When government officials – in this case Texas Governor Abbott – begin calling for society’s passive resistance (heck, active resistance) to the conduct of the federal government and the President, things have gone past Irish Democracy.
Irish Democracy – a situation where, with no coordination or discussion, the people ignore laws with which they disagree – has already led to legalization of marijuana. But once politicians organized to pass laws decriminalizing weed, it had gone past Irish Democracy. When federal pressure led Montana’s legislature to agree to a 55 mph speed limit with a five dollar fine the legislature was counting on Irish Democracy – and today our speed limits are higher than the double nickel.
Is it Irish Democracy to do a job that the federal government is neglecting? I’m a Montanan. Historically, our legal system started at a funeral in 1863 – and before they finished shoveling the dirt back into the grave, people attending William Bell’s funeral began organizing the Montana Vigilantes. The Vigilantes formed just before Christmas, and by January 10, 1864, hanged the sheriff (and several of his associates). The Vigilantes disbanded when formal law came to the goldfields. In that case, government (i.e. Sheriff Henry Plummer) was the problem, and volunteers were the solution. Still, it ceased to be Irish Democracy at the moment organization began – probably in a conversation between Confederate Paris Pfouts and Union Nathaniel Langford. They found that they had more in common than the differences created by the war between the states . . . they moved from recognizing themselves as Illinoising or Texans to a higher level based on commonalities.
Similarly, Ireland now has the Óglaigh na hÉireann – the country’s national defense force. The group began as Irish Volunteers in 1913, and are remembered for their service in the Post Office in 1916. Organized, the Irish Volunteers took care not to include John McBride, since he was under near constant surveillance from the British Army – his involvement was indeed spontaneous rather than planned. Around 1919, the Irish Volunteers took the name Irish Republican Army.
Back to Texas – the argument is, at its simplest, barbed wire. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Government has the authority and power to cut the barbed wire that the great state of Texas has put along in the southern boundary. Texas continues to put in more barbed wire. As an aggie, this seems like taking the old open range v barbed wire disagreement from personal to government . . . making it a states rights v federal authority. Definitely not Irish Democracy.
Trego's Mountain Ear 