[Jason_b]

This post of mine #355 on another thread discusses how this happened. You are getting very close to an answer on your own. It was, once, small enough to drown in a bathtub. How did it grow? We grew it, by loving it more than we loved our State. This homeland security thing, the amnesty, it's all connected. And the one thing it is all connected to is the nature of our citizenship. Read more at the link.

[MichiganConservative]

That is interesting. Not sure what I make of it, but it seems to somewhat agree with what I sometimes say about the states becoming merely branch offices of the imperial federal government. It also seems to agree with my suggestion to ditch the 17th amendment.

I am resigned though, as I think these discussions are largely academic because most Americans are too stupid or too busy to understand the situation.