Greg Abbott: Texas has a Shitweasel in the Governor's Mansion

[Smash!]

I think misinformation has a lot to do about authocracy. Below a quote from Heather Cox Richardson‘s Letter from an American, October 11

Quote

In a battle for facts, in a battle for truth, journalism is activism,"  [Nobel Prize winner Maria] Ressa said in 2020. Disinformation, she said, “is how you transform a democracy. This is death by a thousand cuts. The same thing is happening in the United States. I think the goal of influence operations or information operations is to seed it, repeat it, incite hate and...change the way real people think, and that impacts the real world. This is happening all around the world. That's what the research has shown us, that's what the data shows us.”

 

[Cartmann99]

Abbott spent last evening at a campaign event:

Spoiler

Places like Harrison County have the conservative voters Abbott needs to secure another term, but there's a horsefly in his reelection soup:

Spoiler

[Howl]

I'm really starting to wonder if Abbott thinks the US presidency is in reach and he'll do anything and engender any amount of suffering to grab at that golden ring. 

He's Catholic and his goal is to 100% eliminate abortion in Texas; that's no surprise. 

What is surprising to me is that he really is "going there" with kowtowing to the Trumpist wing on blocking vaccine mandates and appeasing Trump w/ fraudits in Texas' four most populous counties. 

It doesn't seem wise after Beto came so close to winning our very red state.  

Another area of concern...is The Valley (SE Texas on the border w/ Mexico), predominantly Hispanic and until the last election, a reliable Democratic stronghold. 

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[fraurosena]

"...they should also have a book with an 'opposing' perspective."

Like Mein Kampf...?

[Audrey2]

Or are they talking about a book that says the Holocaust was made up? That was repulsive to even write.

[Becky]

13 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

Reprehensible!  I was already OUTRAGED that schools and librarians have to censor books, but this is beyond the pale. I am sick to my stomach.  

Officials are now scrambling to clarify that the law does not mean books that have historical facts require alternatives.... so I guess they agree the Holocaust is historical fact, but American racism is not.  Texas is a disgrace.

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

Deborah Lipstadt steadfastly refused to be involved in any debates, panel discussions, or talk shows with Holocaust deniers because doing so would, in her view, give legitimacy to the deniers.  The people asking her to take part would usually say something along the lines of "Don't you want to give your side?"  She would respond with "There are no sides.  The Holocaust happened."

(I highly recommend her books as well as the movie "History on Trial."  It still shocks me that she actually had to prove that the Holocaust happened.)

[Cartmann99]

 How long until we have a campaign commercial where he blows up an semi that contains Covid vaccines?

Spoiler

 

[Becky]

12 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 How long until we have a campaign commercial where he blows up an semi that contains Covid vaccines?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

You mean like the flu shot??  Which millions of people (like me) receive Every. Single. Year?  Because they care about their own health and the health of others?  Like that?  How "terrible."  /sarc

Abbott, you are a disgrace - sacrificing others for your own selfish ambition. 

[Cartmann99]

Quote

Abbott Names Trump Lawyer As New Secretary Of State, Hits New Level Of Undermining Democracy

Texas Democrats are outraged to hear that Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed a new Texas secretary of state — responsible for overseeing elections — who is an attorney who represented disgraced ex-president Donald Trump in his challenge of the 2020 election results. 

After nearly a year of pushing forward anti-voter laws designed to shut down the votes and voices of Black and Brown voters and working Texans, and leading a discriminatory redistricting process that further erodes the voting power of Texans of color, Texas Republicans are taking another step to undermine our democracy. The choice of a secretary of state who has actively promoted Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election — and participated in his legal action attempting to overturn the results of the most secure election in U.S. history — once again reminds us that Abbott is willing to trade in our democracy for a few rightwing primary votes.

Texas Democratic Party Voter Protection Director Rose Clouston issued the following statement:

“In appointing Scott, Abbott has turned to the lawyer who fought to protect a discriminatory voter ID law, who lost that battle in court, and now has cost the state $6.8 million in attorney fees. Texans deserve a chief election official who has dedicated their career to the protection of the right to vote and not one who participated in Trump’s lawsuits undercutting our democracy.”

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Audrey2]

1 hour ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

Remember, this is Texas where they love the death penalty. Sadly, all too often, the inmates are people of color and to those in charge in Texas very easy to put in subhuman conditions with the explanation they shouldn't have done the crime then.

Just like so many of my other comments when I think about conservative talking points, this makes me want to vomit.

[Cartmann99]

So this happened:

A federal judge has blocked Texas’ new social media censorship law for now

Quote

A federal court has temporarily blocked Texas' new social media censorship law from going into effect on Thursday, after social media groups argued it violated their constitutional rights.

