Sunday, February 06, 2022
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Groundhog Day Wrangle
A Texas GOP operative tells me it's quite possible Gov @GregAbbott_TX's "guarantee the lights will stay on" could be his "read my lips" moment #TxLege
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) February 1, 2022
The next few days will reveal whether Abbott and company will coast to re-election in March -- and November -- or whether the weather can turn the tide from red to blue. If the Lone Star version of Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it's four more years of winter in Deep In The Hearta.
Inbox: @GregAbbott_TX's campaign mocks @BetoORourke's "Keeping the Lights On" Tour as the "Praying the Lights Go Out" Tour #TXGOV
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) February 1, 2022
Hope is not a strategy, but when you're as far behind in the polling and the fundraising as Beto is today ... what else is there?
We'll come back to Texas Democrats' failing downpost; let's catch up with the TXGOP, still doing what they do.
West Texas energy billionaires make 7-figure wager against Abbott in GOP governor primary #txlege #TX2022 #TXGOP #TXGovhttps://t.co/WF2YIhakXH
— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) February 2, 2022
With the price of oil soaring, these guys will have millions more to throw away on hyper-extremist conservative politics this year.
Certainly not as large as the thousands at the Trump rally but this is right in line with the general direction of right wing politics down here in Texas https://t.co/i2PQZFn3hb
— steven monacelli (getting worried) (@stevanzetti) January 30, 2022
Republican logic. Genius. #txlege pic.twitter.com/5RSrWij40C
— IsraxAvila.eth (@israxavila) February 1, 2022
New = After backlash, Texas comptroller abandons plan to hide details of controversial tax break program https://t.co/mX3C5jHZWb via @houstonchron w/ @John_Tedesco
— Mike Morris (@mmorris011) January 28, 2022
Very interesting nugget from @ktullymcmanus best viewed in context of Cornyn staying in mix to be future GOP leader, even though he hasn’t been in the elected leadership for three years now https://t.co/YYDlNuop9S pic.twitter.com/kKl81mGUW6
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 31, 2022
Texas Republican, Ted Cruz, makes baffling claim that a Black woman on the US Supreme Court is an insult to Black women
— Socialist Voice ⭑ (@SocialistVoice) January 31, 2022
‘The fact that he’s willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a Black woman, I got to say, that’s offensive,’https://t.co/X3Ei28ShCw
Ted's presidential ambitions are going to be thwarted again by Trump. What a tragedy.
.@GovAbbott begs crypto-miners to shut down if the #TexasPowerGrid is about to fail https://t.co/YWUTfasD5c #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 31, 2022
It's a drinking game. Every time Gov. Greg Abbott calls Democrats "socialists" you gotta drink a shot. But don't drive afterward. In this piece, I explain how Abbott is the true Texas socialist. https://t.co/OO2Tc73bRM #txlege
— Dave Lieber, CSP (@DaveLieber) February 1, 2022
Moving on to more of the foibles of Governor Fish Lips that don't include the grid.
Column: Abbott’s move is a minor skirmish in what has become the Texas Republican war on cities and local governments. https://t.co/mKk8lbdBst
— San Antonio Report (@SAReport) February 1, 2022
#GregAbbott #Immigration #OperationLoneStar #Texas pic.twitter.com/dmWZ7uFoB4
— John Branch (@Branchtoon) January 24, 2022
And wrapping this segment with the egregious laws passed in the 87th Texas Lege that are coming home to roost.
There are nearly 200 anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers in Texas. State funding for them increased *twentyfold* between 2006 and 2021. https://t.co/OI1pd49kwP
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 1, 2022
Court in Texas redistricting case has denied plaintiffs' request to throw out redrawn Senate District 10 ahead of primaries: https://t.co/b0DW0NXWYY
— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) February 1, 2022
Without appeal to SCOTUS, this would mean Texas elections will move forward without any changes to maps #txlege drew.
Banned: Books on race and sexuality are disappearing from Texas schools in record numbers https://t.co/gEMsBGyrD1
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) February 1, 2022
BREAKING: We’re suing the state of Texas. @TXsecofstate continues to incorrectly identify registered voters as “non-citizens” and has refused to reveal records that disclose how these purged voters are being identified as such.
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) February 1, 2022
This is voter suppression. #TXDeservesBetter pic.twitter.com/3t5IINCke3
That 41/41 split among republicans π #txlege https://t.co/Z6Ne9K3abe
— Jake Salinas (@mrjakesalinas) January 31, 2022
The damage wasn't limited to Republicans, however. Some of your favorites on Team Blue really disgraced themselves, and it's only Wednesday.
Apparently, Democrat @EddieforTexas hopes to squeeze more juice out of the political backlash to Austin's 2019 decision to loosen its criminal ban on homeless camping: https://t.co/nyrtKF3RMJ
— Gus Bova (@gusbova) January 31, 2022
ICYMI. Truly smells like desperation from Rodriguez. It was revealed by Tribune of the People that his primary opponent Greg Casar made his own lurch to the right, and reported at nearly the same time that Amnesty International called out the government of Israel. Lining up with an apartheid state is a bad move no matter when it occurs, but right before voting is to begin for a brand new, solid D seat just reeks of pandering for the Jewish vote. This move also came in the wake of the federal court ruling that Texas' anti-BDS law violates the First Amendment (injunction .pdf).
A very coincidental series of events.
The #HarrisCounty #M4A Coalition just met with @RepSylviaGarcia//@LaCongresista.
— Harris County Medicare for All Coalition (@HarrisCountyM4A) February 1, 2022
We asked her if she would commit to sign-on and become a co-sponsor of H.R. 1976, the #MedicareForAll Act of 2021.
She said: "Well, the short answer is no..."
Garcia is failing her constituents.
Not as difficult to understand given Garcia's other progressive failings, but another echo -- on the heels of the no-vote taken in the California Assembly yesterday -- of Democrats' inability to choose the will of the people over the will of their donors. It's an extension of Gene Green's legacy she's settling into.
The findings reveal the growth and ascendancy of a shadow political infrastructure that is reshaping U.S. politics, as megadonors to these nonprofits take advantage of loose disclosure laws to give millions of dollars in total secrecy.https://t.co/acSVoSwgHM
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 29, 2022
In 2016 I was @TheDemocrats nominee for Congress TX21. In 2020 I ran for the same seat again, this time as a Green. Same issues, same policy positions. The DCCC & local Dems sued to keep me off the ballot. They’re for free & fair elections just not for 3rd party candidates. https://t.co/7xrTRDJjQG
— Rev. Thomas Wakely (@Wakely2020) January 22, 2022
I suppose that will be my segue to the legal, criminal, and social justice updates.
On April 27, 2022, Melissa Lucio will be executed for a crime she didn’t commit.
— AWKWORD (@AWKWORDrap) February 1, 2022
Tell Gov. @GregAbbott_TX that he and Cameron County’s new district attorney, the courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must review of Melissa’s @innocence claimhttps://t.co/xos4hnAoVF
MURDERVILLE, TX: Harris County, Texas, has sent more people to death row than anywhere else in the nation. Among them is a man named Charles Raby.
— The Intercept (@theintercept) February 2, 2022
Listen now: https://t.co/uwHbnNmCnl pic.twitter.com/xzxLDUoYQk
Keep in mind, this guy has a 50 caliber machine gun that can be mounted to that truck. The "company" he runs owns a surveillance trailer, multiple rifles, and other firearms. These are the people the city of Dallas contract with? https://t.co/W4fQKHN61w
— Dallas Protest Police Watch (@dallas_protest) January 28, 2022
A couple of labor updates, segue-ing into the soothers to end today.
π¨ Ethylene oxide is produced in #Houston area & used in sterilizing medical equipment & household products. The colorless gas is said to be significant contributor to cancer risk, too. Yet, @TCEQ says not so much. @EPA, @SierraClub, @EDF DISAGREE#TXlege https://t.co/raiHe5QsCB
— Anna NΓΊΓ±ez (@nunez_anna) February 2, 2022
8 months ago, Exxon Mobil locked out unionized employees after contract negotiations fell through at its Beaumont facility. For @grist, @emilypont and I on how the union is pressuring local govt to stop catering to Exxon while it undermines union labor: https://t.co/T8UxB6cxRA
— Amal Ahmed (@amalahmed214) January 31, 2022
On this day in labor history in 1938, the Pecan Shellers' strike began in San Antonio, initially led by Emma Tenayuca.
— Texas AFL-CIO (@TexasAFLCIO) January 31, 2022
Tenayuca championed higher wages for the 12,000+ striking workers, who were predominantly Mexican American women. pic.twitter.com/iq0tAttvTu
Houston researchers Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi among Nobel Peace Prize nominees for COVID efforts | https://t.co/SzGzZg2Uve https://t.co/FVIXjZqvL4
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) February 2, 2022
Professor Scott’s book, “Lynching and Leisure:Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas”, provides a discussion of the organized Paris, Texas lynching #txlege https://t.co/AKSPz1ozz2 pic.twitter.com/Scz2aMhl2M
— Retro Snacking (@Retrosnacking) February 2, 2022
We caught up with guitarist Paul Leary, drummer King Coffey and others to discuss the iconic underground band's formative years in San Antonio. #SanAntonio #SATX #SanAntonioTX #TexasMusic #SanAntonioMusic #Punk #ButtholeSurfers #UndergroundRock https://t.co/yrbMVMK4V2
— San Antonio Current (@SAcurrent) January 25, 2022
Orange, Texas 1943. I love the domino club sign. It would be so great to step into that place & play for an hour or two. And think: these people were only arrayed in relation to one another like this one time in the history of the universe and John Vachon was there to record it. pic.twitter.com/9fFgc4U34s
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) February 1, 2022
Happy 75th Birthday to Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, born this day in Refugio, TX. pic.twitter.com/MPh3l78nh1
— Baseball In Pics (@baseballinpix) January 31, 2022
Monday, January 31, 2022
"It's not Monday you hate, it's capitalism" Wrangle
How was your weekend?
Photos, TFG Rally of Hate today 30 miles of me. Some have been there since Thursday. The Orange Fascist doesn’t spew his hate and lies until 7 tonight. These pics are from Montgomery County Sheriffs Department fb page. pic.twitter.com/2crN6ylRUv
— Jo π€ π³️ππ³️⚧️ π€ (@Jo_IsABitch) January 29, 2022
At the Texas Covid Infection Festival:#TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/SfY7cgqpbZ
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) January 29, 2022
Greg Abbott realizes that the only way to keep the MAGA crowd from booing him is to just keep saying, ‘Donald J Trump’ over and over again. So he does. pic.twitter.com/wzQ3csB5cE
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 30, 2022
"If this sounds familiar, it’s because similar politics emerged during the Weimar period in Germany, were honed by the Nazis, and later trafficked into mainstream politics via the John Birch Society — one of the sponsors of the event at the border."https://t.co/93nj6fXIxr
— steven monacelli (getting worried) (@stevanzetti) January 31, 2022
There were two polls regarding the Texas primary elections released over the weekend. The first, on Friday from the Hobby School of Political Affairs at the University of Houston, has most GOP statewide incumbents -- Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Sid Miller, Glenn Hegar -- holding comfortable leads for renomination. Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, not so much. The Republican primary for commissioner of the General Land Office, vacated by George P. Bush in his bid against Paxton, is a tossup (80% of those queried are unsure for whom they might vote).
In the Democratic primary, Beto O'Rourke leads handily. In the lieutenant governor's race, Mike Collier is ahead with 24% but 58% are undecided. Rochelle Garza (14%), Joe Jaworski (12%), Lee Merritt (7%), and two others with 7% portend a runoff in the scrum for attorney general to face off with Paxton (60% of Dems are unsure). Same in the contest for GLO, with Sandragrace Martinez leading Michael Lange, Jay Kleburg, and Jinny Suh with 64% undecided.
While these numbers don't seem out of place, it's possible that the pollsters could be weighting Latin@ voters a bit too much and under-sampling Black Dems for my interpretation. But there was also a general election matchup polled, and IMO these results are the closest to accurate for predicting the ultimate fall outcome.
Texas Nov. 2022 Gubernatorial Vote Intention@GregAbbott_TX 48%@BetoORourke 43%@Mark4Gov 2%@DelilahforTexas 1%
— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) January 30, 2022
DK/Unsure 6%#txlege #TX2022
Via @hobbyschooluh https://t.co/u8KcyCticu pic.twitter.com/7o0PA7tLfH
Six percent uncertain is a rather stunning number nine months away.
The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler's poll, out yesterday, looks somewhat the same... and somewhat different.
