Month: January 2024

24 GOP Governors Message Solidarity With Abbott in Texas

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24 GOP Governors Message Solidarity with Abbott in Texas

So, I was watching the Big Lebowski tonight.  That movie has an odd effect on me.  It’s a comic tour de force.  It piles absurdity on absurdity with nothing but bizarre characters as far as the eye can see.  And I find most of the humor highly entertaining.  But it always sort of depresses me too.  I guess it’s because even in their comedies the Coen Brothers are always laughing at us.  And it’s not a friendly laugh.  They’re dramatizing the meaninglessness of human existence.  Well, at least that’s how it affects me.

Then I read this.

The full list is:

Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Gov. Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).  The only abstainers were Republican governors in Vermont and Nevada.  But those aren’t conservative states so there’s no surprise here.

So, this is a mildly encouraging sign.  Maybe the Republicans are starting to realize they have an enormous amount of leverage because of the panic about getting money for Ukraine.  They should demand that Biden deport ten million illegal aliens before he gets a penny.  But what are the odds of the House holding out for that?  Probably pretty slim.

But I do see some good coming of the Republican governors finding common ground.  And of course, I fantasize that they’ll go beyond a letter of support.  What they should do is coordinate a plan to not only close the border but to eject the illegals whenever they show up in the red states.  This is another case of federal law that is being ignored by the federal government.  They could announce to the country that they are going to arrest all illegals and give them a chance to hand themselves over and instead get free airfare back to their homes.

This is the basis of what I was calling the Red State Council.  The red states coordinating to circumvent the sabotage of the federal government and protect each other by enforcing the Constitution within their own borders.  So there’s the tie-in to the Big Lebowski.  It’s filled with nihilism, both explicit and implied.  And that is what the federal government stands for and enforces.  But luckily for us we don’t have to have a Coen Brothers moral to our story.  It is possible to end up with a happily ever afterward story line.  All we need is a bunch of red state governors who decide that twenty five states is enough to stand their ground and refuse to be stampeded on by Biden and his minions.  Well, I guess I should get around to doing a review of the movie.  After all, the dude abides.

Guest Contributor – Chemist – 25JAN2024 – Another Texan’s View

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As a Texan, the same question came to my mind: “What took you so long?” This has been going on for 3 years!
But I think one or more of your suggested reasons is the answer. Abbott needed to make the northern blue cities feel the pain before he could act. (Full credit to DeSantis who bussed illegals first.) Now that the invasion is recognized as the number 1 problem facing the US, Abbott’s actions are winning in the public arena.
Does PINO Joe want to go toe to toe with Texas in an election year?
Maybe. Maybe that’s the plan. And maybe after a bloody encounter his puppet masters will pull Joe out at the last minute and put Big Mike on the ballot in his place.
Then Michelle can distance herself from the “Recent Unpleasantness” during the election (No clue what they will do with Kamala) and the regime has another object lesson for the rest of the country.

One thing is for sure. We are living in interesting times. (See ancient Chinese curse.)

Abbott’s Declaration Revisited

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One of the fellows on the site who lives in Texas asked a very interesting question about Governor Abbott’s declaration of an invasion and his authority under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 of the US Constitution to defend his state from this invasion.  He asked, “I wonder–why did Gov Abbott have to wait so long?”  It’s a good question.

Now, I’m not an expert on Texas or on Greg Abbott.  In fact, I’d love to get opinions from as many people from Texas as I can.  But in lieu of that I’ll speculate.

  • Abbott waited this long because this is an inherently risky action that he didn’t want to have to undertake.  But the crisis has gotten so much worse that it has become an existential threat to the whole state.
  • Maybe it has only recently become clear that such a rationale for taking over jurisdiction from the border patrol was justified under the Constitution. In fact, maybe someone outside of the Texas state government provided the justification.
  • Possibly the Supreme Court’s decision forced Abbott’s hand.
  • Maybe Abbott believes that illegal immigration has become such an unpopular issue that he doesn’t think that Biden will resist his efforts to put a halt to the problem.

But whatever the reason that he waited, the declaration is a very clear and strong stand to take against the federal government.  State military action is only warranted under this clause when war is actually underway at the border.  After what the Supreme Court recently ruled it’s entirely possible that they will side with Biden against what Abbott has declared.  This is a radical move.

I don’t mind saying that this action has captured my imagination.  This is the first time anyone has told the feds to pound sand that I can remember in my adult lifetime.  What if this is finally that revolt by the states that we’ve all been waiting for all these years?  If Abbott takes this moment to implement all the actions that are needed to purge Texas of illegal immigrants, he would galvanize the nation.  Other states might mimic what he is doing and I believe it would synergize with Donald Trump’s anti-immigration message.

