We Already Have the Tools. We Just Forgot How to Use Them.

By: Katie Chorback 50501 Veterans President

I’ve been averaging about two hours of sleep a night for a while now. Between medication changes and everything going on, my brain just doesn’t shut off. But if I’m going to be awake, I’d rather use that time to research, learn, and maybe help others understand a few things along the way.

Lately, what’s been on my mind is how many people, smart, well-meaning, passionate people, don’t really understand how our government works. That’s not an insult; it’s just reality. We stopped teaching civics.

Civics used to be part of growing up. We learned not just what government was, but how it functioned. Now, too many people think the Bill of Rights is the Constitution. It isn’t. It’s the first ten amendments. The rest of that document is the operating manual for how this nation runs.

And the truth is, we already have the tools to fix what’s broken. We just forgot how to use them.

There are two sections in the Constitution that almost no one talks about anymore, but they were written for moments like this, when corruption runs deep, leadership loses direction, and the people lose faith.

Article II, Section 4 — Impeachment and Accountability

“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

Impeachment isn’t just for presidents. It covers every federal official who holds power on behalf of the people, including cabinet members, judges, and other leaders who violate their oath or betray public trust.

The Founders designed this as a safeguard. Congress doesn’t ask permission to impeach; the people empower them to. It’s not chaos or partisanship. It’s accountability.

We complain about corruption, but few realize the remedy is right there in black and white. It only works if the public understands it, demands it, and pushes leaders to act.

Article V — The Power of the States and the People

“The Congress… or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments…”

Article V gives us two ways to amend the Constitution:

1. Congress can propose changes if two-thirds of both chambers agree.

2. Or, two-thirds of state legislatures, 34 states, can call for a Convention of States to propose amendments directly.

That second option has never been used, but it was built as the emergency brake, for when the federal government becomes too big, too divided, or too disconnected from the people. That’s not rebellion. That’s restoration.

But none of it matters if people don’t even know these powers exist.

We cry that the system is broken, but the system hasn’t failed us. We stopped understanding how it works.

I think about this a lot because I’ve spent years immersed in politics, not the D.C. kind, but the real kind. The kind that happens at county meetings, different city boards, and city councils. The kind where one informed person can actually make a difference.

I’ve been told my posts are too long. I’ve been told nobody reads anymore. I’ve even been told this sounds like ChatGPT.

No, it sounds like someone who cares. Someone who reads. Someone who refuses to let ignorance win.

I was raised in a home where education mattered, where books were sacred, and where you were expected to know things, not just believe them. That’s why it frustrates me to see groups like Moms for Liberty rewriting curricula or how the Daughters of the Confederacy once reshaped Southern textbooks to soften history. That’s not education. That’s manipulation.

Books don’t always get banned in flames. Sometimes they just quietly change.

So when you see me write long posts like this, it’s not because I think I’m smarter than anyone. It’s because I know how fragile truth becomes when no one’s paying attention.

Back in 2020, when women veterans were fighting to get military sexual trauma (MST) recognized at the federal level, the first step wasn’t legislation. It was education. Once people understood, they cared. And when they cared, they acted. That’s how real change happens.

We can’t fix what we don’t understand.

We can’t hold leaders accountable if we don’t even know what powers they have.

So yes, I’ll keep writing. I’ll keep posting. I’ll keep researching when I can’t sleep. Because the blueprint to fix this country already exists. It’s sitting there in the Constitution, waiting for us to read it again.

We don’t need to burn it down.

We just need to remember how it works