The Tea Bag wing of the Republican Party has a constitutional philosophy based upon the discredited legal theories that led the South to leave the federal union. They are "Tenthers," relying on the Tenth Amendment to assert state sovereignty and the right of states to leave the union. Their goal is to establish the supremacy of the states. Their quarrel is with the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and all the constitutional law that defines it.
Much of the theoretical spadework was done for them by the Constitutionalist Party, a far-right group that has been around for quite a while. It is allied with white supremacists, Christian Restorationists, militias, and Christian Identity. In Alaska, there is a very similar movement, the Alaska Independence Party, which seeks independence and has a large following. Tod Palin was a member, and Governor Sarah Palin attended its gatherings and spoke to its convention. The party’s founder blew himself up by playing around with a bomb. The size of the Alaska Independence Party should have prepared us for the mushrooming of a similar movement on the national scene.
Tenthers are claiming that the federal government has only the powers specifically enunciated in the Constitution. Using only information about our founders’ intentions, they make a fairly strong case. The problem is that over time historical events and court decisions have discredited their views. A vast body of constitutional law has developed which repudiates their views.
The wonder is that so many Republican politicians trained as lawyers can spout these archaic theories. They must know that these views will never fly—even in the extremely conservative Roberts Court. The non-lawyers among them attended college or high school and may have even been required to memorize some of the famous speeches on the other side of the issues. It is all rank demagoguery; but the American people have a way of forgiving almost anything that comes from the Right.
The Tea Bag wing of the Republican Party say the Tenth Amendment gives the states all power not explicitly given to Congress or denied to the states. Based on this, the Tea Baggers claim that Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional. Some, using a video about the history of the Sixteenth Amendment, also say that the income tax is unconstitutional.
Ken Buck, the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Colorado, is a strong advocate of Tenther views and calls it "constitutionalism." He says that because the constitution does not refer to health insurance and retirement benefits there should be no Medicare or Social Security. He is a very consistent Tea Bagger, but many of them are practical enough to avoid following their philosophy to its logical consequences. They can be expected to attempt to trim both Medicare and Social Security.
A favorite Tea Bagger remedy is the long- discredited doctrine of nullification. It the idea that a state can prevent a federal law from being enforced within its boundaries. This idea was promoted long before the Civil War by John C.Calhoun of South Carolina. It is am essential part of the package of legal doctrines based on the Tenth Amendment which promote the supremacy of the states.
In Missouri, 71% of the voters supported a ballot proposition that declared null and void the federal health care law. The proposition was engineered by Roy Blunt, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. In Arizona, voters in November will vote on a constitutional amendment designed to nullify federal health care reform. Legislatures in seventeen states are considering laws to nullify federal health care. In Minnesota, Tom Emmer, Republican nominee for governor thinks federal laws should not be enforced in a state unless a supermajority of the legislature decides to approve it.
Tenther philosophy leads inexorably to support for secession. If federal power was granted by the states, the states can take it away or even leave the federal union. Of course, the constitution says the power came from "We the People," not the individual states. Republican pundit Joe Klein recently voiced an opinion what almost no other Republican would even approach: Rush Limbaugh, some Fox commentators, and some Tea Baggers have come very close to sedition--- that is provoking people to violence against the state. Hand in hand with that is advocating secession.
Sharron Angle, who well could become a U.S. Senator from Nevada, talks about the citizens "looking toward the Second Amendment option" if they cannot get power through use of the ballot box. Michael Gerson, a conservative writer said "This is disqualifying for public office." Klein and Gerson seem to be alone among Republicans in condemning these views be a substantial list of Republican leaders who should be disqualified.
Pastor Stan Craig, of the Choice Hills Baptist Church in South Carolina, proclaimed that he "was trained to defend the liberties of this nation." He declared that he was prepared to "suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do."
At the Texas Tea Party Convention in February, 2010, former Governor Sarah Palin mentioned but did not advocate "Texas secession," but there was a huge cheer when she mentioned it. Texas Governor Rick Perry has spoken as though secession were possible.
Representative Zack Wamp, now seeking the GOP nomination for governor of Tennessee says that Volunteer state might have to secede from the union if health care were not repealed. Standing outside the Capitol, Representative Stephen King of Iowa urged fellow Tea Baggers to "think secession."
The North Carolina Tea Bag Party promotes secession as a means of combating Washington’s "tyranny." In Oklahoma, Tea Bag Republican legislators are planning to establish a militia separate from the National Guard to protect state sovereignty against incursions by the federal government. They have not used the "S" word, but it does come to mind when people talk about taking up arms against Washington. Glenn Beck has been a little more circumspect about secession, saying the Tea Party might eventually " be about secession" if it did not get its way.
The talk about secession and armed resistance is dangerous in part because talk about resorting to violence can inspire acts of violence. It is very troubling that people in the mainstream media do not explore these views at length. Much of their thought is very similar to that of Timothy McVeigh. The people who allegedly helped James Earl Ray were also of this stripe.
There is much we do not understand about these troubled people espouse odd constitutional interpretations and oppose "big government" in some respects while silently backing "big government" in other ways. Very few of them object to endless wars or massive amounts being spent on the military-industrial complex. Here, their extreme nationalism is closely tied to xenophobia, racism, and dislike of "others" in general. For right-wing men, the hated "other" certainly includes feminists and women who demand reproductive freedom and equal pay. Women with healthy self-respect will not forget how Republican politicians fought tooth and nail against successful Democratic efforts to promote equal pay for females.
All this is consistent with what we know about the authoritarian personality and people who need the guidance of strong authority figures. Sometime they briefly complain about Wall Street, but this seems to be empty rhetoric. We have seen that the Tea Baggers have worked to the benefit of Wall Street and the health insurance industry. The Tea Baggers and their precursors have nothing to say against federal welfare for corporations or massive tax benefits for the rich and corporation.
The only way to explain this seems to be to cast these folks as extreme believers in what they think America’s traditional conventional wisdom is, which includes toxic doses of Social Darwinism—the idea that the most fit rise to the top of society and that the people at the bottom deserve their fates.
For decades, the ranks of the Constitutionalists, White Supremacists, militias, survivalists, and Christian Identity people have been infiltrated by the FBI, the ATF, CIA, and military intelligence. Some day, the files of those agencies on these groups might become public so that scholars can thoroughly understand how the proto-fascist mind works.
One of the most interesting things about this leap irresponsibility and irrationality is that the mainstream media seems to cover it as though it was normal and acceptable conduct.