The 10th amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

According to many Constitutional scholars, this amendment was intended to highlight the fact that while the original 13 States were one independent nation, this new nation was comprised of 13 independent and sovereign entities, capable of creating legislation pertinent to their particular areas that were not expressly delegated to Congress by the other articles contained in the Bill of Rights.

(This of course is leaving aside the argument that the War Between the States did away with the sovereignty of the states by asserting that the South had no right to leave the Union — there are opinions aplenty concerning this issue.)

That was then — and in the generations since, state governments have historically ignored the 10th amendment in order to feed at the federal trough. Entire political dynasties and multi-generational careers have been made on the basis of how many federal dollars could be funneled to the states’ coffers from dear old Uncle Sam.

Both political parties have become addicted to the narcotic federal handout; from the New Deal to the Great Society to the Faith-based Initiative to No Child Left Behind — politicians across the spectrum have mainlined money and sold out their states’ sovereignty for another fix from the fed.

But lo and behold, a knight in shining armor has galloped in on the proverbial white horse to save the great state of Texas from the evil drug overlords in Washington! Huzzah and hooray!

In a blinding flash of statesmanlike luminosity Republican Representative Brandon Crighton has authored HCR 50 which states in part: “That this serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”

Wow, it would seem that the Texas legislation has finally located its collective balls and decided to tell Washington to piss up a rope. At least that seems to be the general consensus on the message boards and forums discussing HCR50 — while it has also resurrected the every-few-years debate concerning seceding from the United States; of which the general consensus of everybody not living in Texas seems to be “Don’t let the the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.”

Now, I am foursquare behind anyone who wants to use the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as a guideline for legislation and I was shocked, shocked I say to find our very own Governor GoodHair was supporting this resolution. This is the same Governor GoodHair who seems to never have met a pork project or kickback that he didn’t like; seemingly standing up to his masters and rejecting billions in stimulus money because it (surprise, surprise) came with strings attached. Of course, he did find it in himself to take some of the stimulus money … and various other megabucks in federal hand-outs over his tenure — as long as it was funding pet projects such as border patrol and vaccinations for teenage girls and the ever-present war on drugs.

What I find particularly odd is the fact that Texas has had a champion of the Constitution on-board for years … the famous Dr. No, Ron Paul. Dr. Paul has been dismissed, depredated, disliked, deserted and generally treated like a red-headed stepchild for his unyielding adherence to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Where was the support for the 10th amendment when Dr. Paul was championing it and where is the support today for the other amendments that Ron Paul has been using as a guideline for any and all legislation?

This is nothing but grandstanding by a consummate politician to use as fodder for his upcoming gubernatorial race against the equally ignominious Kay “Bailout” Hutchison this November. This is toothless, feel-good pandering by these two-faced bastards hoping to assuage the righteous outrage of the voters who find their hard-earned money going to fund pork barrel spending while asking these very same earners to tighten their own belts.

I sincerely doubt that the good folks of Texas have sufficient short-term memory loss concerning fiscal irresponsibility on the part of these buffoons to not see completely through this silly dog and pony show and with any luck at all, will send them packing come mid-term elections.