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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   26637 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 4, 2023

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No, they just put him in for contempt on the word of the judge who gave the order.

Again this is without precedent, so I don't think anyone can be confident in this outcome.

In the vast majority of times the question of the State's authority to resist Federal intervention has arisen, the whole situation gets put on hold and fast-tracked to the Supreme Court. Since that's one of the main reasons they exist.

So understand that I can envision the scenario where Abbot backs down after a SCOTUS ruling establishing that he's apparently in the wrong, but I have a much, much harder time envisioning (and ascribe low probability to) Federal agents immediately jumping to arrest a sitting Governor on a contempt order where there is any probability that the State government declines to cooperate and there's likely an immediate appeal.

I mean Jesus, there IS precedent of Federal Agents Attempting to serve warrants in Texas wherein the party on the other side declined to cooperate. It was a debacle all around and I doubt that the FedGov has really forgotten that lesson.

Likewise, FedGov has folded in more recent memory when faced with CIVILIAN resistance. FedGov didn't just roll through the barricades and easily arrest those involved. It was way messier overall.

Cliven Bundy is, as of now, still a free man. Strange to see that FedGov can be cowed by a rancher out of Nevada and yet conclude they would simply steamroll the Governor of one of the largest states in the Country without a second thought.

Anyhow, I doubt any of this comes to fruition, I just think "they'll put him in Federal Prison" is not the easy checkmate move you're asserting.

There is plenty of precedent to throw people in jail for contempt on the word of the judge who claimed the contempt. That's how contempt works.

In the vast majority of times the question of the State's authority to resist Federal intervention has arisen, the whole situation gets put on hold and fast-tracked to the Supreme Court. Since that's one of the main reasons they exist.

The precedents are now in place; no need to wait. The Insurrection Act exists, and the National Guard can be federalized at the word of the President.

Cliven Bundy is, as of now, still a free man. Strange to see that FedGov can be cowed by a rancher out of Nevada and yet conclude they would simply steamroll the Governor of one of the largest states in the Country without a second thought.

Steamrollering Cliven Bundy doesn't politically benefit anyone; the bureaucracy might do it on its own but it doesn't help the political set. Steamrolling Abbott with a sufficient legal fig leaf is like steamrolling Wallace back in the day -- it shows who is in charge.

Strange for you to, in response to /u/the_nybbler predicting that the Feds will use overwhelming force to roll over any state resistance, bring up Waco siege as an example of Feds having trouble with serving warrants. Yeah, next time they have troubles, they do another Waco, why not?

Because Waco was considered an ur-example of a poorly run operation that resulted in more carnage than was really necessary and the exact sort of collateral damage (women, kids) that should be avoided whenever possible.

It lasted 51 days on top of it all, so for a long time they DID repel the government's ability to serve the warrant.

At least, consider how the most recent popular documentary about it was received. I don't think public opinion on the situation was favorable to the state, and would the President really want to have that kind of massacre on their hands?

I dunno, there was no major upside for the Government regarding how that turned out. It is fathomable that they might risk that sort of event again for a sufficiently important goal, but I doubt they'd be eager to do so.

I don't think public opinion on the situation was favorable to the state.

Pretty sure you’re wrong. Violent persecution of religious sects is surprisingly popular.

Because Waco was considered an ur-example of a poorly run operation that resulted in more carnage than was really necessary and the exact sort of collateral damage (women, kids) that should be avoided whenever possible.

Citation needed, I think. The government investigated and repeatedly cleared itself of wrongdoing. Nobody was held accountable in any way or suffered any consequence. The government won every lawsuit filed against it. The most they would admit is that some information about the use of incendiary devices was withheld, for which unspecified disciplinary action was pursued against unspecified individuals, with undisclosed outcome. The government's position was and remains that they did a pretty good job and that bad PR is a result of disinformation and conspiracy theories.

Public opinion at the time was absolutely favorable to the state; the general sentiment was the Branch Davidians were a bunch of religious wackos who molested kids and shot at the government and deserved what was coming to them. ATF ended up looking utterly incompetent, but that was the worst of it for the government.

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