TX Progressives talk debates and more

This Green outpost of the Texas Progressives says RIP to Bruce Dixon, co-chairman of the Georgia Green Party and co-founder of the Black Agenda Report.

The Texas Progressives are sure that national pundits didn't win anything after the two Democratic Debate rounds — nor did several Democrats — as they bring you this week's roundup, and wish you a happy, safe, and patriotically rebellious against status quos Fourth of July. And, per John Adams, if you waited until the Fourth, you were two days too late anyway.


Dallas

SocraticGadfly, having read the story about Jerry Falwell Jr., wonders if Trump / Cohen have nekkid pix of Robert Jeffress.

The Metroplex entertainment industry took a hit with the canning of NRATV.

A bunch of Metromess comedians are quite unhappy the Addison Improv booked Louis CK.

No, Bob O'Rourke wasn't at the DMA mistaking it for a What? A Burger? parking lot, but the art museum has closed its sculpture garden after a boarder decided to hang ten on some of the artwork, while the museum no-commented if that's why it shut the sculpture garden.

Big D now has an official tree management plan.


Fort Worth

Gale McCray, aka "Old Man with a Sign," has signed off for now on his anti-Trump sign campaign.


Houston

Jeff Balke accepts the reality of I-45 expansion.


Lone Star Q reports on Harris County adding non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies for its LGBTQ employees.

Texas

Former Speaker Joe Straus has started a PAC. Supposedly, he might run for higher office in 2022. That would mean Greg Abbott, assuming Straus doesn't settle for a fight against Danny Goeb. I'll have a full blog post pullout about this shortly.

A century ago, actual socialism had a foothold in Texas, until a snitch helped undercut it. For those of us who know that the nation's largest Socialist newspaper was once in little rural Girard, Kansas, stories like this are not new. What they mean for today is that "flipping" a state like Texas doesn't mean stopping at neoliberal.

Bexar County Sheriff's Office continues to grow in dysfunctionality level.

Also in Bexar County, Wayne Christian (yes, there are TWO of him among elected officials in the state) is an off-the-rails judge.

The state now has a Quanah, aka Quanah Parker, Day. I'm sure it will be full of Anglo Texas mythmaking bullshit, especially since he only really used the surname "Parker" to try to fit into white society after the Indian Wars ended. That's why I normally refer to him as he was actually named as a Comanche.

Laurie Felker Jones documents her experiences founding a startup and seeking venture capital.

Joe Nick Patoski eulogizes Lonn Taylor.

The Texas Trib has a special page of agencies helping immigrants.

National — SCOTUS

SCOTUS told Wilbur the Talking Horse's Ass Ross to keep a citizenship question off the Census for now. (Prediction here? Despite claiming a June 30 deadline, Commerce plus Justice will try a late end run and seek to flip John Roberts.)

Off the Kuff has two updates on the Census citizenship question lawsuit.

The court was down with gerrymandering, though, and we know how that plays out in the Pointy Abandoned Object State™.

First, the ruling itself? I think it was in a gray zone between right and wrong constitutionally. Roberts is right that the founders probably expected some degree of politicization, while ignoring that those same founders believed America had, or would, transcend petty political parties. At the same time, he also ignores that many state legislatures have vested redistricting power in nonpartisan redistricting commissions, undermining his argument to some degree. At the third time (shades of Idries Shah!) he is right that, unlike, say, race, the courts have nothing close to an objective standard for determining what is too partisan.

So, overall, while not hugely right, it is right constitutionally as I see it.

That said, this blogger has long said the real answer is proportional representation off a national list (or state list for state elections), just like most of continental Europe. But, both halves of the duopoly would rather gerrymander than empower third parties like that.


National

Bob and Julián brought their Dem Debate pissing match back to Texas.

Brains offers a post-debate version of his semi-regular Democratic showdown update.

In your Gohmert Pyle-ism of the week, Louie Gohmert called Robert Mueller an "anal opening."

Nancy Pelosi surrendered again.

Paradise in Hell reinterprets Ozzie Osbourne's Crazy Train for Donald Trump.


World

Trump got his ass kicked royally by Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, over Huawei, and over tariff-related issues as well. Listen to how listlessly flat his voice sounds on the video at that first link. (Sorry, CNN wouldn't let me embed.)

Or try this:


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