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.

  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    If President Biden doesn’t come down hard on this he’s going to be remembered as a second Buchanan.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      The GOP wants him to take the bait. Their goal is to block humane border legislation, implement inhumane alternative solutions, and taunt Biden into removing the inhumane shit. That way they can campaign on “Biden wants to aggressively keep the status quo at the border.”

      If Biden is going to crack down on Texas, he also needs to have some sort of big bold alternative thing in place.

      • Machinist3359@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        I don’t know, it’s really a lose lose either way. Biden is either too soft and the GOP calls it a win and does something worse, or he is too tough and he’s called a dictator. I’d rather he take decisive action and put the fear of God in them than let it escalate and get even more immigrants killed. Honestly after the shipping migrants to liberal states stunt he should have thrown the book and/or CIA at 'em.

        • EtherWhack@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I wouldn’t throw out that it also may be an attempt to sway the swing states off the teeter and vote in their favor by giving him that no-win. May also be a way to distract the left side while trying to radicalize the right into another insurrection.

      • AutistoMephisto@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I say to fucking take the bait. Come down hard, be a “tyrant” for once. Do what Lincoln did, suspend habeas corpus, declare martial law, slap every GOP Governor siding with this shit in handcuffs. They want to act like criminals, treat them as criminals.

        • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          The funny thing is, Republicans would probably respect that. They value hierarchy and don’t have many actual policies. Biden acting like a king might actually pull voters from Trump, at the expense of actual Democrats (who probably wouldn’t vote).

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Just one thing. They’re going to claim he’s lawless no matter what. He could give them everything they want and they will still claim it. He’s already the most conservative Democrat president on the border in modern times.