... What [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom seems to understand is that when faced with blackmail, the target is sorely tempted to give in because there is no (or not much) downside to surrendering. But suppose there were a big downside to giving in? Then many targets would stiffen their spines, refuse, and go to court, especially in cases where they would likely win. By creating a downside for caving, targets would have to weigh the risks of either decision and the likely outcome would be fighting the blackmail in court.
But it actually goes much further than this. Numerous federal officials at the highest level have no hesitancy in obeying the Trump when he orders them to break the law because there is a downside in disobeying (being fired instantly) but no downside in obeying. Suppose there was. Suppose a group of Democratic senators and governors, including many of the likely presidential candidates, were to say that they if the Democrats got in power in Jan 2029, their top priority should be vigorously prosecuting current federal officials who have broken their oaths and the law. They would also ask for the longest prison terms allowed by law.
Further suppose they supply specific examples, naming officials and laws they have clearly broken, saying indicting these people and putting them on trial for their crimes would be a top priority. Violations of the Hatch Act come to mind here, as a bare minimum. That would change the incentive structure. As it is now, federal officials believe that Republicans will punish them if they DON'T break the law but Democrats won't punish them if they DO break the law. Democrats need to make it abundantly clear that they are no longer Mr. Nice Guy and they will come down extremely hard on officials who break the law while in office as soon as they get the chance. Are Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem willing to risk years in prison to keep their $246,400/year jobs? Are they really as brave as they pretend?
But there is still more blue-state governors can do, especially if the 15 of them in Democratic trifecta states work together. That is a huge bloc with money, power and law-enforcement officials. Suppose that when an ICE agent tries to arrest someone, state and local officials demand to see their identification and the warrant for arresting that person. If the agent fails to provide one, the state law-enforcement officer could say: "Since you are apparently not working for the federal government and have no arrest warrant for this person, I have to assume you are a common criminal trying to kidnap someone. Kidnapping is a state crime. You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, etc." Then the ICE agent is handcuffed, taken away and charged with kidnapping. ICE agents who break down doors to gain entry to buildings and can't prove they are federal agents following lawful orders could be arrested for burglary or breaking and entering under state laws. Having states aggressively enforce their own laws against individual agents and doing their best to not have them released on bail changes the incentive structure for wanting to work for ICE. How many headlines do there have to be saying: "ICE agent arrested for kidnapping and held without bail" before many agents start looking for other jobs?
In short, Newsom is starting to change the incentive structure around blackmail. Blue-state governors aren't helpless if they band together and start enforcing their own laws. Federalism is a two-way street. The supremacy clause in the Constitution applies only to lawful actions. It does not protect federal employees at any level who are violating federal law and committing state crimes. Of course there will be lawsuits, the lower courts, at least, have not been sympathetic to lawbreaking by federal officials, even at the highest level (keep reading). But the law isn't the only factor here. So is raw power and the states have considerably more than they have used so far. Governors can also mobilize the National Guard. Faced with opposition, bullies often turn out to be cowards. (our emphasis)
They can "hang together, or hang separately," as Benjamin Franklin was supposed to have said. As the author goes on to note, lower Federal courts are, for now, are not having the arguments being made by the Malignant Fascist's toadies. The lawless thugs now operating across the nation (see below) must be held to account, and changing the incentive structure around acts of extortion and official criminality is one place to start.
Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital.
Activists, residents and leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest city.
“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN. “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades, and they make it look like it’s a war zone.”
More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since an immigration crackdown started last month in the Chicago area. The Trump administration has also vowed to deploy National Guard troops in its agenda to boost deportations.
But U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status and children have been among those detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters which pop up daily across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs. [snip]
Leaders of a Chicago suburb that’s home to an immigration processing center have taken their fight against federal agents to court.
The village of Broadview has become a front line in the immigration operation. The center in the community of 8,000 people is where immigrants are processed for detention or deportation.
Protests outside have become tense with near daily arrests. Civil rights organizations have blasted aggressive tactics by agents, while village officials have launched three separate criminal investigations against federal agents.
City officials have demanded the federal government remove an 8-foot fence they say was “illegally” put up outside the facility. They filed a federal lawsuit Friday seek a temporary restraining order and the immediate removal of the fence they say blocks fire access.
“The fence also constitutes an immediate public safety hazard,” the lawsuit said.
Also pending is an expected ruling on alleged violations of a 2022 consent decree on how federal immigration agents can make arrests in six states including Illinois. While the order expired in May, attorneys have sought an extension and filed dozens of more alleged violations in the past month.
The more these thugs act out their lizard brain fascist impulses in American cities on American citizens, the more a critical mass of the public becomes repulsed. It may have been degraded in recent decades, but the capacity for Americans to loathe and resist such police state tactics is still strong.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had a stark message for would-be attendees of the Super Bowl next year.
“We’ll be all over that place,” she told right-wing journalist Benny Johnson after he asked her about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence at the event.
She continued, “We’re gonna enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
Noem’s comments echoed remarks from DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski, who appeared on Johnson’s podcast earlier this week.
The two were discussing the news that Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny would be headlining the Super Bowl LX halftime show. Bad Bunny has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and vowed earlier this year that he would not tour in the U.S. due to the threat ICE poses to his fans.
Johnson asked, “Will ICE have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show?”
“Benny, there is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski replied. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.”
Some on social media wondered how literally people should take Noem’s message that only “law-abiding Americans” should attend the Super Bowl, particularly as it might apply to international tourists in town during the event.
Since the onset of Trump’s immigration crackdown, there have been numerous reports of foreign travelers being apprehended by ICE and held for days to weeks in detention facilities, prompting warnings from some countries about traveling to the U.S.
Married (with two children), cosplaying Border Barbie and her lover/ thug Lewandowski might want to remember the Super Bowl will be played in Santa Clara, CA, where they won't be getting any cooperation in their plans to have their ICE goons stomp around trying to intimidate people there for the game and for MAGA target Bad Bunny. Damn, how much longer do we have to put up with these twinkie fascists ruining everything?
LOL ~ as if "illegals" can afford the Stupid Bowl ...
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