Category: snivelry

29 July 2003

To the editors (West Hawaii Today): What a comfort it is that the terrorist-enablers in our federal government have forgiven themselves for their evisceration of the Bill of Rights (“Lapses found, but no way to prevent Sept. 11” page 7A, July 25)

Over the last several decades the proponents of victim disarmament have made it possible for a handful of thugs to commandeer jet-liners and crash them at will.

If the Second Amendment were still in force in America, and all responsible adults were free to travel as armed as they saw fit, there is no way that punks with knives would have attempted the atrocities of September 11th.

“[N]o way to prevent Sept. 11?” Hardly. As long as we practice the cruel superstition of gun control, there is no way to avoid it.

18 August 2020  
Pravda Sivoydne®’s (USA Toady®) readers opine on “states’ rights.”  In a recent poll, Toady’s editors find that approximately 56% of Americans agree with 100% of the Tenth Amendment insofar as they believe that “marijuana regulation should be handled by state governments” rather than through federal usurpation. I’m confident that editors and publishers have an abiding interest in readers’ opinions, in as much as they reflect on their bottom line, but in matters of logical discourse, agreement is meaningless.  100% of flat earthers may refuse to believe in gravity, but a fall from a great height will kill them anyway.

8 December 2019 — Today’s Leftists celebrate the diversities that don’t matter, and stifle the diversities that do.

13 April 2002

In the interests of full disclosure, I must state up front that I am not a secessionist. Now, I don’t have any moral or constitutional quarrel with the concept of Hawaiian secession. I just think it’s a bad idea. I think it’s a bad idea to separate ourselves from, relatively speaking, the largest free market in the world, and it would likewise be imprudent to remove ourselves from the protection of the greatest military power in history. I am disinclined also to trust the protection of our Civil Rights to The Peoples’ Republic, or to The Kingdom, or to The Consolidated Islands of Hawaii. I am dubious of Federal protection also, but at least with the State and the Feds at odds over the issue, we have some cover from both.

That being clear, let me state just as emphatically, that Hawaiian Sovereignty is already a FACT. You can look it up, if you want, or I can quote it myself. According to the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, “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 means that except for the very specific duties detailed for the Federal Government (mainly Hard Money and a Secure Frontier), all other legitimate authority in the United States resides in the States themselves.

Each State is a Sovereign entity unto itself, each is responsible for its own internal affairs, and each is answerable to no other. We are a Confederation of Equals, a Common Market, a Republic of Republics, and a voluntary union of friends. It also means that, since the body of the Constitution does not specifically prohibit secession, then that option is also reserved to the States.

Nevertheless, the aim of many modern sovereigntists, who would remove these islands from the American Union, is misdirected. If we wish to reclaim local control over ceded lands, reduce Federal authority, and put an end to the Federal Government’s vicious drug war in our skies, we must elect Representatives to the Congress who understand that the United States Constitution defines a Federal Union of specific and limited delegated powers.

With a Congress composed of Libertarians and others who understand the true Confederal structure of our Union, many of the illegal actions of the Federal government will stop, and any argument in favor of secession would be moot. When the Right of Secession is preserved, secession itself becomes unnecessary.

update 180130: In light of da kine recent missile scare, Hawaiians may well reconsider the value of “the protection of the greatest military power in history.” Considering its misadventurous interventionist foreign policies, does The Occupation draw more fire than it provides cover? New Yorkers and Pentagon employees might also wish to weigh in on questions of blowback. Of course, I also have serious doubts about my safety OUTSIDE of the US, as well. It’s a thorny puzzle.

11 May 2002

“Why should I vote for you when you’re not going to win anyway? Are you advocating that I should waste my vote?”

Never. Just like dollars in the market place, every vote sends a message. When you walk into McDonald’s to spend your cash you are telling Burger King that you don’t like their selection, their prices, or their location. Admittedly, it takes a lot of transactions (dollars or votes) for the message to get through, but it will get through. It all adds up.

Every time you vote for a Democrat or a Republican you are telling them that you like what they’ve been doing. You are endorsing their continued encroachment upon our civil liberties. You are giving your approval to higher taxes. You are saying you support their schemes to strip Americans of their rights to privacy and to keep and bear arms. You are giving your consent to their vicious drug war.

