I’m not great fan of Ron Paul’s foreign policy, but when it comes to certain aspects of the Constitution, he’s precisely correct and a forceful advocate for the document’s integrity. It is fashionable these days to repeat the rote trope that the legality of secession as a Constitutional issue was “settled” by the Civil War. Which is a lot like saying that the lie of US military preeminence was “settled” by Viet Nam.
At any rate, here’s Paul, doing what he always does, being unhelpful:
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Monday that secession was a “deeply American principle,” amid a growing number of people petitioning the White House to let their states secede from the U.S.
“Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England, but those ‘traitors’ became our country’s greatest patriots,” the former presidential candidate wrote in a post on his House website. “There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents.”
He continued: “If the possibility of secession is completely off the table there is nothing to stop the federal government from continuing to encroach on our liberties and no recourse for those who are sick and tired of it.”
Since President Barack Obama was reelected earlier this month, a flurry of secession petitions from states were created — most notably from Texas, which with more than 115,000 signatures far exceeds the 25,000 signatures needed for an official White House response. Critics have said it’s disgruntled voters upset that former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney lost.
Paul wrote that secession must still be an option to be used as leverage to make sure the government doesn’t “encroach” on Americans’ liberties.
“In fact, the recent election only further entrenched the status quo. If the possibility of secession is completely off the table there is nothing to stop the federal government from continuing to encroach on our liberties and no recourse for those who are sick and tired of it.”
Paul wrote that secession is a form of American freedom.
“At what point should the people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with an increasingly tyrannical and oppressive federal government?” Paul wrote.
He added: “And if people or states are not free to leave the United States as a last resort, can they really think of themselves as free?
Oh, do shut up, whiners. We won, which means we have a right to vote ourselves your stuff, and your only recourse is to take it — or to try to cobble together a voting bloc that will be more interested in your free giveaways than in the free giveaways being offered by the other side in exchange for votes. Which is what the establishment GOP is planning to do as we speak by removing the wild card of nominees that haven’t been vetted and approved by the Party, the GOP primary voters be damned.
The Constitution is in flux. It lives and breathes. And right now, it is siding with us — with social justice, with tolerance, with egalitarianism, with the natural right to have wealth collected by the government and then redistributed as the government sees fit, picking winners and loser, and dictating the kinds of contracts you must enter into. For fairness.
That’s the American way. And we will not tolerate your temper tantrums. Which are probably just another form of racism. You want your precious liberties back? Come and take them. But do it from within the corrupt system whose rules we write and enforce.
Otherwise, lie back and think of (defeating) England…
Push for secession and settle for reaffirmation of States Rights.
This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England,
It WAS treason: treason against the Crown. Every single one of the signers of the DoI knew it, but they figured that treason was the lesser of two evils, the greater being to live under tyranny.
It was treason for the South to secede, but they figured it was the lesser of two evils, and the North fought to bring them back because they figured war was the lesser evil next to a house divided.
If any state secedes from Washington, that also is treason. Own it. And then say that treason against tyranny is the lesser of two evils, the greater being to submit to it.
Push for secession and settle for reaffirmation of States Rights.
There ya go.
Jeff, it’s good to see that you make your decisions about a comment based on the comment’s content, not merely by who made the comment. Yes, Ron Paul can be quite the nut and jackass, but he also makes a lot of sense now and then. This is one of those times he hit the nail on the head.
Dicentra, I couldn’t agree more. No sense tap dancing about it. When the system has been so corrupted by the enemy that it’s no more than farce to believe you can get a fair hearing and representation from it, than other avenues need to be explored.
Ya mean we aren’t hostages? We are free to secede?
What an arcane idea…this whole secession thing. It’s really going to be hard for the largesse gatherers to gather largesse from each other.
– Well apparently its scaring the illiberals enough that there’s a petition to the White House to stop accepting petitions.
– Of course its also possible that’s the NEW face of the GOP, petitioning for equal “give-away” powers. I mean, it would really suck if a bunch of states opted out just as the Conservatives were getting the hang of this post-modern entitlement politics.
“If this be treason, make the most of it.”
Though, since I consider my loyalty to “America” to be to its Constitution rather than to its government-of-the-moment, I would argue that while treason has been committed, it was not committed by those advocating secession.
Push for secession and settle for reaffirmation of States Rights.
While talk of secession makes the pearl-clutching set nervous, there’s still a hell of a market for those governors who’d dare to stand up and say “We do not recognize Washington’s authority to collect/regulate/prohibit X, and so we will not cooperate with this tax/program/restriction.”
At this point, I don’t even care if the assertions of state sovereignty are particularly coherent or logical. A dozen random governors opting out of a dozen random programs, without any sort of strategery at all, would be a fine start.
Secession is about as “American” as it gets. At least that’s what Jefferson thought.
Is this a good time for me to mention that Lincoln sucks? It isn’t is it? Sigh. Oh well.
What’s amusing, in an appalling sort of way, is the comments by those who think secession is insane. They all tend to claim there is no comparison between breaking away from England and breaking away from DC because “we had no representation in England” and we have representation in DC.
These people are so stupid it’s incredible. When is the last time anyone really thought we have true representation in Washington?
As a political matter there could hardly be a more serious subject than secession, yet on the road to a serious treatment of the subject much that is going to be found unserious will pass by the way. The grist mill of opinion grinding away and refining the subject to its essential components — some of which will be theoretic and some of which practical, as are all political subjects, politics being a highly mixed sort of endeavor — is very nearly a complete performance of the meaning of self-government. The question is, will the grinding be done well or will it be done ill?
[…] Jeff expresses my own feelings on Ron Paul pretty well: I’m not great fan of Ron Paul’s foreign policy, but when it comes to certain aspects of the Constitution, he’s precisely correct and a forceful advocate for the document’s integrity. It is fashionable these days to repeat the rote trope that the legality of secession as a Constitutional issue was “settled” by the Civil War. Which is a lot like saying that the lie of US military preeminence was “settled” by Viet Nam. […]