QOTD

[unixronin]

"[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones.  I wish, therefore ... never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market."

— Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Judge William Johnson, 12 June 1823

And how right he was....

Comments

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

Yes, Washington is like WalMart for lobbyists. But I wonder if Jefferson would say that after looking at today's state governments.

When I was growing up, "states' rights" -- what Jefferson was arguing for here -- was code for "let us keep violating colored citizens' civil rights." So while I see his logic, I think if we'd followed it in the 60s there'd be a whole lot of "Whites Only" signs still standing. And I don't mean to single out the South; I can't think of any part of the country, except maybe Hawaii, where the federal government has not stepped in on occasion to put an end to something evil. (Or to do something evil, but I never said it was perfect.)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

But I wonder if Jefferson would say that after looking at today's state governments.

Yeah, I think these days the rot is ingrained at all levels.

When I was growing up, "states' rights" -- what Jefferson was arguing for here -- was code for "let us keep violating colored citizens' civil rights."

Indeed, that's the other side of the coin. Though this is a problem that I think is solvable simply by saying, "When you became a state of the Union, you agreed to honor the Constitution — ALL of it — as the supreme law of the land. Do so." None of this shit about states picking and choosing which parts of the Constitution they feel like honoring. It's a mandate, not an à-la-carte menu. You follow it as written, or you pack up and ship out.