California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to be playing a high-stakes game of Texas Hold’Em with the conservative Supreme Court and red-state America as a whole.
The confrontation started in Texas, when that state’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a measure that allows private citizens to go after abortion providers more or less like old-fashioned bounty hunters.
In response, Newson signed into California law a measure allowing that state’s citizens to sue anyone who distributes banned assault weapons or ghost guns. This is directly modeled on the Texas law, which the Supreme Court so far has let stand.
So Newsom is essentially saying, “If your folks can arrest people for abortion there, our folks can arrest you for guns here.
Critics of both measures, including the ACLU, worry that this strategy risks establishing a whole bunch of bad law, but of course that is exactly what Newsom is highlighting by his action. If Texas and Florida and all of the anti-abortion red states want a fight, California as the leader of the blue states is saying “Bring it on!”
Unfortunately, the odds are that whichever side the Supreme Court favors will win the duel. And we all know which side that is.
But it is hard to resist Old West analogies here and I suspect the U.S. looks like it is playing out an old western movie, at least to European observers. There is something comical here, and also very, very sad.
The climax of “High Noon” aside, I’m afraid our nation is breaking up.
LATEST LINKS:
California invites court fight with gun law that mimics Texas on abortion — Gov. Gavin Newsom modeled the bill on a red-state tactic involving private lawsuits. (Politico)
Newsom signs California gun bill modeled after Texas abortion law (CNN)
South Carolina bill outlaws websites that tell how to get an abortion (WP)
Jan. 6 probes: What’s next for Congress, criminal cases (AP)
The real story of January 6 isn’t what Trump did – it’s what he didn’t (Guardian)
Republican views on Trump have darkened somewhat, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Some 40% percent of Republicans now believe Trump is at least partly to blame for the Capitol riot, up from 33% in a poll conducted six weeks ago. (Reuters)
We Are Retired Generals and Admirals. Trump’s Actions on Jan. 6 Were a Dereliction of Duty. (Guest Essay/NYT)
Members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail were so afraid for their lives during the riot that they made calls over radio to say goodbye to their family members, according to testimony the Jan. 6 panel presented. The rioters came within 40 feet of Pence before he was evacuated. [HuffPost]
Jan. 6 takeaways: White House in chaos, unmovable Trump (AP)
Convinced that Donald Trump was cheated in the 2020 election, Vermont barn restorer Harry Anzbock left a series of terrifying anonymous voice messages for election workers. Last fall, Anzbock began threatening two Reuters reporters after they tracked him down. Read our special report on how a former left-winger fell into the pro-Trump conspiracy rabbit hole. (Reuters)
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China will suffer the return of more heatwaves over the next 10 daysfrom east to west, with some coastal cities already on their highest alert level and inland regions warning of dam failure risks because of melting glaciers. The vast heatwave covering swaths of Europe moved steadily eastwards, forcing countries including Italy, Poland and Slovenia to issue their highest alerts as firefighters battled wildfires across the continent. (Reuters)
The inner solar system spins much more slowly than it should. Now, scientists may know why. (Space.com)
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