Everything (including me). I simply don't think I'll be able to ease back into blogging this week after last night.
Texas' "trigger law," passed by the Legislature last May and signed into law by @GovAbbott, outlaws nearly all abortions if SCOTUS strikes down Roe v. Wade. Doctors would face life in prison or $100K fines for performing an abortion: https://t.co/EiueNLG1id #txlege
— Jasper Scherer (@jaspscherer) May 3, 2022
It didn't feel shocking to me, but I do get that shitlibs have to have something to be outraged about on a regular basis (just like MAGAts). Not a fresh outrage, mind you; a recycled one will do just fine, as long as it scratches open all their scabs.
Blaming Jill Stein for getting one percent of the vote instead of, you know, the leading Democrat who managed to *lose to Donald motherfucking Trump* is how you get history to repeat itself. Y'all are like the people who still blame Nader for GWB.
— haj (@hajnal_endot) May 3, 2022
- Obama not codifying Roe
— Gritty is the Way (@Gritty20202) May 3, 2022
- RBG not retiring under Obama
- Obama not fighting for Justice Garland
- Clinton elevating Trump's campaign
- Clinton not campaigning in swing states
- Clinton losing to a reality TV star
- Biden not codifying Roe
Just blame it all on Bernie bros!
I really expected more carping at Susan Sarandon, although I did see a lot of crap dumped on Nina Turner, whose Ohio congressional rematch with what's-her-neolib-face culminates today. It's just more proof to me that if you can't understand the role of people like Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins in the process, then -- as with Ukraine and the Nazis in the Azov battallion -- you can't figure out who your real enemies are. And that appears to be a generational problem for Democrats at this point, not just a cyclical one.
Images of Ambassador Bob Krueger, taken about 10 years apart at his 1983 wedding to Kathy Tobin and 1993 Senate debate with KBH. Last Democrat to hold statewide office in Texas, passed away Apr. 30 at 86. #txlege @bobphoto #RIP pic.twitter.com/gLeivvFdPg
— bobphoto (@bobphoto) May 1, 2022
There is no way that I, or anyone like me, is going to be insulted, or threatened, or scared into voting blue in '22. That ship has sailed.
Let's see what slid down the memory hole over the past week.
As a former Texas legislative correspondent, nothing about Rick Perry's complicity in the coup shocks me. However, I am still shocked by the number of reporters who treated him like either a harmless goof or a moderate who played footsie with fascists. https://t.co/jHhQjXaZuQ
— Richard Whittaker is still at SXSW (@YorkshireTX) April 25, 2022
The office of Gov. Abbott is now asking the public for donations to help pay for charter buses transporting migrants to Washington, D.C. https://t.co/M49ItZPIg2
— WFAA (@wfaa) April 27, 2022
Bonnen potentially returning to Austin as lobbyist to save the huge tax incentives that disproportionately benefitted the ONG corps in his old backyard https://t.co/lwU5dmJb0M https://t.co/8LGXsg6QQw
— Justin Miller (@by_jmiller) April 26, 2022
Texas Governor Abbott’s border crackdown is generating fresh backlash, with Mexico announcing that a new rail line to the U.S. would now go via New Mexico instead of the Lone Star State https://t.co/7eKhJg9aqy
— Bloomberg (@business) April 29, 2022
National Guard members injured or killed on the Texas border get a fraction of the health and death benefits for their families because they were deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott rather than President Joe Biden. Via @HoustonChron: https://t.co/8b6IJZlIUm
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) May 2, 2022
Adding to the speculation that @GregAbbott_TX is eyeing a run for the White House, @HKronberg reports that Abbott chief strategist Dave Carney recently told top tier lobbyists that the campaign plans to raise another $50 million this year #TxLege https://t.co/zbsk5J6m06
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) May 2, 2022
Another $50 million. But get the base to ante up for the buses to DC (and Delaware), and break the state and nation's economy some more. Sounds like a winning platform.
Is our climate broken? Is our response to the apocalypse broken?
"We need to be listening to what the Earth is telling us," says Roddy Hughes of the Sierra Club. "We need to be slowing production."
