Texas Stirs 'Fort Sumter' Energy [TDT: 02.02]
Bombs, chips, and swastikas... and weed! All this and more, in this week's drop of the 'Three-Dot Tablet'
Welcome to this edition of the Three-Dot Tablet [TDT], a weekly news-journal where I seek out the headlines others may not be covering (or not covering well), and - with a healthy dose of passion, common sense, and brevity - provide raw, unfiltered commentary.
Without further delay, let’s talk about the news…
Greg Abbott's Armed Troops Block Border Patrol
Newsweek
So this happens once every century or so, give or take a few decades…
Under Governor Greg Abbott's direction, Texas state officials blocked Customs Border and Protection (CBP) officials from entering and patrolling a park at the United States-Mexico border this week. The Texas National Guard has taken control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, where the nation's immigration crisis has engulfed the border town.
The significance of this cannot be minimized. A state, within these United States, has used its armed force (Texas National Guard) to capture an area which was controlled by a different - Federal - armed force (CBP), and are not allowing them to return. Unless my history is faulty, the last time this happened was at a place called Fort Sumter… in 1860… South Carolina.
Take a moment to ponder the potential ramifications of that.
Now, to be fair, the circumstances are obviously quite different. While Sumter was in response to the perceived threat of a Lincoln presidency, Abbot’s action is based on events already occurring. Eagle Pass IS a living nightmare, one created by the deliberate inaction of ‘President’ Joe Biden’s CBP, so taking over the border pass is being seen by supporters as the only way to address an invasion, one taking place on the state’s southern border.
Also curious is the response to this seizure. Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas [D] - a man likely to benefit from Abbot’s action - has instead condemned it, saying it is an unnecessary provocation. Meanwhile, National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd defended the state’s move, saying that Abbot was actually helping the CBP, by freeing up resources to fight elsewhere on the border.
It should also be noted that the state has taken similar actions in the past, utilizing the ‘disaster declaration’ authority Texas officials have at their disposal. Still, those previous acts pale in comparison to this; indeed, many are seeing it as the most aggressive exercise of state power versus federal power - taken by ANY state - in the last 163 years.
And the last time it happened, things got very, very spicy here in America. As such - even if Abbot eventually backs down - this is definitely something to watch unfold…
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U.S., allies again strike Houthi sites in Yemen
UPI
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are having a bad week…
The retaliatory strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen came after several Houthi attacks in the Red Sea late Thursday. Houthi militants have been consistently attacking foreign ships in the Red Sea for months. At least 27 attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea have occurred since Nov. 19…
And Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in 2003… am I right?
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