Roundup part 2: Smoke if you've got it in Dallas, worship the Golden Calf

Plenty of stuff for a breakout second Roundup beyond the weather stuff, especially given the looniness at CPAC.

So, let's dig in!

CPAC

Cancun Ted Cruz said he remained Trump's lapdog.

Oh, that Golden Calf Trump statue? Hecho en Mexico. What? "Get a rope!"

Jan. 6

Why hasn't the FBI worked harder to "talk to Luke Coffee"? For that matter, why hasn't the DOJ indicted him? Turns out he HAS been charged and has surrendered to authorities and that the (lazy-ass?) Monthly hasn't updated its story. (I insert the adjective per the first half of the roundup and a Texas Monthly piece flat-out lying about Texas' grid disconnection being problematic. Texas Monthly semi-sucks or worse on a semi-regular, if not regular, basis.)

Texana

Once again, Willie Nelson can't wait to be on the road again.

Another Texas tradition that coronavirus can't kill off? Scarborough Faire will start its 40th season in weeks.

The assassination of Chicago Black Panther Fred Hampton has a Texas tie. The Monthly discusses the new movie.

Politics

Tony Tinderholt and Katrina "Bullets" Pierson are among the wingnuts who might run for the late Ron Wright's Sixth Congressional District seat.

North Texas

Dallas' new police chief may have officers doing less marijuana enforcement.

Politics, national

Glass half full or half empty? I kind of agree with this USA Today piece that if Trump, out of the Oval Office only five weeks, had 45 percent of people at CPAC say they'd take someone else for prez, he is closer to burned-out supernova than lurking land mine. On the other hand, Trumpianism is still here in spades. After all, the top alternative to Trump at CPAC was Ron DeSantis.

G. Elliott Morris notes the corrosive effect of a misinformed public on democracy and governance. 

Matt Mohn shows how Joe Biden would have done under the 2004 Tom DeLay re-redistricting.

Solar Winds — the big picture

Bruce Schneier talks about the price of capitalism on cybersecurity.