Recently there have been people raising topics I thought were put to rest in 1865, namely, states' rights and secession. A column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the Georgia Senate passed a declaration of states' rights almost unanimously. We have also heard that Texas Governor Rick Perry indicated a belief that Texas has the right to leave the Union. And there are reported to be small secessionist movements in both Hawaii and Alaska.
To date, nobody is taking these irritable grumblings very seriously. I remain convinced that hanging together beats hanging separately. Still, these are odd omens; perhaps they explain why the Department of Homeland Security issued a sweeping warning about right wing extremists. Do you think DHS sees the anti-tax "tea parties" as Beijing saw the "goddess of freedom and democracy statue" student protest in Tienanmen Square?
