Excerpt:
SPCA's Madeline Bernstein: A Word About Assassinations
As one of the national figures in the Animal Welfare arena I feel that something must be said and some leadership shown in the wake of the Arizona massacre. Many of us feel passionate about our mission and believe that our cause is a righteous one. All of us work with factions with whom we disagree and of whose tactics we disapprove.Those of us who study history and the arcs of civil movements and revolutions would concede that there have been successful uses of civil disobedience and strong rhetoric. Without the committed, the articulate and the brave who fought before us, who knows if we would be respecting the civil rights of others and if we would be living in a slave free country where abortion, gay marriage, animal protection, freedom of religion, and first amendment rights could be discussed, protested, tweeted, and above all, taken for granted.
It is ironic that recent protests for or against gay marriage, the circus or the war in Iraq have been conducted rather peacefully, while it is our elected officials, the keepers of our constitution, and political wannabees that have jacked up the violent rhetoric to feverish and toxic levels that are sure to kill. Since crazy shrill people are good for ratings there is no incentive to tone it down.
Though a huge fan of the first amendment and not one who believes that an act by a criminal should chill communication for the rest of us, i do believe that leaders have a responsibility to watch the words. President Clinton said - "both the serious and the delirious hear them". As leaders we have to take responsibility for our actions.
Some have called for unity and corrective steps following the Arizona shootings, while Palin has spent all weekend abdicating all responsibility for her web site. Why not just be willing to examine whether gun cross hair imagery is an idea worth repeating. As leaders we have to persuade, cajole and argue rationally for our points rather than demonize the opposition. As leaders we must model ethical behavior rather than slink under the mantle of anything goes because the ends justify the means. Unless we are hiding something, we should want our audiences to hear the signal rather than the static.
There may not be a cure for crazy, but it there is a cure against illiterate, ignorant, people, politicians and entertainers who think snarky and bullying equal clever and strong. The cure is to take away their air and votes and simply ignore them by each and every means.
That way, the rest of us who believe in fighting for a cause will be able to continue as civilized members of society. I worry that this bad behavior does not augur well for the rest of us who play by the rules and the members of the vulnerable classes who rely on us. We can't let the delirious on either end win.
http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/group/patriotsforamericaarizona/forum/topics/arizona-is-the-second-state-to?commentId=2734278%3AComment%3A258400&xg_source=activity&groupId=2734278%3AGroup%3A8953
Arizona is the second State Nullification after Montana
http://www.scribd.com/doc/47078979/An-ACT-2-2-Nullification
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/sb1433p.htm
State of Arizona Senate Fiftieth Legislature First Regular Session 2011 |
SB 1433 |
Introduced by Senators Klein, Allen; Representatives Burges, Harper: Senator Pearce R; Representative Montenegro |
AN ACT
Amending title 41, chapter 7, article 12, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41‑1291; relating to the legislature.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 41, chapter 7, article 12, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1291, to read:
41-1291. Joint legislative committee on nullification of federal laws; membership; recommendations; legislative action
A. The joint legislative committee on nullification of federal laws is established consisting of the president of the senate or the president's designee, who serves as cochairperson, six members of the senate who are appointed by the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives or the speaker's designee who serves as cochairperson and six members of the house of representatives who are appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. No more than four members of the senate and no more than four members of the house of representatives may be from the same political party. Members shall serve two year terms beginning and ending on the convening of the regular session of the legislature each odd‑numbered year.
B. A majority of the members constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The committee shall meet on the call of either cochairperson.
C. the committee shall recommend, propose and call for a vote by simple majority to nullify in its entirety a specific federal law or regulation that is outside the scope of the powers delegated by the People to the federal government in the United States Constitution. The committee shall make its recommendation within thirty days after receiving the federal legislation for consideration and process.
D. The committee may review all existing federal statutes, mandates and Executive orders for the purpose of determining their constitutionality. The committee may recommend for nullification existing federal statutes, mandates and Executive orders enacted before the effective date of this section.
E. On the committee's recommendation for nullification, the legislature shall vote on whether to nullify the action within sixty days after the committee's recommendation. Until the vote, the issue in question is of no effect. The appropriate documentation reflecting the legislature's vote shall be documented in the journals of the respective houses.
F. If the legislature votes by simple majority to nullify any federal statute, mandate or Executive order on the grounds of constitutionality, this state and its citizens shall not recognize or be obligated to live under the statute, mandate or executive order.
G. The committee shall ensure that the legislature adopts and enacts all measures that may be necessary to prevent the enforcement of any federal law or regulation nullified pursuant to this section. The committee shall ensure that the jurisdiction of any cause of action between this State and the federal government regarding nullification of any federal legislation, mandate or executive order with the Supreme Court of the United States alone, as stated in Article III, section 2, United States Constitution.
