Monday, January 29, 2024

You And What Army?

Paranoia about federal entrapment is looming large over the “Take Our Border Back” convoy, which departed Virginia Beach Monday morning and plans to arrive in Texas later this week. 
By noon Monday, after a few hours on the road, the convoy had amassed just a few dozen participants—so far, predominantly men over the age of 60. The convoy’s promoters promised over 700,000 participants.
They go on to attribute low participation to paranoia and rumors of various types of entrapment/imminent arrest. This tells us a few things:

1) J6 arrests and trials were a deterrent.

2) Conspiracy theories breed conspiracy theories.

3) “Men over 60” means people with nothin’  better to do. Classic MAGA, nowadays.

But the likelier answer is, 700,000 trucks and drivers were never coming. Just like 25 GOP governors aren’t doing anything more than auto-signing a letter 
Small things lead to big things, but right now all Greg Abbott is doing is replacing barbed wire as the Border Patrol cuts it. The Supremes didn’t order Abbott to give Border Patrol access to the park at Eagle Pass, so there’s literally nowhere for 25 Governors to send National Guard soldiers to Texas to…protect barbed wire? To oppose Border Patrol agents in doing their lawful jobs?  This is not 1957. Those soldiers won’t be defending a school against the invasion of black students. They’ll be standing around mostly empty stretches of riverbank watching federal agents wield wire cutters. If they interfere they won’t be heroes, they’ll be arrested. Border Patrol is law enforcement, remember?

This is not a hill anybody is gonna die on. Or go to war on. I don’t know how it ends, but it won’t be in bloodshed and chaos and the fevered civil war dreams of idiot hosts on FoxNews. They can’t get 700,000 trucks to drive to the border (or a handful to drive anywhere). They won’t send soldiers from 25 states, unless they want them to do what the Texas soldiers are already doing: stand around, get bored, go AWOL. Mostly do not a damned thing. It’s all for show and Abbott had to up the spectacle to keep the show going. He’s hoping Biden provides him a new spectacle, just in time for November (since his spectacle of four consecutive special sessions laid a big egg which he has all over his face). That’s why even Dan Patrick is chiming in. Everybody wants to be responsible for the good they think is coming.

Biden is probably going to disappoint them. When the show can’t go on, attention goes elsewhere.
The GOP has reasons not to want attention to go elsewhere. Especially if Democrats can get enough GOP votes in the House to pass a border bill. And if the Republicans block it, attention needs to stay there anyway.

There are advantages to treating Abbott like small beer.🍻 
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)