“Well, if the Feds decide this is a civil rights issue, and Alabama is in violation of Federal law or court decisions on the matter, then they can take some pretty drastic steps to enforce it, just as they do for other civil rights matters. Remember, the southern states are still under federal monitoring of elections from the 60s and they are unable to pass election-related laws without federal approval. The feds doing something similar with regards to marriages is not hard to imagine.”
IMO if the federal government attempted any heavy handed maneuvers (as you suggest) over this issue, it would be a PR disaster which would be a big win for the state of Alabama and would get them backing by other conservative states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, et. Al. It would HELP restart “state’s rights” again. The 10th would start getting more respect. While it is true that the Civil War set a precident that diminished the 10th....it did not repeal it. Therefore, it just needs the right push to get it back into play. A heavy handed federal government towards the citizens of a state would problem the push.
IMO its not the 60’s and its not civil rights we are talking about. Racial stuff. So with the tinder box emotions going on in the country right now all it would take is for Barry to try to send some Feds down here to jack around with an individual state over gay marriage or immigration etc and I think the SHTF. I can only speak for my own region.
As we go forward the Federal Govt’s only prayer to continue to control the states given the outrageous behavior of the SCOTUS is through federal dollars. At some point the states are going to start telling them to shove it.
That’s a possibility. Pretty much a “nonviolent resistance” type of strategy. Get your enemy to overstep and then they look like a bully and lose public support.
However, we don’t hold the institutions which shape public opinion, so that could be an uphill battle.