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Subject:
From:
Walter Waddell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 1 Jul 2008 15:25:08 -0400
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Using superlatives.

I have finished reading the U.S. Constitution and its several Amendments. There is no mention of "secession" 
(formal withdrawal or separation), either for or against. Specifically, the Congress has the power to "suppress" 
(physically crush) "insurrections" (physical acts of revolt and uprising against established authority). (By the 
by: the "Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus" may "be suspended" should "the public Safety.require it". Thus, 
the phase: "The Constitution is not a suicide pact" is aptly put. One wonders if the "lofty Nine" have even read 
the Constitution let alone reviewed it from time to time).

And therein lies the rub: If one chooses to brand "any" (all inclusive, no exceptions) display of dissatisfaction 
with our Union, then "secession" is an act of treason and suffer the consequences.

If thinking, talking, writing, and petitioning for a formal withdrawal or separation, albeit in a non inflammatory 
manner (no yelling "fire" in a crowded theater), are reasoned by reasonable persons to be a proper and orderly ways 
to display dissatisfaction with our Union; and I hope that these so described "actions" remain firm fixtures for 
expression about our Republic, then secession is a viable and legal course for the many to follow.

Even if Virginia had acted only in manner(s) so described by the preceding paragraph (no acts of violence or 
inflammatory speech), she still would have been in a state of "insurrection" since the Constitution specifically 
forbids each of the several states from entering "into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation.."

As I have stated before, when one or two the western states is so populated with a specific "tribe" and that 
 "tribe" has its representatives in overwhelming control of the state's government, this issue, secession, will 
appear on the "radar". I would love to be around to see if my forecast comes true.

And finally: Democracy is nothing if but a very short step from tyranny by the majority. Majority rules!

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