Texas Progressives talk Beto, SB8, Afghanistan, more

Axios claimed Sunday that Beto was running (for gov, of course). Beto's inner circle denied it.

 

Meanwhile, for whatever weird reason (well, not weird if wingnut but not wingnut squared Texas GOP members are panicky), Joe Straus for gov rumors have heated up. (Ain't happening, folks.)

Texas Monthly has a detailed dive into why Texas Hispanics are shifting Republican. Remember, the Census and other questions always refer to "Hispanics of any race"; it's a cultural box. And, in Tex-ass, many don't see themselves as La Raza but as White. It also confirms my own refudiation, with later detailed follow-up,  of a decade-plus in the making of Texas Democrats from Gilberto Hinojosa on down blindly believing demographics is destiny. The identification is interesting; New Mexico has plenty of Hispanics who have been in the US at least as long as the Texans in the Valley. They may or may not identify as White; they're definitely more Democratic, but by no means totally so. That said, back to Texas. How do they deal with racism in the Texas GOP? And, yes, Valley Hispanics, it's real. In a somewhat related issue, I blogged last month about how demographics is not destiny among young voters.

Colleyville Heritage High School's principal was placed on paid administrative leave earlier for alleged teaching critical race theory, even though, as a principal, he doesn't teach. The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD School Board deliberated his fate Monday night. Per the first link, there's much additional backstory, not only over race issues, but the principal's take in the ISD's handling of COVID and other things.

Dr. Alan Braid, an OB/GYN announced via newspaper op-ed Sunday he'd deliberately performed an abortion that violated SB 8. Pro-life (except for the death penalty) groups split in their reaction. Texas Right to Life said we're "exploring all our options." At the same time, its John Seago said this was a "stunt." Another anti-choice group, Human Coalition, explicitly said it had no plans to sue; in typical wingnut paranoia, it feared a "trap."

Can Mark Cuban undercut the pharmaceutical industry?

Chicago is recruiting Texas businesses over permitless carry, anti-abortionism and other shite.

Barrett Brown is in trouble again.

As the withdrawal wound down over the last month, SocraticGadfly had a series of pieces related to history of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. First was initial thoughts on the withdrawal. After that, he looked at how the initial 1978 US meddling unnecessarily led to all that followed. Third, he said former Counterpunch publisher Alexander Cockburn was probably lying with his claimthe Taliban had a pre-invasion offer of a no-strings-attached surrender of bin Laden. Finally, he rejected claims, and the domestic political thought behind some of them, that the Taliban would now run wild, instead saying Afghanistan's future looks complex.

In other international news, Pretty Boy Trudeau's snap election in Canada basically backfired. As compared to the current Parliament, he gained two or three seats, no more. Conservatives and Greens treaded water while the Bloc and NDP both had small gains. The People's Party Canada, largely a vanity project, increased its vote share but took no seats in Canada's Westminster-style election.

In case you're wondering about the Haitian flood at Del Rio? The Trib says that many of them left Haiti years ago for various countries in Latin America and have now decided to try to cross. It's not coyotes rounding up some new flood. My question, and unanswered by the Trib story, is why are they not staying in Chile or whatever?

People claiming to be part of Anonymous have hacked Epik, the internet host for Parler, Gab and other alt-right and alt-white sites.

Texas 2036 released its poll showing widespread dissatisfaction with the direction the state is going.

The Texas Living Waters Project sees the American Rescue Plan Act as a historic opportunity to invest in our water infrastructure.

Reform Austin catches Ken Paxton in a rare moment of self-awareness.

The Bloggess recommends some horror movies for you.

The Great God Pan Is Dead is looking forward to fall art season.