A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do....

Lite Guv. Dan Patrick wanted to pass a "bathroom bill" a la North Carolina's, because of bathroom predators and bathroom privacy and reasons.

The "predators" idea is what sank the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance ("HERO"), something that gained national attention for Houston (o boy!) and which Patrick was deeply familiar with, he being from Houston and all.

Now you have to realize the Texas Constitution doesn't give power to any one person.  The Governor and the Lt. Gov. are elected separately, and while the latter presides in the Texas Senate and the former is the only person who can call special sessions and decide precisely what the special session will try to pass (and once passed, the session is over; no hanging about passing any other laws not put on the agenda by the Guv.), that's about as powerful as the offices are.  It's largely a matter of political clout as to how much you can do in either position.  Bob Bullock was a legendary Texas pol who knew where ALL the bodies were buried in Texas, and he ran the state as Lt. Guv.  He even got a Texas history museum named after him in Austin.  Former Gov. Dolph Briscoe has his name attached to a museum on UT campus in Austin, but that's because he was rich and left a lot of money for it.  Everybody still remembers the long shadow Bullock cast; Briscoe is a phantom of some very long memories (like your host's).

So Dan Patrick was determined to "North Carolina" Texas.  Except Texas business interests didn't want to see that happen, and Joe Strauss, Speaker of the Texas House, listens to the bidness men.  Patrick's bill passed the Senate, but never had a prayer in the House.

Texas has one of the shortest legislative sessions in the country:  six months every two years.  Anything outside of that is a "special session," called by the governor, limited to what the governor puts on the agenda.  The Governor is not anxious to put Patrick's "bathroom bill" on the agenda; but he's not anxious to cross the crazies Patrick and the Texas Senate represent.  Strauss doesn't care; he's not letting Texas become the next North Carolina.  Patrick decide to flex his muscles and demand that bill (and a few others) get to the House floor, or he wouldn't pass the state budget, the only law the Lege has to pass in regular session (or come back immediately in special session).

Texas legislators don't get paid well to come to Austin for six months, and they are anxious to leave when the whirlwind is over.  But the law is the law, and a budget must be passed, before the end of the month, or in the summer.

And then this morning I learn that a "compromise" has shown up in the House, an amendment to another bill, that would limit the "bathroom bill" to public and charter schools.  K-12, so as not to bother the NCAA (of course).  The original bill applied only to public buildings, so you're local restaurants public bathrooms would not have been affected.  But if Caitlyn Jenner were to visit your local Texas courthouse or city hall, she'd have been directed to the men's room; presumably.  If she was recognized (the only reason I mention her); and if there was a policeman ready and willing to do his/her duty under the law.  Fat chance, IOW.  Still, that risk could be removed if this amendment makes it to the Senate and the Senate decides half a loaf is better than a special session.

Of course, the only people even Patrick's original bill would apply to was students in public schools.  There was a question of whether publicly owned football stadiums would be covered, and I never envisioned police standing before the bathrooms checking birth certificates and...well, what?  The premise of the bill was to enforce privacy, right?  So in the name of privacy we make you drop drawers and show a piece of paper besides?  Yeah, right.

The first excuse was predators:  men in women's clothes looking to rape our innocent white young girls.  That worked in Houston, but it won't work again, and it's pretty much gone as an argument.  Privacy was next, but bathrooms are supposed to be private, and unless transgendered women are gonna belly up to the urinal, whose to know, unless we remove the doors on stalls in the name of privacy?  So we're down to the point of this bill all along, and the only population it could ever apply to:  public school students.

The schools know who you are, and what it says on your birth certificate, and the schools alone can police their bathrooms in the ways no other institution can.  Even the broadest reach of Patrick's fevered dreams was only ever going to come down to public school students.  Apparently public school isn't hard enough, we have to make it tougher.

Then again, this may not pass muster in the Senate, because it allows an out:

The last-minute vote amended a Senate bill focusing on school districts' emergency plans and added language requiring K-12 schools provide single-stall restrooms and other public areas to a student "who does not wish" to use facilities designated by "biological sex."

So they don't have to pee where they want to pee, but they don't have to pee with other people, either. Hey, it's compromise, right?

The result is the same:  Dammit, we gotta discriminate against SOMEBODY!  What's the point of having a legislative session in Donald Trump's first term if we don't do that!

And while we're talking about schools, Patrick still insists on a sop to hard-working rich people:

HB 21 now includes a provision the House hates and Patrick wants: state subsidies for parents who want to send their children with disabilities to private schools or need money for services to educate them at home.

The amount involved is about $8000.  That won't pay tuition at many private schools, if you can get in (most around here have waiting lists.  Well, the better ones.).  And those aren't even the schools targeted.  Fewer and more expensive and more exclusive are the private schools that take children with disabilities.  Such schools limit enrollment, as all private schools do.  So if you think you can take that voucher and put your kid in a private school that will deal better with her needs, I'm afraid that won't happen.  But if you have the money for that school, $8000 is nice refund on the costs you're paying.  As I say, this won't help people who can't afford those schools; it will only help the people who can.

The flip side of this is that Texas tried something like this years ago, allowing people to take the money and spend it on private schooling of almost any description.  A huge number of fly-by-night schools opened, took the money, and ran.  Imagine how much worse that would be for poor parents with children who need help and get the minimum Texas will pay for and the federal government will  provide; and then they go to a private school that has no interest beyond getting that voucher coupon cashed.  We've seen this movie, we know how it turns out; and now we're gonna sit through it again.

And for those kids who can't escape the public schools, we'll make sure to shame them as much as possible about where they go to relieve themselves.  Why should life be easy for kids whose parents aren't rich, right?

Lite Guv Dan Patrick is an Ass

Our text for today comes from the Texas Tribune, in an article that is a model of good journalism.  Herein we learn that:

Two other school board trustees said Tuesday they were surprised the issue had escalated like it had, noting Scribner had been discussing it with them for months and that it stemmed from a non-discrimination policy updated in 2011.

“The controversial policy was enacted five years ago,” said trustee Matthew Avila.

That policy was updated again in 2012 to add protections against gender-based harassment, Scribner told meeting attendees Tuesday before the board took public comment.

