State and Federal Dope

So as I was taking a break from reading a fascinating archaeological book about the Athlit naval ram dating from the 2nd Century BC, I decided to check the headlines and see what was up. And that was when I came across this. This wonderful little article has President Obama giving in to the marijuana lobby. But even more than giving up to illegal drugs and laying down to a tiny minority lobby, President Obama is disrespecting the past. That's right. He's flouting history and legality.

The year? 1830. Congress passes a bill with a 103 - 87 vote to spend Federal dollars for internal improvement of a road located entirely in the State of Kentucky. President Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, vetos the bill. It was nothing against the road being built. It was nothing against the State of Kentucky. It was over the federal submission of money to the State of Kentucky for road improvements located wholly and entirely within 1 State. Had the road moved outside of Kentucky? It would have been approved most likely. But the fact remained that it was declared unconstitutional for Federal authority to bend to the will of a State.

The year? 1860. Abraham Lincoln is elected as our 16th President of the United States. Slavery is a main forefront issue of politics in the time period. Southern States advocate new territories being made into states be allowed to choose between Slavery and Abolition, with hundreds upon thousands of people leaving Slave states in the south to go to these new territories, like Kansas, to vote on the issue, insuring Slavery in the new territories. Abraham Lincoln and the Republican controlled Congress declare the Missouri Compromise. It isn't enough. Various causes surrounding slavery lead many of the Southern States to declare secession from the Union of the United States of America. The belief of this being, that the States as individual bodies ratified the US Constitution, and therefore, since they voluntarily joined it, a similar vote could be held to voluntarily leave it. This fundamental idea of State empowerment and determination over Federal power and authority causes the Civil War. Over a million lives lost and a dozen years later through Reconstruction, Federal authority is finally assured by 1877. Three Civil Rights Acts, 3 Constitutional Amendments all supercede State authority, demanding that blacks be given the rights to vote, to due process of law, to a fair trial, and freedom from slavery and terrorism by the emergence of White Pride groups.

The year? 1920. The 19th Amendment supercedes State Laws in many states, demanding that Gender qualifications for voting be abolished. Women are given suffrage and allowed to vote. Minorities across the board are now enfranchised in the American political system. "Freedom and Justice for all." Finally rings true.

The year? 1954. Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Topeka Kansas wants to segregate schools between white and colored. Under the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896, this is perfectly legal. By 1954? The Earl Warren Supreme Court says 'no'. The Kansas law violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Segregation is overturned.

The year? 1957-1968. Jim Crow is rampant in the South, and in this 11 year stretch, 4 Civil Rights Acts are passed through Congress. 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968. These Civil Rights Acts are Federally Authorized packs of laws that destroy many of the local and state segregation laws. It is important to note that the only reason President Obama was even allowed to run, much less be elected, is because of this Federal superceding of State authority.

The year? Now. DEA agents raid California businesses selling Marijuana for 'medicinal use' to just about anyone who knows how to forge a doctor's note, thereby enforcing Federal drug statutes. President Obama undermines 179 years of legal and historic precedent which demands Federal authority to supercede State authority in EVERY instance by declaring that the DEA can no longer enforce Federal drug laws prohibiting Marijuana in the State of California. Effectively? President Obama has come out and said that California's laws dictate on a higher legal plane than Federal laws.

Congratulations Mister Obama. You've dishonored millions of people who have fought, bled, and died for Federal authority over State authority. You've flouted 179 years of legal precedents in the annals of US History. And you've done so on one of the most dangerous topics of our time: Drugs.