Welcome back to wintry Friday morning (just kidding, it’s sunny and gorgeous in L.A.). Thanks to Olly and Suzy for carrying the baton last week. They were too good. I see it as a threat.
→ Texas vs. Biden: The Biden administration and Texas are in an old-fashioned standoff, with Biden wanting to tear down the barbed wire fencing along the Texas–Mexico border and Texas wanting to keep it. Well, the Supreme Court says Biden wins, of course, because immigration is kind of a federal thing. But Governor Greg Abbott is not done; he’s declared that the border crisis counts as an invasion. Yes, Governor Abbott writes: “I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” Major escalation! And some 25 other Republican governors are standing with Governor Abbott: “The lawless southern border threatens the lives of all Americans, including Idahoans,” says Idaho governor Brad Little. “Virginia stands with Texas,” says Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin. Others are joining the rebels. I didn’t have civil war in my tea leaves this morning, but here we are. My main question: Truly, why is Biden trying to dismantle the Texas–Mexico border anyway? Why are we in this fight? Remember when like ten migrants went to Martha’s Vineyard and it was a national crisis?
→ Who said the border was secure? Not us! My favorite senator and always has been, John Fetterman, the Bernie-supporting Democrat from Pennsylvania who has emerged as the new face of common sense, had this to say in a conversation with CNN’s Jake Tapper: “I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border. . . . I think about immigration is we wanna provide the American dream for any migrant, but it seems very difficult when you have 300,000 people showing up, encountered at our border to do that.” I’ve gone from a Fetterman skeptic to a person who might write in Fetterman for president.