States Distancing Themselves From The Federal Government

States Distancing Themselves From The Federal Government
Over 40 States Declare State Sovereignty
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**********************************

NINTH AMENDMENT to the US Constitution: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

TENTH AMENDMENT to the US Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

As I have observed over the past few months the “State Sovereignty Movement” continues to sweep the nation with well over three-quarters of the fifty states taking action, through their respective state legislatures, re-establishing their “sovereignty”.

It is being reported that there are over 40 states with state sovereignty declarations as of this writing. If true, that is heartening. There is no doubt the states have been relegated to second-class citizenship in the US. That is just WRONG and must be corrected!

We found reports on the Internet stating that THERE ARE 12 NEW STATE SOVEREIGNTY DECLARATIONS IN PROGRESS, RIGHT NOW!! THEY INCLUDE ALABAMA. NEBRASKA, Rhode Island, WYOMING, WASHINGTON, INDIANA, KENTUCKY, GEORGIA, KANSAS, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, AND MARYLAND!

WYOMING is the newest constitutionally sovereign state. The bill was signed into law on March 8th, 2010. Utah did the same on the 25th of February 2010. The debate continues in my home state of South Carolina, but my guess is it will pass the state legislature and be signed into law by the “Sandlappers” very soon now.
Here in North Carolina, House Bill H849 “supporting the state’s right to claim sovereignty over certain powers under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States” has been filed.
Here’s the full text:

Whereas, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people;” and

Whereas, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

Whereas, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and
Whereas, today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

Whereas, many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

Whereas, Section 4 of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States says, “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government,” and the Ninth Amendment states that “The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” and

Whereas, the United States Supreme Court ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

Whereas, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

SECTION 1. The North Carolina House of Representatives supports the State’s right to claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government or reserved to the people by the Constitution of the United States.

SECTION 2. The North Carolina House of Representatives urges the federal government, as the agent of the State, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of any constitutionally delegated powers.

SECTION 3. The North Carolina House of Representatives further urges that compulsory federal legislation which directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.

SECTION 4. The Principal Clerk shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation.

SECTION 5. This resolution is effective upon adoption.

Read more on North Carolina’s efforts to re-establish its sovereignty HERE.

I took a look in my crystal ball and, for the life of me; I could see no indication of the effect the sovereignty movement will have on future relations between the states and their “agent”… the federal government. Only time will tell. However, I must tell you, it does this old southern boy’s heart good to see “State’s Rights” again brought to the fore in the United States.

James Madison, The Founder we refer to as “The Father of the Constitution,” wrote the following: “To preserve the Republic, it is in the hands of the people. We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments"

As with all Americans we “Southerners” get a lot of things wrong. But we have been right on the issue of “State’s Rights” all along. See, southerners had a bit more than just a signature invested in the creation of the Constitution, itself. There was never any doubt, in our minds, about who “the greater” and who “the lesser” was/is in this association of states and federal government. I must tell you, I am more than a little pleased to find the names of several northern and western states, and even northeastern states, included in the list of the names of the states involved in the State Sovereignty Movement.

Washington would do well to take notice, serious notice, of this movement. The Congress and the President may have forgotten, but it is “the boss” filing this complaint. It is very easy to sit in Washington and spend North Carolina’s money, or the money of the folks from Texas or Oklahoma. But, believe me when I tell you that we have been paying attention and we do not like having our state’s treasuries looted by a heavy-handed federal government.

The current Congress would also do well to read up on the “Ordinance of Nullification” passed by my home state of South Carolina in 1828. You can read it for yourself HERE.

Suffice it to say State Sovereignty is NOT a NEW issue in this country. It appears we will have to visit it -- yet again.

J. D. Longstreet

US Military Brass To Take The Fall For The Loss of Obama’s War?

US Military Brass To Take The Fall For The Loss of Obama’s War?

Military Brass Expected To Fall On Their Swords To Cover Obama’s Inept Afghan War Making?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*************************************
Rome burned as Nero fiddled. So goes the myth of the destruction of ancient Rome. There was more to Nero’s rather extensive “Urban Renewal Project”, of course. Much has been lost in the mists of time, and some has just plain been invented.

But, today, if Nero decided to burn Rome, we’d have TV cameras there as he struck the match and applied the flame to the nearest drapes or, thatched roof, as the case may be.

What am I rambling on about? Well, I’ll tell you. It is just this: While Obama fiddles; American soldiers are being killed in Afghanistan.

The US military commander of Afghanistan has requested 40,000 more troops as fast as he can get them in country to fight the resurgence of the Taliban and whoever else has, and is, joining their ranks.

The Commander-in-Chief says it will be weeks before he will respond with a “Yes” or a “No.” In the meantime, more American lives are being lost and the loss of those lives can be laid at the feet of Obama! The war in Afghanistan is now “Obama’s War!” And so far, he is bungling it, like nearly everything else this inexperienced president has touched.

I’d very much like to see an amendment to the constitution which says that a candidate for President of the United States must show proof of honorable service in the military of the United States.

Let me spell it out for you as plainly as I know how. Unless you have served in the US Military, you have no idea what fighting for your country, (war), is all about. You cannot understand the inner workings of the military. You cannot understand the code of honor, which is the common thread that binds all the military services to one another and to the country.

I do not care how much propaganda those who disagree with me on this throw at you, take it from another old vet, the military is different from anything you have ever experienced in your life and there is zero comparison with anything political or the political world our Commander-in-Chief resides in at the White House.