“This policy is nothing new,” he said, reiterating his support for the rules. “I am proud of the guidelines that we’ve developed and I’m proud that we’re able to support this policy to provide our educators with a framework to make all students — all students, whether they are transgender or not … comfortable and confident in the learning environment.” 

As has been my experience with school boards and school districts, the emphasis is on the children, not on the parents.  There are parents complaining about this rule being implemented without public input; but that's not how the system works.  Parents don't get to micromanage every detail of district policy:

[School district superintendent Kent] Scribner announced the now-controversial bathroom policy at the school board’s April 19 meeting, where there was no related discussion, according to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report. The board was not asked to vote on the policy because it is an “administrative guideline,” which is a policy that superintendents can implement without official board approval. 

So there is not only no valid path for the public to demand input before this policy is implemented, there is no valid reason for the Lite Guv to demand Scribner's resignation.  Let me explain.

Under the Texas Constitution, most of the government officials in Texas are directly elected.  This means the Lt. Governor, the presiding officer of the Texas Senate, is elected directly by the people, not by the Senators.  The Attorney General is directly elected (which is why an indicted A.G. facing a federal fraud suit can't be forced to resign).  The list goes on and on, but none of these elected officials has the authority to force the resignation of any of these other elected officials.

Now we come to Texas school districts.  They are "independent school districts (ISD's), created by legislation (enacting the Constitutional provision for them) and then left to run the schools in accordance with state law.  The voters living in that school district pay school taxes set by the ISD Board, members of whom are elected by the voters living in that ISD.  The role of the Board is oversight (compliance with state law, basically), set policy for the district, and hire the Superintendent, the chief administrative office of the district.   As elected officials, the Board answers only to state law and the voters.  They do not answer to the Lite Guv., the Guv., the AG, the Land Commissioner, or any other elected state official.  The Superintendent answers to the Board that hired her/him.

Dan Patrick lives in Houston.  He doesn't pay taxes in  Forth Worth ISD, vote there, or have anything to say about the policies set by that ISD.  He's an ass, to boot.

And so we return to our text:

Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton helped Patrick’s cause Tuesday, telling Fort Worth ISD Board President Jacinto "Cinto" Ramos that he has legal concerns with the policy.

“I have strong concern that this policy violates provisions in the Texas Education Code that give parents an unequivocal right to information regarding their children and is motivated by a misguided view of federal law,” Paxton told Ramos in a letter. “I sincerely hope you will assess these deficiencies in the transgender policy and more as the board deliberates.”

That is what lawyers call "bafflegab."  It isn't a legal opinion, and all it does is point to some vague requirement that parents be informed about their children's education.  Well, this policy has been in place for five years, and is available on the district's website.  As for the "misguided view of federal law," that's a shot at Loretta Lynch.  And frankly, coming from a guy being sued by the federal government for violating federal law, it's a bit rich.  Too rich.  Patrick said, at his press conference, that FWISD is violating state law.  He hasn't, so far as I know, specified what that law is.  (I have since heard his words, and he cited the "Texas Education Code."  So he's taking his legal analysis from Paxton's.  Patrick is not a lower, he's actually a former radio talk show host.)  He is advocating a law similar to North Carolina's; but you can't violate a law that isn't on the books yet; so I still don't know what he's talking about.  Nor is Patrick winning friends in the major metropolitan school districts of Texas:

El Paso Superintendent Juan Cabrera said he began exploring the possibility of adopting such a policy last summer, when he directed school district lawyers to study current guidelines. For now, he said the district follows certain local and federal guidelines that say schools should accommodate the bathroom needs of transgender students however possible.

“We’re a very progressive city and progressive school district and we want to afford all of our children every right and accommodation that they deserve,” he said.

Asked if he would seek board approval for such a policy, Cabrera said it depends.

If it’s a matter of student safety, “I absolutely have the right to implement administrative regulations to make sure they all feel safe,” he said. “I’m not going to subject myself to political will if I think safety of the children” is at stake.

You will notice that "safety" is the linchpin issue here, and the safety of transgendered students is important as the safety of all students.  The position of the DOE and the DOJ has been fairly clear on this issue, and Patrick and Paxton lose that argument very quickly.  Which may be why Patrick will end up doing no more than holding angry press conferences.  He may be able to get a "bathroom bill" through the Texas Senate in 2017; but the Speaker of the House, who is more pragmatic, may well kill the idea until it is clear the Federal courts won't cost Texas a lot of wasted money trying to defend the indefensible.

I would be remiss if I didn't include this lengthy quote recounting the counter-press conference to Patrick's in Fort Worth:

In a pre-emptive press conference held before Patrick spoke, supporters of the district's transgender bathroom policy also lobbed accusations of misplaced priorities, accusing Patrick of making something out of nothing. They derided Patrick for what they described as his “fake outrage,” calling him a shameless bully."This policy does nothing to improve a student's chances of graduating," he said.

“There is no news here,” said Steve Rudner, chairman of Equality Texas. “The only news here is that the lieutenant governor has decided to pick on an already bullied group of kids. It’s shameful and it’s despicable."

The dueling news conferences were held in advance of a school board meeting where the new guidelines were not on the agenda but were addressed during a packed and rowdy hourlong public comment period. Supporters of the new guidelines thanked Scribner and the board for protecting transgender students while opponents expressed outrage that the board did not take public comment on them. They also called on Scribner or the board to repeal the guidelines and start over, with some echoing Patrick's call for the superintendent to step down.

“I don’t understand why these rules were implemented behind closed doors without a vote from the board,” said Nicole Hudgens, a policy analyst with the conservative group Texas Values. “Why is there an attempt to break up the family here? Because that is what you’re doing.”

Dallas resident Paula Ellis, a 53-year-old transgender woman, meanwhile, told the board she avoided using the bathroom while in school, describing it as “painful and difficult.”

“Thank you for your efforts to ensure that all of our kids are safe,” Rev. David Winn said, urging opponents to “remember that Jesus spent the majority of his time with outcasts.”

On that last comment, let the people say:  "Amen!"

And they're back!

