And while Kuhner's piece is standard fair, making sure to include all the Luntzian talking points he can, it is the final passages that frame a narrative that I'm not even sure Kuhner can follow to its conclusion.
Arizona is where the old republic will stand or fall. It is showdown at high noon. Either America returns to its constitutional system based on real federalism, states' rights, individual liberty and decentralized power, or it continues to slide toward the darkness of a socialist superstate. Washington - with its swollen bureaucracy, imperial arrogance, rampant corruption and dangerous detachment from ordinary citizens - is despised and distrusted by many Americans. A secession of the heart is taking place - a profound alienation from the liberal ruling class.
In the future, many states - including Arizona - may decide they have no other option but to break away from the union. The choice is becoming starkly apparent: devolution or dissolution.
This idea of a "liberal ruling class" is completely preposterous, as those in power that even marginally espouse strict liberal ideology far too often wilt away when having to deal with their mouth-agape conservative Republican counterparts - their push for specific legislative change all too often becoming a contorted version of far better ideals.
That aside, let's take a realistic look at what succession actually means. It's not just a removal from the Union as far as borders are concerned, it's a removal from EVERYTHING that the United States has to offer. Not only would Arizona lose all protections provided by the US Armed Forces, it would loose all funding made available by the Federal Government. No funding for roads, schools, police and fire departments, Medicare, Social Security, or even the Postal Service.
But aside from what would obviously would change within Arizona, one has to wonder what currency they would use. After all, since they would no longer be a part of the United States, they wouldn't be able to use the dollar as the form of currency with which to purchase goods and services. What about the court system or even laws? There would quite literally have to be an entirely new form of government set up in order for the new State/Country to function. And considering how conservatives feel about government, I'm of the mind that should the state break ties with the United States that they would have a far more draconian system in place, despite how people like Jan Brewer feel about the Obama administration.
There are a whole host of questions that conservatives simply aren't asking when they boast of a state or states succeeding from the Union. They refuse to ask these questions likely because they know that succession is a bad idea and that there would likely be a mass exodus to other states once people realized what would actually happen once the state had to completely restructure. It's not even a clever talking point anymore, it's merely something used to distract. In that regard, Mr. Kuhner isn't even trying to make a semi-cognisant point. He's wasting valuable media space in order to fan the flame of divisiveness in order to misdirect his readership. The sad fact is that there are actually people who will fall for his way of thinking - or should I say NOT thinking.
