In a rush of sable wings and shriekings, the federal murder of crows descends upon every corner of America. But what do I spy in a worn outbuilding? Is that a rusty, creaky old scarecrow rising; with blinking eyes and trembling limbs? Could this be the renascence of the quaint old idea of federalism?

Let me see, at last count it was twenty States that joined a federal lawsuit to enjoin the Administration's signature piece of...legislation. The healthcare reform act. Additionally, Liberty University in Virginia filed a fine brief of its own, citing individual violations of the Constitution, and the Virginia law that renounces the individual mandate-centerpiece of the Progressive vision. Virginia is not the only venue to advance State based legislation to make the healthcare bill unenforceable. Here in humble Ohio the petitions are out for an amendment to the State Constitution to renounce Obamacare.

Perhaps most interestingly is the Arizona law that allows policemen, in the context of a proper detainment of a suspect, to inquire into the suspect's status as a citizen. How very mundane, but then why all the clamor? Why have we trotted out the old "racism" stalking horse to try to ride down all dissent?

Might it have something to do with federalism, and a State's rights to stand up to the federal maelstrom? Consider how the issue has been deliberately misstated as permitting jack-booted Arizona storm troopers to round up anyone whose complexion registers two shades under beige on the political victim spectrometer. Oh horribles!

But the real issue is that the federal government has so studiously ignored its duty to establish and maintain traffic across our borders, that Arizona has stepped in. And in a way that the feds cannot simply do their usual drop from the turnbuckle to crush the uppity State under its terrible Supremacy Clause. No here it is manifest that Arizona is acting to protect its own citizens from a rampage of crime, and that this measure is aimed at controlling persons within its own State borders. It is traditional, it is logical, and it is unassailable in my opinion, that the State of Arizona is the legitimate power to exert its own police powers within its borders.

This is not, therefore, a case where Arizona has tread upon the federal power to manage the national border. Instead it is an action by the sovereign State of Arizona to institute law and order within its own borders. What Arizona is trying to address is the spate of kidnappings and drug related murders spilling over into Arizona from a lawless Mexican neighbor. If Arizona does not have the right to protect the lives and property of its citizens, especially where the federal government has shown a determination to neglect its obligations, then the purpose of States as a repository of sovereignty is merest fiction.

My prediction is that Arizona will continue to be pilloried by proponents of unfettered immigration, and should wear this opprobrium as a badge of its commitment to its citizens' lives and peace. Furthermore, thank you Arizona for opening up a new front of federalism to resist the incompetent and insane federal behemoth.

What will they say when this measure actually starts to work?