#txlege https://t.co/tmQhvIIPdE pic.twitter.com/sp9Km3IQuj

— Kolten Parker (@KoltenParker) July 18, 2017

You are going to be treated to articles like this about the upcoming Texas special session.  Here's the problem with those articles:  they don't understand the Texas Constitution at all.

Everyone remembers 4 years ago, when Wendy Davis tied up the Texas Senate with a filibuster that ran out the clock on the legislative session.  Well, that was a "special session," one that can only last 30 days (the regular session is only 180 days, every two years).  Ms. Davis literally ran out the clock, so the Senate vote she blocked occurred after midnight on the final day, and was null and void.

In the next special session, they got right on that bill and it was passed in plenty of time.  If I recall correctly, that special session ended quickly.  It was a very public defeat for the GOP, and the Governor at the time (Rick Perry) was having none of that.  But it was possible because special sessions take time to gin up and time to get around to things, and Wendy Davis made use of that feature and the GOP's confidence they could do whatever they wanted, to gum up the works.

In the last regular session this year Joe Strauss, the Speaker of the Texas House, played the Wendy Davis role by simply never letting Dan Patrick's "Bathroom bill" get to the floor of the House for a vote.  Now a Texas Senator has already filed that bill for consideration in the special session which begin tomorrow (and two bills have been filed in the House).  Problem is, the Lege can only consider what's on the agenda set by the Governor, and first on his list is a provision under Texas law that requires all Texas agencies to be re-approved periodically, or automatically go out of business.  It's called a "sunset provision," and in the last session it shut down the Texas Board of Medical Examiners (I think they have to close in September, but no matter).

Abbott called the session first and foremost to keep the TBME in business.  Rather embarrassing to lose an agency like that, even in Texas.  Getting that done is a no-brainer; but getting it done won't occur on the first day of the session.  The Lege has to start over in a special session, and that means bills have to be filed anew, and business conducted as if it hadn't been finished just 6 weeks ago.  This is why, even in the second special session after Wendy Davis' victory, the abortion bill she opposed was passed in the middle of that session, not on the first day.

Abbott has put 19 items on the agenda, with the bill authorizing the TBME as #1.  His second priority (he doesn't really get a choice, but he's made impotent threatening noises about it) is property tax reform.  You'll notice we aren't getting close to the "bathroom bill."  And Democrats are making noises about what they want the session to handle (and may yet leave Austin to deny a quorum if they have to, to block the bathroom bill).  Oh, and Joe Strauss is still against it, and has no reason to let it get to the House floor in July, any more than he did in the regular session.

Would Abbott call another session just to get Patrick's baby passed?  Very unlikely.  He stuck it in a laundry list of things to appease Patrick's supporters, but Abbott doesn't really seem interested in getting it on his desk.  (The governor sets the agenda for special sessions; nothing not on the agenda can be considered by either chamber.)

So, sure, it could happen; but it isn't really likely to.  Once the first item on the agenda is done, there won't be a lot of time left to do too many other items, and there will be a scramble in the last weeks (as there is during the regular session) to get a lot of bills passed.  Both sides want to play the "tweak the agenda" game, for one thing, but if they can't get the governor to smile on their preferred bill, they may not be in a mood to compromise on another bill.

I expect acrimony, not cooperation.   I base that on news reports like this:

Lawmakers are back in Austin in large part because of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who forced the special session by holding hostage the continuation of a handful of state agencies after legislation he deemed a priority — including bathroom restrictions based on "biological sex" — failed to pass during the regular session that wrapped up in May. Those proposals all died in the Texas House where Speaker Joe Straus was steadfast in his opposition to such legislation.

It was clear ahead of Tuesday that the fault lines between legislative leaders were not only still in place but had become more prominent.

Straus has, in fact, upped the ante in the debate, adding to his economic concerns (and IBM has weighed in against the bill now) worries that it could lead even one transgender child (because the only bathrooms the State can really control this way are in public schools) to commit suicide.  This is Straus drawing a line in the sand:

“The House takes every issue on the governor's agenda seriously and will focus on doing what's best for the people of Texas,” he said in the statement. “We will look at each issue closely and carefully consider how these ideas would affect our economy and the lives of the people we represent.”

That's Straus' way of telling Patrick to get stuffed.

And, looking in "live" as I write, there are already concerns the Dems could screw this session:

Discussion of a "quorum busting" resolution in the House right now. Some Rs fear Ds will leave after passing sunset legislation.

— Andy Duehren (@aduehren) July 18, 2017

The "sunset legislation" is saving the TBME, the first item on the agenda.  But already the GOP is afraid the Dems might kill a quorum and end the session prematurely, forcing Abbott to call another one, or just back down and give up  The GOP, in other words, is worried.

I expect the TBME will be saved, and after that not much else will get done.  If it does, the bathroom bill will not be at the top of the list, not ahead of something like property tax reform.  Besides, the Democrats could still decamp, recalling the halcyon days of the "killer bees."

And this time there's no one in the U.S. House to get federal law enforcement to hunt 'em down.....

This may mean nothing...

But Texas Monthly, usually a fairly reliable GOP (bidness, not craziness) house organ, seems to be hedging its bets.  There are two covers on the newsstands just now, as shown above.  Those are the presumptive candidates for the Democratic and GOP tickets for U.S. Senate from Texas.  Odd that the Democrat is getting so much attention, in a race that should be Cruz's for the asking.  Odd that Texas Monthly should go to the trouble of giving so much attention to the Democrats.

This is Texas, after all.

Maybe TM just feels burned because they went out on a limb for Dan Patrick, and he proceeded to saw it off.

I think TM was trying to get out in front of the parade with that one.  They ended up making Patrick their "Bum Steer of the Year" for 2018, mostly, according to TM, because he pushed too hard on the "bathroom bill."  What happened was, Patrick was never bigger than his mouth, and he used that mouth to get absolutely nothing through the Lege that he wanted passed, even forcing a special session on the "bathroom bill" that he lost, too.  Bob Bullock is the legendary Lt. Gov. of Texas who knew where the bodies were buried and how to make the Lege work; an LBJ clone on the state level, he set the standard for what the Lt. Gov, is supposed to be able to do.  Patrick ended up flopping around in Bullock's shoes and suit, all entirely too large for him.  TM still couldn't face the fact Patrick was an unreconstructed boob whose previous claim to fame was being a radio shock jock, a Limbaugh/Hannity Mini-Me.  Patrick has about that much depth and insight.  He's all ideological hat and no political cattle.  TM can't even bring itself to point out how Patrick made threats against Texas school districts which were following the law.  Granted, some of that was in 2016, and this award is for actions in 2017, but TM put Patrick "in charge" precisely because of stupid stunts like that.  Stupid stunts he tried to use again in the legislative session, to about as much effect as they had on the independent school districts which knew the Lt. Gov. had no authority over them whatsoever.

