Brutus invited me to contribute to this blog, so I think I will give it a try.
Brutus has the ability to point to facts with the intensity of a laser thus shining a spotlight on an issue while M. T. Cicero uses his amusing wit to help us think about what is going on.
I don’t think that I will write as frequently as Brutus. Nor do I intend to dwell on specific issues, at least initially. I want to start with how our politicos hijack words to mislead us.
Let’s start with “federal” as in the so called federal government.
The online Oxford dictionary today defines federal as “having or relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs”.
During the ratification process of our Constitution there was a fear that the United States government would crush the state governments. Indeed the “supremacy clause” stated “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding”. Some people thought that “made in pursuance thereof” protected us from laws that were not to be allowed under the Constitution. Others knew better.
The fear of centralization became so widespread that the Tenth Amendment was enacted later. It states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
At one time that government was federal. The senators were appointed by their state legislatures. Each state had two senators that were appointed to represent the interests of the state and it’s people. The states had a say in what became law and who the high level officials were who ran the government and in international treaties.
That all went away when senators started being elected directly by the people (the 17th Amendment–1913). Now the states have no say in the laws that are passed. Our government is no longer federal. The states are not independent in their internal affairs.
Call it “the national government”, “the government in Washington”, “the United States government”, “the central government” but not the “federal government”–because it is not federal.
Some would argue that common usage redefines the word and that the “federal government” is the one in Washington because that is what it is called most commonly.
Precedent does not make principle.
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
elpasospeak 
Interesting concept and explanation. It certainly reduces the say of the States in the Federal Government.
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