Dennis Roch is one of those good legislators in NM…I urge you to thank him for sponsoring a 10th Amendment resolution there and let him know you want him to do it again in 2010!

I agree with Pete’s statement that we need to network in each of our states to form coalitions in each state to force our respective states to back up their words with action. I looked on the State Groups page of this website but don’t see anything for Tennessee. I would love to get involved with a group here.

http://patrickdeneen.blogspot.com/2009/05/anti-anti-government.html
(…)
Preemption, in this case, does not refer to the “Bush Doctrine” in international affairs, but rather a quiet and largely unremarked upon policy by which the Federal government presumptively and preemptively overturned State-based laws in areas of interest to private business interests. According to one person quoted in the article, “‘It’s environmental law, it’s drug law, it’s mortgage law, it’s a whole host of areas where the Bush administration was really aggressive about using regulatory action to clear state and local laws that businesses and corporations didn’t like,’ said Doug Kendall, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center.” Federal regulation was regularly, even promiscuously used to overturn legitimate State legislation in areas where private business demanded uniformity for the sake of efficiency, profit, and economies of scale. So much for the idea that the States are the “laboratories of democracy.”
(…)

And don’t forget those NAFTA Tribunals that can overturn virtually any state law and reverse jury awards in civil suits.

Anyway, I agree our resistance to the current Federal Hubris should be peaceful and lawful to the extent possible, but only to the extent possible. The founders did not follow the model you prescribe for us. They did take up arms when no other reasonable recourse could be found. This is right. The man or woman who would live out all duties owed to God, and to others in the love of God, must set those duties above any human law that, if obeyed, would cause us to fail in those duties.

This is the real reason freedom is the hallmark of the American vision, colored as it is by the rich hue of faith. Freedom is that which empowers us to live the life our God requires of us. That is why seeking freedom is not simply an option, a luxury we try for but excuse ourselves if we fall short. No, seeking freedom is a duty that does not expire with circumstances or difficulty. It lives on in the darkest, weakest moments of our experience. It is the flicker of light, the faint breath of hope, the stirring within against all despair, which keeps us always ready to engage the forces that would take it away from us. Take it away from me they someday might, but only from my cold, dead hands.

Resolution:

Whereas the duty to be free is a principle duty of man, a keystone to the exercise of virtue, and cannot be set aside, neither by an abusive government, nor by the citizenry subjected to that abuse, be it resolved that no option which might result in that freedom be taken off the table, except as constrained by wisdom and Godly character.

Blessings All.

SR (Yes, THAT Springfield …)

Naturally, the wife tried to make it work. Everybody, the kids, the extended family, everybody would all be better off if the family could be kept together. The wife begged the husband to reform; to get help for his drinking and control his spending. She begged him to quit running around with other women and to stay home nights with the family, like he did the children were still very young.

Unfortunately, the husband would not listen. Instead, he only grew worse and his demeanor more menacing. Finally, having exhausted all patience, the wife threatened to take the kids and leave if he did not mend his ways. At first, the husband knew she was not serious and that she would not make good her threats. So, he only menaced her worse and tried to keep her in subjection with terror and violence – his own version of Homeland Security.

However, one day the husband saw that something had finally changed. The wife was now finally ready to make good her threats about leaving him. The realization shocked him. But now there was nothing more he could do to disuade her from leaving, and he was left alone. He begged her to return, and promised to change. She did not trust him and would not go back.

Finally, faced with the realization he had destroyed his own family and home, he sought help for his problem. Little by little he mended his ways. As the fog of alcholism slowly lifted from his mind, he realized the sort of tyrant he had been and truly repented. He wooed his wife, and slowly the relationship began to mend. Today, they are a happy family again.

Moral of the Story: The Federal government has no incentive to change as long as it can play the tyrant over the States and it knows they do not have the moral courage or resolve to secede. Secession is the leverage that can bring the federal government to its senses. If there is another way, by all means, let us pursue it. But, I rather think the drunken tryant will resist all appeals until it knows the States are finally serious about going their separate ways, and not before.

Blessings,

PHL