A man, losing badly in the game, kicks the chessboard over, scatters the pieces, then declares victory because nobody else can play.

People know the move, while serious players walk away.

The Outburst That Became a Campaign Pitch

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is running for California governor and announced a plan that sounds more like a dare delivered in a bar than public policy.

Swalwell promised to revoke the driver's licenses of ICE agents who wear masks while performing enforcement duties, while adding a personal insult for emphasis, calling those agents "a******s." (Language warning.)

The remark landed as part threat, and part audition for activist approval.

Surprise! ICE Became His Target

ICE agents wear masks for their safety, anonymity, and to protect their families. Criminal networks track officers, gangs retaliate, and harassment campaigns follow them home.

Masking serves a practical need rooted in addressing real threats. Swalwell, not known as a Mensa member, ignored those realities and framed the use of masks by ICE agents as cowardly rather than risk management.

Can a Governor Even Do That?

Governors of California oversee state agencies, not federal law enforcement. Driver's licenses are issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which operates under state law and due-process requirements.

Federal officers performing official duties are protected by the Supremacy Clause, which states that states may not punish federal employees for carrying out lawful federal responsibilities.

Courts settled on that boundary decades ago.

The Court has also distinguished between different forms of implied preemption. As noted, field preemption occurs where federal law is so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it, or where the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject.4 In contrast, conflict preemption occurs where compliance with federal and state law is impossible (impossibility preemption) or where state law poses an obstacle to federal objectives (obstacle preemption).5

Any attempt to strip licenses would face immediate injunctions.

The Ways Swalwell's Scheme Fails

Even if the authority existed, revocation requires individual hearings, documented violations, and statutory justification.

Blanket punishment based on someone's job role or wearing a mask while performing ones's job violates equal protection and due process.

Selective enforcement that targets a single class of federal employees invites constitutional challenges and personal liability.

Swalwell has always sounded tough on camera, but the man simply can't do more than memorize talking points. If he were to follow through with such a moronic plan, legal reality would hit him hard enough to pass gas on live TV. Again.

Performance Over Policy

Swalwell built his reputation for attention-seeking moments serving in the House; cringeworthy videos, theatrical outrage, and careless remarks became familiar features.

Noise during campaigns earns attention, not competence. Attacking ICE right now may offer easy applause from the far-left activist crowds already primed for confrontation. Attempts at street credibility hide his governing skill. At the same time, any serious plans never find him and them in the same room.

Final Thoughts

Eric Swalwell stands near the overturned chessboard, daring others to object. Serious leaders recognize the scene and step back, knowing any game can't continue without the rules.

Governing requires restraint, law, and competence: Swalwell is 0-3 in those criteria.

Eventually, one would think that he'd learn his tantrums signal surrender, not strength.

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