When I saw the #Texas flag in this ๐ธ I feared this complex state would be unfairly judged.
— Zach Despart๐️ (@zachdespart) January 13, 2021
But also:
- Only our AG *hasn't* condemned the riot https://t.co/UI7ByggO9w
- A Houston cop joined the mob https://t.co/uvn475Yp9x
- A Grapevine man was Zip Tie Guy https://t.co/l2EG88e5bP pic.twitter.com/1nPwNeRFnJ
Not as small a Round-up as I wished, given that the topic of shithole state insurrectionists is ... worn thin with me.
AG Ken Paxton declines to join 50 attorneys general in condemning Capitol riot https://t.co/aXT6nN5maQ
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) January 13, 2021
Texas’ solicitor general who did not join embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton’s failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election is resigning, a person with knowledge of the move told @AP.
— Jake Bleiberg (@JZBleiberg) January 13, 2021
W/ @pauljweber https://t.co/GqhLZpUO2s
They gathered outside his office on West 15th Street, demanding that if Paxton doesn’t resign, he should be impeached under Article 15 of the Texas Constitution.https://t.co/mxoH7ztwye
— KXAN News (@KXAN_News) January 12, 2021
FWIW Texas AG Ken Paxton blocks journalists and constituents on Twitter.
— Lauren McGaughy ๐ (@lmcgaughy) January 10, 2021
His former spox (while still working for the state) publicly joked about withholding public records from individuals he didn’t like.
His comms office hasn’t answered my questions for months. https://t.co/9CwFvx8X34
.@JaworskiForTX, Dem who's already declared against @KenPaxtonTX for 2022, announces he's raised $331K so far. He filed treasurer appointment July 5, tells me most was raised Aug. 1-Dec. 31.
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) January 13, 2021
Ted Coupz, briefly.
Sen. @tedcruz's communications director has resigned, and reports say it was in response to the senator’s efforts to overturn the election results https://t.co/RVZJZl93dB
— KVUE News (@KVUE) January 13, 2021
Trump in South Texas. As updated in the Monday Wrangle ...
Trump visited Texas today, but none of our state’s top Republican leadership—Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Ted Cruz—made a single mention of it on Twitter.
— Pamela Colloff (@pamelacolloff) January 12, 2021
Abbott’s last three tweets are about snow. https://t.co/dAoEQwUlwx
"We can't let the next administration even think about taking it down," Trump says about his border wall. Also makes rare direct acknowledgement of Biden's win, saying 25th Amendment "is of zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration" pic.twitter.com/1DootBW2JQ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 12, 2021
True to form, America still wants it both ways. Just yards from workers picking crops, #trump boasts about his wall. #texas #alamo pic.twitter.com/664U3NKcMs
— Alfredo Corchado (@ajcorchado) January 12, 2021
Meanwhile back in DC:
It is fitting that Louie Gohmert voted AGAINST making lynching a federal crime in February and then proceeded to help incite an attempted lynching of elected officials at the US Capitol. 1/https://t.co/Wzp3LG0AbL
— Jennifer Cohn ✍๐ป ๐ข (@jennycohn1) January 13, 2021
Was perusing Politwoops and noticed...
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) January 11, 2021
On Jan. 3, GOP Rep. Pete Sessions tweeted that he had a great meeting with "folks from 'Stop the Steal'" and that he "encouraged them to keep fighting."
Tweet was deleted 4 days later, on Jan. 7, after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/HeZgyXHjQU
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw writes a letter with fellow Texan US Rep. Chip Roy and Mace of SC and Curtis of Utah that condemns the president's "words and actions" but ultimately votes against impeachment.
— Abby Livingston (@TexasTribAbby) January 13, 2021
Rep. Chip Roy, who vowed not to comply with new metal detectors, just walked onto House floor
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) January 13, 2021
Machine beeped and flashed red. He kept walking
And at the Lege ...
The Texas Senate has changed its rules so Republicans can continue deciding which bills are brought up for consideration without input from Democrats.
