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.

  • girlfreddy
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    5 months ago

    Speeding towards a 21st century version of American civil war doesn’t seem the smartest thing to do. 🙄

    • PugJesus@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      82
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      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.

        • PugJesus@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          35
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          Yeah. My thinking is that a forceful response by the US government will end up more “Ruby Bridges” than “Sherman’s March”, but we also must be ready for the latter if the GOP proves insane enough to escalate. I think it was Sherman who once wrote that the wages of tolerating secession would be eternal war, as local powers squabble and quarrel and attempt to oppress one another, and the central government becomes powerless and eventually withers away - or becomes authoritarian as people (foolishly) begin to yearn for a ‘strong man’ to restore order.

          • growsomethinggood@reddthat.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            5 months ago

            The thing is, Republicans here don’t actually want to escalate, or at least the Republican politicians. They want to scream loudly that whatever Biden does is hurting them, their constituents, and the country, whether it’s “weak” inaction or authoritarian action. It is an election year after all.

            Will the radicalized, bloodthirsty Republican population escalate though? That’s maybe more likely. I’d be more concerned for violence as a minority in these states than as the National Guard.

      • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        5 months ago

        The GOP has been blackmailing and gaslighting the public with callbacks to Puritanical values for decades, but now their true bigotry is showing and they should be dismissed for the hypocrites they are.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      5 months ago

      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.

      • zigmus64@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        5 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.

      • PugJesus@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        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?

          • PugJesus@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            5 months ago

            Plenty of businessmen who are absolute fucking loons. Just look at the Mypillow guy. Same way the American Revolution got started, and the US Civil War. Rich folk loan the rebel government money either out of idealism or as a bet on the success on the rebels.

            My point isn’t that it’s sustainable. My point is that it’s very possible to lure people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck to get involved in a war at the outset. The issue comes if the war drags on, and the rebel government starts to have trouble paying wages.

          • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            edit-2
            5 months ago

            That’s really just a measure of population. Texas is one of the few red “giver” states

            ETA: To answer your question, they could do the same as last time. They would issue confederate promissory notes, which would only have worth if they win. Probably at inflated numbers to appeal to greed and bypass the obvious problems with that idea