The World According to Oatney

States' rights liberals

Yes, I realize the election is already a pretty old topic for those of you moving about the internet. The voting and the end result are completed, and the new cabinet is taking shape. For many of you, and for me, the election is slowly becoming old news, and people are already beginning to talk about 2008.

Consider this, however: Now that conservatives officially run America, many are beginning to abandon traditional principles that conservatives have run on for years, such as limiting the size, scope, and power of the federal government. Initiatives like the No Child Left Behind Act, while great for political propaganda purposes (Bush fulfilled his promise, etc.), do, in fact, expand the size of government. In fact, since Bush took office four years ago, the federal government has expanded at a rate nearly double that of eight years of Bill Clinton.

You hardly hear a whimper about states' rights coming out of Congress anymore, either. Congress is far more interested in using the power of the federal government to advance the conservative agenda as opposed to respecting and expanding state sovereignty. Since I am quite obviously a conservative, I am glad that our agenda, especially our social principles, are being pushed, because I believe the represent a majority view in America at-large. Note to the White House and Congressional leadership: Conservatives spent years promoting the old idea of limited federal power and state sovereignty. We as a movement ran on that principle from 1994 until the present moment. We should not be so quick to abandon it now that we are beginning to taste the fruits of long-term power. States' rights ARE a part of our agenda, we shouldn't abandon them now.

Proof that state sovereignty is on the back-burner for conservatives may be found in the fact that liberals are discussing states' rights and home rule as serious options in the wake of an election that showed clearly that they are a regionalized sub-set of the larger national body politick, and they are clearly the minority. Blogs like The Agitator by libertarian Radley Balko are out there informing the world of liberal interest in the old conservative concept. (Balko also has a Fox News column on this subject.) Many liberals now see sovereignty of states (as opposed to an intrusive federal government) as advantageous for them, because they may live in the way they choose in their parts of the country, without interference, and can leave the rest of us alone. Let me say to those liberals new to this line of thought: Welcome aboard! Many conservatives have been advocating that kind of arrangement for years. Perhaps we can work together to make it happen. The end result is that we are happy because we can have what we want where we live and we do not have to tolerate your nonsense, and you are happy, because you can have your secular socialist society and we don't have to have any part of it. Oh joy!

Conservatives should be keen to remember that it does our side no good to ignore this important principle of federalism and our movement (as Alan Keyes proved in Illinois) it may come back to bite us. We ought to be mindful that we are in a position to set the agenda for America for many years to come, and thus we should not be too keen to forget one of the key principles that brought our movement to power in the first place.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:32 AM