United Liberty

My last article, “Secession… an American Tradition,” elicited some good questions from readers. The whole issue of secession seems to beg the larger question of what constitutes a nation anyway.

To answer this requires a brief overview of modern nationalism.

Here are a couple of definitions to start:

Nation:

A large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own: The president spoke to the nation about the new tax. (www.Dictionary.com)

Nation:

In honor of Presidents Day, CSPAN released the results of their poll asking who is the best president in American history.  Not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln (once again) topped the chart, but the regular last place finisher, Andrew Johnson, was replaced today by the last president born in the 18th century, James Buchanan.

Why is he considered the worst president?  Reading through several sources, it appears that President Buchanan is seen as the man who could have stopped the War Between the States (or Mr. Lincoln’s War, as it’s known here in the South).  His “lack of action” is what earns him last place.

I just about spit my coffee up when I read this yesterday, but apparently some people are calling on David Paterson to replace Hillary Clinton - with Bill.

While I seriously doubt that is going to happen - even the CNN article agrees that Bill would likely not be interested in becoming a Jr. Senator - I was a bit tickled by the prospect of seeing “Teflon Bill” heading to the Senate.

That whole “change” thing really was just good branding huh?

This morning Clinton said that he had no real interest in the seat.

From the history books: