Governor Abbott Issues Statement On Texas’ Constitutional Right To Self-Defense
January 24, 2024 | Austin, Texas | Press Release
Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as President Joe Biden continues to attack Texas and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border.
“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,” reads the statement. “President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. 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.”
None of that matters. Who wins and who backs down doesn’t matter and whether there’s violence doesn’t matter.
It’s about the precedent and the demonstrated loss of legitimacy of the federal government. It’s either civil war or the evaporation of the empire now, no more offramps
I lack the imagination necessary to guess what would be next. I agree with you that America ending is the only eventual conclusion. But I think the actors involved don’t even know how to do it. None of these people know what genuine conflict is or how to do it. Their lives are built on comfort.
We’re at the precipice and all actors involved are confused and comfortable. Abbott doesn’t want a civil war. He’s a millionaire. No elected official in America is prepared for a situation where they might reasonable be assassinated or their house burned down. None of them want a warzone in their front yard. They want to continue their happy little lives going to PF Chang’s every Sunday and trips to Venice every year.
It’s all theater until the moment they’re ready to die.
Here’s one possibility: Devolution of federal powers, and the emergence of a dual power system through interstate alliances. Eventually the federal union becomes meaningless and balkanization has already arrived.
But the appearance of a “strong” external enemy could still prevent this.