Dear Politicians: Please, for the love of all that's good in this world:
In the matter of the Santa Fe High School shooting, current reports indicate yet another alienated suburban white kid on a mission to kill himself and take some teachers and classmates along. But not only did he fail to kill himself, the Galveston County Sheriff's Deputies didn't finish the job for him, even after he shot and wounded one of them. (Yes, little Santa Fe, Texas, has grown into a suburban municipality.) I suppose we can be grateful that this incident did not involve an AR-15, so there will be no inane online debates between "Ban all assault weapons now!" and "The AR is not an assault weapon, duh!" I suppose we can be grateful that the deputies didn't add to the carnage by killing Dimitrios Pagourtzis, and hopeful that law enforcement can show similar restraint when, say, they catch a young black man jaywalking. ============ The Texas Progressive Alliance weeps for the families of the Santa Fe victims, the latest in America's ongoing carnage of gun violence and the predictable aftermath of excuse-making and inaction by our bought-and-paid-for lawmakers. Everything is bigger in Texas, and Dan Patrick broke records for his creative ignorance, first blaming school exit doors, and later video games and even women's reproductive choice. He also referred to something called a "well-run militia," which appears nowhere in the Constitution. Brand-new NRA president Oliver North fingered Ritalin as the culprit. (Quoth PDiddie: Odd that cowardice and white privilege weren't mentioned to any prominent degree. The killer's parents—you might have read he used his father's guns--remain in deep denial.) Greg Abbott claimed he might do something, and was challenged to do so, but his response so far has been long on thoughts and prayers and short on action. HPD chief Art Acevedo got 15 minutes of social media fame by having his Facebook post picked up by the NYT. State Rep. Gene Wu Tweeted "y'all" a couple of times in solidarity. And it's almost time for the cycle to start anew. A few bloggers and news sources weighed in: Somervell County Salon has Jimmy Kimmel's reaction. Socratic Gadfly called out Abbott for both his usual hypocrisy and his egotism after the killings. And Casey Fleming does not want to have to write about school shootings ever again. (Good luck with that, buddy.) Last but most importantly, No More Mister Nice Blog eviscerates the New York Times for perpetuating the myth that Texans love their guns. All of this may be true, and the story goes on for sixteen more paragraphs in this fashion. But then we're told: ============ This week's Wrangle contains some election news ahead of tomorrow's vote, and some lighter reading posted before Friday's tragedy. Five Thirty Eight previews the Texas runoffs. Races to watch: 7th, 21st, 23rd and 32nd congressional districts; governor jobsanger charted the EV numbers in the D runoff from the state's thirty largest counties, and Kuff looked at the potential for online voter registration in Texas in the wake of the "motor voter" lawsuit.
Texas Freedom Network hears demagogue David Barton make a misleading case for politicizing houses of worship, while Gus Bova at the Texas Observer introduces Farris Wilks, the Texas GOP kingmaker. (Wilks, a fracking billionaire, is an elder at a church that does not allow women to speak during church services.) Grits for Breakfast points to a Dallas Morning News piece in asserting the state is still using junk science like "forensic hypnosis" in death penalty cases. David Collins blogged about the net neutrality Senate vote (passed), but cautioned about the House vote (prospects dim). Zachery Taylor notes the feudal system incarnate in our corporate media and questions their incessant coverage of crooks and thugs. Save Buffalo Bayou suggests that Harris County consider eminent domain for preserving greenspace to help residents survive floods and hurricanes. Texas Vox visited the Bayou City and met with the Healthy Port Communities Coalition while touring the Manchester neighborhood and areas around Pasadena's refineries and the Port of Houston. Bonddad has an interest rate and gas price watch posted. Texas Public Radio's storyteller from Brownsville, Dr. W. F. Strong, is profiled by Mike McGuff and can be heard on Texas Standard-affiliated stations. And nonsequiteuse believes there's only one way we can bring about real change going forward. Comments are closed.
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Blogging Sporadically since 2014Here you will find political campaign-related entries, as well as some about my literature, Houston underground arts, peace & justice, urban cycling, soccer, alt-religion, and other topics. Categories
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