Florida Senate President: I Didn’t Really Mean I Would Shoot Dissidents; You Took Me Out of Context

by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
TomWoods.com

Recently by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.: Forget Nullification, Says ‘Conservative’ Group; Stick to the Establishment’s Rules

Don Gaetz, president of the Florida state senate, recently responded to an attorney’s defense of Thomas Jefferson’s principle of state nullification of unconstitutional laws as follows:

Thank you for your email and for your passionate views.

Like you, I believe Obamacare is unconstitutional and wrong-headed policy. I have consistently voted in the Florida Legislature for legislation that affirms our state’s options, obligations and sovereignty under the United States Constitution. I am working every day to ensure the election of national candidates who will repeal and replace this extraordinarily bad policy.

As to nullification, I tend to favor the approach used by Florida’s first Governor, Andrew Jackson:

It is said that one evening, while he was president, General Jackson was interrupted in his reading in his bedroom by an alarmed military aide who breathlessly reported, “Mr. President, the “nullifiers” are in front of the Executive Mansion with torches and guns. They are screaming that each state has the right to decide for itself which federal laws to follow. They threaten to burn us down if you will not agree with them.”

Without lifting his head from his reading, Andrew Jackson said, “Shoot the first nullifier who touches the Flag. And hang the rest.”

Chaplain, I have sworn an oath on my father’s Bible before Almighty God to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and government of the United States. And that’s exactly what I intend to do. Count me with Andrew Jackson.

Senator Don Gaetz

A number of Floridians were up in arms about Senator Gaetz’s casual endorsement of firing on his own people. (Note that “firing on his own people” is a phrase we are permitted to use only in reference to foreign despots; anyone recommending such a course here is merely defending law and order.) The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is supposed to stay on the alert for cases of political extremism, uttered not a peep at this particular act of extremism. Probably just an oversight.

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December 13, 2012

Thomas E. Woods, Jr. [send him mail; visit his website], a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is the creator of Tom Woods’s Liberty Classroom, a libertarian educational resource. He is the author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestsellers Meltdown (on the financial crisis; read Ron Paul’s foreword) and The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, and most recently Nullification and Rollback.

Copyright © 2012 Thomas Woods

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