At least twice now, I have seen blogs regarding states' rights as regards the voting rights of felons. But these blogs have largely ignored the fact that we have gradually disallowed states' rights in education (No Child Left Behind) and national security (The US Patriot Act). Liberals are quick to attack George W. Bush as treading upon the constitution, and perhaps justly so. But in doing so, they ignore the facts regarding one of their cherished presidents, who set precedents that allow these current states rights intrusions.

Unbeknownst to most, Abraham Lincoln ran on the platform of being a moderate. He claimed the sovereignty of the states. Indeed, in his own inaugural address, he stated:

I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.

Going further to establich the sovereignty of the states, he issued the following proclamation in the same speech:

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

When Abraham Lincoln's proclamation was put to the test by southern secession, he failed the test miserably. Indeed, the Civil War began over the insistence of the Confederacy that the Union vacate Fort Sumter; it was only when the union FORTIFIED, rather than evacuate the fort, that true conflict arose.

During his tenure, Abraham Lincoln repeatedly and consistently disregarded the Constitution in order to preserve the Union. Many sources document these violations, but I point you to the following quote, gleaned from the following link, to support this statement: Link

A quote from the page sourced above:

More violations of the Constitution probably occurred during Abraham Lincoln’s four years as president than during any other cohesively defined era in American history. Many have pointed out that Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to jail war protesters, shut down hundreds of newspapers that disagreed with his war, established a draft for the first time in American history (except in the seceded South, which had a draft a year earlier), instituted restrictions on firearms, and sent troops to violently suppress the New York draft riot. He also used the war to push through the "American System," a program of de facto nationalization of the transportation industry via massive subsidies to corporations that would agree to build "internal improvements" – railroads, waterways, and canals. The victory of the Union in 1865 not only established that, contrary to popular political theory in the antebellum era, the federal government was completely supreme over the states; it also established that a president could do literally anything he could get away with, no matter how many liberties were suspended, innocents jailed, and people killed in the process.

In short, yes, the current administration tends to disregard the Constitution, especially as regards states' rights. But it is not until we atone for the sins of 140 years past that we can begin to restore to the states their rightful, Constitutional place in the Union.

Respectfully submitted,

Gideon MacLeish