Jack & Jill Politics

Look I know President Obama has got his hands full trying to clean up Bush’s foreign policy mess. But there is a full-on challenge to his authority a-foot from people who just can’t seem to accept a black man as their commander-in-chief. Georgia joins the Governor of Texas now in seriously promoting the concept of threatening to secede, disband or otherwise overthrow the government of the United States is treason in my opinion. It needs to be dealt with seriously and strongly in those terms. It’s not ok. I’ve highlighted the specific racially inflammatory language below: um “state’s rights”, “nullification”? Really, it’s so 1950s, honestly. It’s hard to believe that the GOP’s strategy is getting in bed with the white supremacist wing of its party.

From Jay Booker at the Atlanta JC via AmericaBlog:

In fact, Senate Resolution 632 did a lot more than merely threaten to end this country. It stated that under the Constitution, the only crimes the federal government could prosecute were treason, piracy and slavery.

“Therefore, all acts of Congress which assume to create, define or punish [other] crimes … are altogether void, and of no force,” the Georgia Senate declared. […]

The resolution goes on to endorse the theory that states have the right to abridge constitutional freedoms of religion, press and speech. According to the resolution, it is up to the states to decide “how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged.”

The resolution even endorses “nullification,” the legal concept that states have the power to “nullify” or ignore federal laws that they believe exceed the powers granted under the Constitution. That concept has a particularly nasty legacy. It helped precipitate the Civil War, and in the 1950s and early ’60s it was cited by Southern states claiming the right to ignore Supreme Court rulings ordering the end of segregation.

Finally, the resolution states that if Congress, the president or federal courts take any action that exceeds their constitutional powers, the Constitution is rendered null and void and the United States of America is officially disbanded. As an example, the resolution specifically states that if the federal government enacts “prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition,” the country is disbanded.

In other words, if Congress votes to restore the ban on sale of assault rifles, the United States is deemed to no longer exist.

This, your Georgia state Senate voted 43-1 to endorse.