— Bloomberg (@business) April 29, 2022
Read more in the investigation by @SergioChapa and @DavidWethe: https://t.co/9Jo7z9STyG
New for @FloodlightNews / @TexasTribune:
— Amal Ahmed (@amalahmed214) April 25, 2022
For years, fossil fuel companies have deferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for pollution towards....nonprofits that benefit their own industry.
https://t.co/KOSzNdwOVO
The sweet relief of yesterday's rain in parts of TX didn't drastically change the state's drought outlook, especially in West Texas.#txlege needs to take action on water now. It needs to prioritize conservation, water loss, climate data & more:https://t.co/kJbB4mcnnh#txwater https://t.co/FAYviqYZPl
— Texas Living Waters (@txwater) April 26, 2022
“There simply isn’t enough water available ... We need to urgently rethink how we capture water—and how we consume it.”
— The Meadows Center (@MeadowsC4Water) April 27, 2022
Read more on the State of #OurTXHillCountry: https://t.co/L8vnAZZ7zn #txlege #txwater pic.twitter.com/1e2Itae8Ou
More than 90 percent of all land in Texas is privately owned, giving the lion’s share of responsibility for wildfire prevention to individual landowners. https://t.co/gFoHsQDo0X
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) April 28, 2022
Is your energy provider propping up one of Texas’ dirtiest coal plants? If it’s one of NRG’s subsidiaries, it definitely is. Join our social media week of action to close Parish coal by posting & tagging #ParishIsBurning #txlege #EnergyTwitter @NRGEnergy https://t.co/E3Ys2RWqmx
— Emma Pabst (@PabstBlasts) April 28, 2022
Absolute๐ฅcolumn from @cltomlinson. Generators are trying to get another $1.5b out of consumers in the #ERCOT market & are close to having their consultant hired to be the PUC's consultant, too. "The agency 'is the sole arbiter of whether a conflict...exists.'"#txlege #txenergy https://t.co/yvAy2V3WDg
— Doug Lewin (@douglewinenergy) April 29, 2022
Potential record-breaking heat could push Texas power grid to the brink this weekend https://t.co/N5JM3KbI3F
— Laredo Morning Times (@lmtnews) May 3, 2022
I did find one spot of good news.
Researchers at UT Austin have created an enzyme that breaks down plastic waste, a creation that has the potential to make big impacts on the environment. https://t.co/EfWz6syGWV
— FOX 7 Austin (@fox7austin) May 2, 2022
I'll go easy on our bad-behaving Texpols. Wait; no I won't.
Two PsOS having a rally #TXLege https://t.co/mEU65O1rLW
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 26, 2022
Two bigger PsOS having a meeting #TXLege https://t.co/oSb53Tcv1u
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) April 26, 2022
Imagine that @POTUS? Anything to say about that @GregAbbott_TX? How about you #txlege?#CannabisCommunity #Mmemberville https://t.co/JoxrvdAwK6
— Gramps' Place Podcast - Chris Grisolia (@grisolia_chris) April 26, 2022
To paraphrase Alice Cooper: school's almost out for summer, but teachers and books still matter.
“It’s easy to see this is an election year ploy designed to sow mistrust between parents and educators and divide our state based on party affiliation and ideology,” said Shirley Robinson. https://t.co/YPBAIRXjL7
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@startelegram) April 27, 2022
Important twist in a Texas election: Pastor Robert Morris of @GatewayPeople Church in Southlake, a top Trump advisor, includes QAnon candidate @LindamoodBobby of Colleyville in his pseudo-endorsements for Saturday election https://t.co/XlRmkmXz5Q
— Bud Kennedy / #ReadLocal (@BudKennedy) May 1, 2022
Here's another Texas megachurch pastor—this time at Second Baptist in Houston—rallying congregants to vote in upcoming school board elections to stop what he calls the "backward way in which we're educating our children through the critical race theory" and the "LGBTQ agenda." pic.twitter.com/LG7RlFdRAe
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) May 1, 2022
In the year 2022, Texas is still in 1952.
