This week, Republican governors across the country escalated their conflict with the Biden administration over the southern border by invoking the same legal theory that slave states wielded to justify secession before the Civil War.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, joined by 25 other GOP governors, now argues that the Biden administration has violated the federal government’s “compact” with the states—an abdication that justifies state usurpation of federal authority at the border.
This language embraces the Confederacy’s conception of the Constitution as a mere compact that states may exit when they feel it has been broken. It’s dangerous rhetoric that transcends partisan grandstanding. And as before, it’s being used to legitimize both nullification and dehumanization.
I invoke the Sherman Rebuke of Secession.
Speeding towards a 21st century version of American civil war doesn’t seem the smartest thing to do. 🙄
As opposed to a 21st century version of the Jim Crow century? Ceding lawful Federal authority to ultraconservative states is nothing less than a cession of the rights of US society to ultraconservative cretins, and is notoriously hard to reverse.
Civil War in the U.S. is highly unlikely in the current economy. Firstly because big business would never allow that kind of hit to the stock market, but also because you’re not going to get people leaving their families and going to the front lines when everyone is living paycheck-to-paycheck without a draft and good luck with trying to institute a draft.
Also… ya know, a big mismatch in technology. Sure a lot of folks have ARs and shit, some folks have Barret .50 cal sniper rifles. None of them have a fucking AH-64E Apache.
but also because you’re not going to get people leaving their families and going to the front lines when everyone is living paycheck-to-paycheck without a draft and good luck with trying to institute a draft.
Sure you are. One of the first things every civil war starts out doing is paying soldiery. What better way to lure those living paycheck-to-paycheck than offering them a paycheck AND a cause?
Plus they would have to put down their iphones to go fight and give up their gaming.
Even a single red state ‘leaving’ the US would crush their house majority and deprive them of two senators. No way it happens.
Yeah, but they know a Democratic majority in the Senate will have just enough Manchins to be effectively a Republican majority.
I love how you’re downvoted for saying something factually true. It’s so insanely frustrating how much in denial Americans are about Democrats being center-right.
I agree about the centrist part, but not because of Manchin.
Manchin isn’t some rotating villain conspiracy. He’s from fucking West Virginia. What are you expecting? Dems don’t vote in lockstep, and need more than the slimmest majority to legislate.
Republicans aren’t much different. It’s not like they’re legislating.
Even better, since they receive more federal money than they give, we’d be left with excess money that can be used for states that actually give a damn about their people.
Texas might be the one red state that’s not true for. They make a lot of money, it helps that they have oil.
But you forget that they only make that money as part of the US. If they were their own country they would have to replicate a lot of government institutions, with little experience or help from other countries.
It would be very expensive to put an embassy in every country around the world, or negotiate trade agreements. The UK is fucked after leaving the EU and they already had all the government infrastructure and relationships set up.
Texas is not a signatory of NAFTA, so they would literally be left out of North American trade. They’d end up at the level of Mexico in 20 years due to brain drain.
He’s got the US flag behind him, and he’s threatening to secede?!!
I mean his hero is a presidential candidate who is selling shirts that say ‘No Surrender’ under a photo of his mugshot, taken after he surrendered to the police.
You know what happens when theories are tested and found out to be false?
They’re no longer used.
“Not like that! I want all of the privilege but none of the responsibility. Why are you being so unreasonable?!”
- Republicans
Reminds me of Quebec. They wanted to separate from Canada but wanted to still use Canadian money and still have access to national Canadian programs.
It’s not a pick and choose situation as much as you like it. You’re either in the country and a part of it, or you’re not.
Honestly, it’s the story of conservatives literally everywhere.
Conservatives in UK: We want all of the benefits of being in the EU but not pay as much into it as those other countries, use our own money.
EU: SIGH Fine!
(Later)
Conservatives in UK: We want out! We can’t stand the fact that non-white people can enter our country whenever they like. And we don’t want refuges.
EU: Fine!
(Later, after brexit)
Conservatives: why can’t we just travel to Europe like we used to?
What got me was wanting to be able to continue to have Canadian Passports.
A lot of these movements are dominated be people that have a lot of pride in their region (which is fine) but don’t have a good grasp on international affairs to the point that they don’t actually understand what it means to be a country.
They do this on the micro level all the time with that “sovereign citizen” horse manure - going on and on about their “rights”? What fucking rights? You declared yourself someone who is not a citizen of the United States?!
So if Texas were to secede, then cry that their electoral votes don’t count, that would just be the sovereign citizen BS writ large.