New @dallasnews/@UTTyler poll:
— Bob Garrett (@RobertTGarrett) January 30, 2022
Abbott: 47
O'Rourke: 36
GOP gov:
Abbott: 59
West: 6
Huffines: 4
Perry: 4
GOP AG:
Paxton: 33
Bush: 19
Gohmert: 8
Guzman: 7
Dem LG:
Beckley: 17
Brailey: 13
Collier: 10
Dem AG:
Garza: 11
Jaworski: 11
Fields: 7
Merritt: 6https://t.co/f1ALbADO5F
Robert Showah has more on Texans' opinions from that survey, including this:
Texans are divided on Roe v. Wade, 53-45 oppose overturn. The partisan overlap and margins among Latinos, Catholics and White Evangelicals is striking. #txlege
— Robert Showah (@robertisnthere) January 31, 2022
Overturn/Don't
Dem: 36/64
Ind: 42/56
GOP: 54/44
Latino: 48/51
Women: 42/58
Catholic: 53/47
White Evang: 51/45
I did not want to open today's Wrangle with an overflowing vat of stupid and crazy, but I can't leave the topic of conservatives behaving badly without a few more items.
This is Stephen Balch.
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) January 27, 2022
He’s a conspiracy theorist who called Biden’s election a “literal coup” and pushes White Replacement Theory.
The Texas State Board of Education just picked him to revise our social studies standards. The Big Lie is coming to a textbook near you.@TXSBOE pic.twitter.com/Appr29XDIl
And when it can't get more idiotic ---"MAGA Candidate Caught on Tape Menacing Butterfly Sanctuary on Texas Border"--which closed this weekend of Trump MAGA rally in McAllen. Let the delirium rage on #txlege https://t.co/ggM0iDJTuv via @thedailybeast
— harvey kronberg (@HKronberg) January 28, 2022
Kandy Kaye Horn, a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor in Texas, spent a million dollars putting up campaign billboards across the length and breadth of Texas. I wrote something about who she is and why she did it.https://t.co/2mcJN2sB3t
— jonathantilove (@JTiloveTX) January 29, 2022
ICYMI -- 'Let the Dogs Eat Her': Frisco Pastor Calls Denton County GOP Chair a 'Jezebel' in Bizarre Tiradehttps://t.co/Myod8gZs9t
— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) January 29, 2022
Perhaps anti-Semitism by powerful evangelicals doesn’t count? #txlege https://t.co/iOmROjfRym
— πππππͺπ (@jimmyotx) January 28, 2022
On Thursday, Granbury ISD confirmed it has pulled 130 titles from school libraries in the district to be reviewed by a committee for inappropriate conduct. https://t.co/xSwgIrO9lV
— WFAA (@wfaa) January 28, 2022
They simply outdid themselves this past week.
I have a few criminal, legal, and social justice headlines; the first deals with the previous Tweet regarding Tim Dunn above.
Federal judge blocks enforcement of Texas's anti-BDS law https://t.co/Hr9fQWls43 pic.twitter.com/9Yg83ooOA2
— The Hill (@thehill) January 30, 2022
Records show the cop who killed a young Houston mother and left her 3-year-old son fighting for his life had past issues with properly operating his cruiser.https://t.co/UyTTwCg1TO
— Chron (@chron) January 29, 2022
A Texas A&M professor of economics said a livable wage in Texas is about $40,000 a year.
— WFAA (@wfaa) January 29, 2022
https://t.co/0ksfcOo0N7
Texas DMV caps number of temporary tags auto dealers can get. Sort of. https://t.co/hPTCHXNRTS via @houstonchron #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) January 28, 2022
@TexasCJE &SLC have done it again. The community showed up, & had a productive discussion about what transforming the TX justice system could look like. Great work! @OfRestorer @TexasAdvocates @PureJustice_HTX @dieter_cantu @MarcALevin @BeFrank4Justice pic.twitter.com/KvNowT7ft4
— Savannah Eldrige (@savannah1214) January 30, 2022
Karankawa nation protests dangerous pipeline expansion into sacred land ✊π½https://t.co/nF2nQD48k4
— Honor the Earth (@HonorTheEarth) January 30, 2022
On January 22, members of the Karankawa Nation and several hundred supporters gathered in front of a Bank of America location in Austin (to speak out) against the planned expansion of an oil pier owned and operated by Canada-based oil giant Enbridge. The expansion would cross sacred land at a Karankawa village site near Corpus Christi Bay in south Texas. Pipeline construction would also endanger burial artifacts and have a disastrous effect on the sensitive and biodiverse wet marshes.