Sec. 2. Legislative intent
The legislature finds and declares:
1. The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees and reserves to the states or their people all powers not specifically granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution as they were publicly understood at the time that the amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791, subject only to modification by duly ratified subsequent amendments to the United States constitution. The guarantee of those powers is a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912.
2. As a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912, the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to this state that, other than the enumerated powers expressly granted to the United States under Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution, Congress and the federal government will not exercise any purported additional control over or commandeer rights belonging to this state or its people.
3. Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the people and this state retain their exclusive power to regulate this state subject only to the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that the people and the state of Arizona exercise those sovereign powers pursuant to each citizen's lawful privileges or immunities and in compliance with the requirements of due process and equal protection of the law.
4. The ninth amendment to the United States Constitution secures and reserves to the people of Arizona as against the federal government their natural rights to life, liberty and property as entailed by the traditional Anglo-American concept of ordered liberty and as secured by state law, including their rights as they were understood and secured by the law at the time the amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791, as well as their rights as they were understood and secured by the law in this state at the time the Arizona Constitution was adopted. The guarantee of those rights is a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912.
5. At the time the United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, the sole and sovereign power to regulate the state business and affairs rested in the state legislature and has always been a compelling state concern and central to state sovereignty. Accordingly, the public meaning and understanding of Article I, section 8, the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, is a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912. Further, the power to regulate commerce among the several states as delegated to the Congress in Article I, section 8, clause 3, United States Constitution, as understood at the time of the founding, was meant to empower Congress to regulate the buying and selling of products made by others, and sometimes land, associated finance and financial instruments and navigation and other carriage across state jurisdictional lines. This power to regulate commerce does not include agriculture, manufacturing, mining, major crimes or land use, and does not include activities that merely substantially affect commerce.
6. At the time the United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, the commerce clause was not meant or understood to authorize Congress or the federal judiciary to regulate the state courts in the matter of state substantive law or state judicial procedure. This meaning and understanding of Article I, section 8, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as they pertain to the validity of religious sectarian or foreign law as being controlling or influential precedent, has never been modified by any duly ratified amendment to the United States Constitution. Accordingly, the public meaning and understanding of Article I, section 8 and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution is a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912. Additionally, Article I, section 8, clause 18 of the United States Constitution, the "necessary and proper clause," is not a blank check that empowers the federal government to do anything it deems necessary or proper. It is instead a limitation of power under the common law doctrine of principals and incidents that allows the Congress to exercise incidental powers. There are two main conditions required for something to be incidental, and therefore, "necessary and proper", the law or power exercised must be directly applicable to the main, enumerated power and it must be "lesser" than the main power.
7. At the time the United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the United States Constitution, the "general welfare clause," did not empower the federal government with the ability to do anything it deems good. It is instead a general introduction explaining the exercise of the enumerated powers of Congress that are prescribed in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States. When James Madison was asked if this clause was a grant of power, he replied, "If not only the means but the objects are unlimited, the parchment (the Constitution) should be thrown into the fire at once." Thus, this clause is a limitation on the power of the federal government to act in the welfare of all when passing laws in pursuance of the powers delegated to the United States. The Commerce Clause was not meant or understood to authorize Congress or the federal judiciary to establish religious sectarian or foreign statute or case law as controlling or influential precedent. This meaning and understanding of Article I, section 8, the establishment clause of the First Amendment and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as they pertain to controlling or influential legal authority, has never been modified by any duly ratified amendment to the United States constitution. Accordingly, the public meaning and understanding of Article I, section 8, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, is a matter of compact between this state and the United States as of the time Arizona was admitted to statehood in 1912.
8. Accordingly, we affirm that neither the "Commerce Clause," the "general welfare clause" or the "necessary and proper clause" of the United States Constitution have ever been expanded, modified or amended and therefore, this state specifically rejects and denies any expanded authority that the federal government may attempt to enforce.
9. The Congress and the federal government are denied the power to establish laws within this state that are repugnant and obtrusive to state law and to the people in this state. They are restrained and confined in authority by the eighteen items as prescribed in Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution.
10. Congress and the federal government are denied the power to bind the states under foreign statute or case law other than those provisions duly ratified by the Congress as a treaty, so long as the treaty does not violate this state or the United States Constitution.
11. Further, no authority has ever been given to the legislative branch, the executive branch or the judicial branch of the federal government to preempt state legislation.
12. This act serves as a notice and demand to the Congress and the federal government to cease and desist all activities outside the scope of their constitutionally designated powers.
Sec. 3. Secretary of state; transmission of act to others
A. The Secretary of State shall transmit copies of this act to the legislatures of the several states to assure that this state continues in the same esteem and friendship as currently exists and that this state considers union for specific national purposes and particularly those enumerated in the Constitution of the United States to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the states.
B. The Secretary of State shall transmit copies of this act to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona with the request that this act be officially entered into the congressional record.
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