Pete Hegseth, a nominee for Secretary of Defense under Donald Trump, has voiced enthusiastic support for a convention of states, a controversial proposal that has long been championed by far-right groups. Speaking during a promotional interview with his wife in June, Hegseth revealed not only his alignment with the cause but his active participation in its efforts, which included joining Zoom calls dedicated to advancing the movement and named dropped Mark Meckler, a proponent of the movement.
Pete Hegseth
Facebook
A convention of states, enabled under Article V of the Constitution, would allow state legislatures to propose sweeping amendments to the Constitution without Congressional approval. Because this process would allow for the Constitution to be rewritten, critics warn of the potential for chaos and extremism, with the possibility of unraveling fundamental protections enshrined in the Constitution.
Hegseth’s endorsement of the effort aligns with a growing push by far-right activists who hope to capitalize on Republican control in state legislatures. His suggestion that such a convention would become “more relevant than ever” due to the political scrutiny facing Trump underscores the ideological motivations behind this proposal.
Pete Hegseth with Trump
Instagram
The idea of a convention of states is seen by many as a fringe concept that threatens to undermine the delicate checks and balances of the American system, and therefore, is opposed by groups on both sides of the political divide. During a convention of states, far right groups could enshrine a nationwide abortion ban, end marriage equality, and abolish term limits for the presidency which means it could be a path for Trump to serve longer than 4 additional years.
Hegseth’s vocal advocacy for this cause as a potential Secretary of Defense would put him in a position to back decisions made by convention of states with military might. At a time when democracy itself faces numerous challenges, Hegseth’s support for such a radical initiative should give both lawmakers and voters pause about his fitness for a role as critical as Secretary of Defense.
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
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8 thoughts on “Pete Hegseth’s Radical Push for a Convention of States Raises Concerns”
It is of concern every time Republicans bring this up, and they’ve done it often since GW wasn’t elected his first term (to cover their butts then, and try to overturn Roe v Wade.) Fortunately, though trouble can still happen, there is more procedure before the Constitution is changed; the Convention only proposes amendments. I remember this from back then, because same as now, who wants Republicans rewriting the US Constitution?!?
Hi Ali. Sorry for the delay I spent most of the day sleeping for some reason. Just really tired. I read the article you sent. It seemed to ask more questions than it answered. For everything it said it also said that some said the opposite. So I am really at a loss about a constitutional convention. All I know is different activist groups like Cenk Ugyar from TYT, to the guy in the article all thinking that if their group could just get one called they could rewrite the constitution to suit their goals. Let’s hope none of them get the chance. I think that the saying that if they want it that badly they shouldn’t ever get it. Hugs
Well they could try and they could pass their wretched legislation. Whether they will be able to enforce across the whole of the USA is quite another matter.
Hi Roger. The problem with the idea of an uprising is that the majority of the public has been driven to a place where just to survive is such a struggle and takes so much of their time they do not have the energy to fight back. That is why they have no clue of what the candidates were saying and what was the truth. They did not have time to read or watch news on the issues or what was going on day to day. The days in the US of workers getting home at 5 pm and at 6 pm sitting down to watch the evening news on one of the three broadcast stations where they get the day’s facts are long gone. They have boxed the majority of the working populations in to a struggle just to find enough money to pay the bills and have enough time to spend a few minutes with their family. Taking the time to delve into an issue is not a luxury they have. So that is why when tRump and crew do shit they don’t like they feel helpless to stop it and they feel outraged no one stopped them. They ask where were the democrats and why did they let it happen. So they blame both sides instead of realizing that the democrats wanted to help them in the first place. Hugs
Quite right Scottie. And in turn the pressurised folk will look for simplistic solutions, and you can’t get more simplistic than the ideology of ‘The Court of Trump’ (I should add that where I originated from saying a person was ‘a bit simple’ meant they were stupid…some the word carries a kind of ‘weight’ for me).
The problem the Court will encounter down the line is when it attempts to impose its doctrines. Impositions are hard unsubtle things and folk soon feel their affects, right on their doorstep.
Now being someone Outside looking In, America always comes across has having a cultural ‘ornery independent’ streak which surfaces from time to time and upsets any attempt to impose that reaction might take years, but once it starts…..
Again, whereas The Court might try and impose something, it will have failed to have learnt the lesson of the Prohibition era. A time which resistance came through criminal gangs filling the breech. In short if folk want something they will find a way of getting it. This has been mirrored in the use of drugs, now a cliche in films.
Then we have to consider the long hard struggle of the Civil Rights movement, a better more uplifting example.
You just cannot put the lid on a nation with a federal system of five time zones and 300+ million people.
If you want to do that you play a very long, subtle game, bringing in all sides to co-operate.
