Who Says It's a Constitutional Convention? (Part 5)

That Provident Article

Our 5th, and final, installment of our examination of the history behind the phrase "Constitutional Convention", as it has been, and continues to be, applied to describe the Constitution's Article V State authorized amending mode, a "convention for proposing amendments". Last week we discussed the 1960's campaign, led by Senator Everett Dirksen, to promote an amending convention focused on overturning the apportionment rulings of an activist Supreme Court, and the responses from the likes of Senators Joseph Tydings, Robert Kennedy, William Proxmire, and Jacob Javits. This final look at the fruits of the disinformation campaign will pick up with the influence of Senator Robert Kennedy and his political clout, the continuing presence of Yale Law Professor Charles Black, and culminating in the opposition successfully rebranding the phrase "convention to propose amendments" into the politically charged phrase "Constitutional Convention", as a means to counteract the Balanced Budget Amendment movement of the late 1970's/early 1980's. How has the prominence of the phrase affected the view of Article V? We'll spend a little bit of time with Convention of States news first. And save some time for phone calls. "That Provident Article" is hosted by Convention of States Texas volunteer Paul Hodson, with the Convention of States since late 2013, a District Captain in Texas from February 2014 through November 2015, and now serving as Co-Director for the Convention of States Texas.