The Politics of FU

When you see someone "flip-the-bird" to someone else, is it just an obscene gesture….

….or the ultimate act of defiance?

I cannot spell out the phrase, at least not for the websites I write for or in good taste, but its beginning two letters, F and U will tell you what I mean. And when you put the letters, u,c,k, and o and u with them, you spell out the phrase that while obscene and vulgar, has its use in the English language (and many others I suppose) to convey one's stand, one's declaration of independence (even if it's sometimes childish) and one's willingness to defy one's immediate tormentors. It can be a very powerful phrase as the bird for which it stands for can be a powerful symbol.

So when the New Hampshire State House of Representatives recently voted for bill that would instruct the state to ignore the federal Real ID act, it was a big FU the state of New Hampshire said to the federal government.

Or the finger, whichever you prefer.

Of course, in a proper forum we would call this "nullification," and I recently wrote on column on nullification as way for states and localities to operate in between gross servitude to the Feds and secession, which very many places wouldn't try anyway.

But lets face it, what nullification comes down to is one body of government saying FU to another. "No! We will not obey! FU!"

In a polite way.

But more and more governments are saying FU to each other. Utah is saying FU to the Feds when it comes to No Child Left Behind. The city of Madison, Wisconsin said FU to the rest of the state and imposed one of the highest minimum wage in the country at $7.25 an hour. Judge Roy Moore down in Alabama said FU to the federal courts and put the Ten Commandments in the state supreme court building on a solid block of granite. San Francisco said FU to California and had gay marriages in city hall. Many towns and a few states said FU to feds once again over the Patriot Act and when municipalities offer themselves as sanctuaries to illegal immigrants or tell their cops not to arrest or even ask persons about their immigration status, isn't that saying FU to our nation's immigration laws?

Indeed it is.

The politics of FU splits apart both parties and ideologies. It all depends on what your side controls I suppose as to where you stand. But it's important none-the-less that more and more such governments are willing to flip their fingers every now and then not just to show independence, but to protect their interests and values when they are threatened by those who like to lord over them. It's helpful reminder that authority is only as good those willing to carry it out. FU can provide a healthy check to those writing laws to stay within the guidelines lain down by our Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Such powers like the feds, or the state, or a county, or some authority or commission tend to stray from those guidelines given the power they have, like cattle straying from a herd It takes the jolt of someone or something saying FU, loud and clear, to bring them back into line like a cattle prod does.

Shocking it is to think that there is a politics to such a shocking phrase when said in the hallowed halls of government. You can't hear it on TV, not even cable. But it's going to be heard more and more often. FU.

--Sean Scallon