We might be losing another good man to the federal beast.
South Carolina state Senator Lee Bright has decided to primary Lindsey Graham next year in an attempt to throw the notorious liberty hater out of government once and for all.
Certainly, Bright would be an improvement over his predecessor, assuming he can unseat the incumbent. Sen. Lindsey Graham is perhaps the biggest enemy of the Bill of Rights in the Senate. Even in the Congressional cesspool, he stands out as especially verminous. Bright would represent the people of South Carolina better than Graham ever could, and he’s off to a good start calling Graham a ‘community organizer for the Muslim brotherhood’ in one of his first interviews as a candidate. Superficially, there is a lot here for a liberty activist to like.
But upon closer review, Bright is making a mistake. Liberty is not going to be reclaimed by winning a federal election. If he pulls off the upset and wins, Bright will join a small handful of senators who talk tough against big government. Like Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, he can raise a big stink and draw attention to the corruption going on within the federal government, but he will likely be very ineffectual in restoring our constitutional rights. Conversely, staying put as a state senator, he could actually be effective in reclaiming liberty for South Carolinians by nullifying federal laws.
Paul’s epic filibuster did a good job raising awareness of the dangers of UAVs in the American skies, but the plan continues on unimpeded. A drone aircraft buzzing overhead is the new reality in America, despite Paul’s best efforts. Justin Amash’s attempts to repeal the indefinite detention provision of the 2012 NDAA and defund the NSA’s illegal spying both failed. Paul’s amendment to stop foreign aid to the new Egyptian regime failed as well. Bright is leaving the South Carolina Senate to join a liberty movement that, in spite of their good intentions, has not been able accomplish anything consequential at the federal level.
Bright could instead stay in the state Senate and continue rallying his constituents to fight back against Obama tyranny through nullification. He is a pretty solid Tenther, and he had been working hard to stop Obamacare. He must think that if he and enough of the ‘good guys’ get elected in Washington D.C. that they can make a difference for the whole country. This is a dangerous and utopian line of thinking that diverts resources from where they can be effective toward where they won’t likely be effective. Washington D.C. has proven time and again to be a lost cause, while we’re having great success nullifying abysmal federal laws throughout the country.
The fact the our national political system has essentially become a lost cause isn’t a reason to become disillusioned and give up. It’s a reason for us to shift our strategy toward one that is much more local and state orientated. We must activate our state and local governments and get them to combat the tyranny coming out of Washington, rather than hoping the tyrants will reform themselves if we just vote correctly enough times. While we certainly hope Bright is successful in challenging a ‘public servant’ as despicable as Graham, it is a shame that he is leaving his current post where he could have been more effective in defending liberty. Nullification is the answer, not reforming Congress. Congress doesn’t need to be reformed, it needs to be neutered. That way, we won’t have to deal with their sinister machinations at all.
