[4CJ]

Yes, there you have it. The suicide pact thesis. It's a silly thesis now, but to try that thesis in the time of the Founding - after a weak Art. of Confederation failed so miserably - is just plain sophmoric.

That argument may be bought to a radical bent on an agenda, but it won't be bought by any serious student of the Constitution or history.

So in others words, you CAN'T cite any section of the Constitution that prevents secession.

[rbmillerjr]

"So in others words, you CAN'T cite any section of the Constitution that prevents secession."

That is a terrible straw man argument. So let's go to school. The prevention of secession is implied in the very creation of the Constitution. Our Founders didn't attempt to make the Balkans...they intended to have a government that proetected it's people and they intended for it to be perpetual.

The delegating power in the 10th Amendment is the US Constitution, not the states. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

If a state violates the Constitution by exercising a prohibited power, then it is the Federal Government's responsibility to uphold the Constitution and persuade or - if necessary - force the state to return to a state of compliance. That's what supreme law means - if you insist on not obeying it, the government uses force to get you to change your mind.