As to “the immediate conflict you would provoke” by this nullification bill, that would be up to the federal government coming into a state uninvited to enforce on the people an unconstitutional law.

This is how it started when I posted the Nullify Obamacare in North Carolina Petition on a Facebook page. In a very civil discussion we debated the pros and cons of nullification vs. “the throw the bums out” and the “go to court” approach to unconstitutional federal laws.

You say, “There are three ways to avoid Federal laws: 1) get the Congress to repeal them; 2) get the President to back down from enforcing them; and 3) get a Federal Court to enjoin their enforcement.” So, your answer is to return to the very ones who have given us this, and many other unconstitutional actions, and plead with them to stop. Well, so far that has been working real well for us, hasn’t it? And even if they did, it could be reversed at the next election.

We have tried this solution and it hasn’t worked.

Even you admit that the Supreme Court can did dig around in the Constitution to find a “clause” they say will justify this mandate. That is the problem; they will never give up powers taken from the States as long as the states refuse to say, “NO MORE!”

You say, “Sometimes impasses can be relieved through compromise among the political actors involved in a dispute. But when there is no retreat and no compromise, resort must be had to the courts and their judgments have been respected to the benefit of all, even those who may lose a particular dispute.” The only compromise we seem to be offered by the very leviathan you elude too seems to be what color of chains we would prefer.

You are correct in saying that “one or two states nullify a law will not stop them, but if more and more states do so then they have to either give in or use force.” The day they use force will be the end of this union of independent, sovereign States,because the writing will be on the wall. Either States will be forced to submit and become vassals of a centralized government, or these united States will form a new general government.

I suggest that everyone read again the Declaration of Independence – from beginning to end – and ask yourself, are not “our federal overlords” acting in the same way that Great Britain did? And if your answer is yes, then what do we do about it? To save the union, we must make it clear to the federal government we are not going to sit passively by and let them assume more powers and reduce us to mere serfs. What I and many others propose is to send a clear and unequivocal message that we are nullifying this unconstitutional action, and that they will not enforce it in our state against our citizens.

Have we been so beaten down and taught so many falsehoods about our country’s history and its founding that we easily grovel at the feet of a government that no longer respects the Constitution and our freedoms? If you will not read the whole Declaration of Independence, at least read this and ask yourself, what did our founders have that we have lost?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” — Declaration of Independence

I think the answer is THEY had the courage to make a stand against a “leviathan” when all requests for redress of grievances failed. All I am asking you to do is sign a Petition.

One finale point. The perceived notion that all nullification was used for was to defend slavery is wrong. In fact, South Carolina cited the use of nullification against federal fugitive slave laws by northern states as one of the reasons for session. The fact that any tool or power may be used incorrectly does not negate its use for good.

Please take a moment to read the following article about The Misunderstood History of Nullification, especially its use to nullify the Fugitive Slave Laws, and how this led to the birth of the Republican Party. If anything, nullification IS a Republican idea that is coming back in vogue.

PS — How many time have you voted in your life to “throw the bums out”, now tell me are you freer today than the first time you voted, is the federal government bigger or smaller, is the national debt bigger or smaller? Has the Supreme Court protected your liberty or expanded government?

Haven’t you been doing all the things government tells you to do and has it worked? Maybe it is because they had it rigged in their favor. Don’t you think it is time to do it the way the federal government tells us we can’t do it but the way our founding fathers said we were “duty bound” to do it? Nullification is the Rightful Remedy to unconstitutional federal “laws”.

William Kennedy

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