Greene’s plan would enhance states’ powers whereas probably limiting rights protected by the federal authorities.
This week, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) declared that Republican and Democratic states within the U.S. want “a divorce,” prompting many to wonder if she was calling for Republican-leaning states to secede.
Later, Greene claimed that she wasn’t calling for secession however for the federal authorities to have much less affect, permitting states to find out the way to govern for themselves — wording that echoes the “states’ rights” rhetoric that was used to justify seceding from the U.S. within the run-up to the Civil Warfare.
“We’d like a nationwide divorce,” Greene stated in a tweet on Monday. “We have to separate by crimson states and blue states and shrink the federal authorities.”
Greene claimed that such a transfer is important due to “sick and disgusting woke tradition points” which are supposedly being “shoved down our throats.” As many observers have noted, grievances about “woke” tradition have become a racist dog whistle amongst Republicans, who’ve co-opted the phrase as a handy political device to activate essentially the most bigoted parts of their base.
On far proper conservative Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Tuesday, Greene elaborated on her proposal, suggesting that it might enable states to disenfranchise Democratic voters.
Kirk famous that Democratic voters underneath this method may probably “invade” crimson states to affect coverage.
“As soon as they transfer to a crimson state, guess what, perhaps you don’t get to vote for 5 years,” Greene responded. “You may stay there, and you’ll work there, however you don’t get to convey your values that you just principally created within the blue states you got here from by voting for Democrat leaders and Democrat insurance policies.”
Greene’s proposal is blatantly unconstitutional. Article IV Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that “the residents of every state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of residents within the a number of states” — which means that an individual can’t be denied the rights of a state on the premise that they originated from one other state. This stipulation was bolstered with the passage of the 14th Amendment, which holds that no state shall “deprive any individual of life, liberty, or property, with out due technique of legislation; nor deny to any individual inside its jurisdiction the equal safety of the legal guidelines.”
A number of observers famous the racism and authoritarianism inherent in Greene’s “nationwide divorce” ideology.
“#MTG’s crazy 5-yr-waiting interval for voting by Blue State voters who transfer to a Pink State is flagrantly unconstitutional underneath settled SCOTUS precedent,” stated Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe.
“Our nation is ruled by the Structure. You swore an oath to help and defend the Structure,” former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) wrote in a tweet directed at Greene. “Secession is unconstitutional. No member of Congress ought to advocate secession, Marjorie.”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s name for a ‘nationwide divorce’ is treasonous and unconstitutional, however it’s additionally white supremacy,” journalist Aaron Rupar said. “As a result of in the end it’s one other manner for white Republicans to disenfranchise Black voters.”
Freelance author Noah Berlatsky pointed out in Public Notice that Greene’s name for a “nationwide divorce” was primarily a name for white nationalism.
“Folks like [Greene] who evoke secession achieve this as a type of propaganda,” Berlatsky wrote. “Particularly, they’re framing partisan division as regional. That permits them to border themselves as victims underneath assault by a supposedly extra highly effective Northern aggressor. And it additionally permits them to faux that their ideology and political aspirations are about native management, relatively than white supremacy.”
