Republicans push Repeal Amendment

Republicans – including Virginia’s latest national embarrassment, Rep. H. Morgan Griffith – are pushing an amendment that would allow two-thirds of the state’s legislatures repeal any federal law they don’t like.

This would, in essence repeal the supremacy clause, turning America’s governing framework on its head:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.

More important, it is a strikingly antidemocratic idea. Because America’s population is concentrated, two-thirds of the states could represent just one-third of the population.

In essence, Republicans are saying they believe the legislators representing one-third of America’s people ought to be able to veto the actions of officials representing the entire population.

This is a ludicrous idea, and the fact that some are pushing it seriously is a demonstration of how silly our politics has gotten in the last few years.