Hum de hum:
Texas’ razor wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal border crossings encouraged by Biden’s open border policies.
We continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration. pic.twitter.com/PE8wiMYaYI
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 24, 2024
Didn't the Supreme Court rule just two days ago that the Border Patrol could cut the razor wire that Texas has been installing along the border? Why yes.
So what's the theory here? I suppose Abbott figures the Supreme Court said only that the Border Patrol could cut the wire. It didn't prohibit Texas from putting up more. So now we have an inane race between Texas putting up razor wire and the Border Patrol immediately cutting it down?
Don't mess with Texas. But then again, don't mess with the Supreme Court either. At some point they're going to lose patience.
Well, the 4 on the Supreme Court who have an unusual interpretation of the Supremacy Clause aren't going to lose patience so it's going to have to be all 5 who told Texas to stand down.
I don’t see Barrett or Roberts ordering Texas to do anything. I suspect they were weak votes for the constitutional norms that Abbot’s flouting. And most particularly my guess is that they’re not going to stick up for Biden since Biden’s been astonishingly reluctant to stand up for himself.
But also, I think that Abbot sees the writing on the wall. He’s got four definite votes and two more that I think are probably wavering. He’s not going to obey any orders from the Supreme Court and they know it—which means they probably won’t precipitate a crisis which they know they can’t win. So Texas gets its own foreign policy and control of its borders. And the Democratic presidency gets nothing.
One wonders if the supremacy clause applies to the troops putting up the wire.
It might but only if they’re National Guard troops and Biden orders them activated. Which I think he’s reluctant to do because he fears that they would refuse to obey his orders and would instead choose to follow the orders of Abbot. Thereby precipitating a serious constitutional crisis.
The crisis has already been precipitated. If the executive branch of the federal government cannot enforce the law and exercise the supremacy clause here, the Constitution and federal government are over. We're essentially back to nullification. Let this go and it will only escalate.
I tend to agree with you. But evidently both the court and the Democratic leadership (especially Pres. Biden) seem to think the situation can be defused by letting Abbot do what he wants in obvious violation of the constitution and pretending that it’s not a constitutional crisis. I’m of the opinion that it’s inevitable that the situation will worsen because Abbot and the Republicans will keep pushing and consolidating their winnings.
The danger for Biden and the Democrats is twofold: I think that if Biden acts against Abbot, Roberts and Barrett will fold, thereby leaving him badly exposed and looking like a fool. The other (related) possibility is that Texas opposes whatever action Biden takes and you essentially have a civil war in which Biden has to occupy Texas.
I don’t see any good options for him but it does seem clear that Biden’s got to act against Abbot and soon or he will president of the red states only by sufferance.
I don't think we know how Biden intends to respond yet. I doubt he's going to sit by and let Abbott get away with ignoring the decision his own DOJ just won at the Supreme Court.
In September 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Little Rock Nine from integrating public school, as authorized by the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision. President Eisenhower then federalized those troops and ordered them to support integration. Which they did.
Biden has the same authority that Ike had. He may want to defuse tensions, if possible, but ultimately he'll need to act to assert federal control of the border. He doesn't have any choice but to do that.
On the whole, I think you are right. Nevertheless, Joe Biden isn't Dwight Eisenhower. He doesn't have his credibility with the American people and he doesn't have his military background of being a "man of action". And he has no appetite for confrontations with conservatives.
And I think that Abbot rightly has concluded that he's got a lot more room to maneuver than Faubus given that he's already got four votes on the Supreme Court and that two of the remaining give are probably not very resolute in supporting the federal Constitution. And the existence of Fox News and the state of the Republican Party also changes the political equation in ways that would make it very difficult for Biden to assert his authority.
But, clearly, you're right that Biden's got to act to restore the federal government's authority over the border and to remind Texans that they're still a part of the union. And his got to do it pretty soon or we'll have a major constitutional crisis on our hands.
I think you’re wrong about Biden. And about people’s tolerance of rogue states (to coin a phrase).
PS This is not about his “credibility.” It’s about law and the constitutional order. Americans understand that.
I don’t think I’m wrong. I hope that I have severely underestimated Biden’s ability and his resolve but I don’t think so.
In fairness to him, I also think that he’s stuck in the middle of a very bad situation with no good options. If he moves against Abbott, the first thing the Republicans will do is run to the Supreme Court where Roberts and Barrett will instantly cut the ground out from under him. And also, Biden will be operating in hostile territory on behalf of a principle in which I suspect most Texans don’t believe.
And also, Abbott strikes me as a fairly cautious man who wouldn’t push back quite so hard against Biden if he wasn’t sure of the loyalty of Texas’s military and the support of a majority of Texans.
"At some point they're going to lose patience"
If that point exists, with regard to wingnut republican at least, I doubt it comes before the presidential election at which time it may very well be moot. As may our democratic government writ large.
+1
"Don't mess with Texas"
Fun fact: the slogan "Don't Mess With Texas" was originally devised as part of an anti-littering campaign. But texans of course have forgotten that, and are more comfortable with it being an agro threat pointed at non-texans.
I suspect the expression pre-dates the anti-litter campaign.
