You are right, Whistle Stop, it is greatly diminished. And in truth, if a state voluntarily joins a union, it does have to adhere to certain things. Kinda like when you buy a house in a subdivision where they tell you what you can & can't put in your window. But I do think that many of our problems with governments, be they local, state, or federal, come from a serious lack of participation by the governed, because the governed are so tired of the same old BS that they think their opinion doesn't matter anyway.

I heard that in the last Presidential election, only 50% of registered voters bothered to go to the polls. That means the President was elected by less than 25% of the voting citizens of the United States. Pretty darn pitiful, if you ask me.

I'm all for government - but we really need to get back to this by the people and for the people business. The government belongs to you and me and all of us, not just the people who go to Washington. So for that reason alone, I think we are all entitled to a turn in the Lincoln bedroom. :D