Awards season is one of my favorite times of the year. It gives me an excuse to nerd out about the movies and television shows that I’ve spent all year watching, but more importantly, it gives me an excuse to yell at people on Twitter about how my favorites are better than their favorites.
The tweet below illustrates exactly how I feel about awards season but also, it carries weight regarding politics too.
Nebraska Republicans have the same selective hearing that I like to have during awards season. When Past Lives gets nominated for Best Picture, it’s the accomplishment of a lifetime and is meant to be celebrated. But, when Charles Melton gets snubbed from Best Supporting Actor, it means that the Oscars are a sham and rigged and nobody cares. And I’ll be the first one to acknowledge the hypocrisy.
And the Nebraska Republicans are pulling the plays out of my playbook! They’re shouting the joys of small government from the rooftops, but when a woman simply wants bodily autonomy, it’s suddenly the duty of government to interfere in everyone’s life. Have some shame!
Hypocrisy at the Border
Our immigration system has been broken since the days of Ellis Island, and yet over 100 years later, a long-term answer still eludes us.
What we are dealing with now, however, is a crisis, and a crisis on many levels. The first of these crises is the immigration crisis itself.
The number of encounters between border authorities and migrants along the US border is at its highest point since 2000. That means a couple of things– first, it means there are a lot of struggling folks in Mexico and Central and South America who see a vision of a better life in the United States of America. It also means that we need the capacity and logistics to deal with a large volume of migrants.
The second crisis is the humanitarian crisis. While Democrats want to give more funding to the authorities at the border so that they can process more legal immigrants, Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott decided he’d rather see a human being die before they enter the US illegally. Under the Governor’s instruction, barbed wire was placed in the Rio Grande River. When migrants attempt to swim across, they get caught in the barbed wire in the water, maiming them, catching them, and killing them. Mothers, children, and even infants have died via this inhumane practice. It’s such a disgusting practice that even the Supreme Court ruled against it.
This leads us to our third crisis– a Constitutional Crisis. After the Supreme Court ruled that Federal authorities are allowed to take down the barbed wire, Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave the middle finger to the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and democracy by saying that he would not follow the ruling. Despite the ruling from the United States Supreme Court, the law of the land, Texas would still rather kill migrants.
It’s just shamelessly hypocritical that the supposed pro-life and small-government party is using their power and government overreach to allow folks to die. Constitutional crises and barbed wire death barriers just don’t scream small government and pro-life to me.
And now on top of all the hypocritical nonsense coming from the right, when a solution was put on the table the Republicans are now saying they do not want a solution because they fear it would help Joe Biden win. So, in the end, the Republicans want the problem. They don’t want a solution.
Insurrection 2.0
I’m not exaggerating when I say I think this is a bigger deal than January 6th or anything Trump has done. The whole purpose of the federal government is rooted in federalism. Federalism is characterized by a central government (the US federal government) and smaller state governments (ex. The Texas Gov or Nebraska Legislature). The relationship between the two tiers of government is rooted in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, in a little thing called the Supremacy Clause.
Our whole government is run via the Supremacy Clause. In layman’s terms, it says that all state governments can do what they want until the federal government says otherwise. But once the Federal Government puts its foot down, state governments must follow the rules. That’s how democracy works, it’s how America has worked since its inception, and without it, we wouldn’t be a country.
And that’s why the decision by Greg Abbott horrifies me. Imagine if there were Greg Abbott’s in 49 other states, the “US Government” would cease to exist, and we would simply be 50 individual countries, not a union of states. And that’s where we’re trending. Almost 20 states have pledged to “stand with Texas” and stick their finger to the Supreme Court, Nebraska included.
Our esteemed Governor even visited the Border this week! After putting out a video that looked like a 7th-grade group project’s rendition of “Top Gun: Helicopter”, Governor Pillen also decided to pledge our National Guard troops to stop the “invasion” at the border.
And look– I’m all for a stronger border. Illegal immigration is, after all, illegal. Should there be a more clear pathway to citizenship? Absolutely. But in the meantime, it is just asinine that we are sending our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends to go stand in harm’s way for the sake of Greg Abbott wanting to stick it to the man. It’s just disgusting.
If Governor Pillen, Governor Abbott, and almost 20 other governors don’t follow the Constitution, they are no better than any authoritarian dictators like Putin or Xi Jinping. There is a rule of the law in this country, and even when we disagree, it must be followed in order to preserve our country itself.
It is simply disgusting and inexcusable that folks like Governors Pillen and Abbot hate these migrants so much that they’d rather violate the Constitution and be responsible for their deaths than see them come to America for a better life. It’s inhumane, it pisses me off beyond belief, and if it continues, will lead to the breakdown of the United States of America itself.
The day that our Constitution loses its respect is the day that this country crumbles. I hope and pray that this situation gets reigned in, for the sake of the migrant parents and children, for the sake of our country, and the sake of humanity.
Thank you for reading,
No section for jokes or fun news this week. The foundation of our country is in as grave of a danger as it has been in ages. Every single one of the individuals responsible for this, from Governors to Congressmen to County Commissioners, needs to be voted out the next moment they are on the ballot. I hate asking for money, but it goes a long way in helping vote some of these inhumane, unconstitutional politicians out of office.
Please consider donating to the NDP here.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out at jack@nebraskademocrats.org.
All the best,
Jack Schiewe