Oops, as our former Governor said.

So maybe TM is putting a finger in the wind and hedging their bets.  It's not impossible to imagine a Democrat more interested in governance than ideology winning even a U.S. Senate seat from Texas.  I've always maintained Texas sent at least one Senator to Washington because that person was too obnoxious even for Texas (I call this the "Phil Gramm Hypothesis"), and Senator is a choice made by all of us, not just some of us (on the Representative level there are pockets of voters as boorish as Blake Farenthold his own self).  But it is possible to be too obnoxious even for Texas to send you to D.C.  Or Austin, for that matter (there's a grassroots effort to mobilize school employees across the state to vote against Patrick in the open GOP primary in March, just because of how anti-education he really is.).  Business interests finally prevailed last summer in the Lege, and TM is nothing if not interested in Texas bidness.

Or maybe they finally hired a weatherman to tell 'em which way the wind is blowing.

Yeah, we think he's pretty stupid, too

Once again, with feeling:  Dan Patrick can't do this.

In a news conference this morning, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick responded to a letter the Obama administration sent to every public school district in the country, which tells schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker rooms that match their chosen gender identity.

The letter warned that schools that do not comply may face lawsuits or loss of federal aid.

"This will be the end of public education, if this prevails," Patrick said. "People will pull their kids out, homeschooling will explode, private schools will increase."

Patrick asserted that it should be up to individual school districts to accommodate students, and schools shouldn't be forced to obey a mandate from the federal government.

He said that he will direct superintendents in Texas not to obey the administration's request.

Patrick pointed out that Obama's threat about pulling funding from schools that do not comply is just that - a threat.

He added that even if the administration follows through and pulls funding, it wouldn't take effect right away, so that's why he's suggesting school administrators stay the course for the last few weeks of this school year.

Independent school districts are INDEPENDENT.  The Lite Guv. has no authority over them, except as a voting member of the Senate.  And he's being disingenuous to say public schools only get federal dollars for free lunches for poor students.  Student loans, PELL grants, etc., all affect public schools, too.  We call those public schools "universities," and Texas has a lot of them.  And yea, Dan Patrick thinks he can make this happen, and it's a good thing:

The result of forfeiting the $10 billion currently flowing from the U.S. government to schools and public universities in Texas could leave thousands of college students without a way to pay tuition, grind to a halt a majority of research taking place on the campuses, and leave low-income children without support for meals. 

State colleges in Texas are more dependent than ever on the federal government, since the state government has cut appropriations year after year.   As Huffington Post noted:  "Experts widely believe most public colleges [in Texas] could not survive without federal funding."  Dan Patrick is a braying jackass.

Besides, people are already pulling their kids out of public schools when they can.  Public schools don't close because the enrollment goes down, and private schools don't open to take up the slack and any spare tax dollars laying around.  Parents who don't like Obama's directive under Title IX will have to find the wherewithal to afford private school, a private school that will accept their special snowflake, or the time and energy to homeschool.

Patrick has gone so far as to say Texas schools will just do without federal funds subject to Title IX.   Again: not his call.  He isn't the education czar for the state of Texas, and the idea he's going to find  the $10 billion Texas could lose is absolutely laughable.  As Lite Guv., all he really does is preside over the Senate.  He may rally his Senate loonies in the next session, but the House is, by comparison, much more pragmatic; and support for giving up $10 billion in federal education funding is not going to be all that popular in 2017.

Of course, if he keeps this up, it might energize the college age voters Bernie has been inspiring, and get them to turn out in Texas and vote against such stupidity for once.

So this is his 15 minutes on the national stage.  (And I do appreciate the White House telling Patrick to sit down and shut up.  Because honestly, if you can get beat down by CNN, your 15 minutes are over.)

Snapshots from the Third Coast

A bakery in Austin used to make cookies like this, with the heart more centrally located.  They called them "Heart in the Deep of Texas" cookies.  Sadly, this is as close as I could get for a picture.

The political diss on Texas is that Austin is the blueberry in the middle of a cherry red state.

Everybody's heard of Austin.  Nobody's heard of McAllen.  Everybody's heard of "the border."  Nobody seems to realize more people live along the border in Texas than along the rest of the U.S. border with Mexico (mostly because it's more habitable in Texas than points west, but anyway....).  Austin is not the drop of blue in an ocean of red; it's not even an outlier among major metropolitan areas in Texas (all of which went for Obama, twice, and then for Hillary).  The border of Texas is still deeply Democratic (although even Democrats in Texas seem wholly unaware of this, or just take it for granted).  That is evidenced in this picture:

.@TedCruz gets a much calmer reception during the July 4 parade in downtown McAllen, where his two security guys follow his car. pic.twitter.com/I70yQgJvgF

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) July 4, 2017

Yes, somewhere in that car is the junior Senator from Texas, waving to the cheering....family of five.  Sadly, this doesn't reflect Cruz's popularity, or lack of it, in the Lone Star State.  It just emphasizes how deeply blue the Texas border is.  Compare and contrast, here is the announced challenger to Sen. Cruz in Lubbock, a much deeper red part of the state, up in the Panhandle:

U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke at Lubbock's July 4th Parade. pic.twitter.com/KuYIUfGGKK

— Matt Dotray (@mdotrayAJ) July 4, 2017

I don't know if this says anything or not, but the contrast is interesting.  Here's Sen. Cruz again, still in McAllen:

"Ted wants us dead." @TedCruz gets an earful from protesters while celebrating July 4 in Dem stronghold of McAllen: https://t.co/nSeLeew7yY