When you vote Bipartisan, you become an accessory to their crimes. You help Lon Horiuchi to murder Vickie Weaver. You support Janet Reno’s incineration of eighty people at Mount Carmel, and you assist the CIA and the Peruvian air force to butcher Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter. If you continue to vote Bipartisan, knowing their blood-stained record, then the blood is on your hands.

“Those were tragic accidents,” you might think, or maybe ,“They brought it on themselves.” Nevertheless, the Democratic and Republican War on Unpopular Drugs, and their War on Civil Rights, and their War on your Right to Keep and Bear Arms will have consequences which are as inevitable and as predictable as stress fracture and fatigue are to an engineer, and just as catastrophic. If we keep sowing the same corrupt seeds, we will continue to reap the same bitter harvest.

Okay, maybe that’s a little heavy. After all, many voters simply vote on pocket book issues, and really have no interest beyond the economy. They ask, “Why vote for Libertarians, who promise real tax relief, when they can’t win? The Republicans may be less than perfect, but at least they can accomplish something.” It’s a fair objection. To my Republican and Independent friends who think that maybe the next election the Republicans will actually follow through on their free market claims, I have to ask, “What can you expect?”

After six years as Governor, Republican George W Bush left a Texas state government larger than the one he acquired from Ann Richards. After eight years as President of the USA, Republican Ronald Reagan left a federal government and a national debt more than twice the size as the one he inherited from Jimmy Carter. Democrats controlled the House of Representative for over forty years, growing the federal government and our tax burden every step of the way. After eight years of Republican control, the federal government is larger and more expensive than ever.

Bipartisan voters are a lot like the victims of abusive relationships.
“How can you stay with him?” we ask.
And the sad pathetic answer is inevitably, “He didn’t mean it. He’s really trying harder. This time it will be different.”

Next time, it’s not going to be any different, unless we do something different. As long as we keep returning Democrats and Republicans to the seats of power, government will grow, your freedom and security will fade away, and your paycheck will continue to shrink.

Next time, vote Libertarian.

update 180531: While Lon Horiuchi and Larry Smith remain at large, Janet Reno (aka “The Wicked Witch of Waco”) is now safely dead, and the rest of the Clintonista may have been successfully defanged. On the other hand, John (“When a Man Loves a War, Man”) Bolton still exercises his dark influence over our present Puppet-in-Chief and doubtless salivates over the prospect of catching Iran alone one dark night.

Why am I so much harder on Republicans?. Is it guilt? Maybe. If I’m any sort of archist at all, I’m surely more of a republican than I am a democrat. I suppose I hold my own to a higher standard. Also, as confessed commies, I expect Democrats to act like children, so their foolishness offends me less. Republicans, on the other hand, often claim to be “the grown-ups in the room” and they talk a pretty good free market on the campaign trail. But when they start illegal wars and squander tax loot like a liquored up Lyndon Johnson, I’m going to point it out. (This is also why I consider BHWB44 to be only 97% as evil as BHWB43. Unlike Dubya, Bario never actually claimed to be a conservative.)

4 April 2002

As drug warriors’ hysterical objections to medical marijuana wither in the light of logic, and collapse in the face of compassion, they turn predictably to the appeal of “higher authority.”

Law enforcement officials testify against humane liberalization, claiming that it would be a violation of federal law. They forget, however, that the federal government has no constitutional authority over local law enforcement. Our Constitution grants the federal government specific authority over the states in terms of national defense, monetary policy, and interstate commerce, but it is silent on the subjects of cannabis, codeine or Kona coffee.

The Tenth Amendment says, “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.”

Since the Constitution (though originally printed on hemp paper) never mentions marijuana, it is for Hawaii to decide the issue, federal statute notwithstanding. If Hawaii’s constitution or legislature were to remain likewise silent, then it would be for the people to medicate themselves as they saw fit.

It can be further argued that Hawaii’s legislature has no jurisdiction on the issue either. According to the Ninth Amendment, “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Out Founders understood that the rights of the individual are as diverse as people themselves, and any attempt to list them all would be tedious and frivolous.

For over a century, Americans recognized the right of self-medication to be as fundamental to human liberty as self defense or the right to property, as basic as eating or breathing. They realized that in order for them to delegate to the Congress or to State Legislatures the power to regulate alcohol, they would have to amend the Constitution.

