Pawlenty bows to the secessionists

cross-posted from DailyKos
by Jed Lewison

Meet America's newest nullificationist, likely 2012 presidential candidate and current Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty:

Asked by a caller about the option of asserting the Tenth Amendment as a tactic to reject a successful health care overhaul by President Barack Obama during a tele-town hall organized by the Republican Governors Association, Pawlenty said, "that’s a possibility."

Speaking generally about the tenth amendment, Pawlenty said the country has not had "a proper federalism debate since Ronald Reagan raised the issue in the 1980s."

"You’re starting to see more governors, me and governor [Rick] Perry from Texas, speaking out on this and asserting our tenth amendment rights," Pawlenty said on a call listened to by more than 12,000 people.

"Asserting the tenth amendment may be a viable option," Pawlenty said, adding that there may be "more of those claims and maybe even lawsuits if need be."

It really is breathtaking just how extreme the modern Republican Party has become in its right-wing views. Just last year, when Pawlenty was being considered for McCain's ticket, people thought of him as a moderate politician from Minnesota.

And now he's firmly planted himself in outermost reaches of the American political scene, advocating nullification, the very thing that led to the civil war.

Is there no Republican willing to stand up and wrest control of the GOP from the crazies?