Thursday, January 27, 2011

States Seek to Nullify ObamaCare


States Seek to Nullify ObamaCare
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Eleven months ago I wrote the following:

“The American people have told the government we do not want ObamaCare in any form. As evidence of this, look at the number of states that have already amended their state constitutions to ban any kind of government healthcare mandates handed down by the federal government.

If you know your American history then you already know this has happened before in the US. Just before the American Civil War broke out into a shooting war, the southern states began passing “nullification” laws, within the states, which nullified federal laws and mandates placed on those states by the federal government of that day. Simply put a nullification law means those states will NOT adhere to, or abide by, those federal laws and mandates. Need I remind you of the next step taken by those states?The American Civil War did not have to happen. It DID happen because the arrogant US Congress of that day refused to listen to the people of the southern states telling them, flat out, they would leave the Union if the Congress continued to govern against the will of the southern people.

States all over the nation are frantically attempting to get the attention of the federal government by passing modern day nullification laws.”

Today, eleven months after I wrote the words above, ten states are seriously investigating the possibility of nullification of the ObamaCare laws in their states.

Just yesterday republican lawmakers in the Idaho State House introduced legislation, which would resurrect the nullification measure in the state of Idaho. At the same time, Alabama, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas, and Wyoming are all looking at the same thing.

Ok. You say nullification is not constitutional, right? So what? Consider: There are fifty states -- and one federal government.

Americans have forgotten and most, today, were never taught the simply fact that the federal government was created by the states to act as an agent of the states—and not the other way around. SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, it has gotten all twisted around and large portions of Americans now believe they have no recourse when the federal government acts in ways that do harm to the states and the people of those states.

State sovereignty is real. Forgotten, and in most cases, buried way back in the dusty collective memory of this nation… but it IS there and it still has a pulse and it is still viable.

I have spoken to people over the years that actually believe the US constitution forbids secession by a state or states. It does not.

The original Articles of Confederation forbade any state from seceding -- unless ALL states seceded -- which would have, effectively, ended the “United” States as a single country.

The founders went out of their way NOT to address state secession when the current US constitution was drafted.

When my confederate ancestors concluded it was time to withdraw from the Union, they looked for any hint in the constitution that would forbid them doing so. Finding none, they went their separate way. They were dragged back after an invasion of their country by US armed forces and forced back into “the Union” at the point of a bayonet.

I am convinced that not only were my confederate ancestors right then, but the states investigating nullification, today, as a way to tell the federal government, “enough,” “no more,” are correct in doing so.

Look. This is serious business. I have read “smirking” reports in the mainstream media concerning the states and nullification. I expect you have seen them and heard them, as well. Here’s the truth about that: Those same kinds of reports by the press were made in the mid 1800’s and we all know what happen in April of 1861.

I don’t think the folks in the mainstream media, living their sheltered lives in the metropolitan areas on the east coast and the west coast, have any real idea of the American rage sweeping the nation between their respective coasts. They certainly give no evidence of it, if they do.

I am not beating a drum for the break-up of the United States. I am trying to make the point that if the people of America are not allowed to live and breath free, that break-up will happen whether anyone beats a drum for it, or not! Fanning the flames of a prairie fire is not required for a little grass fire to become a huge firestorm. It requires only a spark – and sparks are flying all across this land.

Media folk may snicker at the folks in the aforementioned states if they choose. But remember, it has happened before on this very soil.

Americans have a proud history of raising their hackles, baring their fangs, and striking back at a government that overreaches. The government of King George tried it. The US Congress, in the early 1800’s, tried it. The Lincoln administration tried it, and all met with massive resistance. Now, the US government, under the leadership of a socialist executive branch, is trying it, yet again. Is there any reason to believe that the same resistance to tyranny, that lies in the heart of every red-blooded American descendent of those early patriots, will not sound the call “to the barricades” just as mightily as did their forefathers? I think not!

Dismissing state sovereignty movements and nullification movements within a disgruntled America has always led to conflict, disunion, and ultimately, a nation at war with itself.

The warning signs are all there -- if our so-called leaders in Washington care to acknowledge them. The price for ignoring the ominous signs abounding across America today will be immeasurable.

Like the proverbial snowball rolling downhill gaining momentum and size as it goes, resistance against the overreach of the liberal-socialist agenda in the government of the US is growing, exponentially, into a force that will not be denied.

Americans WILL live FREE!

J. D. Longstreet

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