Sunday, August 09, 2020
Saturday, August 08, 2020
EOW* Lone Star Wrangle
My point is that as independent media comes full circle in terms of its importance to and influence on the dialogue in the public square, I'm looking for more Texas voices to include here: vlogs, podcasts, tweeting, writings on Medium and Substack, what have you. All I ask is that they be intelligent, consistent in producing content, and original (promoting Democrats and Democratic campaigns is overtilled acreage, y'all. They also have to have an RSS feed that Blogger can detect so that they show up in the right-hand column, of course.) Keep sending me your tips, but please also send your favorite sources so I can add them to the blogroll and include them in this biweekly round-up.
Opening today with the optimism brimming among the Donkey herd. Patrick Svitek and Abby Livingston for the TexTrib compile snapshots of the state of play for a few of the spotlight dances.
Democrats are optimistic they’ll flip as many as seven congressional seats in Texas in November. Republicans, though, have resisted fueling a narrative that they're playing defense in the traditionally red state. https://t.co/CWsmd6Rgxi
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 7, 2020
#TX24 GE:
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) August 6, 2020
Candace Valenzuela (D) 47% (+6)
Beth Van Duyne (R) 41%
.
Biden 49% (+5)
Trump 44%
Victoria Research/@HouseMajPAC (D) 7/31-8/2https://t.co/9YvOyzNuoL
As House Democrats expand the map, Texas is ‘ground zero’ - the @nationaljournal looks at #TX22 & #TX24 https://t.co/CrA5OhWFtD via @kirk_bado #tx2020 #tx2020
— Jim Henson (@jamesrhenson) August 3, 2020
-- TX21: The incumbent, former Ted Cruz flack Chip Roy, squares off with Democratic darling Wendy Davis, and recent polling shows a tight race. The progressive alternative in this contest is also a former gubernatorial candidate, Tom Wakely, who's running under the Green banner.
Join us next week #TX21 voters for a discussion on #MedicareForAll from a political, religious and healthcare perspective @EJinAction @AllOnMedicare @TXGreens pic.twitter.com/29ugyAOQns
— Tom Wakely For Congress - TX21 (@Wakely2020) August 7, 2020
TX22: After Troy Nehls emerged from the muddy, bloody GOP runoff with Kathaleen Wall, he scraped his website of references
to Trump. That's because he's up against the Democrat who nearly
defeated the retiring Congressman (Pete Olson) two years ago, Sri Preston
Kulkarni. Few places in America reflect the changing demographics and
politics of America's suburbs better than this Sugar Land district,
which was represented by Tom DeLay just a few years ago.
TX10: Mike Seigel is back for another shot at Michael McCaul. He's the most progressive Democrat in this class, and as you might have guessed, the DCCC is staying away again. Texas' electeds are treating him better, though, and he came close enough in '18 -- five points in a district Beto O'Rourke won by .1 of a percentage point -- that a presidential turnout might get him over the hump.
TX2: Dems think they have a shot at knocking off Dan Crenshaw, the media favorite who lives to scratch on "libruls" and "Communists" and other so-called ee-vils. Sima Ladjevardian is a solid establishment candidate but Crenshaw has a national following and the fundraising to back it up. This district was surgically gerrymandered to cancel Montrose and other inner Houston Democrats with bumfuck East Texas Republicans, and IMO the only thing that will excise Crenshaw is a redraw in 2022 by a Democratic statehouse at the Lege. I'd like to be wrong.
TX31: After MJ Hegar chose to challenge John Cornyn instead of taking a rematch with John Carter, Christine Mann, the runner-up in 2018, stepped up again. But she lost the runoff to Donna Imam, another progressive whiz kid whom the DCCC has avoided. With a small war chest and some bruised intraparty feelings locally, Imam has a tall hill to climb.
TX7: Lizzie Fletcher's challenger Wesley Hunt was diagnosed with COVID-19 as tried to board Air Force One last week, alongside Louie Gohmert and Donald Trump. Fletcher is the neoliberal poster child: Pelosi sycophant, loves fossil fuels and war toys, hates Medicare for All. I didn't vote for her in 2018 and I won't vote for her again this November. She should still win.
