White supremacists, right wingers and Republicans sure do love states' rights. They invoke them constantly, usually to defend voter suppression and other forms of discrimination. And it was always a cherished battle cry of the Old Confederacy.
Back during the 1950s and 1960s, the Dixie dudes fighting against school desegregation and African-American voting rights were Democrats. But Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy drove them into the welcoming arms of the GOP, where they've stayed ever since.
For awhile, they stayed under the radar. Which means it was shocking when, in 1980, Ronald Reagan kicked off his Presidential campaign screaming about states' rights in Philadelphia, Mississippi — near the site of the 1964 Freedom Rider murders. (Yes, everyone, Reagan was the first to bring the haters out from the shadows and near, if not into, the mainstream. He was truly a horrible person.)
Today, we're wondering if the Republicans are going to stay consistent on that whole states' rights thing. Because the California Senate just passed a bill mandating that Presidential candidates must release their tax returns to get on their primary ballot.
Will it work? Who knows? Washington and New Jersey are considering similar bills, and will watch with interest. But while we aren't sure if Governor Gavin Newsom will sign it (Jerry Brown didn't),we love the message that it sends. Trumpsters appear to be divided between being outraged and haw-hawing, but they can't be happy that the nation's largest state is adding to the pressure Benedict Donald is already feeling to release his taxes.
The levers of democracy are maddeningly slow and inefficient, but we must continue to have faith in them. Because when an autocrat-wannabe is in the Oval Office and taking orders from Vladimir Putin (an hour's worth just today), our institutions are all we have left. We cats HISS and PURR at the same time.
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