STATES' RIGHTS AND STATES WRONGS

• After the American Revolution (1776-1782), our "Founding Fathers" formed a Confederation of States. It was a BIG FAILURE -- ONE STATE FIGHTING ANOTHER -- CITIZENS WITHIN A STATE FIGHTING FOR RIGHTS UNDER THE STATE. So, The Founding Fathers wrote a Constitution and, in 1789, formed a Republic, giving some powers to the Federal Government, over the States. Our first two presidents, George Washington (1732-99) and John Adams (1735-1826), were "Federalists", members of the Party advocating such power. This structure has "worked" for 210 years, compared to the 7 years' lifetime of the Confederation of States, which made States' Rights primary.
• The "Civil War" (1861-1865) is known in The South as "The War Between the States". The South formed another Confederacy, returning to the form which failed in the previous century. And the other big Southern cause -- besides perpetuation of Slavery -- was "States' Rights". This cause lost again.
• And it was "States' Rights" which lost the war for The Confederacy. As you find in Ken Burns' PBS documentary on "The Civil War" (available on video in libraries and video stores), most State governments cared more about their own welfare than promoting the War. They withheld money from Jefferson Davis' Capitol in Richmond, VA. Confederate soldiers walked off the battlefield in droves to return home, protected by their respective states. Some states, such as South Carolina (which now insists on flying the Confederate Flag), openly defied the Confederate Government. The failure here of members of this second Confederacy was as marked as that in the first one.
• States' Rights make a patchwork of the Justice System in our country.
  • For example, a person legally chargeable of driving while intoxicated can speed over The Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Virginia to Maryland where he is no longer chargeable, the "tolerance level" measure being higher in Maryland than in Virginia.
  • In many states, cops chasing drug dealers lose out when the dealers cross into a neighboring state, where the vigilance is different.
  • In many states, convicted murders get out in a few years, while in other states marijuana users or dealers spend long years in prison.
• The vast "educational mess" in this country (which, as a former teacher and prof, I've followed for decades and know intimnately) is PRIMARILY A FAILURE OF THE STATES! Nowhere has a State more heft over the Federal Government than in Education, where state and local taxes are primary. The excuse that "they can't cope with The Teaachers' Union" doesn't "wash". States have dealt with powerful labor unions, including some allegedly under criminal influence, so that the Teachar's Unions are more powerful than many of the latter. If state officials wished, they could apply the same inhibiting methods here that succeed with non-teacher unions. One may suspect explanation in vested interests -- something the Media seems to choose not to investigate.