Ron Paul ~ Secession: Are We Free To Go?

theintelhub.com | November 21, 2012

Is all the recent talk of secession mere sour grapes over the election, or perhaps something deeper?

Currently there are active petitions in support of secession for all 50 states, with Texas taking the lead in number of signatures.

Texas has well over the number of signatures needed to generate a response from the administration, and while I wouldn’t hold my breath on Texas actually seceding, I believe these petitions raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union.
Is it treasonous to want to secede from the United States? Many think the question of secession was settled by our Civil War.

On the contrary; the principles of self-governance and voluntary association are at the core of our founding. Clearly, Thomas Jefferson believed secession was proper, albeit as a last resort. Writing to William Giles in 1825, he concluded that states:
“should separate from our companions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dissolution of our Union with them, or submission to a government without limitation of powers.”

Keep in mind that the first and third paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence expressly contemplate the dissolution of a political union when the underlying government becomes tyrannical.

Do we have a “government without limitation of powers” yet? The Federal government kept the Union together through violence and force in the Civil War, but did might really make right?

Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. Some felt it was treasonous to secede from England but those “traitors” became our country’s greatest patriots.

There is nothing treasonous or unpatriotic about wanting a federal government that is more responsive to the people it represents.

That is what our Revolutionary War was all about and today our own federal government is vastly overstepping its constitutional bounds with no signs of reform.
In fact, the recent election only further entrenched the status quo. If the possibility of secession is completely off the table there is nothing to stop the federal government from continuing to encroach on our liberties and no recourse for those who are sick and tired of it.

Consider the ballot measures that passed in Colorado and Washington state regarding marijuana laws.

The people in those states have clearly indicated that they are ready to try something different where drug policy is concerned, yet they will still face a tremendous threat from the federal government.

In California, the Feds have been arresting peaceful medical marijuana users and raiding dispensaries that state and local governments have sanctioned. This shouldn’t happen in a free country.

It remains to be seen what will happen in states that are refusing to comply with the deeply unpopular mandates of Obamacare by not setting up healthcare exchanges. It appears the federal government will not respect those decisions, either.

In a free country, governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. When the people have very clearly withdrawn their consent for a law, the discussion should be over.

If the Feds refuse to accept that and continue to run roughshod over the people, at what point do we acknowledge that that is not freedom anymore?

At what point should the people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with an increasingly tyrannical and oppressive federal government? And if people or states are not free to leave the United States as a last resort, can they really think of themselves as free?

If a people cannot secede from an oppressive government, they cannot truly be considered free.

5 thoughts on “Ron Paul ~ Secession: Are We Free To Go?

  1. From Wiki –
    Nullification, in United States constitutional history, is a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional. The theory of nullification has never been legally upheld; rather, the Supreme Court has rejected it.

    So, even if we attempt to nullify – it is hollow victory. Has it become that sedition is the new patriotism? Sedition directed towards the congress owned by AIPAC. Sedition? Funny, but it should not be called sedition in this case! AIPAC is basically a dual citizenship holocaust ransom lying bunch of thieves. Tyranny is upon us, but – what do I know? I’m just a boiled frog. At least we have the best govt that money can buy.

    1. Yes, the SC does presume to have the final say as to whether a state can nullify a federal ruling. But it is not as cut and dried as that – it does involve interpretation of whether or not the area the state seeks nullification is an area OUTSIDE the jurisdiction of the feds. The Tea Party folk have an interesting article on this.

      http://www.teaparty911.com/blog/nullification-of-federal-actions-by-the-people/

      Clearly, the line in the Constitution that declares a FREE PEOPLE have the RIGHT to throw off onerous gov’t returns the power to the people, and the 50 separate COUNTRIES that make up the union recognized as the united (small “u”) States of America. http://www.teaparty911.com/blog/nullification-of-federal-actions-by-the-people/

      It is preposterous to believe that a document as carefully and cleverly written as this was (by a group of individuals who KNEW the treachery of rulership in ALL its forms) would fail to provide a mechanism for the abolishment of such governance by a FREE people.

      Just sayin’ G

  2. This is a hotbed topic. We need to break it down first, before we can come to grips with the importance, or the possibility.

    Look at it this way – the original articles were of con-federation. We went to war again the con-federates. Banks need total control. This has been the goal, and while we wallow in misery, they are ringing the register. They are in their heaven.

    Confederation is the answer. 5,6,7 – the number is not important – but we would be better off as a confederacy of competing nation states. Supporting each other defensively, but competing and serving smaller centers of population. As we become 150M, 250M, 400M people, the fed and the subsequent govt agencies become thicker, and take more and more of the resources before it trickles to those people the resources need to support.
    One last thing – I don’t hold out much hope that we all agree and design the system to fully function before it implodes. The bill of rights is wounded at this time, at the leaders convenience, not ours. They would have you believe it otherwise.
    And, signing out –
    Bless Consciousness, bless Palestine – They too will get peace, and their land back. I would submit that true freedom loving America will get back on track with a convergence of Palestine becoming supported by America. The ideals are unified – but if one can only pull off the veil and see. Zionist Bankers be damned. Bless Freedom.

    1. Actually, the best remedy available to the states is nullification. The more states that say “no” to tyranny the less effective it is. Blessings, G

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