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) July 4, 2017

Those are probably not the protestors the text mentions; but he was protested.  Things are not really going all that smoothly for the Cruz wing of the Texas GOP:

FWIW, here's the full response from @DanPatrick's office to the @SpeakerStraus anecdote in @NewYorker: pic.twitter.com/qcP3hqbKXp

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) July 4, 2017

A completely bogus statement because Patrick has run out of ammunition.  The scary "predators in the bathroom" campaign that started in Houston to defeat the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) has fizzled out, so now it's down to "privacy."  Patrick also knows the only place he can enforce this idiotic measure is in public schools (which will have to build separate but equal facilities for any transgendered students they have or may have, if Patrick gets his way.  Texas schools are already strapped for cash*, and Patrick has no interest in giving them state money to pay for this.  Part of his plan, I'm convinced, to simply shut down public schools because BIG GOVERNMENT!  Too bad public schools are required by the State Constitution.).  So what he really wants is to make life even more miserable for middle school and high school students.  But, we knew that.

I also love the jab at "New Yorkers," as if only they (well, and elitist snob Texans) read "The New Yorker" magazine.

What will happen?  Probably not enough.  Texas came within a whisker of voting for Hillary Clinton, closer than it had come in decades to selecting a Democrat for President.  It can be done, but the Democrats have to believe it can be done.  People in the cities could outvote people in the countryside, if they could be persuaded to vote in large enough numbers.  And maybe we could stop taking the Valley and the Border for granted.  Just because they won't turn out to cheer Ted Cruz doesn't mean they'll turn out to vote against him, either.

Then again, that parade in Lubbock might actually be encouraging.....

*No, seriously:

Texas lawmakers have been steadily cutting the state’s share of public education costs for a decade. They started this cycle of school finance with the state paying about 45 percent, the federal government paying about 10 percent and local school districts paying the remaining 45 percent. The feds are still covering their dime, but the state’s share has slipped to 38 percent and the local share — the share that’s financed by that notoriously unpopular property tax — has risen to 52 percent.

That pattern hasn’t stopped, by the way: During the regular legislative session that ended on Memorial Day, state lawmakers approved a new two-year budget that spends less state money per public school student than the last budget. At the same time, those same lawmakers are shocked — shocked! — at the way property taxes are going up.

A State Senator from my area has a solution to the rising school property taxes:  cap the rate at which the district can collect taxes.  Because who needs public schools anyway, right?

Cancel Culture: Three Examples

'We're hosting you': Interviewer zings Josh Hawley after he accuses her of trying to 'cancel' him https://t.co/pY5ZueYlof

— Raw Story (@RawStory) May 4, 2021

Res ipsa loquitor.

New York school official’s feelings hurt by ‘anti-racist’ lessons: ‘I hate to have to even hear the word’ https://t.co/2hhiBNIUu0

— Raw Story (@RawStory) May 4, 2021

"For someone who wants to completely understand what we are putting their name next to and signing off on, I hate to have to even hear the word racist or anti-racists," Kolligian said. "It bothers me, it pains me that we still live in a society that we have to discuss those terms for people who are minorities and again, challenging, to discuss for an individual that is not one. I just ask for an opportunity to understand the true definition of anti-racist language and actions."

Borman demanded to know "what exactly are we doing" if the board agreed to "anti-racist language and action" in school district policies, and fellow board member Natalya Lakhtakia, who's working with the district's 44-member Equity and Inclusion Committee's policy arm, tried to explain.

"Anti-racism is actively fighting to make things better for our kids, our students, our staff, our teachers, our administrators and we will do what it takes within our school system to end systems of oppression," Lakhtakia said.

 

But Kolligian, who was elected with Borman in 2019 as part of a push to rearm school monitors, complained the proposed language was too harsh -- and Lakhtakia told him that was the point.

"Racism is harsh," she said.

A local Facebook group warns that schools will teach white students that they're "born racist" and "colonizing oppressors," which civil rights activists and supportive parents have tried to explain is inaccurate.

"Anti-racism literally means being against racism," said elementary school parent Rebecca Lynch, who serves on the Equity and Inclusion Committee. "There is some sort of confusion about what anti-racism might mean or entail. What the district is working toward, advocating for is anti-racism. It shouldn't be a controversy."

Which leads me almost directly to this: 

This week, Senate Bill 2202 by State Sen Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), legislation to stop Texas teachers from being compelled to teach controversial critical race theory, passed in the State Senate.

The legislation passed on an 18-13 party-line vote. 

SB 2202 “promotes the adoption of a curriculum that promotes the understanding of the moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the country, the processes of governance at the local, state, and federal levels, and the founding documents of our nation.”

The bill states that a teacher may choose to discuss current or controversial topics in class, but school policies should not compel teachers to do so, and a teacher should promote “all diverse viewpoints on the issue.”

Among the required state curriculum materials for the State Board of Education, the bill adds understandings of America’s founding documents, such as letters between the Founding Fathers and the Federalist Papers.

The bill also prevents teaching that any race or sex is superior to another.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement after the passage of Creighton’s bill. 

“Texans reject critical race theory and other so-called ‘woke’ philosophies that maintain that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex or that any individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive. These divisive concepts have been inserted into curriculums around the state, but they have no place in Texas schools. SB 2202 will ensure that they cannot be taught,” said Patrick.

“When Texan parents send their children to school, they expect their students to learn to think critically without being forced to consume misinformation about our country’s founding and the biases of advocacy groups that seek to belittle our democracy and divide us. I congratulate Sen. Creighton and the Texas Senate for passing this critical legislation for our children and our schools.”

Which I quote almost in full because it is so fookin' hilarious.  The first thing you should know is the author of these paragraphs "is a 2021 Texas Scorecard Fellow from Round Rock. She is freedom-loving and had an early interest in liberty and politics."  So there, you freedom-haters!

Now, read the language of that bill carefully, especially these parts:

The bill states that a teacher may choose to discuss current or controversial topics in class, but school policies should not compel teachers to do so, and a teacher should promote “all diverse viewpoints on the issue.”

Among the required state curriculum materials for the State Board of Education, the bill adds understandings of America’s founding documents, such as letters between the Founding Fathers and the Federalist Papers.