As the people have not yet seen fit to amend the constitution to prohibit less popular drugs, it is clear that the drug war is not only destructive, immoral, and irrational, but illegal as well.

update 180107: Alleged Constitutional-Scholar-and-College-Professor Obama was certainly no friend of liberty, but even he could see the massive rolling wave of cash and cannabis freedom staggering across the Union. Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions lectures us on a “return to the rule of law” but forgets his own oath of office (and Mr Trump’s and Mr Obama’s and mine and all other federal employees’, past and present) to obey America’s highest law, the US Constitution, whose Tenth Amendment specifically reserves to the States all powers NOT DELEGATED to the united States.
Carrie Nation and her Prohibitionist ilk at least recognized that the Constitution didn’t say anything about booze, so they sucked it up and wrote that particularly bad idea into the Constitution through the Amendment process. (Note to Director Anslinger, General Sessions, and Officer Krupke: it also says nothing about weed.)
El Donaldo had better short-leash J-Beau, and right quick!
He’s making Barachio look good!

update 180109: correspondent JS notes the confluence of Shakespeare, Sondheim, and politics. Sure, politics was easy, the piece reeks of it. The Sondheim reference was a little more subtle, but hardly hidden. Shakespeare? That one puzzled me for a bit, but I see it now. Petruchio was certainly the mercurial fortune seeking opportunist who married a strong-willed “shrew”, but I was thinking more of Carlo Collodi’s tale of the notorious liar whose nose grew with each deceit.

update 180313: Since Hawaii’s legislature contemplated liberalizing its own statutory canons in the early Naughties, and as more angry old voters die, enlightened politicians come to understand more clearly the compelling logic that has assailed them for generations. So I guess it’s true, “Our Democracy” IS a living, evolving thing — like herpes or ebola.

update 180320: I have to take issue with Mr Trump’s proposal to kill drug dealers. Since I keep myself in groceries and electricity through my involvement in organized gambling, drugs, and extortion (I sell beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets at the Quikk Stopp by the Interstate, where I am also obliged to collect “sales taxes”) I feel that I am being unjustly targeted. I know that emphysema and cancer and cirrhosis of the liver and chronic poverty are all serious issues, but I don’t force any of my products onto any of my clientele. Nor, I suspect, do any other successful merchants. Free trade happens only when each party perceives himself to be better off after the transaction. Issues of fraud or misrepresentation can be handled separately, and are in no way a function of the product itself. We have decades of evidence now demonstrating that Jim Beam and Seagram’s continue to NOT shoot it out over turf. There is no drug so destructive as prohibition itself.

update 180413: Nancy Baloney’s spine apparently remains in storage somewhere in Westchester along with his testicles. The Capitulator’s late life conversion comes safely at a time when he need not risk appearing humane, rational, or “soft on drugs.” Claiming that his thinking on cannabis has “evolved,” Weepy John suddenly realizes that:
(1) Enough angry old voters are now dead. No need for frightened and timid Republicans to continue the sadistic cruelty of prohibition, and
(2) He’s out of office. What does he care what silly voters believe?
But most of all, after shilling for the Drug Lords of Reynolds American for decades, he now finds that Acreage Holdings is also offering cash.

update 180923: Charlotte Elmore and other sufferers from chronic pain are wise to fear the lethal power of Ohio’s legislature. Though sufferers for generations have managed their pain with opiATEs, cannabis, chamomile, and alcohol. most such benign homegrown remedies have been prohibited by our merciful masters to make way for their sponsors’ artificial and toxic opiOIDs, which inflict further discomfort as they inhibit eliminatory efficacy. Of course, it’s all for the best; years of pharmaceutical industry research has shown that there is no clear link between homegrown remedies and hefty campaign contributions. Drug dealers like me and my employer have even more cause to fret. If “it is appropriate to hold accountable those who dispense… drugs that can kill,” then should I and every other clerk at every other Quikk Stopp along the Interstate look forward to being jacked up by Mike DeWine’s legions of eager DAs for our contributions to emphysema, cancer, and bronchitis?

