Monday, August 23, 2021

Busting the Democrats' Quorum Break Wrangle


Lege back in session. Not without some bitterness.

Update (p.m.):


Original (a.m.):


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.


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.


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.


Stace at Dos Centavos honored journalist, poet, playwright, and cultural critic Gregg Barrios, who passed away suddenly last week.


Here's the story on the mural project.