TX32: Colin Allred is Lizzie Fletcher's brain in the body of a Dallas Cowboys linebacker. They vote exactly the same way. This is classic old school, Martin Frost/Matt Angle Texas Democrat machine politics. It's also the reason why Joe Biden narrowly won the Texas primary after Obama told all the other shitlibs to drop out and fall in line behind him. The whining about "soshulism", even from seemingly progressive Democrats like Sylvia Garcia, was at fever pitch that first weekend in March, and Obama heard their cries and answered their prayers.
Hey, it might win one more time, if the polls are right. Later today, in Sulphur Springs ...
Local GOP officials poised to select Texas’ newest member of Congress replacing John Ratcliffe in atypical election https://t.co/1aOzWJlK9A via @Progrexas #TX04
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 7, 2020
Hegar underperforms Biden in the Lone Star State by 9 points, with 38% support.
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) August 4, 2020
That's 6 points behind Cornyn, who roughly matches Trump's vote share in the state with 44% support. #TXSenhttps://t.co/Nbbr9f824y pic.twitter.com/zoCVaFyEAT
The D Team could have a had a truly popular, widely respected, eloquent, innovative nominee with the youth, the future of the party, behind him. But corporate contributions speak louder than Bernie & his $27 donors.
— David B. Collins for Senate 🌻☮ (@dbcgreentx) August 2, 2020
Nobody ever runs on the Dem ballot for state offices in east Texas.@Julie4Texas and I are trying to turn that around. We're running for Texas House in our respective districts in Tyler and Lufkin.
— Jason Rogers (@Rogers4Texas) August 5, 2020
Give Julie a follow, and help flip Texas blue!#txlege
Five GOP #TXLege members sue @GovAbbott over $295M contact tracing deal https://t.co/jsMGfK1pvt via @CourthouseNews
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 4, 2020
NEW: I went to a Black Voices for Trump event. The only Black people there were the speaker & myself.
— Alexandra Samuels (@AlexSamuelsx5) August 6, 2020
Trump’s campaign has tried to make inroads w/ Black voters, but party leaders have struggled to make progress during a national moment of racial strife.https://t.co/fTvd75gAyp
Not sure but Teen Vogue routinely owns Ted Cruz https://t.co/CwYtdjQBnk
— Austin Tyler Rogers (@austintylerro) August 7, 2020
'May karma find you all' | East Texas man's obituary goes viral on social media https://t.co/VeRAw63wUm pic.twitter.com/SDHcQtRdIa
— 🍀Pearl Jolly of the Feral Left🍀⏳ (@PearlJolly) August 4, 2020
'We are no less American': Deaths pile up on Texas border https://t.co/GrDMTE442B
— Laredo Morning Times (@lmtnews) August 5, 2020
1/ This Missouri City, Texas nursing home has a COVID outbreak that killed 17 residents. There are currently 24 infected staff and 11 residents, who are in stable condition. @mvenk82 and @carla_astudi reporthttps://t.co/Xrjz9VUNjf
— Rebekah Allen (@rebekahallen) August 7, 2020
Over the past four months, coronavirus data errors have plagued several important metrics that the state reports, mistakes that have the potential to mislead decision-makers about the virus’ true course, and to feed dangerous misinformation narratives. https://t.co/vAHMYUwZFe
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 6, 2020
There's a point at which Republicans' efforts to demonstrate that government doesn't work becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy just isn't funny. We reached that point many years ago.
Federal agents are expelling asylum seekers as young as 8 months from the border, citing COVID-19 risks.
