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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   26925 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 25, 2023

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Thank you for writing this update.

I was glad to see the state AG condemn the order. (Though I can’t find the original text of his letter anywhere…) It leaves me wishing there was a more obvious feedback mechanism for an elected official to be punished for flaunting the rules. Grisham ought to be staking something, anything, on her orders’ constitutionality. As it is, she can continue playing stupid games with the law.

Did @TracingWoodgrains post that anywhere other than Twitter? I found it fascinating, too. I tend to think the Long March theory is oversold, but this is a much more defensible version. It’s a particularly good lens for looking at the Trump executive branch: the roster wasn’t even deep enough to fill those positions.

Not yet, but I’d like to polish it up a bit and post it on substack/disseminate it further.

(Though I can’t find the original text of his letter anywhere…)

There's a copy here.

It leaves me wishing there was a more obvious feedback mechanism for an elected official to be punished for flaunting the rules. Grisham ought to be staking something, anything, on her orders’ constitutionality.

I think my frustration is more that there are obvious feedback mechanisms. The state is one of few that allows citizen grand juries to indict her under, New Mexico has blocked qualified immunity in 'most' civil cases and has a few relevant state torts, and federally speaking there's a wide array of laws that could apply. Legislators could call a special session next week and impeach or, if they wanted to be soft-handed, 'just' cut down the NM Governor's emergency powers, including with warnings that they'll impeach next time if she doesn't knock it off. But being existent doesn't make it accessible: to be accessible, some nontrivial number of state legislators or courts or federal prosecutors would have to take things seriously even when someone on their side does it.

And for the most part, suspending part of the constitution just doesn't hit that mark. And while the Second Amendment makes that more clear than most cases, it's not like this is new or even limited to the United States. As much as Kulak might want to pray otherwise, Canada's flirtations and more importantly clear acceptance of the same is plain as day. The United Kingdom, to what limited extent Brits ever had rights to begin with, is running roughshod through the problems as well. There are mechanisms to punish overreach, they're just not swords that cut both ways in any seriously evenhanded sense.

Did TracingWoodgrains post that anywhere other than Twitter?

He mentioned an intent to post on his normal blog (presumably substack) eventually, though I've not seen it there or at theschism yet.

I tend to think the Long March theory is oversold, but this is a much more defensible version.

I think it's more defensible as a description of the scope of the problem, but I think its model of the cause goes one or two steps too short.

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