The Sanity of Secession

Sat, Jan 30, 2010

Columnists, Jack Hunter, Political Action, Secession

by Jack Hunter on Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM

In a recent column for the Charleston City Paper I explained how my moniker, the “Southern Avenger” came from my advocating for states’ rights and even secession in my early 20’s, a brand of politics I still subscribe to today. Long comfortable with such concepts, it’s easy to forget that plenty of folks are not, and was reminded promptly by a number of readers that the very notion of Americans no longer living under the same government is still considered “crazy” by many. Here are a few of those comments:

“Just great! What we need is to divide our country into a Balkanized mish-mash of impotent little ‘countries.’ This is crazy talk, meant only to incite as far as I can see.” Another wrote: “So, are we asking for the idea of 50 individual countries? Talk about a screwed up idea.” A kind critic wrote: “Jack – I’m a big fan… but the secession idea these days is on par with colonizing the moon. It just doesn’t make sense.” And a less kind critic wrote: “You need to broaden your exposure to world ideas. This column shows how narrow your focus is. You haven’t grown much from your early years. You thought you knew it all then and still do.”

While I’m always more fascinated by the amount of stuff I don’t know, than I am the narrow worldview that exists between my two ears, I am quite certain of two things: big government doesn’t work — and yet it is always considered sound, sane and respectable to advocate for it. And the opposite is also true – to advocate for smaller government is acceptable so long as you’re talking about voting Republican or lowering taxes, but the moment you try to actually seek limiting Washington, DC’s jurisdiction; it’s time for a straightjacket.

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This post was written by:

Timothy_Baldwin - who has written 111 posts on Liberty Defense League.

Timothy Baldwin is an attorney from Pensacola, FL, who received his B.A. degree at the University of West Florida and graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. After having received his Juris Doctorate degree from Cumberland, Baldwin became a Felony Prosecutor in the 1st District of Florida. In 2006, he started his own law practice, where he created specialized legal services entirely for property management companies. Tim is a prolific writer/columnist and writes for numerous publications, including The New American magazine. Tim is also an articulate speaker relevant to freedom’s issues. Tim is an author of legal and political articles, as well as his latest book, Freedom For A Change (published by Agrapha Publishing). Baldwin is involved in important state sovereignty movement issues, including being co-counsel in the federal litigation in Montana involving the Firearms Freedom Act.

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3 Responses to “The Sanity of Secession”

  1. Bill Walker Says:
    4. February 2010 at 4:55 pm

    One simple question. The last time this issue was advocated it caused a civil war and cost 600,000 American lives. In today’s terms that could mean as many as 60 to 80 MILLION lives. Can Mr. Baldwin or anyone else guarantee this won’t happen again?

  2. SonofLiberty Says:
    5. February 2010 at 4:07 pm

    What I find ironic in all of this is:

    If Lincoln only wanted to save the Union why then has the landscape of our country changed since then?

    The Federal has not remained small. The Federal Government doesnt just stick to the areas of war, treaties, coining money, post office and only those things which happen in the District of Columbia.
    There are no militias, nor are our military officers still commissioned by their States legislatures. The President doesn’t have to wait for a declaration of war by Congress to be the Commander in Chief.

    Everything is now Centralized. We are now told that Federal Law trumps state law. The Officers in the military are now appointed by the President.
    The National Guard are the “militia” of today.
    The President is now Commander in Chief at all times.

    What has changed? Its the checks and balances of power that have changed.

    I think it was designed all along. Those in power wanted a more centralized government unshackled from the chains of the Constitution & Lincoln was their man.

    The South wanted the Federal Government to follow the Constitution which would have restrained the Feds to those few defined areas laid out in the Constitution.

    When the Constitution is followed you will see that there are only 17 areas the Feds have authority over and nothing else and that the States are forbidden to legislate in those 17 areas. Outside of the 17 areas delegated to the Feds the States and or the people have the right to make the laws as they wish. Only an Amendment to the Constitution can give the Feds more power.

    So what we have today is a bastardized America.

    To respond to Mr Walker who previously replied. The question isnt whether a Civil War could happen again, its how much do you value your liberties??

    If it takes 60-80 million people to die so that we can all have our freedoms back then I say, yes”.

    -Son of Liberty
    USMC Reserves-Retired

  3. TheJamestownRoad Says:
    25. February 2010 at 4:17 pm

    It was NEVER about Slavery !….very few people have the courage to or God given ability to see this….60 -80 million….that is a perfect price!

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