Is that a reference to the Alien and Sedition Act? As you know, the elaboration of federal and state powers was not in play then. SCOTUS was inactive. Smiting federalist perspetives for that is a red herring. As Madison noted, the larger the public square, the more effective the checks and balances of the competing interests. Pluralism to really work requires a national stage, and we are one nation.
Actually, it was a cheap joke on the Federalist party. I do that sometimes.