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.

  • @zigmus64
    link
    148 months ago

    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.

    • peopleproblems
      link
      18 months ago

      The usual comeback is “well, look at where the bases are!”

      I don’t think it’s a coincidence they are located in the south.

      • @zigmus64
        link
        38 months ago

        Dude, there’s military bases all over the country…

        • peopleproblems
          link
          38 months ago

          Ok so, re-reading my comment from 9 hours ago, I can honestly say I don’t know what my train of thought was.

          • @zigmus64
            link
            28 months ago

            No worries dude… I know I’ve been exactly in that spot