Monday, August 30, 2021

The Nearly-Finished Special Session Wrangle


We'll all be glad when it's over.  But it ain't over.


W/r/t SB1, it was NOT always to be, as some who would excuse Texas Democrats' collective failure choose to spin.


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.


Meanwhile there were more marches for voting rights over the weekend.


Some of you are free to keep hope alive.


I've seen this show before.  I know how it ends.


On to the rest.


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.