For all of you who have been pre-ordering The Amendment Killer these past several months, the day of reckoning is finally upon us. Today is the day book vendors will be filling your pre-orders. Thank you for your gracious interest and patience. I hope you like it. And for all of you who haven’t pre-ordered, the day is here for you too. You can order it today too at all establishments where fine books are sold. 🙂
And, if you are so inclined, for which I will be forever grateful, today is the very first day you can help the cause by posting a short review on Amazon–telling a friend, spreading the word!!!
THE AMENDMENT KILLER—SOME PROVOCATION FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT CARE TO THINK AND READ
We live in unprecedented politically dysfunctional times. Just when it seems political abuse and outright corruption could not become any worse, tomorrow’s headlines demonstrate that we haven’t yet hit rock bottom.
Consider, for example, as documented by politico.com, that Congressional lawmakers have quietly—and profitably—conducted more than 21,300 stock trades during the past two years involving energy, technology, pharmaceutical, and other companies affected by legislation pending before Congress. A private citizen caught engaging in such stock trades would likely be arrested and prosecuted for criminal insider trading
Consider also that the measure enacted by the House of Representatives in May 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act exempts members of Congress from the requirements of that law imposed on all other citizens.
To be crystal clear, this is not one side of the aisle or the other. Both sides of the aisle seem equally untrustworthy and equally unwilling to get their priorities straight, to actually place the interests of the country and their constituents above their own personal agendas, as they only now pretend to do. Truth in politics? An oxymoron. Alternative facts upon alternative facts. No shame in distorting the truth, distorting the facts.
Right from wrong seems to be a thing of the past. Integrity no longer seems to be a constraint on our political representatives. Yesterday, they say X. Today, they say Not X. Whatever suits their immediate interests.
And why not? What price are they required to pay for their misdeeds? Little, if any.
So, who are truly to blame? Our political representatives for their misbehavior? Or “we the people,” who let our leaders get away with their abusive conduct? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
But what if one group of voters decide enough is enough? What if they decide not to take the law into their own hands, but to use the law, to fix things? To make our politicians accountable for their misdeeds? Could they do this? Really do this? Would the law permit it? Could our political leaders block this effort?
In this backdrop, comes The Amendment Killer, to be sure “just” a piece of fiction. About a group who dares to enact an amendment to our Constitution criminalizing political abuse, making such abuse a criminal felony. And without involving Congress in the enactment process, as Congress claims the Constitution requires.
How would the U.S. Supreme Court react? With whom would it side? With Congress, bent on trying to protect its own interests? Or with those whom Congress is supposed to serve? Or something altogether different that it might feel the Constitution compels? What could the Supreme Court find to drive its decision today buried deep in the discussions our Constitutional framers held over 200 years ago when they debated and enacted our present Constitution?
Not trusting the Supreme Court to get it “right,” what if a group of dissidents secretly kidnapped the 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter of a Supreme Court justice believed to hold the deciding vote in order to assure defeat of the challenged Constitutional amendment?
Consider these questions as you read the following beginning chapters of The Amendment Killer and ultimately turn to the entirety of the novel:
+ Are the voters free to amend the U.S. Constitution? On their own? If so, how many votes would it take to enact such an amendment? How many votes should it take? Is there a difference between “would” and “should”? Would the answers to these questions be different today than when our present Constitution was first adopted over 200 years ago? Should they be? How would you answer these questions? On what basis?
+ Does the U.S. Supreme Court follow the law or make the law? If you were a Supreme Court Justice, how would you answer that question? Is the answer to this question decided by the law, by politics, or by morality, “right” from “wrong”? How would you answer these questions if you were a Supreme Court justice?
+ What if you were a journalist who figured out what was going on behind the scenes? Would your duty be to reveal the true story to your public? Even if it would mean the young girl’s certain death?
+ What if you were the lawyer hired to argue the amendment’s lawfulness before the Supreme Court and you also figured out what was going on behind the scenes? Would your duty to represent the best interests of your client persist if you knew it would cause the young girl’s death? Could you even report what you knew to the authorities if that might lead to the young girl’s death?
+ When are these questions answered by legal principles? When are they answered by moral principles? What if these two sets of principles lead to conflicting answers?
+ When can you stretch the law? When can you take the law into your own hands?
Blurring the lines of reality and fiction, The Amendment Killer is an engaging read. But is that all it is? Is it more? You’ll have to answer these questions, as well as those set forth above, and still many more that you may fashion for yourself, as you read The Amendment Killer. Just the mysterious ramblings of one novelist’s thoughts? Just an entertaining . . . pipe dream? Or . . . a killer amendment?
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