We'll all be glad when it's over. But it ain't over.
An additional ~20 #txlege bills are still alive, ranging from those with a very high likelihood of passage:#SB7 (13th check for retired teachers)
— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) August 30, 2021
To those with a very low likelihood:#SB2 (Require UIL students to compete in athletics based on biological sex)#SB3 (Anti-CRT) https://t.co/mc1ibhtBdc
W/r/t SB1, it was NOT always to be, as some who would excuse Texas Democrats' collective failure choose to spin.
From the @StarTelegram Editorial Board: #HB1 is better than it was last session, and compromise could make Texas elections better, but the #txlege Legislature just can’t pull that off https://t.co/MSCpHx306N
— Bud Kennedy / #ReadLocal (@BudKennedy) August 30, 2021
Playing the race card just doesn't get you very far when Dan Patrick is the dealer. Once upon a time we lived in a country where saying things like this forced an elected official to resign in disgrace. I did not see one single person call for the lite guv to step down, which tells you how far he and his ilk in Austin have moved the Overton window.
Unless @SenBryanHughes can provide evidence of statistically significant voting by non-citizens (hint: he can’t) then this is just false rationalizing of racist policy (looking at you @DadePhelan). But we expect no less from the @TexasGOP #txlege #TexasDeservesBetter https://t.co/KedICx0JkT
— Indivisible #Txlege (@IndvsbleTXLege) August 29, 2021
Meanwhile there were more marches for voting rights over the weekend.
Voting rights marches draw crowds, but they're losing the war https://t.co/74xRi1oUNw via @MotherJones
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 29, 2021
“Yet there is one major category where Mr. Biden appears content to let obstruction rule: voting rights. As other bills sidestep filibusters, civil rights bills are still forced to overcome them.” #txlege https://t.co/u7Xz98aBTp
— Ali Lozano (@alozano_msw) August 30, 2021
Some of you are free to keep hope alive.
8/ At some point, Texas Democrats will have to shed this concern about *appearing* principled, and start fighting for those of us who cannot afford to keep losing these legislative battles. Be bold, break quorum, stop this hateful agenda, and fight for us. We need you. #txlege
— Caroline Duble (@CarolineDuble) August 27, 2021
I've seen this show before. I know how it ends.
*ahem* #TXLege https://t.co/o6qRZ3QH6P
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 27, 2021
On to the rest.
“Improvement” isn’t the word I’d use for “the daily number of Texans dying from COVID-19 has increased steadily since mid-July.”#AbbottFailedTexas #txlege #maskup https://t.co/NqbEza1LVz
— Becca Moyer DeFelice (@becca4TX121) August 30, 2021
“…The true tyranny is being trapped in this deadly pandemic with people who are actively helping it spread.” 2/2 #txlege https://t.co/kNqzfd4QTn
— Jennifer Harris (@jwharris) August 30, 2021
"With the restrictions and barriers already in place in Texas, we know some of those who seek abortion after September 1 may find this new ban insurmountable, particularly low-income and undocumented people, and people of color.” #TXLegehttps://t.co/NrXze9SFKK
— Planned Parenthood Texas Votes (@PPTXVotes) August 27, 2021
In our final episode of The Disconnect, you'll hear from Texans struggling to pay their bills, regulators struggling to explain their actions and an energy industry struggling to cover its ass. https://t.co/bPDMPeDjst
— KUT Austin (@KUT) August 30, 2021
Here I'll clean out my old bookmarks with some news items that have aged but are no less relevant.
-- From The Militant:
John Henry Ramirez is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville Sept. 8, the third execution there this year.
Ramirez filed a federal suit Aug. 10 after prison officials denied his request to have his pastor, Dana Moore of the Second Baptist Church, pray with him in the death chamber and lay hands on him as he dies. Ramirez’s attorney filed for his execution to be postponed while the issue is litigated.
-- Fake Texas Temporary Car Tags Linked to Crimes as Far Away as New York
A recent FBI investigation found more than a half-million fraudulent paper tags were sold by just three people to buyers across the country. [...] And that’s not the only way to get fake tags.
In May, an FBI investigation found three people in Houston set up "fraudulent and fictitious" used car dealerships -- and got more than 500,000 tags from the DMV that appeared legitimate to any police officer.
-- Texas town torn by racial rift subject of new NBC podcast
The deep-dive, six-part podcast about Southlake, the upscale suburb of around 31,000 people 25 miles northeast of Fort Worth, begins streaming on Aug. 30.
-- Does Houston really want to lead the energy transition, or is this more greenwashing by Big Oil?
Winding down here with some less aggravating pieces.
Goodness, how good of a musician was Beaumont's Edgar Winter? In this version of Frankenstein he plays keyboards, saxophone, drums and maybe some other instruments. Guaranteed to be the best nine minutes you've spent on the internet today!https://t.co/DFIQVIGYhX via @YouTube
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) August 27, 2021
I say we put Trinity, Rice, TCU Baylor --but give them the death penalty for 5 years -- the Ponies, Tech, Texas State and UTSA and that Catholic girl school that's got a division one team in San Antonio all together and we call it the Frito Pie Conference.
— From the Desk of RICHARD PARKER (@RICHARDPARKERSW) August 29, 2021
Thanks to our friend George K for this one 🍹 https://t.co/67Fn0dHw4L pic.twitter.com/7uYRz5NJ3F
— El Arroyo (@ElArroyo_ATX) August 27, 2021