Two technology trade groups, Net Choice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, jointly filed the lawsuit weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 20 into law on Sept. 9.

At the heart of the law is a section that would allow users banned from social media platforms for their political views to sue for reinstatement. If that person can’t find a private attorney, the Texas attorney general may bring a suit on the person’s behalf.

The groups argued that the law would prohibit companies from blocking misinformation, and harmful and offensive content on their platforms.

"Today's outcome is not surprising," read a statement from CCIA President Matt Schruers. "The First Amendment ensures that the Government can't force a citizen or company to be associated with a viewpoint they disapprove of, and that applies with particular force when a State law would prevent companies from enforcing policies against Nazi propaganda, hate speech, and disinformation from foreign agents."

Which brings us to:

 

[Cartmann99]

'He is not your commander-in-chief': Texas governor poised for another battle with Biden administration over military vaccine mandate

Quote

• Texas' governor filed a lawsuit this week over the federal government's National Guard vaccine mandate.
• The suit names President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and the military service secretaries.
• Gov. Greg Abbott is among six GOP governors who have asked for a vaccine exemption for their guardsmen.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is reigniting the battle against the Pentagon's vaccine mandate, telling National Guardsmen in his state that they will not face punishment for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine. 

"Unless President Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard in accordance with Title 10 of the U.S. Code, he is not your commander-in-chief under our federal or state Constitutions," Abbott said in a letter to Texas Adjutant General Tracy Norris. "And as long as I am your commander-in-chief, I will not tolerate efforts to compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine."

On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Abbott's behalf against President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and the military service secretaries saying the federal government is overstepping its bounds by requiring the vaccine when guardsmen are not on active federal duty.

The lawsuit sets up another power struggle between the Pentagon and state leaders over who has control over the guard. Guardsmen have obligations to both their home state and the federal government.

Despite spending the bulk of their service under state active duty, known as Title 32 status, guardsmen can be activated under Title 10 orders, which could be issued for domestic operations or overseas missions. Last year, about 1,000 Texas guardsmen were activated on Title 10 orders and sent to Washington DC after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.  

Abbott joins Republican governors of five other states — Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Nebraska — in asking the federal government to exempt their guardsmen from the Pentagons' vaccine mandate. Last week, a federal judge in Oklahoma threw out a lawsuit filed by the state's governor challenging the vaccine mandate.

 

[Howl]

Greg Abbott has gotten insanely awful, with criminal AG Ken Paxton as his partner in crime. 

Paxton has some primary opposition and they could be strong opponents.  

I'll support Beto, but I don't think he'll be able to knock Abbott off his perch. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Howl

[Cartmann99]

It's official:

 

[Howl]

So...Abbott announced in Hidalgo County, in The Valley.  Starting early to work the Hispanic vote.  And not a mask in sight. 

I vaguely recalled this his wife is Hispanic -- on her mother's side she's the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and devoutly Catholic.  (Dad's side is Irish.)

I looked up her bio -- it's substantial, she's no slacker.  *It just served as a reminder how much the American people were short changed by Melania, a disinterested, resentful, shallow First Lady.*

But back to Abbott's wife -- she's accomplished and has multiple graduate degrees. One has to wonder what she thinks of his Trump pandering politics.  It can't have escaped her attention how horrible Trump is, but maybe she's a right-wing Catholic who sees Trump as a means to an end. 

Cecilia Abbott

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Howl

[Cartmann99]

Spoiler

 

[fraurosena]

5 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

  Hide contents

 

Good grief. The GOP has embraced petty childishness to such a degree that they're even turning on Greg Abbott...

 

[GreyhoundFan]

[Howl]

This is a festering problem.  TX National Guard at the border has nothing to do, morale is in the ditch,  and meanwhile, their lives at home are going to hell -- marriages falling apart, car payments and mortgages unpaid. 

 

[Howl]

Beto's throwing shade on the Governor: 

 

[Howl]

It's just under a year since The Big Freeze in Texas and the implosion of the power grid, leaving millions throughout the state without electricity or heat during a brutal cold snap, resulting in several hundred deaths.  Here in Central Texas, we were without heat or electricity from Sunday afternoon until Thursday morning while the streets were covered in ice.  The entire metroplex and most of Texas shut down.  Retail (including major grocery stores) completely closed down because they had no electricity. 

And here we are again, facing a mini Big Freeze.  Tomorrow will be in the low 60s and then Thursday:  ice, ice baby. 

Gov Greg Abbott, who couldn't be bothered to be a leader in championing requirements for natural gas companies to weatherize their gathering systems or update the grid, has been skewered by Molly Jong-Fast: 

 

If you are from an area with rough winters, a reminder that my city is roughly the same latitude as Cairo, Egypt.  Some years we don't even get a freeze and snow is rare. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Howl