at the center, a prominent Republican…whose fiery rhetoric acts as a magnet. #RightWing#extremists are dusting off the blueprint for the #Jan6 storming of the US Capitol & using it to rally support for their cause du jour: #Texas Gov #GregAbbott’s showdown w/the #federal govt over #border enforcement. Monitoring groups warn that #Abbott’s posturing, like #Trump’s “Stop the Steal” effort, heightens the risk of #PoliticalViolence as supporters converge on #EaglePass, a frontier outpost of 28k.
A century & a half ago, Confederate Gen Joseph Orville Shelby splashed into the wild waters of the Rio Grande off this border city & fled to Mexico, refusing to surrender to Union soldiers.
Now the park named in his honor (?) has become a front line in a feud between the #state & the #federal govt — a power struggle over who ultimately has the right to control the border….
In a Shelby-like act of defiance, the governor is invoking the state’s right to defend itself against what he sees as an invasion. #Abbott made national headlines when he seized the park in #EaglePass this month & shut out U.S. #Border Patrol agents who had long used the terrain as a staging point — action the governor’s supporters saw as a take-charge move, while his detractors viewed it as a dangerous #overreach of #state#power.
The feud between #Abbott & the #Biden admin is heating up just as the presidential #election campaign gets underway. The issue has galvanized #Republicans, some of whom are now questioning the merits of a #bipartisan#border package tied to #Ukraine#aid after #Trump called it “meaningless.” #POTUS Biden has been pushed to take a harsher stance — declaring Fri that he would “shut down” the southern border when illegal crossings surge.
…It’s been nearly two years since #Abbott & other #Republican governors began traveling to this Democratic-voting Tejano city for news conferences denouncing “open borders” & unveiling plans to deploy #Texas#troops & drop river buoys. The #state’s #border w/ #Mexico is an #international boundary under the #jurisdiction of #federal authorities, but Abbott & his allies contend they have the right to intervene because the #Biden admin hasn’t done enough….
“It’s the most expensive political campaign paid for by the taxpayers,” said a chuckling Pepe Aranda (referring to #Abbott)….
But even as residents criticize Abbott’s push, they will grumble about the resources that migration has drained from public coffers. Local fire & police are sometimes so busy handling calls at the river that ambulances & personnel are not available for residents. Patients have had to wait for a bed at the hospital because injured or sick migrants occupy all 18 of them.
President Biden must act decisively in this moment against the accumulation of bad faith and extremism that has accumulated without response under the political, moral and un-American corruption of men like Greg #Abbott and Ken Paxton. This issue cannot be ignored or neglected. It should be perfectly clear by now that Donald Trump is cheering for the chaos because it is an element of his demagoguery. He is running to restore order out of the madness he has created — just like Adolf Hitler succeeded in doing between 1928 and 1932 Germany — Steve Schmidt #quotes#quote#Texas
#Abbott’s accusation that the federal government has breached the #Constitution by having “broken the compact between the United States and the States” is almost identical to South Carolina’s 1860 declaration of #secession.
Furthermore, Abbott espouses the fringe theory of constitutional law known as “compact theory,” popularized by #Confederate states during the #CivilWar era and supported by Confederate President #JeffersonDavis.
Where does this loser get off? We need laws to stop this kind of veiled insurrection. Trump lost all POTUS power by the will of the American people. Biden needs to remind him, and media need to ignore him or bring these shenanigans to the light.
"Trump calls for states to deploy National Guard to Texas amid border feud"