How Nations Die: The Growing Crisis in Texas

The GOP has built a tinderbox and now it is threatening to explode

For the second week in a row I’ll be hosting a new episode of my Bourbon Talk Political Q&A Livestream this Sunday, January 28th, at 8pm eastern. You can watch live tomorrow night here or watch a recording once it’s over. You can watch last week’s episode here. If you want to hear me answer your question, feel free to reply to this post or email me at jysexton@gmail.com. I appreciate everyone’s support and kindness with the return of the Bourbon Talk. It is so, so important to me.

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I’ve been working the past few days on the third installment of The Stakes series (Part I and Part II are available now). This article concerns how and why our media and political classes are failing us in this incredibly important moment. While putting together this analysis, I’ve watched a dearth of coverage and concern regarding the developing crisis in Texas. It’s as if a governor isn’t openly defying the federal government and that every Republican-led state isn’t backing him in that defiance. Instead, we get the usual coverage concerned with salacious stories and rote narratives.

For those who have maybe not heard, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in support of the federal government in a dispute with Texas over razor wire at the border. This follows a myriad of tragedies in which federal agents have been kept from intervening at the border, leading to multiple tragic deaths. Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, responded to the ruling by invoking the Constitution and claiming his state was fighting an “invasion,” thus superseding the authority of the federal government.

We’ve seen moments like this before. Famously during the Nullification Crisis of the 1830’s and then, eventually, the forming of the Confederate States of America. More recently, President John F. Kennedy was faced with his own crisis when Alabama governor George Wallace defied desegregation orders and forced Kennedy’s hand.

It would be foolish to understate the severity of this situation. There are ongoing altercations between the states and federal government. This particular incident, however, has a ton of momentum and stems from decades of fearmongering and political saber-rattling, creating a perfect storm from which something truly awful could emerge. That doesn’t mean we’re on the precipice of a second Civil War. But we must take this seriously and recognize exactly what is at stake, how we’ve arrived here, and how conditions are perfect for more showdowns like this, which could lead to violence, dissention, and a whole host of consequences I’m not sure most people are entirely prepared for.

The story of what has happened here is about much more than razor wire and secession crises. It is about interlocking agendas determined to destroy the federal government, as it is currently constituted, as an impediment of power and profit while also creating the perfect situation to coopt that federal government and transform it into the ideal weapon.