Lately I have been doing a great deal of thinking about Arizona and their current plight and can’t help but see the similarities between the challenges Arizona faces today and those that the colonists faced in Boston in the early 1770s. Now I’m not implying that the Townshend and later Intolerable Acts that King George forcibly imposed on the colonists living in Boston can be compared with the federal government suing Arizona over its illegal immigration enforcement law. What I am saying is that the similarities can be seen in terms of an outside force usurping local laws and authority to make an example out of and change the behavior of a state that it believes has acted against its perceived authority.
Just as Boston was isolated by King George to make an example out of them for the rest of the colonies to see, so Arizona appears to be in the same boat. After all the state has faced a disproportionate amount of lawsuits from the federal government in response to their passage of S.B. 1070. One can only wonder if the intended purpose behind these lawsuits is to send a message from Washington not challenge their perceived authority. Following the initial lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against S.B. 1070 in July of this year, on August 30th the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Community College District over its hiring practices, then four days later filed a lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for allegedly refusing to fully cooperate in a federal investigation into allegations that the sheriff and his deputies are guilty of racial discrimination. And the cherry on top of the sundae came when the EPA announced on that same day that it plans to disapprove Maricopa County’s air quality plan because it does not adequately control emissions of coarse particulate matter. Both the EPA and DOJ are agencies that fall directly under the purview of the executive branch. In the 1770s the executive branch was King George and it appears that Arizona is now in the Shadow of King George.
So as you can see there are indeed many similarities between the two events. Back in the 1770s King George was determined to impose his will on the colonists and Boston was a tinderbox ready to ignite. Today Arizona is standing up against an ever expanding federal government that wishes to impose its will upon a state that is trying to protect its citizens and border. In the 1770s the other colonies saw firsthand the actions of a tyrant and rallied behind Massachusetts. Because of their courage and actions back then we today have the legal authority that they did not have to push back against an overreaching federal government operating outside the parameters of their constitutional authority That legal authority is derived from our Constitution. Do we as a people and as states have the courage to press the issue? Will other states rally behind Arizona and say enough as it was with Massachusetts in the 1770s or will they quietly sit back and be thankful they’re not in the cross-hairs of the federal government?
Tyrants come in all forms. Some come with a hammer and sickle while other come with regulations and mandates. In the end when someone or some entity attempts to impose their will upon a free people or sovereign states this is a form of tyranny. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can recapture what our founders envisioned for this republic and step out from under the shadow of King George.
Liberty forever, freedom for all!
