Jonah Goldberg notes that since they are no longer in a position to force their views on people, more and more liberal Democrats are coming down on the side of Federalism. As a Federalist myself, this makes me as happy as I am confused.

If you don't know what this all means, don't worry. Goldberg also offers a Federalism for Dummies analogy for those of you that might be scratching your head.

The analogy I always use with college audiences is dorms. Imagine you've got ten dorms on a campus and a student population divided up into the usual coalitions: stoners, partiers, jocks, and so forth on one side, and study geeks, exchange students and - no offense - nerdy Mennonites on the other. A purely democratic system where all students get to decide dorm policy could result in the tyranny of 51 percent of the students over 49 percent of the students. The party-hardy crowd could pass a policy permitting loud music and keg parties at all hours of the night. Or if the more academically rigorous coalition won, they could ban "fun" of any kind, ever. Similarly, if the administration imposed its own policy from above, you could have a system that makes no one happy.

But, if you allowed each individual dorm to vote for its own policies, you could have a system where some dorms operate like scholarly monasteries and other dorms are more fun than a pool party at James Caan's house. Theoretically, 100 percent of the students could live the way they want. Maximized human happiness!

So rather than trying unrealistic ideas such as secession and stopping short of moving to Canada or France, many liberal Democrats are adopting the Revolutionary (as in 1776) motto of "Don't tread on me". They want to be free to live in their blue states and adopt blue state policies by which to live.

Unfortunately though, as some Liberal Democrats are moving away from a system whereby a strong central government dictates the rules for everybody, some Republicans are moving in the opposite direction. Goldberg concludes:

Just this week, the Bush administration argued against California's medical marijuana law. Bush is also moving ahead toward a constitutional prohibition on gay marriage. After decades of arguments that Washington should stay out of education, Bush has made it his signature domestic issue.

It's not that the White House doesn't have good arguments for its policies. But it is impossible to restore federalism unless you start by allowing states to make decisions you dislike. Otherwise, it's not federalism, it's opportunism.

I would throw the Supreme Court in there, with their recent rulings like the Texas sodomy case.