After too many months, plenty of politics, pontificating, and propagandizing a Health Care Reform Bill has found its way to the Oval Office, and is awaiting a signature. As anyone who ventured to the airwaves, both television and radio, or planted themselves in front of the Internet, or stood around a water cooler knows, this iteration of Health Care Reform looks nothing like its ancestor, and still faces roadblocks and detours.
I believe this country has unearthed a lingering odor of racism, bigotry, and poison and mean spiritedness lead by self serving politicians, demonstrated by selfish corporations and embraced by self loathing citizens, during the Health Care debate / debacle. I believe truth was disguised to look like treason, honesty was replaced as heresy, and need was voided for the necessity of both the bottom line for corporations and the political futures of politicians.
I am fearful that a divide has erupted so deep and divisive that unless it is approached and acknowledged by everyone, this country is open for internal conflict which will leave wounds that will fester and not heal. I am fearful that smart, altruism, insightful, are in battle with dumb, selfish and thoughtlessness leaving a trail of vindictiveness, vitriolic, and violence.
Take a look at how each state’s politicians, red or blue, have reacted to the pronouncements from the Federal Government.
In Texas, Governor Rick Perry, beat his Republican opponent in the Governors primary by speaking loudly and proudly of secessionism. He reminded his hard core baseline of voters, that Texas will not tolerate liberal, socialistic ideas from Washington, and if need be the Republic of Texas will wave its lone star flag in Austin and defy the laws it deems unnecessary.
The Utah Attorney General is joining nine other states to sue the Federal Government in its new mandate requiring all Americans to buy Health Insurance. Led by the urging of 35 year veteran Senator Orin Hatch (who has receive3d socialized medical care since he was in office), of the “beehive” state says the Federal Government can not enforce this type of commerce on individual states.
And 40 states have bans in place to disallow same sex marriages. According to each of the state mandates, their law, not the law of the United States, makes same sex marriage illegal, and in turn does not recognize the laws of those six states who do permit same sex marriage.
Since the election of Barak Obama, and the majority of Democrats in the Senate and the House, a sudden rash of states rights advocates have decided to take the Constitution word for word, and deride progressive gains as socialistic, communistic, and illegal attempts to take away democracy. What is fearful to me is that a majority want to usurp any rights of a minority, or a group they have little in common with, and define their rights, their view of the Nation, and their homogeneous ideas as appropriate for the entire population.
The amendments to the Constitution express the concern for states rights, as well as defining what the states can not deny citizens of that state or of any other in the Union. And at times the Supreme Court intervened concerning themselves with the denial of civil rights as based on religious or arcane definitions of wrong and right, good and bad.
Amendment X of the Constitution states “…The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people…” This provided each state with the power of the conviction of its own population. Each citizen could deicide that how they live in their state was as similar as those in other states or unique for their own needs.
But, after the Civil War, the Federal Government had to intervene and take away the prejudices and histories of each state and added the XIII Amendment, “…Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction…”
If it were up to the unique histories, and the unique environment of the states with slavery in deciding states rights, many would have never stopped their slave trade. But the Federal Government had a higher plane, a higher stake in the matter of all Americans and voided those state’s rights.
Then the Federal Government felt it essential for the welfare of all to create Amendment XIV “...All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Once again the Federal Government realized that the States might get it wrong if the more vocal or hegemony of its citizens resonated louder than the diminishing voices of those quiet and dismayed. This was a response by the Federal Government to lead the way for a minority to receive equal rights. And along with this response, the Federal Government decided that states should not decide who can and can not vote, so the XV Amendment was added, “…The rights of the citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude…” Whatever the few in the states who felt they were superior or gifted by God to have the power to vote were reminded by the Federal Government we are equal.
And, equality took even more time to be inclusive of not just color, but of gender, and some states under the leadership of religious demigods, held sway and had their legislators deny women the same rights as men and the XIX Amendment was added to the Constitution, “…The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex…” The Pastors, religious leadership of almost every orthodox religious order deemed this as unnatural and demeaning of the values of family. Each state we were told at sermons should have the right to save its traditions, save its children from powerful women, and do as they please. But smarter minds, felt equality were more important than petty superstitions.
And equality had to make one more leap to escape the states rights to keep assumed undesirables, minorities from voting when the Federal Government had to pass the XXIV Amendment, “…The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election…shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax…” Bigotry and racism can be masked and was under the guise that if you had money you had rights. So some States thought they could control the electorate with taxes, but once again equality reared its head and the Federal Government triumphed.
And as if the amendments were not enough, in so many cases the Supreme Court had to become involved in overriding the rights of each state, and Loving v. Virginia became a landmark civil rights case when a 9-0 vote declared Virginia’s anti miscegenation statute, the ‘Racial Integrity Act of 1924’ unconstitutional, ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.
Most if not all Amendments to the Constitution mentioned, were enacted by the Federal Government, overriding the States power, because it was felt the greater good should be served. And when each of the amendments was enacted this country did not turn into communist Gulag Archipelago, or socialist communes, or into a military run government. The country becomes freer, more inclusive.
With the help of a unified Republican Party, with the inclusion of racist, and bigoted so called “grass root” groups, with the feverant ranting of organized religious leaders afraid of free thinking congregants, with FOX News’s fabrications, lies, and disregard for the truth, with permission to hate granted on the highest levels of power, suddenly the history of why states rights may exclude and not include seem to be tossed and forgotten.
And the battle line began to be drawn when the African American became President, it grew deeper in the Earth when the rights of all began to be discussed out loud and now has ballooned into anarchy and fear mongering with the passage of the Health Reform Bill.
Imagine a country where you need a passport to travel from state to state. Where you need a primer of which laws are good and which are bad. Where separate but equal based on race, gender, wealth, religion are the norms.
It worries me, a lot to imagine that.
No comments :
Post a Comment