The Court of Trump just is not configured to be that astute. Nor will it be able to deal with the general low-key opposition, which may not be overtly political, just day to day, cultural.
Hi Roger. What you wrote If you want to do that you play a very long, subtle game, bringing in all sides to co-operate is critical to shift the opinion of the majority of the public, as you say. It took nearly 40 years to reach the peak acceptance for LGBTQ+ for kids in schools and gay people country wide. We worked hard at gaining public recognition and showing we are just as normal as anyone else is. We showed we were their son and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and liked coworkers, and their trained professionals they depended on. But in a few short years a lot of that is being undone for trans people in red states, and there are a lot of red states. And the people pushing this find it a cash cow and won’t stop at just trans people. Some of them are doing it for political gain, some for financial gain, and the rest to gain support from their god. But the fact is, as I have pointed out, they are using the same tactics used against gay men … notice it is always the men … in the 1970s and 1980s. Hopefully it will fail in a few years, but I fear that with tRump and his crew amplifying the hateful messaging it will just get worse. Hugs
Oh yes Scottie, there are always those who will see a way of making money out of a situation. They don’t care two straws about principals, or dogma, and will privately sneer at both sides as the money rolls into their bank accounts.
What may happen is that the States or regions of the States will begin to divide up as folk move out of one to another. For example areas which are more tolerant of Trans folk will seem the best place to move to, likewise areas will be solidly pro-choice. Then as opinions harden, Pity help those who are in the minority in their region.
And as you know I have this fear of the parts of the USA going down the route that Northern Ireland experienced in the last 30 years of the 20th century, those scars have not gone away.
People will only wake up when the danger is at their doors. How that works out in a nation with so man guns in private ownership is not one that the Court of Trump is ready for.
What you wrote Roger about people moving and I also worry about the horror going to be visited on the poor minorities including the LGBTQ+ will face living in red states. Right now our income lets us pay our bills, have food to eat, and a couple luxuries. But it gets harder all the time. Ron and I will receive a 2.5% cost of living increase but our medicare premium will go up 6% this coming year. The government controls both. If you have disability or retirement social security you have to have medicare. They give with one hand and take back more with the other. And we get further behind all the time. We will be one of the ones unable to move from the hate land of Florida. Until the massive influx of maga people, many of who have moved back out, Florida was 50 / 50 conservative / liberal. The first time DeathSantis won the margin was so slim they had to do a recount to call it for him. I can see the possibility of the state getting a lot more blue in the coming years. But it will take the democrats upping their game in Florida. Right now the party apparatus is the most horrible stuck in the 1950s stupid they can be. They had a great progressive candidate that was very popular and the establishment ran Charley Crist. A man who was a republican governor, lost his election, so turned independent then turned democrat, ran for congress, then got out because he was going to lose his run for the seat. So he ran for governor as a democrat. He was a three times loser and so they turned from a fiery progressive woman with lots of support for an old man who was busy shifting party to what he felt had the best chance for him to win, and he was as interesting and lacked more charisma makes Biden look like Cher. He lost in a landslide. But back to the move from red states. Far too many people won’t be able to move. People don’t realize how financially depressed the majority of US workers are. So for us the idea of doing what we can behind the scenes to change the situation to make it better while protecting ourselves. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 
It is of concern every time Republicans bring this up, and they’ve done it often since GW wasn’t elected his first term (to cover their butts then, and try to overturn Roe v Wade.) Fortunately, though trouble can still happen, there is more procedure before the Constitution is changed; the Convention only proposes amendments. I remember this from back then, because same as now, who wants Republicans rewriting the US Constitution?!?
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artV-3-3/ALDE_00013051/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Ali. Sorry for the delay I spent most of the day sleeping for some reason. Just really tired. I read the article you sent. It seemed to ask more questions than it answered. For everything it said it also said that some said the opposite. So I am really at a loss about a constitutional convention. All I know is different activist groups like Cenk Ugyar from TYT, to the guy in the article all thinking that if their group could just get one called they could rewrite the constitution to suit their goals. Let’s hope none of them get the chance. I think that the saying that if they want it that badly they shouldn’t ever get it. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well they could try and they could pass their wretched legislation. Whether they will be able to enforce across the whole of the USA is quite another matter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Roger. The problem with the idea of an uprising is that the majority of the public has been driven to a place where just to survive is such a struggle and takes so much of their time they do not have the energy to fight back. That is why they have no clue of what the candidates were saying and what was the truth. They did not have time to read or watch news on the issues or what was going on day to day. The days in the US of workers getting home at 5 pm and at 6 pm sitting down to watch the evening news on one of the three broadcast stations where they get the day’s facts are long gone. They have boxed the majority of the working populations in to a struggle just to find enough money to pay the bills and have enough time to spend a few minutes with their family. Taking the time to delve into an issue is not a luxury they have. So that is why when tRump and crew do shit they don’t like they feel helpless to stop it and they feel outraged no one stopped them. They ask where were the democrats and why did they let it happen. So they blame both sides instead of realizing that the democrats wanted to help them in the first place. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quite right Scottie. And in turn the pressurised folk will look for simplistic solutions, and you can’t get more simplistic than the ideology of ‘The Court of Trump’ (I should add that where I originated from saying a person was ‘a bit simple’ meant they were stupid…some the word carries a kind of ‘weight’ for me).
