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Much deserved praise for Democrats...a different way of looking at "Soft Secession" [1]
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Date: 2025-09-17
I’ve been wanting to write about this subject since it first landed in my email box probably several weeks ago, indirectly from someone I follow on Substack who recommended a piece by Chris Armitage on Soft Secession.
There’ve been at least two diaries here on DK about the subject that I saw in the past few weeks. One touting the ideas of the concept, and another saying it’s unrealistic.
What I’d like to cover today is the unique way Armitage shows that Democratic Governors and others are looking at the future and what can be done to mitigate the damage of this administration with whatever tools they have. Not to debate those ideas, but to publicly acknowledge their hidden work.
Let’s start with the Substack essay itself. You can find it here: It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession” The sub-title is: “Blue states are finally learning what red states have known all along: you don’t need federal permission to govern.”
As I mentioned above, I want to give a shout out to the work that Democratic Governors and Attorneys General have been doing for months. They’ve been doing it behind the scenes since prior to the inauguration. They deserve all sorts of credit for their efforts!
For many state Attorney Generals and Governors, the legal briefs are already drafted. The strategy sessions have been running since December. “We saw this coming, even though we hoped it wouldn’t,” former Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum told The 19th days after Trump’s inauguration. This is what American federalism looks like in 2025: Democratic governors holding emergency sessions on encrypted apps, attorneys general filing lawsuits within hours of executive orders, and state legislatures quietly passing laws that amount to nullification of federal mandates. Oregon is stockpiling abortion medication in secret warehouses. Illinois is exploring digital sovereignty. California has $76 billion in reserves and is deciding how to deploy it. Three sources on those daily Zoom calls between Democratic AGs say the same phrase keeps coming up, though nobody wants to say it publicly: soft secession.
Maybe it should be called quiet quitting, lol?
Seriously though, and later in the article:
The infrastructure for this resistance already exists. Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general now gather on near-daily Zoom calls at 8 AM Pacific, which means the East Coast officials are already on their third coffee. They divide responsibilities and share templates for lawsuits they’ve been drafting since last spring.
Personal aside here to LOLOLOLOL about the implication that west coasters aren’t already at work at 6am. Ask me how I know :)
Later in the article Armitage makes a statement that is discouraging, yet true: Blue states are essentially paying red states to undermine democracy. As a Californian I find it very distressing, especially because I think the evil minds of Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon and others likely revel over it.
I could spend time sharing the tax inequities of people from Democratic run states compared to those of republican run states, but I think you know how large the disparity is between the two. No need to rehash that beyond acknowledging the existence of it.
That said I find it quite perverse to see those words in print: Blue states are essentially paying red states to undermine democracy. How does it make you feel? Please share in the comments.
Shifting gears a bit, Armitage also tells readers that:
Pritzker has his staff exploring how to force Apple and Google to disable location tracking for anyone crossing into Illinois for medical procedures, preventing any digital trail that could be subpoenaed. Multiple governors are studying whether they can legally deny federal agents access to state databases, airports, and even highways for immigration enforcement. The discussions, according to sources, have gone as far as evaluating state authority to close airspace to federal deportation flights. States are creating pharmaceutical stockpiles, climate agreements, immigration policies. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has secured 209 electoral votes. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s 11 states have reduced emissions by 50% while the federal government rolled back climate regulations. The U.S. Climate Alliance’s 24 governors represent 60% of the American economy.
I’m not sharing this excerpt because I want to weigh the pros and cons of these specific actions, but to shout, “HEY LOOK AT THE LEVEL OF WORK THESE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR MONTHS!!”
They’ve done this not just without praise, but being scorned and mocked by nearly everyone on social media.
And before you say something snarky about congressional Democrats, remember two things. First, this...
“Democrats in Congress, even if they really want to do things, what you can do in the minority is quite limited,” strategist Arkadi Gerney observed. “But these governors have the opportunity to actually run their states very differently from how the president is running the country.”
And second, as Armitage makes abundantly clear, is that we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.
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