It's the Battle of Bull, Run!

As the Republican minority in Congress appears increasingly resigned to the prospect of some form of healthcare reform passing, Republicans at the level of the various states are now taking up the cause and threatening to file civil suits against the United States’ government under the provisions of the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34702.html). The 10th Amendment is one of those necessary but problematic elements of the Constitution which somewhat ambiguously reserves powers not expressly granted to the Federal Government to the several States. From a procedural perspective, this makes complete sense, but, unfortunately, the powers of the Federal Government are also somewhat vaguely defined in the same document, and are subject to change by interpretation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court. Further, simply because an authority is not granted to the Federal Government, it doesn’t mean that an individual State can exercise it; the power may not be available to any level of government, but you don’t know that until the issue grinds it way through interminable judicial and legislative processes.

Anyway, I am reminded of the situation in the Russian Duma in the Imperial Federation where the Bolsheviks were in the minority but, through some obscure internal party maneuver years previously when they were still part of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, they had acquired the name “Bolshevik”, which means bigger. Their rivals, the Mensheviks, of course, got stuck with the name that meant “smaller” or minority. In 1917, however, the situation was completely reversed, but the Bolsheviks, just like the Republicans, went on acting like they were in charge, and the Mensheviks, just like the Democrats, second-guessed themselves at every turn. We all know how that one turned out. The Bolsheviks were committed to the idea of violent revolution, just like Sarah Palin and numerous other Republican luminaries; although I’m sure Dr. Gingrich probably wouldn’t see the irony in my observation. Ms. Sarah may find, however, that hunting well-armed, genius IQ Liberals is slightly less one-sided than shooting a moose.

So, the greater irony is that the sacred Union which so many Republicans shed their blood to preserve, led by the most iconic of Republicans, Honest Abe himself, is now just a formality to many of the Republisheviks who subscribe to Lucifer’s observation that “it is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven”. State’s Rights have re-emerged as a serious topic of discussion among some of our more Neolithic citizens, calling into question the entire history of our nation since 1861. If the Republicans cannot prevail at the ballot box, the theory goes; they can abuse the court system to obstruct the evils of socialism, which, with even further irony, is absolutely their constitutional right to do. Alas, we all know we have the right to do things we ought not to do, but we often do them anyway, more often than not, to our regret.

So while Rick Perry, the indescribable Governor of Texas, a truly fine place, begs impotently for the Federal Government to assist him in getting his State border with Mexico under control, he speaks of secession and the glorious liberty of a sovereign nation where you can be executed for crimes that logic dictates you did not commit. As a native of the great State of Georgia, which has lately fallen back into the intellectual abyss of theocracy, unenlightened self-interest and bigotry, I can empathize with the few brave souls in Texas fighting the zombie apocalypse with little more than their idealistic commitment to human progress, and the thought of allowing these fine Americans to be brought under the sway of a despotic regime of moronic cowpokes is the only thing that keeps me from sending the Texas Independence Party a check for $20.00 with my best wishes.

Full disclosure requires that I admit I have not read the currently proposed healthcare bill in its entirety, or even in a majority of the pages, so I cannot put myself forward as an expert. I also know that the Democrats and their trial-lawyer lobby buddies have virtually ignored the very real issue of tort reform and the outrageous concept that being the victim of an unfortunate, or even negligent, accident entitles you to the status of lottery winner, but that’s another blog entirely. I do know that in a nation of conscience healthcare cannot be just another commodity to be assigned at the whim of the market, and true reform is needed. I would prefer that our dear Republican colleagues acknowledge this and bring forward some brief sketch of how they would propose to address the issue before they attack Fort Sumter.