Posted by
Vansword on Thursday, June 18, 2009 6:03:50 PM
Gun ownership border restrictions, education reform-these issues among many others, can best be resolved with two words, states' rights. Maybe my stance on the importance of the rights of individual states is partly due to my upbringing in a place where that concept is drilled into your head along with the multiplication tables. In South Carolina, John C Calhoun, Vice-President under Thomas Jefferson, was more than an admirable statesman- he was a hero.
But the main reason I wholeheartedly espouse the idea of states' rights is the United States Constitution. States' rights were built into the Constitution by its framers at its inception. In the Tenth Amendment, the Constitution sets forth explicitly, in unarguable language, where the rights of the citizens and states begin and the obligations of the federal government end.
To paraphrase an old Lorrie Morgan song, I would like to ask the current crop of Congressional seat holders, Cabinet cronies and high court lifers, "What part of the Tenth Amendment don't you understand?! It might also be worth asking how long it's been since they've read that part of the Constitution-or any of the Constitution, for that matter. It's a fair question since most of them admit to not having read the stimulus bill before it quickly passed in February.
Could it possibly be any clearer? The Tenth reads,"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The problem, of course, is that more than a hundred years, the Federal government has taken more and more liberty with the Constitution-many politicians today seem to see it as more of a flexiblee guideline instead of the rule of law that was meant to govern this country.
This usurpation of power by the federal government has been so slow and gradual and its real purpose so covered in the powdered sugar of benevolence that Americans have swallowed it whole. It doesn't help that a large number of Americans haven't themselves read the Constitution. What would help our citizenry awaken to what their government is doing would be a massive campaign to put a copy of the Constitution into everyone's hands. Some of you might remember the days when civics and government was a required course for high school graduation.
In the last few months, there have been movements afoot to recognize and promote states' rights. At least 20 states, including Texas, South Carolina(you know us, never afraid to fire the first shot!), Louisiana, Utah and Montana have adopted resolutions stating their sovereignty
under the Tenth Amendment. Many governors such as Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mark Sanford of South Carolina have declared their willingness to fight for the rights given to their states by the United States Constitution.
One by one, states are beginning to realize that they can stand up for themselves. In anticipation of the possibility of stricter gun laws under the new administration, Montana passed a law that says if the guns were made in that state, they're the states' business! Georgia Secretary of State, Karen Handel, has a petition circulating to protest the Obama Justice Department's demand that Georgia immediately halt any voter registration requirements.(not hard to see where they're going with this. Let dead people and non-citizens vote to help the Dems) And we all know how passionate Rick Perry of Texas feels on the subject. He was so mad awhile back that he even mentioned the evil S word-yes, secession.
New organizations abound across the internet to promote the sovereignty of states. One of them is the Patrik Henry Caucus, whose plans include states descending en masse upon Washington in the event of any court ruling that denies any state their sovereignty.
State governments cannot be afraid to let their governors and legislatures be heard. We cannot throw in the towel and let this speedy slide to the left continue unchecked. Wherever gun ownership issues arise, they must be taken through every possible channel; wherever free speech is challenged, there must be such outcries as to embarrass the listeners; wherever our fundamental rights to assemble are threatened with a shutdown there must be even larger rallies.
This is still the United States of America-a careful reading of those words says it all. Our Founding Fathers did not envision the federal government we have today. They didn't want a centralized power with a strangle hold on the states and the individual. The Constitution is still in force-for now at least-and we have to show a solidarity the likes of which hasn't been seen since 1776. I am heartened by the vast number of websites and grassroots organizations that have taken hold of the American conscience in the last six months.
This is still our country and we the people have an inalienable right to protect its traditions, preserve its promises of freedom and, yes, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, if we see tyranny, we have not a right, but a responsibility to rid this country of that tyranny. We cannot be afraid.
We can get back our country. Small victories are being won all around this nation every day. You just don't hear about them because the left-loving media keeps them quiet.
Americans have turned a blind eye to the actions of politicians for far too long; now, we are paying the price. We are watching an unfolding of the consequences of allowing the federal government to grow to mammoth proportions. As a recent guest on Fox's Glenn Beck show observed, "We created this monster....now it's time to rein him in!"
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