A guy was writing a screen play.His brother was a lawyer.
The screenplay was about Maine seceding from the United States.
His brother, in an attempt to help the play, wrote all of the justices of the Supreme Court to ask them what their thoughts were on the subject.
Only one justice replied. Justice Scalia wrote back:
I am afraid I cannot be of much help with your problem, principally because I cannot imagine that such a question could ever reach the Supreme Court. To begin with, the answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, “one Nation, indivisible.”) Secondly, I find it difficult to envision who the parties to this lawsuit might be. Is the State suing the United States for a declaratory judgment? But the United States cannot be sued without its consent, and it has not consented to this sort of suit.(WSJ Law Blog). It is clear from this that those who refuse to learn from history, who refuse to absorb Civics 101, can still make it to governor of large states (e.g. Rick Perry R-TX).
I am sure that poetic license can overcome all that — but you do not need legal advice for that. Good luck with your screenplay.
States that already took a sh*t kicking for thinking that way long before cars came into existence.
I am telling you people, stupid is contagious. Immunize yourselves, move out of stupid states and stop drinking kool-aid tea!
But wait, if we, ourselves, move out of all the stupid states, we, ourselves, my have to secede from the union. I'm just sayin, there's not a lot of smart states left, by any objective measure at least.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, once the federal government defaults on its obligations and its "legal tender" because a mere historical curiosity, we'll see who blinks first. As soon as there's no money in government due to the government's money being no good, I'm guessing Washington will implode in on itself like the house at the end of 'Poltergeist.' Politicians may be greedy, but they're certainly not stupid (well, in that way at least).
Rick Perry's a Bush acolyte, so what could one expect? Although, he's handsome in a slick, Texas snake oil salesman kind of way, and he could hardly be less articulate than ol' Bushy, so who knows? Watch him change his tune as soon as he gets eyes for the Presidency. They always do.
disaffected,
ReplyDeleteA thought came across my mind as I watched the movie Crazy Heart yesterday.
I thought this "Bad Blake" is a story about government today.
The song that would represent governments could be "killing me softly with ... words" ... remember that song?
Haven't seen the movie, but I see it was filmed right up here in the 'hood. Those lyrics made me think of the old Roberta Flack song "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (might be the same song, I dunno), which is probably apropos of the way we elect Presidents who sweet talk us with promises of global hegemony, economic prosperity, and lower taxes (I can imagine a variation on the Walmart theme, "Lower taxes, Always," complete with smiley face). We Americans are suckers for a good sales pitch delivered by a youthful, suave, debonaire politician. Same as it ever was.
ReplyDeletedisaffected,
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is the one, Roberta Flack.