The Opposition Gets Tactical

New rebel coalitions don't use hashtags. But they flex the Zevon trifecta: lawyers, guns, and money

In April, 2020, a strange new map of the United States circulated. It showed zones with politburo names encompassing 17 states: “Eastern States Multi-state Council,” “Midwest Governors Regional Pact,” and the “Western States Pact.” These regional alliances shared resources to address the Covid-19 and the economic shutdown. At the time, Minn. governor Tim Walz, of the Midwest Governors Regional Pact, called the ad hoc unions “sort of a loose Articles of Confederation approach.”

The pacts among the states shape-shifted and evolved. But the 17 governors had made their point. To see new territories unified in their opposition to Trump was a reminder that governors, who preside over police forces, a court system, and hundreds of billions of dollars, won’t tolerate infringements on their authority by an aspiring monarch. As it happens, other alliances that like their own power—law firms, universities, foreign nations, attorneys general, and at least one sheriff’s office—are likewise bridling at Trump’s second effort to turn the White House into a throne.