When “States’ Rights” Become State Control
The GOP’s transformation from self-proclaimed defenders of freedom into apostles of authoritarianism is nearly complete. Kristi Noem’s reversal on federal overreach—once called tyranny, now called policy—exposes the party’s total moral bankruptcy.
If hypocrisy were helium, the American right would have long since floated off into the stratosphere. There is, quite literally, no limit to the elastic shamelessness with which it bends principle to expedience. Today, we watch as Donald J. Trump — that bloated parody of a Caesar, that orange idol of the credulous — federalizes National Guard units and sends them marching into blue states, an act of open political theater disguised as law enforcement. And his followers, those perennial victims of their own hysteria, cheer as if Christ himself had descended in a red cap.
One is reminded, irresistibly, of Kristi Noem, that rustic embodiment of pious indignation, who in 2024 treated Fox News viewers to a sermon on “states’ rights” that could have brought tears to the eyes of Jefferson Davis. Speaking to the ever-sycophantic Maria Bartiromo, Noem sputtered with self-righteous fury at the mere thought that President Biden might federalize the National Guard to manage chaos at the southern border.
“Democrats have been encouraging President Biden to come after our states’ rights,” she said, clutching the Constitution as if it were a family Bible. “For the first time in American history, we would be paying soldiers to stand down and not protect America.”
And then, in a flourish that would have embarrassed even the most overwrought demagogue:
“If he’s willing to do that — to take away my authority as governor and commander-in-chief of the National Guard — boy, we do have a war on our hands.”
A war! How stirring. How cinematic. How profoundly empty.
Fast-forward a few years, and this same Kristi Noem — now Trump’s Homeland Security Director, no less — quietly blesses the very policy she once likened to an act of tyranny. Gone are the florid warnings of despotism, the chest-beating about sovereignty, the thin veneer of constitutional sanctimony. Not even a whisper remains. The soldier of “states’ rights” has become a functionary in the machinery of the very centralization she once called a “war.”
One must admire, in a perverse way, the sheer athleticism of such hypocrisy. To perform this level of moral gymnastics without spraining a vertebra requires a kind of flexibility that would make Cirque du Soleil blush.
What we see here is not an evolution of thought but the complete liquidation of conviction. These people have no beliefs, only reflexes — no ideals, only tribal loyalties. Their talk of freedom and limited government is a costume, to be donned or shed depending on who sits in the Oval Office. When power rests in their hands, they invoke “law and order.” When it doesn’t, they wail about “tyranny.”
Kristi Noem is not unique; she is merely the latest acolyte in a church of bad faith. Her hypocrisy is not personal — it is structural, endemic to a movement that long ago traded principle for propaganda. The conservative project, once adorned with at least the pretense of Burkean restraint, now resembles a traveling circus of resentment, led by a clown who believes that the state exists to serve his ego and punish his enemies.
If Trump were to nationalize the local police, rename the FBI after himself, and declare martial law “for the safety of the people,” you can be certain that Noem and her ilk would appear on cable news to call it “necessary.”
Their states’ rights are conditional. Their liberties are selective. Their patriotism is purely performative.
The lesson, drearily familiar yet newly urgent, is that there are no conservatives left in America — only courtiers. The word “hypocrisy” feels inadequate. This is moral bankruptcy masquerading as patriotism, and it is rotting the republic from the inside.
As H.L. Mencken once said of another generation of charlatans, “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” The tragedy today is that the indecent ones are not ashamed at all — they are running it.
Why It Matters
The American right no longer operates on conviction but on convenience. Their hypocrisy isn’t accidental—it’s strategic. The party has abandoned any pretense of principle, transforming “law and order” into a weapon of selective enforcement. This inversion of morality erodes democracy, enabling tyranny wrapped in patriotic slogans.
Key Takeaways
- Kristi Noem once called federalizing the National Guard “tyranny”; now she supports it under Trump.
- GOP hypocrisy reveals structural decay—principles sacrificed for power.
- The conservative movement has devolved from ideology to personality cult.
- “Law and order” rhetoric is used to justify authoritarian overreach.
- True conservatism has been replaced by loyalty to one man, not the Constitution.
Further Reading
- Letters to a Young Contrarian — Christopher Hitchens: A stirring call to moral independence and intellectual courage. https://civilheresy.com/letters to a young contrarian
- The Righteous Mind — Jonathan Haidt: Explores how moral reasoning divides and deceives us politically. https://civilheresy.com/righteous mind
- A Man Without a Country — Kurt Vonnegut: A sharp, satirical reflection on America’s absurdities and hypocrisies. https://civilheresy.com/man without a country
