“never once waivering from the idea that federal authority supersedes state authority—continues to guide legislation and constitutional interpretation.”
He gets no bonus points from me for that.
The reverse would be in essence a confederacy. That was exactly the conflict at the time—federation vs. confederacy. But the supremacy of federal government only exists (or should only exist) within the express powers granted by the Constitution. The so-called elastic clause that is too often misused is not a blank check. The Constitution specifically says that additional powers can exists only for enforcing the express powers. That’s where we’ve gone off track.