[at-l] Yankees (Getting way O.T.)

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 11:50 AM 1/19/2004 -0600, Shane wrote:
>I suppose if I was born a Southerner, instead of a Yankee, I'd better
>understand
> > the Confederate flag waving, but as it is I'm still at a lose.
>
>Hmmm...  I was trying to distract you from the nefarious question so that I
>wouldn't have to answer it, but it's a slow news day, so...
>
>Most Northern folks, and even some Southerners, mistake what the Confederate
>flag stands for, and therefore can't comprehend how it is agreeable to fly
>the Confederate flag alongside the flag of the United States.  They suppose
>that now that the War of Northern Aggression is over, that the flag has no
>context.
>
>If you accept that, however, you'd have to accept that all the state flags
>don't have any context either because the War of Northern Aggression proved
>one thing: States don't have any rights.  All those powers now belong to the
>Federal Government and are free for the taking any time the Fed decides to
>take them.

The Supreme Court would not agree with you there. They have ruled in favor 
of State's rights numerous times when the Federal Government overstepped 
it's authority.

The battle between the Federalists and the State's Rights camps goes back 
to the formation of this country. When the union was foundering under the 
Articles of Confederation and the Constitutional Convention met to revise 
the articles, it was decided to scrap them and write a new constitution 
instead. There was considerable opposition to the resulting US Constitution 
because it did represent a triumph of the Federalist point of view and 
greatly diminished the autonomy of the states. Nevertheless it was 
ratified. The tension between the two camps continued finally coming to a 
head in the Civil War. The war "silenced" but didn't entirely "persuade" 
those who held a strong State's Rights view and the debate continues to 
this day albeit more in an evolutionary way rather than a revolutionary one.

I highly recommend reading both David McCullough's "JOHN ADAMS" and "THE 
WORDS WE LIVE BY" by Linda R Monk for insights into the federalist vs 
republican debate. As in all matters political, I tend to be a centerist. 
As a disclaimer, I recognize that these two books (like any book) reflect 
the points of view of their authors and are not "gospel". Despite that they 
are valuable for understanding how we got to where we are today.

Saunterer, the voracious reader with an inquiring mind