update 190615: “Protecting our Traditions” — One can usually rely on government to sanctify bigotry and barbarity. In the name of protecting social order and preserving our traditions, government would regularly weigh in on the side of the entrenched and the popular. It enforced the Fugitive Slave Act (in spite of abolitionist nullification measures), passed the Democrat authored “Jim Crow” restrictions and prosecuted race-mixing scoff-laws, criminalized consensual sex acts, and tortured to death the terminally ill by locking them in cages and denying them their tumor-combating cannabis. Buckeye bigots can breathe more easily these days, knowing that Massa will smile on their discharging nonconformist junkies. [Ohio Legislature provides legal cover for drug test “failure” dismissals]. Silly potheads don’t seem to understand that one joint will render a formerly “good person” unfit to work anywhere ever, while a quart of Wild Jerkey® on Sunday night, plus two Dead Gulls® and a pack of Llama Llights® on Monday morning, and you’re magically good to go.

update 190714: “Persecutorial Discretion” — In their vain efforts to promote reason, sanity, and humanity, the sponsors of the “no fine, no time” measures (Cincinnati Enquirer 14 July) forget one very important point. It’s the same point glossed over by peace-loving anarchists in THEIR campaign to civilize society. Without government, who would beat up potheads and throw them into cages? In some communities, prosecutorial discretion undermines the legislature’s fatwa on freedom. When will people understand that Big Brother loves them?

update 190831: “Predatory Paradox” — For a classically perverse example of pandering, posturing, puffery, and perfidy watch as Ohio’s mendacious mandarins both threaten AND subsidize the drug lords (AmeriSource, Cardinal, McKesson, et al) doing business on their turf. Like sharks or jackals catching the scent of blood, Buckeye Bureaucrats converge on their injured prey (genus Deeppocketus Corporatii), in this case Johnson & Johnson, who’d just taken a substantial hit from Sooner Statists to the tune of about a half a Gigabuck. During decades of threats and intimidation to keep ailing consumers away from such benign homegrown remedies as cannabis, chamomile, opium poppies, and raw milk, legislators chased sufferers toward more aggressive analgesics with tragic side effects. If not for the sacrament of “Sovereign Immunity” victims of chronic pain would have cause for suit since they had been denied relief in the name of protecting political contributors.

update 191025: As The War on (some) Drugs continues to rage, the collateral damage mounts. One might be inclined to withhold sympathies from licensed MDs, as they are willing participants in (if not actual accomplices to) the regulatory therapeutic state. As for the victims of chronic pain, however, I have nothing but sympathy. Doctors willingly place themselves into this “damned if ya do et cetera” bind but nobody asks for a debilitating injury. But of course it is all worth it, because what kind of message would we be sending The Children if we suggested that grownups should make their own decisions and deal with the consequences of their actions? If it stops just one glassy eyed slacker from dumping Cheeto® dust all over Mommy’s new couch, our sacrifices will not have been in vain.

update 191118: in re Obama’s-man-Biden to Vegas crowd —
Reactionary Reprobate Reveals Revulsion to
Relinquishing Restrictions on Recreational Reefer

update 191122: For a Portrait of Pusillanimity, we need look no further than Cryin’ John, also known as former Speaker of the House Nancy Baloney, Obama’s Ottoman, the Caliph of Capitulation, and the Sultan of Surrender.  This principled politician, golf buddy of the Prez  and toady of the tobacco cartel, “served” as Speaker between the reigns of Nancy Pelucid and Paul R’Ayneau, during which time he stood firmly against “sending our children the wrong message.”
Of course, it would be a mistake to judge the Westchester Whimperer solely on the basis of his sycophantic speakership.  Upon retirement from “public service” he has parlayed his notoriety and expertise into a new gig as a flack for the newly legalized cannabis industry.  His concern for “our children” seems to have dissipated now that he no longer fears the electoral vengeance of angry old voters.  What’s more, as it turns out, cannabis lobbyists ALSO deliver truckloads of cash to spineless spokesmodels.

update 200100: Decades of research reveal no clear link between homegrown remedies and hefty campaign contributions.

update 1 February 2021

The proposed State of “Washington-Douglass Commonwealth” (nee District of Columbia) is another bad idea whose time may have come. The idea that a territory that cannot police itself, support itself, nor defend itself should be considered a “free and independent state” defies reason, history, and the Constitution. How good an idea this might be for the Democrat party, and how bad an idea for the rest of humanity, have been belabored elsewhere.

Instead, I’ll point out that this is another case of right problem/wrong solution. “Taxation (with or) without Representation” is indeed tyranny, and it is embarrassing that not all American taxpayers are permitted a voice in the House charged with spending their money. It’s embarrassing now, and it was embarrassing when I was an earnest congressional candidate.

