States Rights revisited

As a progressive I have seen my attitudes towards "States Rights" evolve the last few years. I'm an old fart and remember the civil rights movement and felt at the time that "states rights" were an evil obstacle to doing what was morally right. We now find ourselves in a position where the very tool we liberals/progressives used to make the world "right" is about to be used against us by the flat earth theocrats who have gained power. Another liberal/progressive, Blake over at HogBlog gives us a good argument for "state rights", Oregon is the "Labratory of Democracy":

My position is simple. I am a liberal, and a libertarian (for people, not corporate rights), and I think that it’s time to give the states back the right to experiment with policies that only effect their local citizens. Let Massachusets have gay marriage, let Texas ban it, let California have medical marijuana, let Oregon have euthenasia. Then let us all watch what happens in those states. Who had the better idea? If we let the states experiment with these things, we will have fact and data to look at. We will actually be able to see which policies work. As a liberal I am supposed to be against this line of reasoning because some progressive federal legislation might be struck down. If you are conservative you are supposed to be against this argument because places like Oregon might do something hippy-dippy that you don’t like. Both of those positions are selfish, and undemocratic. If the federal government passes a law that protects a right that is in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the Ammendments - then they should be able to trump State's Rights.

I'm and artist and a scientist. Both avocations encourage experimentation, "lets see what will happen if. I also have come the realization that you can't legislate tolerance, you have to teach tolerance. All of the pro gay marriage legislation or court victories won't do what one or two successful experiments in individual states will do. This aging hippy has become a fan of states rights.