Time For a National Divorce?

This is another one of those posts I’ve been reluctant to do.  It is such a difficult subject with so much baggage.  And this venturous post at least will be rambling and thinking out loud.  But, prompted by Ace’s courage, I think it is time to discuss whether the United States, so-called, should remain together.

We are a profoundly divided country.  Yes, we have had our divisions before.  But I do not think they have ever been as irreconcilable as now.  And I do include the Civil War in that. 

In the past, we have been divided mostly over how government should implement shared American values.  Now we share American values less and less.  And now there is more willingness of those in control of government not only to impose the values of one side of the country, Blue State liberals and leftists, on the rest of the country, but also to punish individuals for seeking to live out their more traditional values.  That some states are forcing business participation in gay weddings and that some polls have a plurality of “Americans” as o. k. with that is one distressing instance.  We are becoming more and more totalitarian, and about 35-45% of “Americans” are apparently fine with that.

Whatever happened to “Mind your own business”?

With the support of such, the Federal Government, in league with most Blue State governments, has become a tool to impose Leftist Blue values on the rest of us.  The Federal Government has become a tool of Blue States to put Red States under their thumb.

If we had the robust federalism of the Constitution, we perhaps could continue divided.  If California, New York, etc. wants to go to hell, who am I to stop them?  But using Washington D. C. to drag me there is another matter.  The Blues have such a totalitarian streak and such a resentment of us free Texans that they want to control us, too.  To that end, the Blue States and their D. C. Fed tools have so eviscerated the Constitution that hardly any federalism and states’ rights remain. Constitutional rights protecting individuals are endangered and under attack as well.

In short, most Americans want the Blue states and the Feds to leave them alone to lead free and peaceable lives.  But even that modest (and Constitutional) space is being taken from us.

What makes matters worse is there is no party really defending us at the Federal level.  The national Republican Party has been taken over by those who enable big quasi-totalitarian Federal government.  Oh, they talk about taking up for us at election time, but capitulate afterwards.  See Boehner, McConnell and their ilk.  Really, they secretly like big government and want to be in charge of it.

The electorate still revolts against Federal tyranny on occasion.  See the 2010 and 2014 elections.  But both major parties have thwarted the message of those elections at the federal level.  And both parties are all for importing millions of those who share bankrupt big patron statist values to further dilute the votes of real Americans.  We are in effect going back to taxation without representation.  Us rube Red flyover states are becoming the new colonies.

To which I say, “No, thanks.”

Yes, I support efforts to revive federalism and states rights, such as Mark Levin’s Liberty Amendments.  Yes, I think individuals and the states should defy Fed tyranny, with nullification if necessary.  Yes, I think it is possible that 2016 will be such a revolt against Fed tyranny that it might be put somewhat in its place for a decade or two.  I have not yet lost all hope for the United States.

And, yes, I know that what I am saying here will seem extreme to some (most?) readers.  But step back and consider how far the Federal Government has departed from the Constitution and its values.  That departure is what has become extreme.

However, I will be only too happy to be wrong.  Rest assured I would greatly prefer our country returning to its senses and defeating Fed tyranny, or at least rolling it back enough that I can live the rest of my life as a free Texan in peace.  Moreover, I am not yet confident national divorce is the way to go.  Further, I acknowledge it is may be so unlikely, I may be tilting at windmills.

But again, we are so profoundly divided with one side not wanting to allow the other side to be free Americans, and both sides pretty much detesting each other, that I agree it is time seriously to discuss how to proceed from here.  And it is significant that people like Ace are doing us a service by trying to begin such a discussion.

But even discussion has become problematic. As the Cruz-Reisner episode illustrates, we are hardly even allowed to talk to each other any more.