"McClure's slogan is believed to be the first written use of 'Don't mess with Texas', although there are earlier uses of 'Don't mess with...' such as the 1966 Marvelette's song 'Don't Mess with Bill'."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Mess_with_Texas#History
"I suspect the expression pre-dates the anti-litter campaign."
I'm sure somebody uttered it, yes. But it was popularized as an anti-litter campaign.
I'm guessing "DRIVE FRIENDLY, THE TEXAS WAY" has been dead and buried ever since they went red.
Anybody who has ever driven on Texas roads knows that the Texas way is _not_ friendly driving.
"… the Texas way is _not_ friendly driving"
Worst drivers in the world.
In other news, razor wire futures hit a near-term high…
Aw this is just more sixth-grade-bully neener-neener politics, and that's pretty much ALL the Republicans have. They can't govern, nor do they appear to wish to. Hell, they can't even govern themselves. All they have is celebrating their Belonging by hating on people they define as Others.
And yeah yeah, "moderate Republicans" also say they have "issues" like Taxes and Regulations and Political Correctness and other annoying ways the Wrong Sort of People get all uppity and interfere with them doing exactly what they want to do when they want to do it, and they apparently think they're better off allying with the Emotionally Underdeveloped Party than participating with adults in actual governance.
Hard to say which of them is worse, actually. I mean, at least the Emotionally Underdeveloped have a sort of excuse.
Taxes and Regulations and Political Correctness
actually... they love taxes on green tech, regulating women's healthcare, and hate politically incorrect non-christian conservative drag queens
Well yes! Taxes and regulations for thee, but not for me. Law that protects but does not bind for Us, and law that binds but does not protect for Them.
Just a warning shot to the Court ruling on TFG’s eligibility under the 14th Amendment. I fully expect a number of red states to defy a ruling against him.
Don't make the SC angry. You wouldn't like the SC when it's angry. This portends the future if Trump is elected. The SC will rule against something, say Muslim ban 2.0, and then Trump says he'll ignore it and pardon anyone arrested and so will end the rule of law.
The Border Patrol will cut the wire when its operationally necessary. They're not going around removing all the razor wire. At least that's what they just said on CNN about 30 minutes ago.
I'd like to see it all removed and dumped on the wheelchair ramps at the Governor's Mansion and Abbott residences, but I know that's just childish.
A boy can dream, can't he?
I've suggested in the past that the governors of the states that Abbott and DeSantis have been bussing immigrants to should put the immigrants on a bus back to Texas and then give them a free AR-15 as they get off the bus. Bus them to the small towns like Pampa, Texas and see how fast Abbott stops the buses. Unfortunately it seems the governors of blue states don't know how to play by "Chicago rules."
Is Pampa a sanctuary city?
If the immigrants were just plastic toys, that might be a fun thing to do. But the immigrants are human beings. Poor, vulnerable human beings. So this suggestion is just disgusting.
I have to agree with Joel. Migrants are people and they generally don't deserve to be shipped to small towns in red states that are peopled by terrible human beings. Even if we gave them money, it would be hard to force someone to live in one of those places.
It's also worth remembering that there's at least two members of the Texas National Guard who allowed a mother and her two children to die rather than allow the Border Patrol to save them. I personally wouldn't want to be responsible for sending a migrant back to Texas where Abbott might order them killed and where members of the Texas National Guard would not hesitate to obey that order.
We are entering feudal conversation etiquette here. Could the Governor be summoned to serve the President lunch? What would an Admiral do if a Captain made an unauthorized course correction, a Field Marshall when a Brigadier changed the battery's hill? Or even another way, somebody needs a come to Jesus talk.
Good for Texas. Tell the court to drop dead. Democrats will want to use this strategy on a whole host of issues.
or maybe have austin ignore the state government
I recall many years ago in some mideast war the Pope pled for peace, Some wit asked how many divisions the Pope had. Biden has 18 in the Army and 4 in the Marine Corps.
how many divisions the Pope had
i think that was stalin
But there's a real question in my mind (and, I suspect, in Biden's mind, too) about whether the military will follow Biden's orders as they did Lincoln's or whether they'll simply refuse to act against the Texas military (National Guard, State Police, Texas Rangers).
It's worth noting that Biden's never acted against conservatives in ways that would solidify his grip on the executive branch. Fox News still plays on televisions on military bases, there's been no purge of Trumpists from the Border Patrol or the INS or even the FBI and Secret Service. So it's not completely clear to me that the people in those agencies will actually obey Biden or a popular red state governor.
Trump will pull secret service protection from Biden, Obama, and Clinton if he wins. And they will happily withdraw.
I think that's very likely once Trump's consolidated his hold over the government and the country. My guess is that he'll have them arrested and imprisoned at some point. And I'm sure that the Republicans have put enough sleepers in the Secret Service that there will be no real objections.
Federalize the Texas national guard and order them to stand down. If they don't court martial them.
Ideally, that’s exactly what Biden needs to do. But the unanswered question hanging over the who business is whether the Texas National Guard will obey the president or the governor. And what happens if they refuse? Biden’s in a tough spot and I’m not sure that he’s either ready for a confrontation or nasty enough to do what’s necessary to win it.