Chiara, a Karankawa organizer, gave an impassioned speech defending the environment of her people’s homeland and called out Bank of America for financing fossil fuel extraction. Bank of America invested $42 billion in fossil fuels in 2020 alone.
That will be my segue to the environmental news.
Sulfuric acid waste from Samsung’s Austin factory leaked into a pond and then a tributary of Harris Branch Creek, officials report.
— Austin Statesman (@statesman) January 28, 2022
The leak totaled up to 763,000 gallons and might have gone on for more than 100 days 1/ https://t.co/LpvWu2EftD
The Nightmare Valero Site Claiming Fossil Fuels Are 'Essential for Life' https://t.co/s2twqhavb2 pic.twitter.com/vsWgPcltMd
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) January 27, 2022
“I’ve seen a lot of Big Oil ads, but this has to be one of the creepiest,” Jamie Henn, the director of Fossil Free Media, said in an email. “Valero wants us to feel like it isn’t just our cars, but the very lives of our children that depend on their product. There’s an unsaid threat in these commercials: transition to clean energy and the world as you know it will cease to exist. That’s of course false ..."
"East Texas, North Texas residents push back against solar plant construction" via KLTV
*heavy sigh*
Dozens of people living in Crawford, just half an hour west of Waco, raised concerns at a school district meeting about the company, OCI Solar Power, building facilities just outside the city. The company is based out of San Antonio, and it proposed a $115 million solar farm. A company official managing the project said the project will not cost the community any tax dollars if approved -- now it’s up to the school board to designate land as commercial property.
A farmer in Crawford said he’d been offered more money than he could make farming to sell his land to make way for construction, but said his neighbors, “would not be happy living next to a plant.”
A similar situation is happening in Southmayd, near Texas’ border with Oklahoma. The school district board there voted to agree to a deal with Galactic Energy. The solar development company is proposing the construction of a 1,750 acre solar farm. Some residents there said they don’t want to lose the landscape and property they’ve lived on for generations. People raising their concerns are asking the school board to reconsider, and say they’re considering starting a petition against construction.
EPA Rejects Texas’ More Lenient Standard for Highly Toxic Air Pollutant — ProPublica. This is huge won for @TexasSierraClub @airallianceHOU @tejasbarrios and more importantly the community gone to court on this! #txlege https://t.co/SfVnPSdW9c
— Cyrus Reed (@cyrustx) January 29, 2022
Going extra long on the calm-me-downs to wrap today.
I have fond memories of working with Molly Ivins (and others!) in the FWST Austin bureau. Tomorrow (Jan. 31) marks the 15th anniversary of her death. Wrote a little bit about Molly and the bureau in this first person piece that ran in 2012 #txlege 4/ https://t.co/oJ0jcPZ30G
— Jay Root (@byjayroot) January 30, 2022
*more cool @sxsw stuff*
— Austin 360 (@austin360) January 28, 2022
Creative collective @MeowWolf, known for its immersive and visually wild art attractions, join festival lineup with "interdimensional portal" https://t.co/KmOcDQHMTl
AUSTIN HISTORY ON THE MOVE: Where did the famed Chisholm Trail cross the Colorado River? https://t.co/4AEdH1CsoR via @statesman
— Michael Barnes (@outandabout) January 31, 2022
El Paso's Scenic Drive turns 100! π
— City of El Paso (@ElPasoTXGov) January 30, 2022
This year, the City celebrates the 100th anniversary of the completion of Scenic Drive.
A plaque was placed at the top of the scenic route to commemorate the 100-year milestone of the most iconic roadways in El Paso. pic.twitter.com/bKosconbBm
Lucille Ball in San Antonio on Fifth Street before the start of Parade of Stars through downtown, 1943. Courtesy a remarkable collection of photos of celebrities in San Antonio from UTSA (Mae West, Babe Ruth, Rock Hudson, Robert Frost etc...) here: https://t.co/UR9jeOiAM4 pic.twitter.com/kcUzhbXqi6
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) January 29, 2022