dissolve the union

tom jefferson provided the design for the state capitol

the virginia legislature is making progress on its mission to pass a constitutional amendment that would allow the states, by majority vote, to nullify any federal law or regulation. my first thought is, it's the civil war all over again. didn't these yahoos get their asses kicked hard enough last time?

on reflection, though, as i walked through the virginia state capitol grounds, was that these bastards deserve to get exactly what they want. they want to be free of all the laws and mandates of the federal government, and find rule from washington to be too onerous on their sensitive posteriors.

so, we ought to let the union dissolve. that way, the several states can go about the business of government the way that suits them. they can even form new configurations of like-minded polities, and institute the sorts of laws and government programs that suit them -- or none at all, if they so choose.

think of it, the confederate states of crackers could outlaw negroes, gays and foreigners, and enshrine their christian fundamentalist god as the basis of law -- a sort of white-bread sharia. everyone would be required to carry sidearms at all times, and hunting season would last all year. would this not be god's kingdom on earth?

there would be prayer in schools and absolutely no abortions -- or divorce. as a nation of rugged individualists, there would be no welfare or government handouts whatsoever -- all charity would be handled by the church (by the way, there would only be one). healthcare would be handled by the church as well, as faith healing would free all citizens from the perils of socialized medicine. all able-bodied men would serve in the militia, while women would be returned to their god-given role of domestic servants....

unfortunately for them, it's not going to happen. the national white peoples movement, as desirable as it is to the cracker nation, is a non-starter. mostly that's because, rail against the feds as they might, the dixiecrats of the tea party, with all their bluster about states rights, mainline federal cash like an addict living for that next fix.

this morning's richmond times-dispatch carried a column by political writer jeff schapiro wherein he described virginia as many states (some not physical) in one (i'd post a link but the paper's website doesn't have one!). more to the point, although schapiro dances around it, is how each region of the state is heavily dependent on government (as in washington) for its economy.

whether it be the DC suburbs, bursting at the seams with population growth and desperate for infrastructure improvements, or the hampton roads area, with its dependence on the military Goliath for its bread and butter, to the old tobacco belt, which is living on handouts from the tobacco settlement after the weed, furniture and textiles all died.

presiding over this kingdom of dependency in richmond is our republican governor, ronald mcdonnell, whose happy meal for virginians comes with a piece of shit pie. he and his cronies in the virginia house come up with ever more brazen thumbs into uncle sam's eye, at the same time the funny money set that runs the show in DC is having a house party here in the old dominion.

who can forget, a good 30 years after the debacle of borrow-and-spend reaganomics, how the gipper came to town aiming to cut the federal budget, only to double the national debt? well, let's start with our buddy the governor.

it's an article of faith among the GOPpers that you never raise taxes on anyone, for any reason, at any time. our states roads are falling apart. i commute 50 miles a day, and last year it cost me over $1,000 to repair the demolished front end of my car after a winter of traveling the local interstate highways. that's how bad things are, but the governor and his crew think leadership consists of kicking responsibility for paying for things we need today down the pike for the next crew to pick up the tab.

so instead of financing the construction and upkeep of the highway system by the most logical and fair means -- raising the tax on gasoline -- mcdonald's supersizes the double-turdburger and proposes and combination of selling the state's liquor monopoly and borrowing the rest (via bonds). the liquor store liquidation hit a speedbump its first time up, but it could still sail through under the banner of "privitization," where we end up with a liquor store on every corner in the ghetto in exchange for a few hundred-million bucks (think of all those payday loan offices). and bonds are nothing but piling on debt instead of being a responsible adult and ponying up for the things you need.

these are the kind of hypocritical sleazebags we have in the republican-run state government. on the one side, they bad-mouth their benefactors on the other side of the potomac for the profligate ways with the national credit card, and for the imagined slight of giving handouts to the negroes and mexicans as part of a backdoor socialist revolution. this, in short form, is the entire list of grievances of the GOPpers and tea party movement.

meanwhile, the fact is, these politicians -- and it doesn't matter which party they belong to -- know damn well virginia (and all the other "red" states) make out like bandits in the share of federal loot they bring in -- compared with what their states contribute. if they were to get their wish -- a taste of which is coming to norfolk's naval base -- they'd all be sitting on the curbside looking stupid. so much money, and yet they're so ungrateful!

the GOPpers will eventually get their way, of course. the blacks aren't taking over, but the plutocrats sure as hell are, and they've been on a 30-year march to suck up as much of the nation's wealth as they can before the whole house of cards collapses -- which is getting closer, i believe.

by then, the national white peoples party will be in the streets with glocks at the ready, looking for non-whites and gays to take their anger out on. as their prospects deteriorate, they'll go looking for scapegoats, and be taking direct action against the traitors who did this to them....

that's when i really don't want to be around to see what happens... there'll be days when we'll wish we lived in another country.