-By Warner Todd Huston
As a conservative it is easy to look at Washington and find nothing but despair. Socialism is once again on the march with autocratic Democrats and left leaning “Republicans” all seeking to raise taxes, spend more, destroy the integrity of our borders, eviscerate our military, spy on us all, and impose a one-size-fits-all education scheme. In DC, the Democrats are practically indistinguishable from the Republicans. But a bright spot is seen in those states who are rebelling over this top down control by liberalizing gun laws, restricting abortion, and otherwise beginning to look for ways to assert their long dormant powers.
When the founders created this country they imagined that they had practically eliminated the chance for tyranny by creating a governing plan that featured a segmented system. The founders expected each segment to zealously look to protect their rightful powers.
The founders thought that Senators would fight for their states, Congressmen would fight for that segment of voters who elected them, Presidents would guard their own enumerated powers, states would strenuously reject any expansion of federal powers, counties would reject state interference and cities would vigorously enforce their own authority.
There was a time when states’ rights weren’t just some false call used to protect slavery!
Unfortunately, this country lost its once proud obstinacy and everyone began to fall to a socialist-styled assumption that the federal government should control everything from Washington D.C.
It is easy to imagine that the founders would have already started shooting at and/or tar and feathering government officials by now, but the tide of this un-American control from the top is starting to show some signs of collapse. A bloodless revolution seems to be forming.
Starting in the 1980s with the election of Ronald Reagan, Americans began a long process of falling out of love with Obama-styled communism. Sure there is a long, long way to go before we denude Washington of power and get back to the representative republic we are supposed to be, but you can see that there are some examples that the states are starting to rebel against Washington.
The most obvious example is the successful march of gun rights activists. Starting in the 1920s, Americans began to lose their Second Amendment rights thanks to the Italian mafia gang wars. This era coincided with the rise of the automatic machine gun, too, so that frightening weapon added to the problem.
By the 1960s liberals began to think that a total ban on the Second Amendment was just around the corner and it was all coming from the federal level through the courts and Congress.
But an interesting thing began to happen. The states began to rebel against the gun banning that was so popular in Washington. By 2014 every single state–yes, even all the very liberal states–had some sort of concealed carry law and even the Supreme Court began to reject the ban crazy left’s ideas reaffirming that the Second Amendment protects the rights of the individual just like the rest of the Bill of Rights.
Of course, the SCOTUS only started going that way because people in the states began to challenge new laws from among them, laws that were liberalizing Second Amendment rights.
Just take a look at the recent actions on gun rights as posted by Breitbart’s AWR Hawkins and you’ll see that those that want to promote our Second Amendment rights are gaining ground.
But Second Amendment advances are only the latest actions giving Americans more ability to more freely exercise their rights.
Those that oppose the murder of babies are also finding the states swarming to their side. While not gaining as much ground as gun rights, states are advancing new laws all over the place that put limits on abortion mills. This is a relatively new movement in as much as the federal government seemed to be expanding abortion since the 70s. But the states are starting to stand athwart abortion and saying to the feds, “this far and no farther.”
Another area that the states are beginning to reassert their powers is in the field of education. In 2010 it seemed as if a cabal of left-wingers and foolish Republicans–such as Jeb Bush–thought they had won the war over education by instituting Common Core from the top down. But now states are rebelling against this autocratic ideal and beginning to back out of that educational scheme in ways small and large.
Two other areas where the states are rebelling against federal prohibitions and notions of collectivism is in marijuana policy and the fall from favor of unions. Even the rise against Obama’s para-military attacks on a Nevada ranch has its roots in a distrust of a power hungry federal government.
Finally, the growth of the 10th Amendment movement and the idea that we might have a convention of the states to make some changes to the U.S.Constitution are also evidence of the trend.
As we see, the states are just at the beginning of reasserting their prerogatives. This is all good. If it continues it will eventually lead to denuding the federal government of power as well it should.
So, there is some hope that we will be able to defeat liberalism, or at least put a dent in its supremacy. But it is all at a very delicate stage, one that can be easily quashed. It is up to we, the people, to make sure this trend grows. Hold you local politicians accountable and continue to urge them to reject Washington power grabs. Insist on your rights and the rights of your local governments to have more say in what governments do. Begin the arduous process of excising anti-Americanism from our schools by deposing the left from its stranglehold over education.
All this can only be done by you, the voter, because we cannot expect power mad politicians to curb their own powers merely because it is the right thing to do.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
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