For your viewing pleasure, in case you weren’t able to make the Lobby Day rally yesterday, here’s keynote speaker Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli:

Pay close attention to his discussion of the Repeal Amendment (starting at 5:53), which he strongly supports and has been publicly promoting, including even on Chris Matthews’s show. Cuccinelli addresses some of the major concerns of the amendment’s opponents, particularly the legitimate fear of a Constitutional Convention among many Tea Partiers. I urge you to listen to him personally on this, but here’s the gist: (a) because Congress fears losing power through a Convention, it won’t allow one to go forward and will instead pass the Repeal Amendment themselves if states get close to one; and (b) even if a Convention were to happen and turn into a circus, no amendment can be added to the U.S. Constitution without the ratification of three quarters of the states.

Also, keep in mind that Conventions have been regularly pursued since the original over 220 years ago, and a grand total of zero have come to pass – yet the Constitution still has been successfully amended numerous times. Here’s a great FAQ on this topic. 

“Ah, but wait,” some of you say. “Wouldn’t simply repealing the Seventeenth Amendment be the better route to restoring the appropriate power to the states?” Excellent point – I’m glad you asked. My answer is this: Find ten people in Richmond you don’t know, explain why they shouldn’t be allowed to directly elect their Senators, and see how many you are able to convince to take action to support your cause. I’m guessing you’re scoffing at this exercise, because you already know the results. Repealing the Seventeenth Amendment is something that indeed should be done and I fully support, but that requires a long-term, herculean educational effort that we don’t have time for right now. The Federal Government is growing so huge so rapidly that soon the states will no longer have any power left to push back with.

Which brings us to the beauty of the Repeal Amendment. It’s easy to understand how this restores power to the states, and the collective ill will toward Washington is so intense right now that we have a rare opportunity to connect with the general public in a way that we could actually get this thing passed. As a side-benefit, we can continue to educate a captive public about the critical role the states were intended to play in checking their Federal Government and how that has been lost over the last century.

So there’s my pitch for the Repeal Amendment. But in case the endorsement of some random blogger you’ve never heard of doesn’t cut it for you, and you think AG Cuccinelli has uncharacteristically gone off the rails on this one, check out this list of other prominent supporters, including Tea Party friend Judge Andrew Napolitano.

We need all the support we can get for this to make it through the Virginia General Assembly. Please research the topic and give serious consideration to the idea that this may be the fastest and most effective way to finally shackle an out-of-control government.