April 2009

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Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.

-William Pitt

Chuck Norris And State Secession

Interesting: Chuck Norris is a secessionist

The last time that I agreed with a Democrat was in 1861, when the Republican North invaded sovereign Democratic Virginia and declared war on the fledgling secessionist nation. It’s amazing just how much Lincoln changed our nation. We give a hard time to FDR and Wilson, but no one has impacted this nation more than Abe, honestly. The famous expression goes that before Lincoln we referred to ourselves as “the United States are” as if that were a bad thing. It’s interesting when you think about it, and I’m finally starting to get clarity on this topic after my Civil War phase last year. Here’s the analogy I’ve drawn:

If a person immigrates to this country, that new citizen retains the right to visit other countries (mostly) and to renounce his or her citizenship at any time. One of the greatest aspects of this country is that – if you don’t like it – you have the ability to leave it…at any time. This, to me, pretty much sums up the definition of a free country. Similarly, a union of federated states should operate in very much the same way. The United States of America didn’t conquer Texas, or Alaska, or Hawaii. These states joined voluntarily because the United States represented a mode of federated government to which these states desired to belong. Likewise – a state should be free to leave the Union at any point that that state feels the government is not aligned to how…well, actually, a state shouldn’t even need to give a reason. If a state doesn’t want to be a member of the union anymore, then so be it.

If we hold a free, law-abiding citizen here against his or her will, then we are living in a non-free country. We would be living in an authoritarian government. Yes, fascism. So what does that make us when we hold a state here against its will? So when Texas or Alaska secedes because the U.S. government has been radically bastardized from the nation they voluntarily joined (even 50 years ago), what is our “freedom” loving country going to do? March in there with the 4th Infantry Division? (Whoops…that’s already based in Texas, let’s try the 3rd Infantry Division). And would we be able to look ourselves in the mirror and honestly call our nation “free”?

That’s the problem with Lincoln. This didn’t have to come to bloodshed and war. When you have a number of states arguing about peacefully seceding, it’s a pretty good indicator that somewhere along the line the federal government has gotten seriously out-of-whack. I know that there are some logistical issues that make difficult – say – a Kansas seceding from the nation. They’d be isolated from the rest of the world. But again, instead of marching into Kansas with an army and overthrowing its state government, why not work on revamping the federal government to cater to the state? After all, what purpose is a federal government but to serve its constituent states (Not its people)? This is why Lincoln failed so miserably, in my opinion, and why – as distasteful as this may be to me – I believe the Democrats were right. And now 150 years later, the political party names have swapped but the heart of the issue remains the same.

Well, one thing’s for certain, the Democratic South would have fared much better had Lee had Chuck Norris under his command.

Posted by Rammage on March 12, 2009 at 11:04 PM

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Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.

-William Pitt

Chuck Norris And State Secession

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