Amending the Constitution, part 29
29 June 2002

Well, I’m not one to leave well enough alone. People don’t run for office if they don’t think they have better ideas than the people who are already there, and on that score I am certainly no different.

There has been a great deal of talk for the last several years on the subject of Statehood for the District of Columbia. I think that that is a thoroughly awful idea. In addition to its microscopic geography, and complete lack of any practical resources, it is a hotbed of liberal Democratic sentiment. It would be bad enough to send two more Democrats to the US Senate, but the typical DC politician makes Senators like Tom Daschle and Paul Wellstone seem positively moderate. On the other hand, it remains a national embarrassment that half a million American citizens are denied a voice in the People’s House. The Twenty-third Amendment, which granted DC residents three Electors for President was a small step in the right direction, but Statehood would be a huge step in the wrong direction.

In the interests of full disclosure, I think now would be a good time to point out that I am in favor of Statehood for Puerto Rico. It is long overdue. Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Green, two new delegates from America’s last colony deserve their place in the United States Senate. (But Senator Marion Berry? Senator Jesse Jackson? Please. We might as well elect Senator Fidel Castro or Senator Robert Mugabe.)

On the other hand, the people of DC, and also those of Guam, Saipan, Samoa, , and all across the Pacific deserve their voice in the government. Toward that end, then, I propose that DC cash in its three Presidential Electors (as granted by the Twenty-third Amendment), in favor of a more equitable arrangement for all Americans outside of the Several States.
To wit:

Territorial Suffrage Amendment

Section I: The twenty-third article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section II: The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People of the Several States, and of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, and of all Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

Section III: Representatives shall be apportioned among the Several States, and among all Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of Persons in each State, District, Possession, Province, Commonwealth, or Territory. For purposes of apportionment, the Congress shall have the power to consolidate the populations of any Provinces, Commonwealths, or Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, but not of the Several States, nor of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States.

Section IV: All Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall appoint, in such manner as Congress may direct, a number of Electors for President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Representatives to which they are entitled, and they shall be considered, for the purpose of the election of the President and the Vice President, to be Electors appointed by a State.

Do I think this will quell the campaign for DC Statehood? Not likely. Nevertheless, it is still the right thing to do. From the Marianas to the Virgin Islands, all Americans deserve to be heard. Taxation without representation is tyranny. For that matter, taxation with representation isn’t so terrific either, but at least this way people will have a little more say in their own destiny.

update 180128: There may be a few more years of life left to the Grand Confederacy. To comfort its passing, and to spare ourselves the danger of its death throes, I like to offer notions to mitigate the offenses of democracy. For one, let’s blow up the Congress! (No Madonna, I don’t mean with dynamite, I mean with Reps.). Presently one congressmember “represents” about three quarters of a million of us. Expanding their ranks to (at least) a thousand would bring them each closer to their constituents. In fact, let’s make that the minimum formula.
Give me a few weeks to tweak the language, but the gist:

The Congress shall consist of one thousand Representatives, and upon the admission of each new State, that number shall be increased by twenty Representatives, the sum to be apportioned among the several States, Districts, Possessions, Provinces, Commonwealths, and Territories according to their numbers as provided by law.

update 210201: I continue to believe that Puerto Rico deserves their places in the Senate (or their independence), even as I recognize the obvious advantage that it gives the Democrat party. To that I say, “I’ll see your two Puerto Rican Senators, and raise you eight Texans!”

Don’t confuse that “29th Amendment” up there with the more dystopic model presented in my recent novel, The H.E.R.O. Act. Get it now!
The HERO Act – The Greigh Area

28 June 2002

I know, every politician runs for office swearing to uphold the Constitution, and as soon as he finds out that it doesn’t authorize his pet schemes, he either ignores his oath, or proposes to amend it. Maybe I’m no different. You be the judge.

Our Federal Constitution had a few problems from the get go. That noxious business about three fifths of a person was a bit of an embarrassment, but that was taken care of by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and, on paper at least, all men have stood equally before the law. And then there’s that statement I just made about “all men,” and that problem was addressed by the Nineteenth Amendment which gave women the vote in 1920. Better late than never, I reckon. So we have made some progress since the Bill of Rights was tacked on in 1791, and I sure wouldn’t want to monkey with that.