Now: Here’s what I think is about to happen. Obama dearly wants out of Afghanistan. The delay in answering General Stanley McChrystal is Obama buying time with the blood of American patriots.

The long and the short of it is, Obama is going to pull US troops out of Afghanistan. He doesn’t care about how bad it will make America look around the world. He doesn’t care about that. He has no idea how badly the American character will suffer. He doesn’t care how such an action will damage the US military. He has no understanding of how badly the Vietnam fiasco rocked the US Military for decades. Some say the US military did not fully recover from Vietnam until Gulf War One. Many of the Vietnam vets are STILL not over it! But Obama doesn’t care. Why? Obama is a Narcissist. He cares only for himself. Everyone, and everything, else is here to serve him and his interests.

Now: Do not entertain the erroneous notion that Obama is willing to take the blame for losing a war, specifically the war in Afghanistan. Oh, NO! Obama will not lose the Afghanistan War. The US Military will lose the Afghanistan War. You can count on it. There will be Congressional Hearings and kangaroo courts much like the old “Star Chamber” proceedings where the heads of Generals will roll, but nothing will touch Obama. Obama’s henchmen on the Hill and in the Mainstream Media will see to that. All the while, though, you and I and the thousands upon thousands of soldiers and military veterans will know who the culprit was.

The American Left HATES the US Military. It has a cold, unreasonable, hatred for anything military. I have leftist friends who all but spit anytime I mention the military for any reason. Their hatred goes deep. It is primordial. It seems to come from some place deep inside the pre-caveman depths of their brains. It is pathological. They would be quite happy to see the US Military go down to defeat no matter how many American lives are lost. They hate the US Military that much.

There is no reasoning with them. I have tried. I explained that the US military was the only organization that stood between them and annihilation. I explained that the US military made their freedom possible and without the military they would not be free men but slaves. Nothing made any difference. There is simply no reasoning with them. So, I must conclude that it is something in their internal wiring. It should not be difficult to detect in Obama’s White House.

The men and women who give of themselves to defend this country deserve better. They have earned the respect of the world. It seems to me the American people could insure that the Commander-in-Chief is always a military veteran with a constitutional amendment, which would require that a candidate for President of the US always be a veteran of one of the military services of the United States. It would not insure victory on the battlefield but it would show respect for the military by providing that one of their own is always in command. They deserve that -- and more.

J. D. Longstreet

****************


Conservative+Commander-in-Chief+US+Military+Amendment+Constitutional

The States Are Not Branches Of The Federal Government!

The States Are Not Branches Of The Federal Govern

By: J. D. Longstreet

"We are telling the federal government that we are a sovereign state and want to be treated as such. We are not a branch of the federal government,” that from Arizona state Rep. Judy Burges. And more and more state legislators and state legislatures are expressing the very same feelings. And they are doing something about it.

A state senator in Oklahoma, Randy Brogdan, has introduced a resolution that would enable his state to "reclaim its 10th Amendment right to reject any and all acts of Congress that go beyond its enumerated powers in violation of the 10th Amendment."

The Tenth Amendment, a part of the "Bill of Rights", says flatly: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Some legal experts say that the Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution makes all the efforts of the states moot. The Supremacy Clause is a clause in the United States Constitution, article VI, paragraph 2. The clause establishes the Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. treaties as "the supreme law of the land." The text establishes these as the highest form of law in the American legal system, mandating that state judges uphold them, even if state laws or constitutions conflict. Here's the text of the Supremacy Clause lifted from the Constitution:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

Whoa! Talk about throwing your weight around!

OK, so what do the state legislators have to say about that, huh? Well, remember Oklahoma state senator Randy Brogdan? His answer, we believe, sets the stage for the coming fight in the Supreme Court. Brogdan is quoted as saying: "Federal law does not trump the Constitution."

We have heard from Arizona and Oklahoma... You have to ask if this is a repeat of the uprising of the states in the 1800's. The answer is no. This is different, and yet, at the same time, it is about the same thing: My Confederate ancestors called it "State's Rights.” That is exactly the underlying cause of the unrest in the states today... States Rights.

States involved in the States Sovereignty Movement, as of this writing include: Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire and Washington and, of course, Arizona and Oklahoma. Reports tell us that the same sort of "resolutions", "bills', and so forth, are soon to be introduced in more than a dozen other states. There's an excellent article at the Washington Times we recommend you read. You'll find it HERE.

As I surveyed a map of the country with the states involved to one degree or another in the States Sovereignty Movement highlighted on it, I must tell you, it made this old man’s heart beat a little faster. For, you see, the states involved were from the north, the south, the east, and the west, and even way out in the Pacific Ocean. No matter how it turns out, no single section of this country will ever bear the stigma of “traitors” as my beloved South has done since the 1860’s. No state, no group of states, should ever have to bear that indignity, especially when what they did was perfectly legal as is what the states in the State’s Sovereignty Movement are doing today.

For even more information on the State’s Sovereignty Movement and a map of those states involved go HERE.

I fervently hope this gets to the Supreme Court before the Federal Government does something stupid, as it did in the 1860’s. We all know the Federal Government has stretched its legal bounds beyond those intended by The Founders of this country. We KNOW that. Its time they were called on it.

J. D. Longstreet
***********

Conservative+States+Sovereignty+Constitution+rights