The problem the Court will encounter down the line is when it attempts to impose its doctrines. Impositions are hard unsubtle things and folk soon feel their affects, right on their doorstep.
Now being someone Outside looking In, America always comes across has having a cultural ‘ornery independent’ streak which surfaces from time to time and upsets any attempt to impose that reaction might take years, but once it starts…..
Again, whereas The Court might try and impose something, it will have failed to have learnt the lesson of the Prohibition era. A time which resistance came through criminal gangs filling the breech. In short if folk want something they will find a way of getting it. This has been mirrored in the use of drugs, now a cliche in films.
Then we have to consider the long hard struggle of the Civil Rights movement, a better more uplifting example.
You just cannot put the lid on a nation with a federal system of five time zones and 300+ million people.
If you want to do that you play a very long, subtle game, bringing in all sides to co-operate.
The Court of Trump just is not configured to be that astute. Nor will it be able to deal with the general low-key opposition, which may not be overtly political, just day to day, cultural.
Take care you guys.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Roger. What you wrote If you want to do that you play a very long, subtle game, bringing in all sides to co-operate is critical to shift the opinion of the majority of the public, as you say. It took nearly 40 years to reach the peak acceptance for LGBTQ+ for kids in schools and gay people country wide. We worked hard at gaining public recognition and showing we are just as normal as anyone else is. We showed we were their son and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and liked coworkers, and their trained professionals they depended on. But in a few short years a lot of that is being undone for trans people in red states, and there are a lot of red states. And the people pushing this find it a cash cow and won’t stop at just trans people. Some of them are doing it for political gain, some for financial gain, and the rest to gain support from their god. But the fact is, as I have pointed out, they are using the same tactics used against gay men … notice it is always the men … in the 1970s and 1980s. Hopefully it will fail in a few years, but I fear that with tRump and his crew amplifying the hateful messaging it will just get worse. Hugs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes Scottie, there are always those who will see a way of making money out of a situation. They don’t care two straws about principals, or dogma, and will privately sneer at both sides as the money rolls into their bank accounts.
What may happen is that the States or regions of the States will begin to divide up as folk move out of one to another. For example areas which are more tolerant of Trans folk will seem the best place to move to, likewise areas will be solidly pro-choice. Then as opinions harden, Pity help those who are in the minority in their region.
And as you know I have this fear of the parts of the USA going down the route that Northern Ireland experienced in the last 30 years of the 20th century, those scars have not gone away.
People will only wake up when the danger is at their doors. How that works out in a nation with so man guns in private ownership is not one that the Court of Trump is ready for.
Take care you guys.
Sheila & Roger
LikeLiked by 1 person
What you wrote Roger about people moving and I also worry about the horror going to be visited on the poor minorities including the LGBTQ+ will face living in red states. Right now our income lets us pay our bills, have food to eat, and a couple luxuries. But it gets harder all the time. Ron and I will receive a 2.5% cost of living increase but our medicare premium will go up 6% this coming year. The government controls both. If you have disability or retirement social security you have to have medicare. They give with one hand and take back more with the other. And we get further behind all the time. We will be one of the ones unable to move from the hate land of Florida. Until the massive influx of maga people, many of who have moved back out, Florida was 50 / 50 conservative / liberal. The first time DeathSantis won the margin was so slim they had to do a recount to call it for him. I can see the possibility of the state getting a lot more blue in the coming years. But it will take the democrats upping their game in Florida. Right now the party apparatus is the most horrible stuck in the 1950s stupid they can be. They had a great progressive candidate that was very popular and the establishment ran Charley Crist. A man who was a republican governor, lost his election, so turned independent then turned democrat, ran for congress, then got out because he was going to lose his run for the seat. So he ran for governor as a democrat. He was a three times loser and so they turned from a fiery progressive woman with lots of support for an old man who was busy shifting party to what he felt had the best chance for him to win, and he was as interesting and lacked more charisma makes Biden look like Cher. He lost in a landslide. But back to the move from red states. Far too many people won’t be able to move. People don’t realize how financially depressed the majority of US workers are. So for us the idea of doing what we can behind the scenes to change the situation to make it better while protecting ourselves. Hugs
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