The bill also prevents teaching that any race or sex is superior to another.

Admittedly that's hardly statutory language, and it's pretty vague; but if you can't teach one sex or race is superior to another, you can't teach that one sex or race is inferior to another, either.  (Yes, we can argue the point of "sex" v. "gender," but this is public school; calm down.)

So what does this bill do?  Nothing.  It doesn't ban Critical Race Theory because CRT doesn't teach that one race is superior to another.  Indeed, CRT examines the idea that law has been used to create inequalities and implictly establish the superiority of one race over another.  What was the murder of George Floyd except white supremacy in action.  Derek Chauvin seemed quite secure in his power to kneel on Mr. Floyd's neck in full view of a crowd of citizens, because he's white and Mr. Floyd was black. It doesn't take any education in CRT to understand that message.

Why is this bill in existence?  To assure the FoxNews/OAN viewing audience in Texas that the state GOP is keeping the elephants away.  Why does it “promote[] the adoption of a curriculum that promotes the understanding of the moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the country, the processes of governance at the local, state, and federal levels, and the founding documents of our nation” and why does Dan Patrick, who couldn't think critically about anything even with a gun to his head, say “Texan parents...expect their students to learn to think critically"?  Two reasons:  so the Lege doesn't scare off business (even Patrick learned something from the bathroom bill debacle, although Texas never had to suffer any boycotts because that one never became law), and Patrick was scared electorless two years ago when the teachers almost rose up against him in the primaries.  The more well-heeled parents in Texas (the ones who give Patrick money so he can stay in office) want their kids well-educated without having to pay for private schools.  So they want to think public schools are teaching "critical thinking skills" (but not too critical, mind!) I will say things have improved since my days in school, when the Texas Revolution was linked to freedom and Davey Crockett was John Wayne fighting for liberty at the Alamo, rather than for slavery and the Southern slave economy Texas colonists so desperately wanted a piece of.

My daughter learned differently, and her public high school actually had Howard Zinn's history book on its reading list.  Zinn was far too radical and dangerous for my high school days (I didn't hear of him until well past college).  Yet nobody even in my school district is objectin to Zinn on the reading list, largely because the ones who would don't know who Zinn is (anymore than they know what CRT is), and haven't been told to fear him.

Patrick and the GOP are walking a tightrope, in other words.  They don't want to piss off business executives and their employees with any influence by teaching the most retrograde and worthless history and civics lessons possible (i.e., the kind of stuff I was taught in the early '70s'), but they have to throw a bone to the FoxNews/OAN-addled crowd.  So Patrick can brag this law "bans" the teaching of CRT (it doesn't, because it doesn't come close to describing CRT) and reassure corporate executives Texas is still a "safe" place to educate children.

Cancel culture cancelled, in other words; without actually cancelling anything.

(Which is not to say SB2022 is benign or even beneficial.  It provides fodder for nusiance complaints with language like this:

(4)  a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a

  state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school

  may not:

                   (B)  require or make part of a course the concept

  that:

                           (vi)  an individual, by virtue of the

  individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions

  committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;

                          (vii)  an individual should feel discomfort,

  guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on

  account of the individual's race or sex; or

                          (viii)  meritocracy or traits such as a hard

  work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a

  particular race to oppress members of another race.

Though many of these read like "white feelings protection" clauses, vi is viable in cases of the "blood libel," at least; and really quite fair otherwise, too.  vii seems to me impossibly subjective and legislating "snowflakes," especially if those snowflakes are white (well, aren't all snow flakes?).  viii really gets me.  It seems the most obviouly aimed at CRT; but again, has nothing whatsoever to do with CRT, so....

I can see some parents latching onto these provisions to make life difficult for some school district somewhere in Texas, and sooner or later one of them will take the case to as high a court as they can reach.  So really, we'd be better off without this bill; but all things considered, it's pretty much a talisman to keep the elephants away, and nothing more.)

Meanwhile, In The Second Largest (And Second Most Populous) State In The Union

Some of the pandemic-related proposals that didn't make it out of this #TXlege session would have:

—Updated the state's immunization registry

—Created an emergency mass vaccination and distribution plan

—Funded research into health inequity issues https://t.co/wVk2KUfjwb

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 3, 2021

But they did do this:

Lawmakers passed bills that, among other things, prohibit so-called vaccine passports, and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores during an emergency declaration.

“Let freedom ring!” state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, tweeted Sunday after the Legislature approved bills that included the ban on government entities and businesses requiring proof of vaccination for products or services.

For the record, I have only been in one business since Abbott lifted the mask mandates where I was told I didn't need to wear a mask.  It was a high end jewelry store, and the guard had me lower my mask so the camera could get a picture of me ("Let Freedom Ring!").  Otherwise, I haven't been anywhere (except one restaurant) where the majority of people in the building were not wearing masks.

I've never been in or even seen a sign at a business suggesting it would want to see my vaccination card before I could come in.  Seriously, what business is gonna enforce that?  Costco has a greeter at the door, who basically tells you not to come in if you don't flash a membership card, because you can't buy anything in there without one.  I know they were enforcing the mask rule at one point, but that's the only business I've seen doing anything even that close to a "police" action.  But I'm sure we'll all sleep better knowing businesses, as of September 1 (the usual deadline when a bill becomes law after the Legislative session), can't demand something they never demanded in the first place.  All by the time even masks in public will probably be nothing more than a memory.

"Let freedom ring!"

Yeah, the freedom to be stupid cannot be reigned in, or wrung out:

Left in the ashes of the session, which ended Monday, were proposals that would have updated the state’s immunization registry, created an emergency mass vaccination and distribution plan, prioritized first responders in vaccine rollouts, and funded research into health equity issues to address racial inequities in the system that were exposed by the pandemic.

More than 150 bills and resolutions pertaining to the pandemic were filed by lawmakers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. About 20 of them passed.

Of course, some real stupidity was avoided:

Quintero said lawmakers missed an opportunity to rein in both state and local executive authority, decriminalize violations of emergency health orders and instead impose fines for violations, and address some open-government issues that came up during the pandemic, including a measure that would have sped up public information requests during a quarantine, he said. 

