Lege back in session. Not without some bitterness.
Update (p.m.):
From this evening: More than a dozen Democrats return, signaling more assured end of quorum bust in the Texas House https://t.co/1fG3BSpFBo #txlege
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 24, 2021
Original (a.m.):
Texas House Democrats who weren't on the floor Thursday asked those there to fight the "questionable" roll call vote (via verification or strict enforcement – but no one did.@TMFtx: "It was an opportunity that was missed because there was a failure to act on it." #txlege
— Eva Ruth Moravec (@EvaRuth) August 20, 2021
Plot twist: it wasn’t just the TX GOP.
— Taylor Hogeland π€ (@TaylorHogeland) August 20, 2021
The Dems on the floor (& those that weren’t but were on the boardπ) are now all complicit in this suppression session. #txlege https://t.co/qQ4Mll99sm
Couple House Ds being bit more explicit re: defectors
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 20, 2021
- Minjarez: "I will not be so foolish as to believe false
promises, or capitulate to those who would discriminate or disenfranchise"
- Ja.Johnson: "I’ll always put my ppl over any committee assignment or backroom deal" #txlege
Garnet Coleman shepherded an endorsement of Dennis Bonnen 4 speaker through the Dem Caucus in 2019, even attending a fundraiser @ a billionaire's home 4 Bonnen w/reps from a crosssection of terrible companies.
— ((( Daniel J Cohen ))) (@mrdancohen) August 20, 2021
So returning 4 quorum is par 4 the course 4 him.#TXLege
These are quite obviously not the developments you'll be reading on the various online mouthpieces of the Texas Democratic Party, although the Signal doesn't completely ignore the topic like Kuffner does. And tap-dancing around the criticisms while playing both sides of the fence is ... well, mostly embarrassing. (Hardest-working fellow you'll ever see who tries not to offend anybody and fails every time.) Thus the dirty job nobody wants to do falls to this recovering Democrat. I am, of course, more than happy to pick up the slack.
Let's begin, as we usually must, with the "Save Us Beto You're Our Only Hope" Caucus.
CLOSING IN ON LABOR DAY and no Democrat has either announced or hinted that he or she will run for governor next year.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) August 22, 2021
State Rep. @JasmineFor100 Crockett says there's only one person who can spin up a viable campaign this quickly... pic.twitter.com/Ze8vVluUvG
O'Rourke is, as one reply there notes, waiting to see if the US Congress can pass the two voting bills -- the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act -- before he decides whether he will run. And because Joe Manchin loves the filibuster more than he does democracy, the bills won't pass. Correspondingly, I have laid heavy stakes on 'Hell No, Beto'.
The Donks will have some sacrificial lamb, as they always do, and they will trumpet that third or fourth option -- do I really need to post again that the Castro Bros don't run for something if there's the slightest chance they might not win? -- as their godsend, saviour, what TF ever. The down-ballot nominees will have to row harder to pull the dead weight, and the ballast includes Mike Collier, who holds his own delusions of defeating Dan Patrick in a rematch. Let's hope he can convince more Republicans to vote for him than last time, because that's his only chance.
All this is a crine ass shame because Joe Jaworski or Lee Merritt could legitimately defeat Ken Paxton without all these drags on the ticket. It's possible the winner of their primary still could. Only this contest, IMHO, has a decent chance of flipping at the statewide level in 2022.
You're best off sending a message that we need wholesale changes in Austin.
Surely this has nothing to do with the millions upon millions in campaign donations to members of the legislature both R+D, railroad commissioners, AG, Governor, State Judges etc etc https://t.co/0WpmLoo1i5
— Bexar County Greens π»π (@BexarGreensTX) August 20, 2021
We don’t need ‘more’ bridges. We need to maintain the ones we have.
— Ted Cruz Called the FBI on me (@theoneronin1312) August 22, 2021
Now, if you said ‘green rail’
I would let it slide.
πvote forππ
.@DelilahforTexas https://t.co/gcuypABUz0
GPTX calls for 2022 candidates! #Greentwitter @GreenPartyUS
— Green Party of Texas (@TXGreens) August 22, 2021
Join us 8/28 for more info!https://t.co/eQo829Vnmo
I foresee a return to a more active blogging schedule this week, so with COVID, environmental, and the usual topics bookmarked, I'll pause the serious stuff here and end today with the soothers.
Fort Worth had me out last night to capture 'New Stories: New Features' at Pioneer Tower in Will Rogers Memorial Center. The light show was put on by AURORA. #FortWorth #aurora #fortworth @FWPublicArt @WillRogersMC @VisitFortWorth pic.twitter.com/mlJRHbaahc
— Joseph Haubert (@josephhaubert) August 21, 2021
Stace at Dos Centavos honored journalist, poet, playwright, and cultural critic Gregg Barrios, who passed away suddenly last week.
As I noted last night, the legendary Tom T. Hall died. Tom wrote a great song called "The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978 re: a night at Stubb's BBQ in Lubbock with Joe Ely and Stubbs himself in .. 1978. Here's a photo of C.B. Stubblefield, Joe Ely & Tom T. Hall. pic.twitter.com/8froN8Ium5
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) August 21, 2021
Awesome new Texas music mural in Alpine π€ pic.twitter.com/6il1P6WBIx
— Travis Bubenik (@travisbubenik) August 21, 2021
Here's the story on the mural project.
We can’t get over how cute the baby horned lizards are experiencing sand for the first time π₯°π₯°π₯° pic.twitter.com/JL057CV1KO
— San Antonio Zoological Society π¦ (@SanAntonioZoo) August 21, 2021