Texas Progs talk cult of RGB and more

Leading off the New World Order (deliberate quasi-punning riff) for many librulz, including most current and former contributors to Texas Progressives, is the death of the "Notorious RBG," aka the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Yours truly, a leftist not a liberal, cuts through the cult of Ruth's hype (and it IS a cult, and that's not just me speaking) to tell you the truth about her being a squish on the First, Fourth and Sixth amendments. As for filling her seat? Unlikely that Mitch the Turtle tries before Nov. 3, but a lame-duck move is possible. 

With that, let's head to the rest of state and national news.

Texas

Christofascist Tim Dunn has given Shelley Luther a $1 million loan in the SD 30 special election. Loans like this are even more interesting than donations, which of course can't be done in this amount. Loans can be held over a candidate's head if they're elected. 

SocraticGadfly notes that PRO Gainesville, the group protesting the Confederate statue and other things in Cooke County, appears to have shot itself in the PR foot, as part of recent updates about events there.

Off the Kuff makes an argument for voting in person.

Stephen Monacelli reads the fight about mail ballots as being over who can vote, not how we can vote.

New maps about climate change confirm Texas is screwed in 50 years or less. Texas ag and habitability are both screwed. That's as Tropical Storm Beta is becoming a mini-Harvey.

At the Monthly, Evan Mintz stans for the Ike Dike. As I have written before, no, no, and no, in part because it's overpriced Corps of Engineers BS and in part, per the paragraph above, it does nothing about rain-induced flooding.

The Monthly excerpts from the new James Baker bio.

The recent rains in North Texas mean skeeters, which means West Nile.

The State Fair may be scrubbed, but the annual food contest? Still here, with the Big Tex Choice Awards going entirely virtual.

John Coby calls Fort Bend County Sheriff (now Congressional candidate) Troy Nehls one of the reasons why we need police reform. Joe Bowen spotlights the candidates and organizations that are turning Texas blue.

National

Barton Gellman says, a la the run-up to 9/11, that warning lights are all blinking red for Nov. 3.

A British former would-be biographer of Julian Assange writes about what Assange and Wikileaks says about America — and American journalism.

JP Morgan of Dear Leader Obama $500K checking account infamy faces new criminal charges.  And new ethics issues over money laundering.

This blogger also salutes Phat Albert Pujols for passing Willie Mays into No. 5 on the all-time home run list. Albert is not quite dead yet after his typical slow start to the season, but, the pandemic shortening has surely dinged his chance to cross the 700 mark on career homers next year and eliminated the possibility of passing Babe Ruth.

Lindsay Carnett rounds up some reactions to the impending Tik Tok ban.