Showing posts sorted by date for query greg abbott. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query greg abbott. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2022

Wrong Track Wrangle from Far Left Texas


Gosh, I wonder if some truth is finally sinking in.


It's a good thing that Texas Democrats are poised to take advantage.


Uh oh.  Well, they've got a bit less than six months to figure it out and get back on track (the right track, or the left track, or even the centrist track, whichever you prefer to call it).  Maybe I should emphasize some of the worst-behaving Texas Republicans over the past week or so.


I guess that's my segue to the latest climate updates.


And here's my hodgepodge of social justice news.


The Texas Observer has a new editor-in-chief.


And the rest of my soothers for your weekend perusal.

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Monday, May 09, 2022

Choose or Lose Wrangle


It would be beneficial for "The Left" to stop the backbiting and infighting on this issue and unite in order to turn back the Christofascist wave sweeping Texas and the nation.  Two things: not holding my breath, and because there are varying definitions of "left" and unite", I should clarify that mine do not include centrist Democrats nor voting for them.


I'm capable of voting for a few Texas Democrats in November, provided the party's voters can nominate some that I can support.  I can recommend a few more for those of you who vote blue in districts where you live, like Claudia Zapata in TX-21.


And I heartily recommend direct democracy.  Because it's really the only kind left.


But Democrats shouldn't kid themselves about their chances in the fall.  A lot of people who used to support them won't any longer.


Voting more and harder simply isn't going to solve this.


Fear of loss, fear of threats from 'the other', fear in the voting booth in general may be a prime motivator for conservative troglodytes, but it does not work on people with enough sense to understand the manipulation by the elites and media.  That is an increasing number of Americans who still choose to vote, a steadily dwindling number itself (despite the occasional upward ticks).

So prospects are exceedingly grim for the republic.  Which is why I'm also advocating for a general strike revolution.  I'm increasingly of the opinion that it's our last best option.  You see, I'm old and sick but I'm still capable of getting in the way.  Because blocking these chuds at every turn, by whatever means, grows crucial.


Greg Abbott's latest big idea is to get the SCOTUS to revisit every single case for which he didn't like the decision thirty, forty, fifty years ago.  Charming.


And what if we manage to deny him, and Paxton, and the Supreme Court and the Republicans in November?  We still have a planet on fire and Texas throwing gas on it.


Much of this Wrangle could have been published last week.  I'll try to catch up tomorrow or Wednesday with the latest, including the social justice posts.  Here's a story you should read if you haven't: Leticia van de Putte's recovery from her terrible accident.


And a notable passing.


Last: the soothers, starting with a few long walks.

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Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Completely Broken Wrangle


Everything (including me).  I simply don't think I'll be able to ease back into blogging this week after last night.


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.


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.


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.


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?


I did find one spot of good news.


I'll go easy on our bad-behaving Texpols.  Wait; no I won't.


To paraphrase Alice Cooper: school's almost out for summer, but teachers and books still matter.


I also have way too many instances of the cops -- and their lurid assortment of enablers -- acting like criminals again.


Again, there's a bright spot amidst this darkness.


And in labor news, the media is fighting back.


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.

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Monday, April 25, 2022

"Because These Rats Won't F*ck Themselves" Wrangle


Before Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton and their associated players get started on this week's bullshit, it might be useful to remember some -- there aren't enough pixels to document all -- of that which they stirred, threw, and wiped all over themselves from last week.


Every time I see a picture of the attorney general like this, I feel an intense urge to apply a Will Smith-style slap upside his head... but only to see if it might straighten out his eye.


Let me wrap this segment as it began: with shit.


Should that be my segue to a few environmental tweets?


The legal and criminal justice tweets begin with a round-up of the Crimestoppers corruption scandal, the breaking story at the end of last week.


The organization also enjoys close relations with Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who donated $500,000 to the non-profit— which has a room in its headquarters named for the DA’s Office.

Keep pulling Ogg's thread, keep finding more crap.  I'm especially not one for people who smirk and gloat over capital punishment.


That would be "Houston Chronicle public safety reporter" -- I despise inappropriate capitalization -- St. John Barned-Smith.  (I thought I'd do a little of Matt Bramanti's pedantry for him here.)

Moving on, but staying here ...


Our teachers are still getting the short end of the stick.  Maybe Abbott's task force is going to come up with something besides more persecution.


Here's some housing news that doesn't mention evictions.


And a few more social justice pieces at random.


Oh yeah, there's early voting for some elections going on now.

Most municipalities and other local governments in Texas have races on the ballot, although municipalities may cancel elections in cases where no position is contested. Voters will choose mayors in dozens of Texas municipalities including Denton, Galveston, Harlingen, Lubbock, Port Arthur, Victoria and Waco.

Special elections in HD147 (Safe D) and CD34 (Lean R) will fill the unexpired terms of former Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) and former U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Brownsville), respectively. Both elections will be held in those districts as they were configured for the 2020 election cycle. This creates a pickup opportunity for Republicans in CD34 because the Democratic nominee for the general election, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzales (D-McAllen), could not run in the special election. Republican nominee Mayra Flores is a candidate in the special election, which could result in her challenging Gonzales in November as an incumbent.


And a couple of eye-roll items.


Concluding this extended Wrangle with two soothers.

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Friday, April 22, 2022

"We Have Issues" Wrangle


Enough for a few subscriptions, and not just those associated with the climate emergency or the vast depth of the corruption in state government.

But that's our jumping-off point today.


This news must have been painful for Fox's Groogan to break.


Here come the tabs for Governor ASSTax's border crisis.


ProPublica's team did the digging on two decades' worth of political stuntery on the southern border, going back to Rick Perry's re-election campaigns.


But racial hatred is what Texas was fought over and founded on.  Why should we expect there to be any change after almost 200 years?


I have a lot to get to, so I'll put more Earth Day posts in a separate Wrangle.  Here's more news from the RGV.


And here are a few legal, criminal, and social justice updates.  Alex Jones hit the trifecta in this category.


Between ShotSpotter and this, it shan't be long before Mayor Sly interviews Tom Cruise to head up a local Department of PreCrime.  With Democrats like these in Texas, who needs Republicans?

Which brings me to Kim Ogg.


Ogg IS a Republican.  She won't be coming out of the closet until she runs for re-election in 2024, but the leopard's spots can't be changed.


It wasn't enough that her assistant DA defeated him in the primary last month; she wants him off the bench six months early.

Ogg has -- like so many DAs before her -- devolved into a megalomaniac.  Harris County Democrats are going to have to do better two years from now.  I'm looking at YOU, HGLBTQ Caucus.

A few more of these:


Edinburg Politics reported that the Orwellian-named Texas Privacy Act was overturned on a First Amendment violation by US Judge Robert Pittman last month.  Techdirt followed up on the amicus brief filed against Texas at the Fifth Circuit regarding free expression online.  And with some developments on women's right to choose ...


Notably, not Kim Ogg of Harris County.  More from Alternet on the tipping point of Oklahoma's abortion ban, and the Texas Signal on the Frontera Fund's promised fight.  All power to Wendy Davis and her lawsuit, but I am past the point of believing she is an effective advocate for anything.


"Texas Republicans Behaving Badly" features the usual lineup.  I'll add the cops also.


Lots more but running long so I'll close on the calm-me-downs and promise more later.

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