Re: Secession & Nullification - Neo Confederates by Jaime Abeytia

Another local blogger which I've been told is followed by many in our city has come out with this ridiculous post.

I plan on rebutting every false claim he's made, which the whole post is nothing more than false claims.

I'll start with his first paragraph.

(SIDEBAR - Apologies to my Libertarian friends on the right, but lets be honest. You are on the right. You aren't this perfect utopian mix of the best of Liberalism and the best of Conservatism. You are conservatives. You never hear of the Libertarian wing of the Democratic Party. You only hear of the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Why? Cuz you're Republicans essentially. Sorry, but someone has to say it.

It is very strange to hear such things. My first question is how are we not a mix of Liberal and Conservative ideals? We are the greatest proponents of freedom. From the Liberal side we fight strong and hard for civil liberties like gay marriage, marijuana, and are against invasive policies like the PATRIOT ACT and the NDAA. From the Conservative side we fight equally for economic freedom like less taxes, less regulations, and less bureaucrats running our lives. Your failed attempt to label us falsely as Republicans only comes from the fact that Ron Paul has an R next to his name. Ron Paul isn't a Republican, we aren't Republicans, we believe in freedom that's it. There are "left-libertarians" by the way, they're called anarcho-syndicalists.

I know people want to romanticize the idea of nullification, an idea that went out of fashion more than a century and a half ago, but lets have a little fidelity to history shall we? John C. Calhoun and other people from the south used the idea to promote the further extension of slavery in the United States. But aside from reliving the Civil War, nullification represent the surrender of America. And its uniquely unpatriotic. Nullification is counter-productive to the greatest of American political values - COMPROMISE. You know, that silly little thing that was used to create this nation? Nullification says if I don't like a law, screw it, I don't have to follow it. It literally takes the United out of United States of America.

Nullification didn't go out of fashion, it is in fact being used today. What made it go away is the propaganda that it doesn't even exist. Go ahead and start a poll asking the average American what nullification is and you won't be surprised by the results.

In the same time period of Calhoun Jaime has decided to leave out other areas in which nullification was used. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a COMPROMISE (as Jaime likes to use) between the North and the South to return runaway slaves found in the North to the South. Vermont and Wisconsin finding that this Federal Law was unconstitutional effectively nullified it with jury nullification. This is where the slaves were tried in these states but the jury said they were not guilty because this federal law was no law at all. I suppose Jaime would approve of forcing these states to return slaves to the South? I sure hope not.

Going farther into our history we can see even more where Jaime claims secession and nullification as unpatriotic is just plain false. The founding of this country was based off nullification and secession from the tyrannical monarchy of England. Without this secession we wouldn't be the United States of America. So you're wrong Jaime, secession and nullification is as American as apple pie.

Even today nullification has been used to stop federal charges against people in marijuana cases, like in the great state of New Hampshire. I suppose Jaime would support the Federal Government jailing these people anyways even though they were shown to be not guilty?

Colorado and Washington have effectively nullified Federal drug laws and have made marijuana decriminalized in their states. I suppose Jaime would support Federal thugs(agents) arresting people for using marijuana?

I suppose Jaime also supports medical marijuana raids done to state licensed businesses offering products peacefully to those who are willing to purchase them?

I suppose Jaime is not as liberal as he thinks he may be.

Hell nullification would essentially create 50 little kingdoms off doing their own thing with only a loose association with one another. Oh great, the Americas version of the European Union.

Hell this statement alone shows Jaime is completely ignorant of the history and creation of this country. At the onset of our country it was well known that each state was a sovereign state. The Declaration of Independence notes, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government," You'd be a fool to believe that when writing this Jefferson thought only the colonies had a right to secede from the monarchy of England yet they wouldn't have this right under the newly formed government. Thomas Dilorenzo writes, "Secession or the threat of secession was always intended as a possible means of maintaining both the American union and constitutional government."

Your claims are backed by nothing Jaime.

And don't give me this crap that nullification is only for when the feds over-step their bounds. Who decides if they over-step their bounds. And oh by the way, we already have a solution for that...its called the Supreme Court. You remember the judicial branch of government right? Its that branch of government created through...wait for it...COMPROMISE! Nullification is predicated on the idea that the federal government is not the boss of me. So by definition, there is really no limit to the extent of nullification. Which makes people who believe that is a rational solution for America, the Mayor of Crazytown! And don't get me started on international relations. The US would not be able to speak with foreign governments as though it speaks with one voice when there are 50 little kingdoms.

Nullification is the weapon needed when the Supreme Court decides un-Constitutional laws are Constitutional. You'd be crazy to think that a Federally appointed set of life tenured men and women have any interest in reducing their own power. When the Supreme Court fails to do their job, which happens all the time, nullification is the only weapon we the people have left in our arsenal.

The Federal Government isn't the boss of you, it only claims to be. State governments also aren't the bosses of you. Only you are the boss of you. I'm not sure what Jaime means by there aren't any limits to the extent of nullification. The only laws the state's want to nullify are the ones not explicitly granted by the Constitution to the Federal Government.

The only international relations we should be having with other countries is free trade.

You can't have a government that is being undermined by what constituted the government in the first place. Nullification is anti-constitutional.

We had a government that functioned when nullification was used and is still used today.

I'd like to see some facts showing that nullification is anti-constitutional.

As Jaime said he didn't want to dignify nullification with a post it was hard for me to dignify his post with a reply, but I had to. He's so lost when it comes to the history of our government and the checks and balances the people have against intrusive policy.

Jaime, I await your reply.