On the other hand, there have also been some mistakes along the way. I have serious problems with the Sixteenth Amendment and the odious income tax, and I’d be happy to see that one go. And the Eighteenth Amendment, which brought us America’s First War on Drugs was a complete disaster, but that was taken care of by the Twenty-first Amendment, which nevertheless granted to the States the Authority to conduct their own Wars on Alcohol, but at least Prohibition was no longer a national disgrace, merely a local one.

So there’s been some progress, some missteps along the way, and a few mid-course corrections, but by and large our Constitution (including its amendment provisions) has worked fairly well. But, like all would be statesmen, I’m not quite satisfied. As I said, the Income Tax has got to go, and with it the Sixteenth Amendment which arguably grants it some measure of legitimacy.

Another big problem I have is with the Seventeenth Amendment. Prior to its ratification in 1913 the US Senate stood squarely in the way of the federal juggernaut and its intended encroachments on the Rights of the States. It was designed to be the brakes on the federal engine. Our bicameral national legislature was brilliantly conceived as a balance between transient popular opinion, and legitimate State authority. The House of Representatives was the People’s body, and the Senate stood up for the States. That’s why a Senator’s term is six years, whereas mine would be only two. The Senate was to be the senior deliberative body, holding back the House from its natural pandering proclivities. As it stands now, there are no significant differences between the philosophies or outlooks of the Houses of Congress. Elected Senators are merely Super-Representatives, and are beholden to the same ephemeral interests that drive the House. Originally, a Senator was a respected member of a State body, typically an elder State Legislator or Governor who would go to the District of Columbia to represent the larger interests of his entire State, rather than the more parochial concerns of a Congressional District. Now, I’m hardly inclined to denigrate the House of Representatives, particularly as I’m running for that same body, but I am keenly aware of the differences, and wish to restore the balance that our Founders intended. Hence, as a member of the House, I will offer for consideration this proposed

Restoration of the Confederal Senate Amendment

Section I: The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section II: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen in accordance to the laws thereof, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote.
When vacancies occur in the representation of any State in the Senate, the Executive Authority of such State may make temporary appointments until the People, the Legislature, or the Executive Authority thereof fill the vacancies in accordance with State Law.

Section III: This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the term of any Senator elected before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

This puts the power squarely back where it belongs, in the hands of each individual State. If one State wishes to continue letting the people elect their Senators, then they will have that authority to do so. On the other hand, if a State prefers to return to the original method of charging the state legislature with that authority, then that too would be the prerogative of that particular State. And if a State would rather that its Governor be responsible for appointing its Senate Delegation, then that State’s wishes would also be respected. The authority would be returned, in any event, to each State to function as it sees best. The united States were never intended to be an homogeneous flock of interchangeable administrative districts, but a Confederation of unique Sovereigns, each following its own lights.

update 180121: I should clarify my use of the term “legitimate State authority,” which may seem a little discordant coming from an alleged anarchist. I might plead cynical opportunism. I was running for office in 2002, after all, albeit as a Losertarian. But I’m too much the weasel for such a bald confession. Instead I’ll explain that I place it into the context of a compact between states. In continuo, the state has legitimate prerogatives, just as, in other continua, green kryptonite is a legitimate danger to Kryptonians.

update 210204: Unknown correspondents address the issue of States’ continuity of representation in the Senate, complaining that it can often take months to fill a vacant seat. Well, of course it doesn’t have to in today’s world of rapid communication, but it appears to still be a State’s prerogative. However, if Americans wish to “streamline” or “nationalize” that process, they might consider this instead:

Section II: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen in accordance to the laws thereof, for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote. When vacancies occur in the representation of any State in the Senate, the Executive Authority of such State may make temporary appointments until the People, the Legislature, or the Executive Authority thereof fill the vacancies in accordance with State Law. In the event that a State’s Executive fails to make such a temporary appointment within forty-eight hours, the vacancy shall be filled by the State’s senior delegate in the House of Representatives, who shall thereupon surrender his seat in the lower House.

These comments are sponsored by The Confederate Mint (purveyors of metallic securities in gold, silver, copper, and lead). For sample sheets of Metallic Certificates (total face value One Tenth Silver Dollar) send One Silver Dime plus a self-addressed stamped envelope; or Four United States Legal Tender Federal Reserve “Dollars” in scrip, check, or money order, to Greigh Area Associates, c/o Gene Greigh // 401 Rio Concho Drive, #105; San Angelo, Texas; 76903