— Manny García (@manny_garcia1) August 4, 2020
You read this right: babies, children are being expelled. Important reporting from @lomikriel https://t.co/LaiboLxZFK via @TexasTribune
Study finds uneven distribution of air pollution in Houston https://t.co/ZshApcxJgK #HouNews
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 5, 2020
In a far-flung corner of West Texas, just off a lonely oilfield highway on the state’s dusty border with New Mexico, a small facility that the @nytimes dubbed “America’s most valuable hole in the ground” has drawn the ire of environmentalists for years. https://t.co/PDRyQJX0JW
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 7, 2020
New El Paso gas plant: JP Morgan locking in #climate destruction for the next 20 years #Permian #fracking https://t.co/DQIexHKHAL
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 6, 2020
The Census Bureau on Monday lopped a month off the time people have to respond to the 2020 count. Texas is already lagging behind the country in response rates, with low-income and Hispanic Texans at higher risk of being missed: https://t.co/JrtXojQKJQ #txlege
— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) August 4, 2020
There’s a new billboard in Houston that serves as reminder to protect Black trans women. This is a demand. Not a suggestion. Black trans women deserve our very best! pic.twitter.com/cohXt5dEVq
— RustinBrother (@HarrisonGuy) August 6, 2020
Texas opens hemp program applications while making it tougher to sell ‘smokable’ products https://t.co/x73yVhFe5p #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) August 6, 2020
In February, Texas restaurants employed 1.2 million people.
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) August 1, 2020
By late April, 700,000 had already lost their jobs.
But Texas stands to lose so much more than jobs, writes @paulaforbes. If the small restaurants go under, what will be left for Texas cuisine?https://t.co/FhXVbaTlq3
Just incase your timeline went “back to normal.” Here are some Black Owned restaurants in Texas. pic.twitter.com/sXrUswHTuA
— Jimmyyyy from Linkedinnnnnn (@albizthere) July 31, 2020
I told you I had a lot to get to. We're almost at the end.
The Texas Renaissance Festival won't require masks.
— Lisa Gray (@LisaGray_HouTX) July 31, 2020
<Insert Ye Olde Plague joke here.>https://t.co/wPoiHnFOnr
For many of Houston’s zydeco dancers, musical gatherings are just one aspect of a lifestyle rooted in their Creole heritage: trail riding by day, zydeco dancing by night.https://t.co/qgjM0zIsEp
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) August 8, 2020
TEXAS HISTORY: I should never have trusted Peewee's Big Adventure as history. Turns out, there is a basement at the Alamo. pic.twitter.com/Zo0D45pVfl
— Michael Barnes (@outandabout) August 3, 2020
Thursday, August 06, 2020
White House Update: "Are You a Junkie?"
Joe Biden on cognitive decline testing: “I've been tested and I'm constantly tested"
— President Raprock Obiden Bama (@aturtlenamedbo1) August 5, 2020
Also Joe Biden: "No I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test."
pic.twitter.com/F6E4MiRT7q https://t.co/tmUsx3YHvh
— MSDNC - Commentary & Satire (@MSDNCNews) August 5, 2020
I suppose you read the news that he's still trying to make up his mind about a running mate.
😂🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/O8bdVNmuQL
— 🔥Allison🔥 (@kruppofnoodles) August 1, 2020
IIRC Biden would have picked Amy Klobuchar back in May, after Obama cleared the field for his nomination. But then George Floyd was murdered, and the nation's mood shifted, and while Joe kept saying he would put a Black woman on the Supreme Court, he made no such promise about veep. Finally Amy removed herself from consideration, making it obvious what he should do (I expect we'll read in one of those TIME magazine-styled inside-the-campaign reveals a year or two from now that Jill Biden and Valerie Owens Biden leaned on Klobuchar to do that).
#BREAKING:
— MSDNC - Commentary & Satire (@MSDNCNews) August 3, 2020
Biden forgets to pick VP. pic.twitter.com/ubuERMKkZ7
Instead of things like this being the top story ...
New: Manhattan DA Cy Vance in a new filing pointed to reporting by @Fahrenthold that Trump inflated his wealth to potential lenders and business partners as a justification for subpoenaing his tax returns, signaling a possible fraud investigation. https://t.co/94bw4q3Fuo
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 3, 2020
... this is.
Joe Biden strongly opposes marijuana legalization and made sure it was not in the Democratic Party Platform.
— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) August 3, 2020
People are literally dying in prison for the crime of selling weed, and Biden just doesn't care. #NeverBidenhttps://t.co/AjcUMI9IJD
Instead of this ...
