It’s not 100 percent clear the extent to which Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia meant what it sounded like he meant, but tossing around the word “revolt” in the context of a discussion of the U.S. government is never a smart nor rational idea. And it’s especially a bad idea when it’s invoked during an era when armed revolt against the government is being taken very seriously.
During a speaking engagement last week at the University of Tennessee College of Law, Scalia discussed how it’s constitutionally permissible for Congress to impose taxes on citizens. Fair enough. However, Scalia added, “if it reaches a certain point, perhaps you should revolt.”
The word “revolt” carries with it a very specific definition: “to break away from or rise against constituted authority, as by open rebellion; cast off allegiance or subjection to those in authority; rebel; mutiny.” Not a lot of gray area there.
The only thing that might cast doubt on whether Scalia meant “revolt” to mean an armed rebellion is that, later, while answering a question about his decision to uphold the constitutionality of flag-burning, the justice said:
“You’re entitled to criticize the government, and you can use words, you can use symbols, you can use telegraph, you can use Morse code, you can burn a flag.”
While this could, maybe, possibly mitigate the severity of what he said, it’s important to reiterate that he had apparently moved on to a completely different topic. By the way, a telegraph? Morse code? Was he drunk? Nevertheless, Scalia isn’t known for soft-pedaling his language or mincing words, so it’s reasonable to assume Scalia was suggesting a literal revolt against the government.
It appears as if we’re in the midst of an upswing in popularity for anti-government revolution. Call it Rebellion Chic. The buzz has been gradually amplifying over the last five years, beginning with vague hints at secession and eliminationist rhetoric several years ago, but it’s never been so openly embraced as it’s been for the last two weeks… READ MORE