Tyranny of the Embryofascists

Before Republicans controlled all three branches of Government, remember the lip service given to States Rights? Every conservative pundit, radio host and politician couldn’t stop yammering about how the big, bad Federal Government was meddling in local issues, and how individual States were granted by the Constitution a right to self determination in the broadest sense.

Local voters, they claimed, should have the final say on matters of social import, and virtually every cause championed by Conservatives was linked to this Federalist principle. After all, so-called "activist judges" were forcing people to tolerate liberties (abortion, contraception, homosexuality, mixed marriage, integration, etc.) that their town or county might otherwise vote against.

It was all about little guys—the people put upon by the government—having greater control over their communities.

But five years into the Conservative Catastrophe, we see the issue of States Rights for what it really was and is—a big, fat lie.

Simply examine recent Republican-generated legislation to see the proof. States don’t get to determine who can assist pregnant teens—the Federal Government will. States won’t get to place special restrictions on automobile emissions or standards—only the Government can. States won’t get to designate who can or cannot get married—the Federal Government will. Similar examples are manifold.

Even in areas that have traditionally been the territory of Federal law, Conservatives are imposing their superstitions and mores in every way they can. The President recently declared that using frozen embryos for stem cell research (instead of throwing them away) was "murder". And despite the fact that most Americans disagree, he and his party remain eager to tell us all what we should and should not do.

When they were a minority party, Republicans played the self-determination card because it energized the voting base. But now that they control Congress, they have discarded States Rights and embraced their true agenda—restrictive Federal Legislation.

Conservatism, it turns out, has little to do with true liberty or democracy and everything to do with imposing a radical version of morality on the rest of us.