During this last pandemic government agencies had skeleton staffs, at best.  Many were open by appointment only (my daughter had to make one months in advance in order to get a marriage certificate, something that in ordinary times just requires you to go to the relevant courthouse and wait for a clerk).  Local school districts sent everyone in administration home, and public information requests were suspended under the statutory provision that when the agency (i.e., a school district) was "closed," deadlines were suspended until it reopened.  Granted, that was written for school districts that close for Christmas or spring break, but that's because no one is in the office while the deadlines are running, or expiring.  During the pandemic, that period of "closure" extended for months.  Who would you force back into a building in order to obtain records of e-mails related to a school board decision on a bond election, or a non-discussion of "critical race theory" (the latest shibboleth among schools everywhere)?  Does the "public's right to know" trump an individual's right, or even the public's right, to be protected by quarantine orders?

These things that pass for knowledge I don't understand.

And if you think the regular session was bad enough, buckle up, buttercup:  it just gets worse.

Since House Democrats staged a walkout that killed Republicans’ priority elections bill for the #TXlege session, Texas’ top three leaders have diverged notably in interviews about how they are planning for a special session. https://t.co/cKTgUVAwOa

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 3, 2021

To clarify a point, the Governor and Lt. Gov. are both "constitutional" positions in Texas, by which I mean publicly elected offices.  The Speaker of the Texas House, like the Speaker in Congress, is elected by the membership.  In that article Dan Patrick is quoted criticizing the way the Speaker runs the Texas House.  Patrick did this with the last speaker, who was essentially driven out of office by the Texas GOP, which censured him for not letting Patrick's "bathroom bill" pass the House.  Patrick doesn't answer to the Senators he rules over, because they didn't elect him.  He also has no authority over Abbott or the Speaker, but he likes to think he does.  This, as Donald Trump established on a national scale, is not a model for governance.  The last great Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, made much of the office because he was a consummate politician who also knew where the bodies were buried.  He used his power to help Texas, sometimes against the wishes of the sitting Governor.  There's a Texas history museum in Austin named for him.

Dan Patrick won't get a latrine trench named for him.  And he isn't much good as Lt. Gov., either.  Mostly he bitches and moans about bills he can't get passed into law.  He never seems to understand what the problem is.  Hobby was a latter-day LBJ:  he never bitched, he just got it done.

Giants walked among us, once.  Alas, no more.  Case in point:  Gov. Absent:

In a Texas Tribune interview Tuesday, Abbott declined to discuss the timing of the special session, the agenda beyond the elections bill and another priority bill that died in the House, and whether the special session would be in addition to a fall special session that he has already committed to for redistricting and federal COVID-19 relief funding.

“Stay tuned,” Abbott said repeatedly, declining to even discuss what factors he is taking into account as he is planning for the special session.

Abbott clarified in a radio interview Thursday morning that he plans to call two special sessions. One will be in September or October on redistricting and COVID-19 funds, he said, while there will be another one beforehand on Senate Bill 7, the bail bill and other issues he will announce later.

Abbott has to veto or allow the budget in toto by June 20.  If he vetoes the budget, it's most likely the Dems (at least, probably more than a few Republicans, too) go to court to challenge his ability to do so.  What happens then is up to Abbott, but no result looks good for him, and as long as the money can't flow, I don't see the Lege doing anything about redistricting.  Abbott can veto, but he can't "un-veto."  It's a one way valve for him. If he turns it off, only the Lege can turn it back on; and they can't do it outside the regular session without Abbott putting it on the agenda of a special session.  And I suspect the Dems would rather go to court than to give the Governor that whip hand into the future.  So what's he gonna do?

"Stay tuned."

Isn't that cute?  He thinks he's all in charge, or something.  The best part is, he can’t cut off funding for the Lege: their pay is set by the Texas constitution, not state law. What he’s going to cut off is funding for the state agencies that research and draft bills. The very people you need for the massive task of redistricting. Remember what happens when the Feds run out of money? Why should Texas government be any different?

The House Speaker recommends chopping up the voting bill into smaller bills, so that some will pass.  Abbott and Patrick want all or nothing.  They could well end up with nothing.  They're actually pretty good at getting that from their efforts.

Dan Patrick Really Isn’t Very Good At This

The Texas Legislature closed out its biennial 140-day session today with sniping among the state’s top political leaders — and with lawmakers already well aware they will be back this calendar year for an overtime round. https://t.co/Pasvz05DWO

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) May 31, 2021

After approving a series of memorial resolutions and technical changes to bills, the Senate prepared to gavel out for the final time this regular session. A hint at unfinished business rang out in Patrick’s closing remarks. 

 “I normally say I’ll see you in 18 months, but I might see you in 18 days or so,” he said.

Patrick seems to think Abbott will call the Lege back into session a few days before June 20 in order to pressure House Dems not to obstruct the voting bill Abbott has staked the entire Texas government on. Patrick is aware a budget veto would impact staff and janitors and people’s who maintain the Capitol, but he thinks that’s a winner for him..

Of course, he also thought he was clever when he tried to get a bathroom bill through the last session in 2017.  That one almost cost him his job.  

But if he gets his special session and doesn’t get the bill passed before June 20, and Abbott vetoes the budget, what brings the Dems, or anyone, back to the Capitol in September for redistricting?  No staff, no cafeteria workers, no janitors….yeah, I’d stay home, too.  And then when do they redistrict?  2023?  Do they let the government go without a legislative budget for 2 years?  Do they think, even in Texas, that this is good governance?

Like I said, Dan Patrick isn’t good at this at all.  He’s not the ranking member of the Senate because the majority of the Senators like him.  It’s only because it’s an elective office.  He doesn’t have to get along with the Senators.  He’s probably going to wish he did, before very long.

In that, I suspect he’ll be joined by Greg Abbott.

So, here's the thing....

No, it's still an anti-litter campaign.  To me, that's the humor.

Stipulated:  the Texas Attorney-General is a dick.

In January, Paxton said busing students to polls can't be done unless it serves an educational purpose, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

A month later he issued cease-and-desist letters to the school districts in Clute, Holliday and Lewisville, stating in a news release, "These school districts used taxpayer resources to distribute messages to their staff and the public advocating for or against certain political candidates and measures."

