States Rights
As the reality of Bloody Tuesday was becoming apparent, my pal Adam turned to me and just said, "States rights." Reeling from the returns, my mind wasn't on a Constitutional tip, but it is a notion that has become more and more engrained into the progressive discussion over the last few weeks. Today, Salon runs its top story on the subject (with a nod to Seattle's local alternative weekly, The Stranger):

Liberals have long opposed the growth of state power, and for good reason. The century's most significant clashes over federalism have been over civil rights, with the national government forcing the South to submit to desegregation. Since then, fights over everything from abortion to school prayer have pitted Northern liberals, who want to use the federal government to enforce individual rights, often in the face of hostile majorities, against Southern conservatives, who believe that communities should be free to set their own norms.

Now, though, it's liberal enclaves that feel threatened by the federal government, and who will likely need to muster states' rights arguments to protect themselves from Bush's domestic policies.

[...]

Using state governments to protect rights locally, rather than nationally, makes many liberals uncomfortable because it means leaving their red state brethren to the tender mercies of the right. If those who believe in gay rights spend all their time shoring up protections in the blue states, they're leaving vulnerable gays and lesbians in less tolerant locales on their own. Similarly, to give up on nationwide abortion rights, in favor of local ones, would be a retreat from the ideas of sisterhood and solidarity that have been central to the feminist movement.

At this point, though, liberals may not have a choice. Besides, on an emotional level, some have already given up their dreams of reforming the country in order to protect their own backyards.

The Seattle alternative weekly the Stranger nails this defensive mood in a recent manifesto titled "The Urban Archipelago: It's the Cities, Stupid." "It's time to state something that we've felt for a long time," writes the paper's editors, "but have been too polite to say out loud: Liberals, progressives, and Democrats do not live in a country that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Canada to Mexico. We live on a chain of islands. We are citizens of the Urban Archipelago, the United Cities of America."

"In cities all over America, distressed liberals are talking about fleeing to Canada or, better yet, seceding from the Union," the piece continues. "We can't literally secede and, let's admit it, we don't really want to live in Canada. It's too cold up there and in our heart-of-hearts we hate hockey. We can secede emotionally, however, by turning our backs on the heartland. We can focus on our issues, our urban issues, and promote our shared urban values."

According to the Stranger, this means abandoning a commitment to things like gun control and abortion rights on a national scale. "We won't concern ourselves if red states restrict choice," it says. "We'll just make sure that abortion remains safe and legal in the cities where we live, and the states we control, and when your daughter or sister or mother dies in a botched abortion, we'll try not to feel too awful about it."

Ironically, the Stranger suggests that this means adopting a right-wing attitude toward taxes and social welfare. "To red-state voters, to the rural voters, residents of small, dying towns, and soulless sprawling exburbs, we say this: Fuck off. Your issues are no longer our issues. We're going to battle our bleeding-heart instincts and ignore pangs of misplaced empathy. We will no longer concern ourselves with a health-care crisis that disproportionately impacts rural areas. Instead we will work toward winning health care one blue state at a time."

Think globally, act locally.