There’s buzz about secession. Ronald Holland shows some strategic pitfalls in an excellent column.Asking the White House to comment on the secession of one or more states won’t move the President, Congress, the courts, or the military. But it is symbolic of the exhaustion many people feel as they watch the crony political class squander their treasure and their liberty.

Secession can be seen as a last resort form of “interposition of the lower magistrate.” The interposition concept comes from early Calvinists, including John Calvin. It had a huge influence on the American Revolution.

Interposition means that the chosen leader of a group, a magistrate, has moved to block the bad actions of a higher authority. Such a leader can…

* Speak against bad policies

* Organize his constituents

* Work to defeat current officeholders

* Sue

* Launch recalls

* Stall or incompletely implement bad laws

* Refuse to enforce bad policies

And when all else fails, the lower magistrate can even lead a secession movement.

“When all else fails” is a crucial phrase. Thomas Jefferson put it deftly, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

These were not idle words. America’s Founder(s) acted as Jefferson preached. They followed a policy of incremental interposition.

Continue reading: http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2012/11/17/carts-horses-and-secession/