Instapundit: Two Cheers for "Irish Democracy" on Obamacare and Pot

Glenn
Reynolds writes in USA Today about two developments that fall
under the heading of “Irish Democracy,” or “the silent, dogged
resistance, withdrawal, and truculence of millions of ordinary
people” (in the words of James Scott).

When it comes to Obamacare, the Instapundit notes, the program
has signed less than half the number it needs by March 31. Worse
still, only about 15 percent of the expected number of uninsured
people have signed up.

If the program fails, it won’t be because Republicans stopped
it, despite all the House votes and defunding efforts. It will be
because millions of Americans’ passive resistance brought it to its
knees. Irish Democracy, indeed….

Meanwhile, on the marijuana front, the people of states
like Colorado are
engaging in an odd, 21st century variety of nullification. Unlike
the 19th century John Calhoun version, state laws legalizing
marijuana don’t purport to neutralize the still-extant federal laws
banning cannabis. But the state, and millions of Coloradans, are
simply ignoring the federal law and, in essence, daring the feds to
do something about it.

Read the whole thing here.

And before anyone gets their, er, Irish up at the invocation of
an ethnically charged term such as “Irish Democracy,” let me point
to the oppressively large presence at Reason of lads and lasses
with Irish surnames, starting with yours truly.