court\u2019s revision of the law authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to spend tens of billions of dollars every year\u2026 . It affects the price of insurance for millions of Americans. \u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere. We should start calling this law SCOTUScare.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will attain the enduring status of the Social Security Act or the Taft-Hartley Act; perhaps not. But this Court\u2019s two decisions on the Act will surely be remembered through the years. \u2026 And the cases will publish forever the discouraging truth that the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This quote and case perfectly captures the dangers when our bureaucracy, Congress, White House, and \u2013 yes \u2013 even the Supreme Court forget about their constitutional limits intended to protect our freedom and liberty.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Scalia stood firm on the principle that our Constitution proscribes the methods by which the people may implement their own change.\u00a0 If something was not in the Constitution, people may urge their political representatives to pass laws.\u00a0 If someone didn\u2019t like something in the Constitution, it allowed the people to amend that Constitution.\u00a0 It\u2019s as simple as that.\u00a0 Yes, the processes may be complex and it may be difficult \u2013 but it is certainly possible.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Scalia intelligently, humorously, and courageously stood up for the Constitution for decades. Now that he\u2019s gone, it\u2019s up to us to do it.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>If you believe a Convention of States could solve many of America\u2019s problems, sign our petition!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"%E2%80%8Bhttp:\/\/www.cosaction.com\/fb_petition\/?recruiter_id=1822493\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-82\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-82\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/653\/2016\/03\/petition_button.jpg\" alt=\"petition_button\" width=\"500\" height=\"101\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnsnews.com\/commentary\/mark-meckler\/america-must-pick-where-scalia-left-stand-constitution-convention-states\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">A version of this article appeared at CNS<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Scalia died suddenly, it sent America into political turmoil.  Here&#8217;s why it doesn&#8217;t have to be that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2673,"featured_media":80,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>America doesn&#039;t have to be in political chaos over Scalia&#039;s replacement - here&#039;s how to solve it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Scalia died suddenly, it sent America into political turmoil. 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