No surprise…nullification—the argument that states have the right to invalidate federal laws they claim are unconstitutional—is back and Republicans love it. They have come a long way from the party that first formed around the idea that nullification, used as a defense of slavery, was an evil that must be eradicated. The Civil War, everyone believed, took care of that. However, during the civil rights movement’s heyday, Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, respectively, had to invoke the Insurrection Act to send in the 101st Airborne Division when Southern governors defied federal edicts and attempted to deny Black students their right to an education. Thereafter, nullification was believed to be once more consigned to history’s rubbish heap.
Not so fast.
In January, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas decided to go wholeheartedly over to the Dark Side and tell the Supreme Court to take a powder. They had the temerity to rule that his attempts to block the federal government from policing the U.S. border with Mexico, including saving kids from drowning in the Rio Grande, were illegal and must stop. Incredibly, 25 Republican state governors are cheering his defiance and encouraging him to continue to ignore the Court’s ruling.
Two things about that decision and Texas’s defiance of it:
John C. Calhoun’s warped 19th century notion of nullification is often considered one of the triggers of his state’s (South Carolina) secession that led very quickly to the Civil War. However, Calhoun first advanced this extreme proposition in 1828, when he opposed the federal imposition of tariffs that the South called the “Tariff of Abominations.” At the time, he was Vice President of the United States. Four years later, South Carolina enacted an Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs null, void, and nonbinding on the state. President Andrew Jackson responded by issuing a proclamation asserting the supremacy of the federal government. In short, South Carolina was nullifying the federal tariff within their state and threatened to secede from the Union if federal officers tried to enforce the tariff. President Jackson then threatened to use military force to enforce the tariff and punish the traitors. “Old Hickory” said he would lead the troops himself and hang Calhoun from the first tree he saw.
Congress modified the tariff and South Carolina backed down. The crisis over nullification was thus postponed for another three decades. The Civil War resolved the matter for another century, then it resurfaced. Here it is again: Republicans are applauding Abbott’s decision to flout the Supreme Court, even though it has a conservative Republican supermajority.
Andrew Jackson was absolutely correct in calling nullification treason. Abbott and the 25 Republican governors who signed the letter endorsing the Texas governor’s treachery are also traitors, just like their insurrectionist presumptive presidential nominee.
The descent of this country into a lawless morass encouraged by major party political leaders is an alarming development that must be stopped in its tracks. If allowed to fester, it would be the end of our Constitutional system and the beginning of the darkest days in our history, an era from which we may not recover.
Meanwhile, Republicans, who got Democrats to move completely in their direction with respect to the bipartisan border bill, are now backing away from what is in essence their own bill because Donald Trump, who has raged hysterically about the porous border for a decade, demands that they kill the bill because he wants the border as a campaign issue. Trump’s Capitol Hill doormats are scurrying quickly to succumb to his demand, proof (if any more is needed) that they have zero interest in actually governing. It is an understatement to say that Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.
The sideshow to all of this Republican malfeasance is the attempt by Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for…nothing. No high crimes. No misdemeanors. Only because they don’t like Biden administration border policies. If impeached by the House, he would become only the second cabinet secretary in 150 years to suffer impeachment.
President Biden could federalize the Texas National Guard, or invoke the Insurrection Act and order federal troops to the border, but chancing a military confrontation with state law enforcement under the direction of a lunatic governor is a risky proposition. A better alternative would be to arrest Abbott and his traitorous fellow governors and try them under 18 U.S. Code §2383 (rebellion or insurrection). They must not be allowed to get away with this rebellious conduct.
Dick Hermann
February 5, 2024
Not so fast.
In January, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas decided to go wholeheartedly over to the Dark Side and tell the Supreme Court to take a powder. They had the temerity to rule that his attempts to block the federal government from policing the U.S. border with Mexico, including saving kids from drowning in the Rio Grande, were illegal and must stop. Incredibly, 25 Republican state governors are cheering his defiance and encouraging him to continue to ignore the Court’s ruling.
Two things about that decision and Texas’s defiance of it:
- It was a 5-4 decision. Justices Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch apparently believe that a state has the right to disregard any federal government action with which it disagrees, which is pretty dumbfounding, to say the least.
- The fact that half the nation’s governors believe it is just fine to nullify a Supreme Court ruling demonstrates that America’s retreat from democracy is much farther along than any of us thought. And here we assumed that the danger was merely Trump’s possible return to power.
John C. Calhoun’s warped 19th century notion of nullification is often considered one of the triggers of his state’s (South Carolina) secession that led very quickly to the Civil War. However, Calhoun first advanced this extreme proposition in 1828, when he opposed the federal imposition of tariffs that the South called the “Tariff of Abominations.” At the time, he was Vice President of the United States. Four years later, South Carolina enacted an Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs null, void, and nonbinding on the state. President Andrew Jackson responded by issuing a proclamation asserting the supremacy of the federal government. In short, South Carolina was nullifying the federal tariff within their state and threatened to secede from the Union if federal officers tried to enforce the tariff. President Jackson then threatened to use military force to enforce the tariff and punish the traitors. “Old Hickory” said he would lead the troops himself and hang Calhoun from the first tree he saw.
Congress modified the tariff and South Carolina backed down. The crisis over nullification was thus postponed for another three decades. The Civil War resolved the matter for another century, then it resurfaced. Here it is again: Republicans are applauding Abbott’s decision to flout the Supreme Court, even though it has a conservative Republican supermajority.
Andrew Jackson was absolutely correct in calling nullification treason. Abbott and the 25 Republican governors who signed the letter endorsing the Texas governor’s treachery are also traitors, just like their insurrectionist presumptive presidential nominee.
The descent of this country into a lawless morass encouraged by major party political leaders is an alarming development that must be stopped in its tracks. If allowed to fester, it would be the end of our Constitutional system and the beginning of the darkest days in our history, an era from which we may not recover.
Meanwhile, Republicans, who got Democrats to move completely in their direction with respect to the bipartisan border bill, are now backing away from what is in essence their own bill because Donald Trump, who has raged hysterically about the porous border for a decade, demands that they kill the bill because he wants the border as a campaign issue. Trump’s Capitol Hill doormats are scurrying quickly to succumb to his demand, proof (if any more is needed) that they have zero interest in actually governing. It is an understatement to say that Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.
The sideshow to all of this Republican malfeasance is the attempt by Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for…nothing. No high crimes. No misdemeanors. Only because they don’t like Biden administration border policies. If impeached by the House, he would become only the second cabinet secretary in 150 years to suffer impeachment.
President Biden could federalize the Texas National Guard, or invoke the Insurrection Act and order federal troops to the border, but chancing a military confrontation with state law enforcement under the direction of a lunatic governor is a risky proposition. A better alternative would be to arrest Abbott and his traitorous fellow governors and try them under 18 U.S. Code §2383 (rebellion or insurrection). They must not be allowed to get away with this rebellious conduct.
Dick Hermann
February 5, 2024
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