At ⬇️32.9%, Q2 was THE WORST economic crash in U.S. history.
— Richard Hine (@richardhine) August 3, 2020
For months,🍊🤡💩 has been telling us the July-September would be a YUGE rebound.
It’s August already and he just went golfing as emergency benefits expired for millions.#TrumpHasNoPlan https://t.co/d5ZMLpGFrG
... this.
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 2, 2020
A larger percentage of Republicans support Medicare for All compared to members of the @DNC platform committee. Let that sink in.
— Augie Lindmark (@AugieLindmark) August 3, 2020
Biden over his career has been a center-right corporate extremist and he has not made one *major* policy concession yet to the left. The DNC just voted AGAINST Medicare for All, Medicare for Kids, legalizing cannabis, rejecting corporate pac money and banning corporate lobbyists.
— Ryan Knight 🌹 (@ProudSocialist) August 4, 2020
If Biden refuses to adopt popular policies that would help him get elected and which would also relieve an enormous amount of healthcare related suffering & stress during a global health pandemic, any disaffected voters are Biden’s responsibility alone. https://t.co/vB76MCD5eT https://t.co/XjA6nfboFC pic.twitter.com/9Tajl3U6b3
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) August 2, 2020
And then there's this.
This is actually really telling...@BernieSanders gave 10 reasons to vote AGAINST Trump, but did not give one reason to vote FOR @JoeBiden. https://t.co/b5FosUymCf
— Ryan Knight 🌹 (@ProudSocialist) August 4, 2020
No, Bernie. This isn't good enough to get me to vote for your friend Joe, or any other Democrat.
Look, y'all. Joe Biden may very well become our next president. Putting aside his center-right policy positions & all his baggage, I don't foresee him being very good at the job.
— David B. Collins for Senate 🌻☮ (@dbcgreentx) August 2, 2020
And Walter Bragman, an excellent point.
Humans are going to look back one day—after millions have been made refugees, the Equator is unlivable, Dengue fever has reached Chicago, crop yields have dropped 30%, and the coasts have moved miles inland—and wonder why so many of us tolerated pro-fracking politicians.
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) August 2, 2020
I am weary of this.
This may surprise some of you, but after a lot of soul searching I have come to a conclusion you may not like. Like it or not, we really only have two choices. Sorry, we do. That is just the reality.
— citizen uprising (@cit_uprising) August 2, 2020
You can either:
1. Vote Green
2. Write in
Anything else is wasting your vote.
Here's our Daily Jackass: Chris Wright, posting at OpEd News.
The two party system will always find a reason to tell you why now is not the time for systemic change.
— Mark Charles 2020 (@wirelesshogan) August 5, 2020
The illusion of choice in a two party system. pic.twitter.com/9tFCcJttpo
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) August 2, 2020
very cool and respectful pic.twitter.com/UA8uqvHdly
— Bes🌹 (@besf0rt) August 3, 2020
— Angela Walker (@AngelaNWalker) August 1, 2020
A few words about Kanye.
Whether he meant to or not, Kanye West has become a prop for the Trump campaign. https://t.co/sbGFG1YzWP
— Jesse Damiani (@JesseDamiani) August 5, 2020
To all the people worrying about how Kanye West being on the ballot could split the vote: pass #RankedChoiceVoting in your state, and you won't have to worry about "vote-splitting" or "spoilers" anymore. We did it in Maine, and it works. We can fix this broken voting system.
— Lisa Savage for US Senate🌻 (@LisaForMaine) August 5, 2020
Update:
Amid various reports that Republican and Trump-affiliated political operatives are trying to get Kanye West onto various state ballots for November’s presidential election, the billionaire rap superstar indicated, in an interview by text today, that he was in fact running to siphon votes from the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.Asked about that directly, West said that rather than running for president, he was “walking,” quickly adding that he was “walking . . . to win.”
When it was pointed out that he actually can’t win in 2020 -- that he won’t be on enough ballots to yield 270 electoral votes, and that a write-in campaign isn’t feasible --and thus was serving as a spoiler, West replied: “I’m not going to argue with you. Jesus is King.”