— ♿๐️ ๐ ๐ Love Beats Hate ๐จ❤️๐จ (@LeftwardSwing) April 28, 2022
๐ข Texas residents sue county for removing books on race, sex education from public library. https://t.co/6lPLppHnHf
In solidarity with #librotraficante and all the people who work hard to get our history in schools, not just one side of the story. M.A.S #houston #sanantonio #austin #mouthfeelpress https://t.co/rgk4kHqgYJ
— Mouthfeel Press (@mouthfeelpress) April 30, 2022
I also have way too many instances of the cops -- and their lurid assortment of enablers -- acting like criminals again.
Feathers have evidently been ruffled by recent reports in the Houston Chronicle and elsewhere, examining the nonprofit’s finances as well as the role Crime Stoppers has played in the public square, writes columnist @EricaGrieder. https://t.co/XSrp523aDY
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) April 27, 2022
Galveston’s civilian review board, which is supposed to review internal investigations into police officers (in closed meetings, without producing public reports) hasn’t met in three years #galvnews https://t.co/t9K8JQheTg
— John Wayne Ferguson (@JohnWFerguson) April 28, 2022
Just a quarter of Texas’ state prisons – 28 of 107 – have air conditioning throughout. “We’re routinely in excess of 110, 120, 130 degrees, and metal furniture becomes too hot to touch.”https://t.co/iIPuZTkrAs
— KXAN News (@KXAN_News) April 27, 2022
"Do most Texans agree with this lynch mob mentality?" asks @TCADPdotORG's David Atwood in #LettersToTheEditor. "Does #Abbott? Does D.A. #KimOgg who was at the prison that day & didn’t seem disturbed by what took place either inside or outside the prison?" https://t.co/2OmjzwWrhO
— Houston Chronicle Opinion (@ChronOpinion) April 27, 2022
.@ATXJustice says current contracts between @austintexasgov and @ATXPOA prevent holding officers accountable for complaints filed against them, including when Sam Kirsch was shot in the eye with a less-lethal round by APD during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. pic.twitter.com/mIGjY4rMbC
— Natalie Haddad (@natalieontv) May 2, 2022
At least 7 deaths this year tied to Houston-area police pursuits https://t.co/uIYR6xaBV8 via @houstonchron #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) April 25, 2022
Again, there's a bright spot amidst this darkness.
Decriminalize Denton believes they are on track with enough signatures for their ordinance to eliminate low-level marijuana enforcement to qualify for the November midterm elections. https://t.co/wBWffubYut
— DentonRC (@DentonRC) April 25, 2022
And in labor news, the media is fighting back.
#BetterNewsForYallAndAll ๐ฐ๐ https://t.co/faPGH9l2tb
— Alexandra Skores (@AlexandraSkores) April 26, 2022
So I'll segue into the calm-me-downs with a promise to be more active here this week in spite of the horrors everywhere I look.
Trevor Noah at #WHCADinner: Before everyone calls for their Uber rides home, be aware that “@GovAbbott is offering free bus rides for the Telemundo table.” #GregAbbott #border #migrants #txlege #whitehousecorrespondentsdinner pic.twitter.com/18Vwnyzg4E
— John Gravois (@Grav1) May 1, 2022
Nobody writes better songs. Nobody sings better. Nobody’s better on acoustic guitar. But almost everyone has better luck growing tomatoes than my old friend. Happy birthday, Willie Nelson! pic.twitter.com/3cmgGalJzz
— RUTH BUZZI (@Ruth_A_Buzzi) April 29, 2022
๐จ LIGHTS OUT ACTION ALERT! ๐จ Houston Audubon and our partners recommend turning LIGHTS OUT for the next THREE NIGHTS, May 2-4, 2022. Bird migration is predicted to be HIGH for our region. Learn more: https://t.co/F5EiS8LcaS #LightsOutHouston #LightsOutTexas pic.twitter.com/M1Pe2jGSIc
— Houston Audubon (@HoustonAudubon) May 2, 2022
AYE DIOS MรO! Max Baca of @texmaniacs74 just said this fall there will be a 10 ft statue of Flaco Jimenez at @marketsquareSA outside @MiTierraCafeSA! #puroconjunto pic.twitter.com/S2ukMS4Cs7
— Puro Pinche (@PuroPincheSA) April 29, 2022
In 1961, NASA selected Houston as the home of the Manned Spaceflight Center. The agency is kicking off its 60th anniversary with a long list of events. https://t.co/25IhyRwWxv
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) April 28, 2022
