GunnyFreedom
Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 32,882
I am no longer interested in Tenth Amendment Nullification, instead, I am working on Article 6 Nonpursuance.
(By popular demand)
We fail to achieve real nullification because we argue and articulate this wrong. Sure, it's "nullification" and it's based in the Tenth Amendment, but many of the forces on the left have succeeded in mischaracterizing nullification as arising from John C Calhoun when the most successful examples came out of the Free States preventing the re-enslavement of escaped slaves.
State nullification was used to fight slavery and segregation 10 times more than the proponents of slavery tried (and failed) to use it to preserve slavery, but because the opponents have managed to so deeply mischaracterize this Jeffersonian doctrine you can't make an inch of headway on the policy since it comes with so much false baggage.
Well, it turns out the exact same policy is described right inside of the Supremacy Clause itself. You don't need to reach out to the 10th Amendment for nullification, especially when nullification has been so desperately misconstrued. Right inside the Article 6 Supremacy Clause is a subclause describing only those laws in Pursuance to the Constitution being the Supreme Law of the land.
So I am saying we pivot away from the articulation of 10th Amendment Nullification and start talking about Article 6 Nonpursuance.
It sidesteps all the false baggage that has been hung onto the 10th Amendment and eliminates the primary objection. If you notice, whenever talking about nullification the first thing that the status quo statists (be they left or right) say, is "But the Article 6 Supremacy Clause says whatever Congress does is supreme!"
Of course, that is NOT what Article 6 says at all, but at that point they inevitably smugly decide they have won and refuse to even listen anymore. However, when you START with the Pursuance subclause to the Article 6 Supremacy Clause, they have no where to run to. The objection goes up in smoke, and you completely avoid all the baggage that the establishment has falsely attached to the word "Nullification."
So I suggest we start arguing for Article 6 Nonpursuance, and writing bills arguing from the pursuance subclause to the Article 6 Supremacy clause. In my experience you get a LOT further with both the left and the right than when you bring up "The N word."
Of course they will, but they are not the ones we have to turn. It's the average everyday Joe on the street we have to turn. Once the general electorate grasps the idea that federal laws that do not follow from the Constitution are not supreme, a great deal of Washington's leverage goes away. We have not been able to make progress on that so far because of the false baggage that Nullification has been painted with. You say "Nullification" and 65% of America immediately thinks slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, the Confederacy. It doesn't matter that Nullification was most successfully used to keep former slaves free. That's the image that has been associated with it, and that's the way the voters are going to think about it.
Here's the thing, we want to get these bills passed out of State Legislatures and force the feds to back down from enforcing unconstitutional laws. The State Legislators are not going to pass laws that 65% of their constituents think are insane. Where you have 65% of the electorate thinking Tenth Amendment Nullification is insane, we may be able to get 70% of the electorate thinking Article 6 Nonpursuance is actually a pretty good idea. That's when you will see the States exploding with these bills left and right.
Just look at the condition of the electorate today. Most of them hate Obamacare but think the Affordable Care Act is great. If you want to impact policy, one of the things you have to look at is articulation. The left has poisoned the well for 10th Amendment Nullification by spreading lies about it until the lies have been accepted as truth. Fight fire with fire. Get people lined up behind Article 6 Nonpursuance and nobody has painted that with slavery or segregation. You make past the gatekeeper doors and start changing minds.
If the people overwhelmingly want "X," it's an awful lot easier to get a State Legislature to pass "X" into law.
(By popular demand)
We fail to achieve real nullification because we argue and articulate this wrong. Sure, it's "nullification" and it's based in the Tenth Amendment, but many of the forces on the left have succeeded in mischaracterizing nullification as arising from John C Calhoun when the most successful examples came out of the Free States preventing the re-enslavement of escaped slaves.
State nullification was used to fight slavery and segregation 10 times more than the proponents of slavery tried (and failed) to use it to preserve slavery, but because the opponents have managed to so deeply mischaracterize this Jeffersonian doctrine you can't make an inch of headway on the policy since it comes with so much false baggage.
Well, it turns out the exact same policy is described right inside of the Supremacy Clause itself. You don't need to reach out to the 10th Amendment for nullification, especially when nullification has been so desperately misconstrued. Right inside the Article 6 Supremacy Clause is a subclause describing only those laws in Pursuance to the Constitution being the Supreme Law of the land.
So I am saying we pivot away from the articulation of 10th Amendment Nullification and start talking about Article 6 Nonpursuance.
It sidesteps all the false baggage that has been hung onto the 10th Amendment and eliminates the primary objection. If you notice, whenever talking about nullification the first thing that the status quo statists (be they left or right) say, is "But the Article 6 Supremacy Clause says whatever Congress does is supreme!"
Of course, that is NOT what Article 6 says at all, but at that point they inevitably smugly decide they have won and refuse to even listen anymore. However, when you START with the Pursuance subclause to the Article 6 Supremacy Clause, they have no where to run to. The objection goes up in smoke, and you completely avoid all the baggage that the establishment has falsely attached to the word "Nullification."
So I suggest we start arguing for Article 6 Nonpursuance, and writing bills arguing from the pursuance subclause to the Article 6 Supremacy clause. In my experience you get a LOT further with both the left and the right than when you bring up "The N word."
Of course they will, but they are not the ones we have to turn. It's the average everyday Joe on the street we have to turn. Once the general electorate grasps the idea that federal laws that do not follow from the Constitution are not supreme, a great deal of Washington's leverage goes away. We have not been able to make progress on that so far because of the false baggage that Nullification has been painted with. You say "Nullification" and 65% of America immediately thinks slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, the Confederacy. It doesn't matter that Nullification was most successfully used to keep former slaves free. That's the image that has been associated with it, and that's the way the voters are going to think about it.
Here's the thing, we want to get these bills passed out of State Legislatures and force the feds to back down from enforcing unconstitutional laws. The State Legislators are not going to pass laws that 65% of their constituents think are insane. Where you have 65% of the electorate thinking Tenth Amendment Nullification is insane, we may be able to get 70% of the electorate thinking Article 6 Nonpursuance is actually a pretty good idea. That's when you will see the States exploding with these bills left and right.
Just look at the condition of the electorate today. Most of them hate Obamacare but think the Affordable Care Act is great. If you want to impact policy, one of the things you have to look at is articulation. The left has poisoned the well for 10th Amendment Nullification by spreading lies about it until the lies have been accepted as truth. Fight fire with fire. Get people lined up behind Article 6 Nonpursuance and nobody has painted that with slavery or segregation. You make past the gatekeeper doors and start changing minds.
If the people overwhelmingly want "X," it's an awful lot easier to get a State Legislature to pass "X" into law.
Boy, if this has YOU GUYS fooled, imagine what it'll do to the average voter?
