Gov. Absent Goes Full Lindell

New: Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll solicit individuals for donations to fund his plan for a border wall https://t.co/6R6OipS4ry

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 15, 2021

You never go full Lindell:

 "When I do make the announcement later on this week, I will also be providing a link that you can click on and go to for everybody in the United States — really everybody in the entire world — who wants to help Texas build the border wall, there will be a place on there where they can contribute,” Abbott said on the podcast, a show about Republican politics called “Ruthless.”

I'm only surprised he wasn't on Bannon's podcast:

Abbott said in the podcast interview that the donations to Texas’ border wall will go to a fund “overseen by the state of Texas in the governor’s office.” He promised “great transparency,” saying “everyone will know every penny in, every penny out, but the sole purpose for those funds will be going to build the border wall.”

Abbott's plan would not be the first attempt to crowdfund a border wall. There was We Build The Wall, a private fundraising effort that raised more than $25 million after originally planning to construct 3 miles of fence posts in South Texas. Last year, four people involved in We Build The Wall — including Steve Bannon, the former adviser to President Donald Trump — were charged with allegedly defrauding donors to the effort. Trump pardoned Bannon before leaving office in January. 

Well, maybe I'm not surprised.  Meanwhile, if past is prologue, the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

A closer parallel to Abbott’s plan may date to 2011, when the Arizona Legislature passed a law establishing a fund, complete with a fundraising website, to construct a fence along the state’s border with Mexico. The fund received almost $270,000 by 2014, and a state border security advisory committee decided to give most of the sum to a county sheriff in 2015. The sheriff instead invested the money in border security technology such as GPS systems and binoculars, according to the Arizona Republic.

Do I have to say it?  $270,000 won't pay for the eminent domain claims that will have to be made.  Not to mention some of the border property has been claimed already by the feds, and I doubt they're going to give it up to Texas, or Gov. Absent.  For reference, Trump's border wall cost about $20 million per mile; and he built most of it in Arizona, where less of the land on the border is in private hands.  Individuals on this side of the Rio Grande own almost all that land; except for the huge national park in the Trans-Pecos region.  That leaves a big hole in any wall, not to mention forcing people into an environmentally sensitive area.  Or turning it into an inadvertent graveyard.

I think this "political winner" just turned into a turkey, being pushed out of a helicopter.