Federalism Kills Zombies

Again, I'm going on and on about our government and how we need to start thinking about it, for crying out loud. (And if I was podcasting, you could hear me literally crying out loud. Maybe I'll do that for you soon.) I'm very sorry for the histrionics, but there's something out there that it seems nobody wants to think about anymore. It's called Federalism, and our country was founded on the principle.

So let's push this spooky idea out into the light where zombies die and vampires turn to dust.

Robert Hawes, the man behind The Jeffersonian, one of the world's most erudite and well thought-out blogs, possessing an excellence I and this page can only hope to reach one day (how am I doing, Mr. Hawes?) wrote the following. Imagine if these words had been said by a presidential candidate during any of the debates this election season:

“Americans are clearly not of one mind on every issue, so why should we have to live under the same laws? Imagine an America where California and Virginia could agree to disagree on the issue of abortion. Imagine if Massachusetts and South Carolina could agree to disagree on the issue of gay marriage. Imagine being able to go to the polls and cast a vote on such important issues without having to worrying about being overruled by a federal judge!

“Our founding fathers understood that not everyone wanted to live under the same laws. That’s why they crafted our Constitution so that the federal government had only certain, specific powers, and everything else was left up to the states, to be decided as their people saw fit. Today, though, politicians in Washington use our tax dollars to try and force us all to live by their edicts, by what they and their special interest friends want for us, instead of how we ourselves would choose to live. They want power. They want control. But they can only have these things if we let them. We can take the reins of our lives back again, if we will. By disempowering Washington we empower ourselves. Your choice is clear tonight [points to the other candidates]: you can choose his plan for your life, or his plan for your life, or his plan for your life, or my plan to give you back your life.”

See, the thing about the undead is that they just amble on, oblivious to their parts hanging akimbo, their blank stares serving as a macabre evidence of everything they've forgotten. Let's try to not get like that, shall we?