Overreaching

67% of the American public believes that the Republicans are cynically manipulating the Schiavo case in a purely political ploy. That the Republican congressional leadership admitted as much in a strategy memo doesn't help their cause.

Many Republicans and conservatives do believe in the principle of federalism. The Analphilosopher and Annika are good examples. But for the vast majority of Americans (in both parties) the issue of states' rights and federal power is a sham.

A sham, pure and simple.

The "principle" of states' rights has rarely been a principled principle. Instead, throughout American history, it has been a justification for other goals or a simple stratagem to achieve those goals.

Northern states in the early national period were all for national power when it came to administering a protective tariff. But they embraced "states' rights" in opposition to Jefferson's embargo or Madison's war (Or Polk's for that matter).

The South wanted national power to be used to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, overturn states' personal liberty laws, or the Dred Scott Decision. But they trotted out the states' rights theory to oppose the tariffs of '28 and '32, to protect slavery (and its expansion), and to justify secession.

The South also trotted out states' rights after Brown v. Board of education, conveniently forgetting its support of a national alcohol policy. But we all know what was at stake: They didn't want little Johnny going to school with black kids.

Today, pro-life advocates say they believe in states' rights, vociferously decrying the federal imposition of Roe v. Wade. They know that, absent federal control, many states would ban abortion outright. But once Roe is overturned and local prohibition is achieved, you know that they will begin calling for a national law outlawing abortion in the blue states. The pro-life people have a principled position: They believe abortion is murder. But their support of states' rights is tactical, not principled.

So, while the Christian Rights abandonment of their tactical acceptance of states' rights may be interesting, we ought not to be that surprised.

A more striking result of the Christian Right's ascendancy in conservative circles is the abandonment of the rule of law, as illustrated by DOMA and Terri's law.

When Congress passed the patently unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (knowingly so; why else would there be such a drive for an Amendment?), most Americans, in their bigotry against a tiny minority, weren't that alarmed. Although similarly motivated by the desire to impose a set of values on the nation, Terri's law may backfire, bringing home to the American people that the Nanny-state Republicans are willing to impose their own interpretation of scripture on EVERYONE.

The agonizing decision to allow a loved one to slip away is an experience that many Americans have had. More importantly, ALL Americans can imagine facing that situation themselves as their parents and/or spouses age. And we want our family's death experience to be a personal one.

Terri's law is not an abstract diminuation of someone else's rights.

The religious right, in the name of the absolute sanctity of all life, wants to tell us how to make decisions for our families. Normally, we could count on the constitutional protections offered by the court. But the Republicans in Congress have demonstrated that they do no respect the independence of the third branch of government. Like Jefferson's impeachment campaign, Jackson's defiance of Marshall, and FDR's attempt to pack the court, Terri's law, "de novo" clause and all, is an attempt to subordinate the judicial branch.

Checks and balances, my friends, are our most important check against tyranny.

Now, your humble Smallholder is not running for the hills and stocking up for my own personal Ruby Ridge. I have great faith in the democratic process. Now that the Christian Righties have unmasked themselves as a aspiring tyrants, I suspect Americans will punish them at the polls.

I also expect that conservatives who value individual liberty, smaller governments, and states' rights may begin to rethink their alliance with the Rick Santorums of the world.

The ironic thing, if an attenuation of Republican power occurs, is that that change will not be wrought by the persuasiveness of the Democratic Party, which seems mired in denial of the bankruptcy of its own stagnant ideology. The Republicans are committing suicide.

With Bill Frist leading the charge, it will be physician-assisted suicide.

UPDATE FROM YOUR MAXIMUM LEADER: Your Maximum Leader believes that the "strategery memo" to which the Smallholder is referring is being debunked on the news (Fox and CNN) as a fake. But that is a developing story. And while the American people see partisan manoeuvering for what it is, a sizable number of Americans also don't want to see Terri Schiavo die. If the Smallholder is suggesting that the Terri Schiavo decision is going to do long-term harm to the Republican party, he ought to lay off the hard cider.