I am aware that Biden has enormous resources to attack Abbott’s efforts.  He can declare authority over the Texas National Guard and order them to stand down.  Theoretically he can declare Texas to have committed an insurrection by blocking the Border Patrol from letting the illegal immigrants in.  Theoretically he can arrest Abbott and the whole Texas state administration.  Or he can back down.

This will play out over the next few days and weeks.  The question is who will blink.  I had always thought that Greg Abbott was a Bush Republican.  I assumed he would never revolt against the federal government.  But what I’ve seen here today “begs to differ.”

Well, I better go soak my head under some cold water.  I’m much too stirred up by all this unbridled enthusiasm.  It doesn’t contribute to my peace of mind.  But I do admit, it is fun.

H/T to ArthurinCali for Link on Texas Declaration of Emergency

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I saw Arthur’s retweet of this declaration of self-defense for Texas against the dereliction of the federal government’s duty to keep illegal aliens out.  It’s interesting.  Governor Abbott sounds like he’s found his backbone.  Here’s the conclusion:

“The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border.”

Greg Abbott

Governor of Texas

 

Sounds like he means business.  I hope he does.

 

Here’s the image of the document and below it is the text.

 

 

STATE OF TEXAS
GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT
January 24, 2024
The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now. President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration.
Despite having been put on notice in a series of letters one of which I delivered to him by hand-President Biden has ignored Texas’s demand that he perform his constitutional duties.
• President Biden has violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress. Instead of prosecuting immigrants for the federal crime of illegal entry, President Biden has sent his lawyers into federal courts to sue Texas for taking action to secure the border.
•
President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The effect is to illegally allow their en masse parole into the United States.
By wasting taxpayer dollars to tear open Texas’s border security infrastructure, President Biden has enticed illegal immigrants away from the 28 legal entry points along this State’s southern border- bridges where nobody drowns and into the dangerous waters of the Rio Grande.
Under President Biden’s lawless border policies, more than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border in just 3 years. That is more than the population of 33 different States in this country. This illegal refusal to protect the States has inflicted unprecedented harm on the People all across the United States.
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that States should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border. That is why the Framers included both Article IV, § 4, which promises that the federal government “shall protect each [State] against invasion,” and Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which acknowledges “the States’ sovereign interest in protecting their borders.” Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387, 419 (2012) (Scalia, J., dissenting).
The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border.

Greg Abbott

Governor of Texas

Has the Deep State Overplayed Its Hand?

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So, yesterday’s post was probably as pessimistic as I’ve ever felt.  The Supreme Court’s siding with the Biden border policy is so maddening that I could feel nothing but anger and hopelessness.  But there is a flip-side to such blatant harm being perpetrated against our sovereignty.  It could trigger an enormous groundswell of anger and support for Trump completely out of all proportion to his popularity with the other half of the country.  If the cities continue to fill up with illegal aliens who use up all the resources of these poor urban areas and contribute to crime and increase the misery of the inhabitants then maybe beyond all possibility of fraud the country could reject Biden and the Democrats so convincingly that even the oligarchs will be forced to relinquish the keys to the government.

Now granted this is a hard premise to sell.  When Trump won in 2016 the Left began a systematic campaign of sabotage against his administration that is still ongoing.  It seems unlikely that a bottom-up movement would have the organization to challenge the veritable tidal wave of voter fraud that the Left will unleash next November.  Poll watchers and lawyers will be needed to witness and accuse the cheaters while it is actually going down.  I don’t think that program is being built up.  I don’t think Trump knows how to organize an effective defense of his election.  And yet.

And yet, there is such an anger and frustration growing in this country that maybe January 6th was just a very early rumble in advance of an earthquake of unprecedented size.  Let’s say an 11.0 on the ten-point Richter scale.  If angry reactions sweep over a country that sees another fabricated Biden “victory” it might be enough to scare the Deep State into backing down.  And if it doesn’t it just might trigger the real insurrection that they stage-managed on January 6th.

Honestly, I have no certainty at all about what is most likely to happen.  We’re in completely uncharted territory.  But they’ve been goading the majority of people in this country going all the way back to when that creepy weirdo Obama got elected.  And every new incitement has been a magnitude larger than the last one.  It feels like they are intentionally pushing this thing toward an explosion of anger.  It’s entirely possible that they have a plan that depends on this explosion to allow them to sweep away the vestiges of popular government.  But as I’ve been intimating who’s to say they haven’t underestimated just how large the reaction will be to their goading.  If they do underestimate the reaction, what follows could be something like the reception that Louis XVI faced after the fall of the Bastille.  There might be a reckoning for the people who have set themselves over us and made our lives a chaotic misery.

So that’s “the other hand.”  If it turns out the master minds of the Deep State have underestimated the depth of anger and hatred, they’ve generated we may see the upending of their whole regime.  Just something to think about.  No guarantees given.