From Slate: Give Me Amendments or Give Me Death: Inside the secretive campaign by state legislators to pass conservative amendments in 34 states and rewrite the Constitution.

It's been brewing for a while. I'll post separately on the constitution in exile movement, a controversial term that refers to the various efforts made to roll back the expansion of national government - and the objectives of that expansion - that began in the New Deal and continued during the Great Society. The election of Barack Obama promised to continue this expansion, so this gave an impetus to some to determine how to effectively roll it all back, and they came to the conclusion that a state convention - which is authorized in Article V - was the best way to do it.

Here's a look at an early meeting proposing the approach. I want to highlight the mention of the American Legislative Exchange Council and Mark Levin. The former is an increasingly influential interest group that represents primarily business groups and tries to limit national involvement in business affairs. The latter is an influential radio host who has promoted such a convention on his show and in books.

- Click here for the article.

The newest movement to save the republic began this past Saturday on the grounds of George Washington’s old estate. Shortly before 9 a.m., nearly 100 state legislators from 32 states filed into the library that sits above the museums of Mount Vernon. It was state legislators only; supporters (and reporters) learned that the hard way, as they called for details or were stopped at the security gates.

Inside, the legislators said a prayer, recited the Pledge of Allegiance, and got to work talking about how to form a convention of states that could amend the Constitution–without interference from Congress. They’d been brought to Mount Vernon by a team of five Republican legislators, who’d circulated the invitation back on Oct. 22. “Article V of the U.S. Constitution gives states equal standing with Congress to propose constitutional amendments,” they wrote. “In light of the federal government’s struggle to effectively execute the will of the people,” they’d create a bipartisan and “politically pure” environment to figure this out.