Ron Paul: Secession "deeply American"

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, speaks at a rally at the University of South Florida Sun Dome on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. / AP

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., defended the secession petitions circulating on the White House website, saying the petitioners "raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union."

In a post under the "Texas Straight Talk" section of Paul's House website, the congressman disputed the charge that talk of secession is "mere sour grapes over the election," exalting secession as a "deeply American principle."

"This country was born through secession," Paul writes. "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."

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Paul's argument, at times an almost-scholarly rumination on historical documents and founding fathers, cites the Declaration of Independence's dissolution of political union as a historical precedent, and quotes Thomas Jefferson's 1825 letter to Thomas Giles in which the founding father argued 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."

And everywhere Paul looks, he sees government unlimited.

"Consider the ballot measures that passed in Colorado and Washington state regarding marijuana laws," writes Paul. "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."

He also singles out Obamacare as an example of federal overreach: "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."

Paul argues that secession, far from being treasonous, must be seen as a final safeguard against an unduly transgressive central government: "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?"

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

Paul's defense of secession can be seen as another example of his states' rights absolutism - more an exercise in ideological consistency than a legitimate incitement to dissolve the union. But critics will doubtlessly accuse Paul of irresponsibly throwing kerosene on the already-inflamed secession debate that has sprung up in the wake of President Obama's reelection.

Paul's bids for the White House - as a Republican in 2008 and 2012, as a Libertarian in 1988 - all ended in defeat for the congressman.

Still, the presidential bids have been credited with advancing the Texas congressman's brand of libertarianism within the GOP and the public at large. In the wake of the GOP's across-the-board drubbing in November, some Republicans casting about for a solution have identified Paul's platform - sound money, minimalist government, isolationist foreign policy - as a salve for what ails the Republican Party.

The 77-year-old representative, who is retiring from Congress in January after more than three decades in Washington, will soon be unable to carry his own torch on Capitol Hill.

Then again, he may not need to: his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has been identified by many Paul-acolytes as the congressman's heir-apparent and is already generating buzz as a potential 2016 presidential contender in his own right.

[stevehamilton858]

Ron Paul has his head in the clouds as do the secessionistas who are talking about causing up to 30% of the states in the USA to leave the Union. These people threatening to leave and take their states with them should be charged with sedition and/or treason for threatening the viability of the United States of America. And they have not examined the wealth of problems they would face if they left the US. For instance, where do they think they will get investment dollars or loans from? what are they going to do about the borders with contiguous states who will remain in the Union? How do they think their citizens will be able to cross the borders and return to the US, for any purpose? What will they do woith regards to international defense issues? Will they create standing armies, navies and air forces? Where will the money for these forces come from, and where will the officers for those forces receive their training? How do they plan to have a banking system? Will they try and print their own currency, or use dollars? What US banks would want to open up offices in these renegade "Republics"? How do these renegades think they will be able to educate and attract the kinds of professional business managers and scientific personnel that are needed in today's international economy?

I hope the Senate holds hearings to quiz the leaders of this dangerous movement, to inquire of them why they do not believe they are committing sedition or treason. Each one of these renegade leaders will need competent criminal defense counsel, which bills out north of $500 per hour - that's $80,000 per month. I think that the gas bag renegades will decide that each of them will be much better off personally if he doesn't have to incur that kind of personal liability, and the secessionist talk will be gone by January 1st, 2013.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

It's no coincidence that the lowest wages are paid in the red former confederacy RED STATES. You all are accustom to cheap labor still spoiled from your days of free slave labor. That's why you push non union low wage.So sad that red states residents still haven't caught on to the republican scam.

[myopinionpal]

Any state that secedes will have to handle their own security because whenever they are invaded like in the movie Red Dawn do not expect the states that are left to come to your rescue.

[kcald17]

I also get all my foreign policy expertise from 1980's cold war movies

[Holly-wood]

Ron Paul: Secession "deeply American
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I agree, let Tejas secede from the USA, or cede it back to Mexico. We wouldn't have any more idiot jackhole presidents like George Dumb@ss Bush.

[johnlockesghost]

There is that benefit.

[Alex20016]

The benefits of being a large country far outweigh the problems. The "me" generation has aged ungracefully and sprouted all kinds of hardcore "me first" politics of which the libertarians are as hard as it comes, short of the militias. Attempting to correct for the "me" generation excesses is not Marxism in any form. The common good will always outweigh the few in democracy, when it is working. The separatist's form of "cleansed" and "efficient" government was in fact tried by Mao, Stalin, and Hitler with the most heartbreaking results. This nation can do immeasurably better unified than splintered in to smaller much much weaker nations. In fact, we are overdue in accepting new states to this great union.

[kcald17]

You are an idiot. Mao Stalin and Hitler were socialists that used big government to centrally plan the economy. They had different ideals but they used coercion and force to generate public approval for their policies. The American government today in no way represents these repressive regimes, but Libertarianism would be on the opposite side of the spectrum my friend. If the common good in democracy outweighs the few, then why not lose our separatist national sovereignty and join a world democracy so then all democratic nations can enjoy the most supreme common good.

[johnlockesghost]

"The concept of the right of revolution was also taken up by John Locke in Two Treatises of Government [1695] as part of his social contract theory. Locke declared that under natural law, all people have the right to life, liberty, and estate; under the social contract, the people could instigate a revolution against the government when it acted against the interests of citizens, to replace the government with one that served the interests of citizens. In some cases, Locke deemed revolution an obligation. The right of revolution thus essentially acted as a safeguard against tyranny"---Thomas Jefferson echoed Locke's position in the Declaration of Independence. Nothing could be more American as it is an integral part of our birthright.

[sandiegopete]

Reality check to Mortar:

State nullification is going nowhere. States that forcibly defy federal law, like Arkansas tried to defy desegration laws, will have to deal with the U.S. military, if necessary.

[troutfishman]

Well, off to help prepare some goodies for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Lindag20]

Same to you, I was just noodling around waiting for my daughter to call me. She must still be working or on set and can't call. Have a good one.

[troutfishman]

sandiegopete replies:

Talking about state nullification is a waste of time.


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Of course it is, but so is mortar.

[Lindag20]

Mortar is still fighting the Civil War. He'll never get over it.

[troutfishman]

bad Linda!

It is not REALLY called the Civil War. Just act mortard!

[Lindag20]

julesarcher 1 replies: Mortar - Linda's right.
-----------------
Thanks. Actually I grew up in a family dominated by the same personality type as Mortar (my mother). Unlike my sisters I had enough sense to seek and receive counseling which enabled me to overcome the emotional wounds that were inflicted on me. I truly pity Mortar's family as I KNOW what he has done to them.

[troutfishman]

Linda -

Wow, you have my sympathies!

[Lindag20]

Trout: I'm a survivor so I've overcome, but my heart goes out to Mortar's family. I've LIVED in the world he's created for them and it's BAD.