Dec. 5 1933: Prohibition repealed after state resistance killed the law
It was state-level noncompliance which brought the 18th Amendment down. The record offers a blueprint to stop federal acts like gun control and Obamacare.
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Demagogue Chris Matthews’ Latest Cheap Shots at Nullification
It seems like we can’t go one day without another fact-free, historically-illiterate, unhinged rant from MSNBC’s top Obama stooge Chris Matthews.
A recent screed took shots at nullification and featured all of the usual absurdities, tying it in with racists and confederates. Desperate to protect his lord and savior Obama during a time that his presidency is plagued with scandal and incompetency, he comes out with the all-too-familiar canard that anyone pushing back against his agenda is a ‘racist.’
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Snarky, Faux-Intellectuals Don’t Have A Clue about Nullification
When faux-intellectuals like Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch attack nullification, they’re just lying. He attended our Nullify Now event and barely reported on what was said.
DetailsLost Lessons of the Weimar Republic
It probably will not surprise anyone to know that Pres. Obama is not the first president, or national leader, to want to institute gun control.
DetailsFilmmaker Hopes To Bring History of Japanese Internment to Life
When we talk about NSA spying or indefinite detention under the NDAA, many Americans simply shrug. When we point out the potential for evil in allowing the U.S. government to exercise these kinds of powers, they wave off our warnings as unfounded. “That could never happen here,” the confidently assure us. But it has. Too…
DetailsNullification Deniers: Confusing Emotion with Logic
Davis Merritt’s article Hidden price of nullification: forfeited rights is another example of fantasy instead of reality.
Many in the media keep repeating an inaccurate narrative about nullification. Are they truly that ignorant of history, or they have been forced fed so much that it has evolved into pseudo reality?
Merritt spends the first three paragraphs of his article recounting the dark history of the American South during the 1950s and 1960s. He pushes the emotional gas peddle harder (instead of the logical brake) when bringing the nostalgia of last weeks remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s classic speech. He writes:
The 50-year anniversary last week of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech also marked a half-century since the idea of state nullification of federal laws had any credence at all. But the irony of that historical juxtaposition is lost on a new generation of nullification enthusiasts in state legislatures.
Interesting that Merritt conveniently forgets one of Dr. King’s most famous quotes, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Merritt apparently has never read Thomas Jefferson who also wrote, “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.”
DetailsCato Chairman On Nullification: An Amalgamation of Revisionist History Covered in Judicial Fairy Dust
Cato Institute chairman Robert Levy’s recent article, “The Limits of Nullification” is nothing less than an amalgamation of revisionist history covered in judicial fairy dust. His assertions are premised upon a flawed understanding of certain fundamental principles and constitutional history. Levy conveniently ignores them and, consequently, drawn inaccurate conclusions.
Let’s dissect this piece by piece.
Levy implies the Constitution was ratified by the people acting in their aggregate political capacity – a single unitary body politic. In fact, many people believe this falsehood because they rely on the words “We the People of the United States” in the Preamble. The initial drafts of the Constitution named each and every state. They said, We the people of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, etc. But, Article VII of the Constitution states, “The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same”.
Each state is independent, free, and sovereign. The ratification happened within each State by the people acting in their highest political capacity. Each state voted up or down on the ratification. There was no popular vote across all thirteen states. There was no majority of people (50%, 75%, or 95%) of the people that could ratify the Constitution. The people of each free, independent, and sovereign State ratified the Constitution independent form every other state.
DetailsNullification of the Fugitive Slave Act: The Moderate Middle Road
Did you know there was a strong and vocal secession movement in the north prior to the Civil War?
Most people don’t. That bit of history pretty much disappeared down the Orwellian memory hole long ago.
In fact, radical abolitionists did advance the idea of secession. They argued that non-slave states simply could not remain associated with those allowing such a vile and immoral institution.
Slavery was so contentious, Congress passed a Gag Rule in 1836. All petitions relating to slavery were tabled without referring them to a committee, printing them or even discussing them. Essentially, Congress swept the issue under the rug.
DetailsThe Supreme Court as Accomplice: Judicial Backing for Executive Power
Lecture presented by Marshall DeRosa at the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s “Reassessing the Presidency” seminar. This lecture series addresses the much neglected reality that the executive department of the U.S. government has always been the sum total of the American welfare-warfare state. Event held at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, October 16-17, 1998. http://mises.org
The Misrepresentation of Nullification with Respect to Slavery
One of the biggest criticisms of nullification is that it was asserted for the purpose of perpetuating slavery. This is a complete misrepresentation of history. The record is absolutely clear on this issue. Frustration of the federal Fugitive Slave Act was accomplished by nullification efforts all over the North, and because of the success of…
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