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) January 14, 2021
This is the second time the Senate has changed its rules this way under Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. #txlege https://t.co/j6S4BWjfHb
And here is a Facebook video of state Sen. @DrBuckinghamTX NOT wearing a face mask today at the Texas Capitol despite telling visitors they MUST “at all times.” #txlege #tcot https://t.co/EA4XtiqgXw 2/2 https://t.co/7KQZqfIKTY pic.twitter.com/QOkkEQv9rU
— Jay Root (@byjayroot) January 12, 2021
Aspiring warlord aligns with local militia https://t.co/sdXBABgUZS
— Evan (@evan7257) January 12, 2021
Outside the Texas Capitol, members of a group called the Southern Patriot Council said they believe Joe Biden's election as president was illegal. One member, who would only identify himself to Texas Public Radio as "General E" predicted states would pass laws to stop protests like theirs.
"You won't be able to assemble anymore," he said. "So the bottom line is, assemble now while you can, because they are attempting to make it illegal for us to do that."
Last session, amid a measles outbreak in Texas, Republican state lawmakers wanted to make it even easier to opt out of vaccinations https://t.co/a4X8PYRAPG
— Sophie Novack (@SophieNovack) January 12, 2021
This session, 10+ months into the COVID-19 pandemic: https://t.co/DLfd7X69xU
See you this summer, #txlege. https://t.co/XBI9kkoDNG
— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) January 11, 2021
Houstonians didn't want to be left out.
Great work by @nkhensley to get an interview with the Houston police officer accused of taking part in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/Z5HMnzDaZL
— Juan Lozano (@juanlozano70) January 13, 2021
#BREAKING: Houston megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell sentenced to prison for his role in multimillion scheme
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) January 14, 2021
https://t.co/JqlUKFOdqX #khou #hounews pic.twitter.com/3HLoKM0ES4
Cities actively oppose #transprency. Houston asked the TX OAG to deny a request in the Harding St. raid because disclosure would damage their legal position. Can’t make this shit up folks. https://t.co/oUp5qYDtFz
— Kevin Buckler (@kevin_buckler) January 11, 2021
I'm throwing James Harden under this bus also. So is Judge Hidalgo and his former Rockets teammates. That's no way to open a restaurant, Mr. Beard.
https://t.co/1Du4LvFmiz pic.twitter.com/vbVsuq1wfB
— Lina Hidalgo (@LinaHidalgoTX) January 13, 2021
DeMarcus Cousins: “Me personally,I don’t feel betrayed at all. My interest was playing with John Wall, to be brutally honest..The disrespect (from James Harden) started way before any interview.Just the approach to training camp.Showing up the way he did.The antics off the court” pic.twitter.com/3XjqnqiLGN
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 13, 2021
Criminal and social justice news, first from (the real) Alamo City.
In September, San Antonio police officers shot and killed Darrell Zemault Sr. Bystander videos show that officers waited a full minute before administering care. https://t.co/u4NDsGm5xd
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) January 13, 2021
The San Antonio Current finds numerous "alternative facts" on the Texas police union's anti-reform website. KXAN reports on a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the City of Austin regarding a teenager’s suicide in the back of an APD patrol car. Grits for Breakfast rounds up more like these stories from a week ago and today. It's almost like a virus that's out of control.
A couple of environmental updates.
Four of the state's environmental groups -- the Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club, Environment Texas, and the Port Arthur Community Action Network -- sued the EPA last week, alleging that the agency stood by while Texas failed to enforce the nation’s federal environmental laws and adequately control air pollution in the state. DeSmogBlog reports, with the assistance of some of Texas' foremost environmental activists: Sharon Wilson, Bryan Parras, and Hilton Kelley.
Texas Standard brings the news that an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that a gas leak from a pipeline damaged during replacement work performed over 20 years ago likely caused an explosion that killed a 12 year-old girl in Northwest Dallas in 2018.
Finally, we'll roll into the weekend with Comrade Fidel's Bayou City barbecue tasting event, over 60 years ago.
Of all the curiosities and historical incongruities in Texas history --- and there are many ---- there are perhaps none more curious, in light of subsequent events. than Fidel Castro coming to Houston in 1959, eating BBQ, being given a cowboy hat and being treated like a prince. pic.twitter.com/9JqNrgTfV8
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) January 5, 2021
