I think we know what we want. What we need is a way to do it. I would prefer we get Congress' attention and subsequently punish them for their wild lack of representation by passing one or more Constitutional Amendments calling for Congressional Term Limits and removal of "retirement" benefits beyond what would normally be encountered in corporate America -- an amount based upon years of service not issued until age 65 or a smaller amount at age 55 or thereabouts.

Glenn is afraid of Constitutional Conventions because of the possibility that all the other existing Amendments could be fiddled with as well, but there are other methods I don't think he knows about. I would like Glenn to find a Constitutional expert to put on his show to discuss the pros and cons of the various methods available.

I suppose your question can be answered both way, depending on your definition of "Conservative". If it is synonymous with "Republican", then the answer is a loud, resounding "no". It's the same answer you'd get if "Conservative" to you meant "not a Democrat".

More accurately, in this place "Conservative" is short hand for "Fiscally Conservative", or what you end up with when Glenn Beck describes himself as both a Libertarian and a Conservative. It means you believe in less Government, lower taxes and not spending more money than you've got. There are at least a couple of third-parties that adhere to Government that is true to the Constitution and to the People, but that doesn't mean that a Democrat or a Republican can't agree with the movement either.

There are those out to confuse and divide us however. The Democratic Party and its most loyal followers are afraid of us and are slandering and mocking us. The Republican Party and its most loyal followers are afraid of us so they are pretending to be a part of the movement. Don't be fooled either way.

Glenn Beck once explained "Left" and "Right" and then placed them on a scale that showed not the range of "Left and "Right", but "Total Government" vs. "No Government". On this scale, the "Left" and "Right" both ended up next to each other on the "Total Government" side with the Articles of Confederation nearest the "No Government" side with the Constitution a little farther away from the "No Government" end of the scale than that but still far from the "Total Government" side and the two major parties. I haven't seen anyone post that video to YouTube, but I think that example says it best and that's how we need to be looking at things here.

I think we are all in agreement that we have lost control of OUR Congress. There are some Constitutional Amendments that need to be added or revoked that are _not_ in Congress' best interest so they will no doubt fail to support our efforts. We will need our States to initiate the Amendment process, a method that has not seen a lot of use but has been used successfully. I already sent a letter to my State (WY) Governor to ask his support and to gauge his support. I suggest everyone else do the same. Give a plug for State Sovereignty while you're at it, and return powers to the States that were removed from them in the past.

My first wish: for Glenn to arrange for a knowledgeable guest to appear on his show that can teach us about the Constitutional Amendment Process. Much of what we have asked for will involve either creating or repealing Amendments, and some of the lesser used methods especially will be very important to us in the near future. The most common methods involve Congress, and there is no way we are going to get a Congressman's support in limiting their own political career. We need to learn how to get our State Legislatures to introduce the Amendments behind their backs.

My second wish: Congressional Term Limits! If we even start the Amendment process as a result of my first wish above, we will be sending a message beyond tea bags. Not only are we angry -- we have the power and means to do something about it.

My third: There are so many good ones out there, I'm having a hard time deciding.

Keep the faith people! We're gonna pull through!

As far as I'm concerned, "separation of Church and State" is in reference to the Church of England's influence over Britain since the days of Henry VIII. The term actually came from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists explaining the First Amendment to the Constitution. The text of the letter can be found here:

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html

The First Amendment reads thusly:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

As far as I'm concerned, the short interpretation says Government can't endorse or require a particular religion, but it also can't prohibit one either. Though I'm not all that religious myself, I see no problem with a religious person holding public office, but I also feel it is not of a huge benefit. To each their own, and if religion is what makes an individual a better person, then so be it. It is not necessarily a requirement though and each individual needs to be evaluated separately.

Most of us here seem to agree on Congressional Term Limits. There are also one or two other popular "wants" on our lists that, like term limits, would require amending the United States Constitution. Unfortunately, the most common form of introducing a Constitutional Amendment involves getting your elected officials in Congress to work against their own sense of self preservation. Likely? Probably not...

Fortunately, the Founding Fathers left some little-used options available just in case. One involves starting the Amendment process with the States' Legislatures. A similar process involves State conventions. Not sure how this last one works, what it is or how it is organized, but I have some books on order and I plan on learning more. There is another theoretical method that's never been done before or even documented that starts with The People.

I have two suggestions since We The People seem to have lost control of our Country:

1) Read up on Constitutional Amendments and how the process of implementing one works. We need to pull together on some serious brainstorming on this topic, chose a method and go for it.

2) Write your State Governors and feel them out. See how open they are to supporting a Congressional Term Limit Amendment. If we can get our States behind us, so much the easier.