Wait, it gets better:

Brazosport Superintendent Danny Massey, for example, has tweeted in support of Scott Milder, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. That tweet was retweeted by the Brazoswood High School Twitter account, according to Paxton's letter.

Scott Milder is running against Dan "Bathroom" Patrick for the Lite. Guv. nomination of the Texas GOP.  Milder has sent e-mails to every school district in Texas (there are 1,247 school districts in Texas, in case you were wondering) asking for the votes of their employees in the primary in order to unseat Patrick, who still wants to tell Texas school districts that they can't have bathrooms for transgender students because it offends Dan Patrick's delicate sensibilities (Patrick is also no fan of funding Texas public education.  He literally wants to destroy it and replace it with private school for those who can afford it.  For the rest?  He doesn't care.  No, I am not kidding.)  There's nothing vaguely illegal about such an e-mail, but Paxton is well aware of Milder's efforts.   Milder's e-mail explains this:

The Collin County school district is among several in Texas that have received open-records requests from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office asking for — among other things — emails from its superintendents and principals pertaining to voting and elections. Mesquite and Grapevine-Colleyville ISDs also confirmed receiving similar requests.

It's actually Paxton who is trying to electioneer, using the power of his office to do so.  He's scared of Milder's e-mail, because it threatens the candidacy of Dan Patrick (Texas has open primaries, anyone can vote in either (but not both!) of them.  For the first, and hopefully last, time in my life I voted in a GOP primary.  Now if it was just worth it.....).

Why would I make such a bold declaration?  Because of Texas law:

His law required principals or other designated registrars to circulate voter registration forms and notices to eligible high schoolers at least twice a year.

Still on the books 34 years later, the law might look like a compelling rebuttal to arguments that Texas does little to encourage civic participation among its racially diverse student population. But many high schools have apparently failed to comply with the law in recent years, and election turnout among young voters has remained chronically low — less than half of Texans age 18 to 24 are registered to vote.

Now, as voting rights groups decry that lack of progress, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos is bypassing principals — and turning to their bosses — in hopes of boosting compliance for a law that carries no penalties for those who flout it.

The school districts didn't decide to get political, in other words; the Texas Secretary of State apprised them of this dusty law, and urged them to get the vote out.  And that has Paxton, and Greg Abbott, scared shitless.

Heh.  Mighty reckless, indeed.....

Please to be going away now

Yet another time Texas Monthly got Texas politics completely wrong.

I would comment at Salon, but they have a new comment system and I'm not going on Facebook in order to use it.

But here's the thing:  Texas has a "Legislature," not a "General Assembly."  Texas has a House of Representatives, and a Senate.  The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 6, a bill aimed at stopping persons from using restrooms in public buildings that don't conform to the gender on their birth certificate.   Everyone understands what that means:  Dan Patrick, Lt. Governor and so "President" of the Texas Senate, gets to poke the Fort Worth Independent School District in the eye for laughing at his mighty sword.  No public building is going to post guards outside bathroom doors and ask for your papers before you can pee; but schools know who the transgendered kids are, and under Patrick's bill those schools can't do anything to make life easier for those kids.

Yeah, Patrick is a prick.

Which is really the only reason I'm going this far with this, except Salon alerts me that a new bill has been tendered in the Texas House, one meant to reflect the "watered down" bill of North Carolina.  Now, it is possible this bill will get through the Lege by sine die (the last day of the regular session) and it is highly unlikely Greg Abbott would call a special session on this issue even though he's now decided he likes this House bill.  But the fly in the ointment remains the same as it ever was.  Joe Strauss, the Speaker of the House, heard the cries of Texas businessmen and decided they spoke sooth.  He never said he was in favor of transgendered rights to pee where you're most comfortable peeing, but he did say he wasn't interested in the bill and quietly let SB6 die in the House without a vote.  Hence, the new House bill.  And what is it's fate?

Since last year, House Speaker Joe Straus has expressed reservations about the state adopting new bathroom regulations, describing the issue in November as not the "most urgent concern of mine."

"The Speaker's position has not changed," Straus spokesman Jason Embry said Tuesday in a statement following Abbott's remarks.

The Lege has a lot of important bills to get through before the last day of May.  Unless Joe Strauss decides this is one of them, Texas will likely be spared the embarrassment of making life that much harder for school children in Texas.

Unintended Consequences

Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2014

Maybe we'll find out....

Texas government comes out of the populist fervor of the 19th century.  The Texas Constitution is a Rube Goldberg machine for governance:  every major state office, from governor to Lt. Gov. (chief officer of the Senate) to Agriculture Commissioner to Land Commissioner to Attorney General (and on and on) is elected.  The Governor has no power over any other elected official, including but not limited to district attorneys  and sheriffs (I mention that because Rick Perry tried to threaten the job of the Travis County DA, and Greg Abbott tried to threaten the job, later, of the Travis County Sheriff.  Both are elected officials (we practically elect the dog catcher), so they had no power over them at all).  The Governor is, constitutionally, the weakest gubernatorial office in the country.

Bob Bullock gained great fame in Texas politics, and left a lasting mark on it.  The highest office he achieved as Lt. Gov. ("Lite Guv," Molly Ivins dubbed it), but he knew Texas politics better than anybody, and wielded that knowledge like a latter-day LBJ in the Senate, although he combined the power of LBJ and Sam Rayburn into one person.  In some sense he WAS Texas government; and he left the impression the Lt. Gov. position was the REAL constitutional power in Texas.

His successors have not fared so well.  Texas Monthly bought into this myth when they declared Lite Guv. Dan Patrick was "in charge."  Nothing Patrick has championed has survived in the House overseen by Joe Strauss, and it isn't likely even the latest iteration of a "bathroom bill" will get a vote in the House, much less get to the Senate.  There is no inherent power in the Lt. Governor's office; it's up to the person holding the office.  And Dan Patrick has shown he's more Greg Abbott than Bob Bullock.

Rick Perry stayed in office so long he accrued some power:  he appointed a lot of people, he held office longer than anyone else in Texas history (largely because he took over when Bush went to the White House.  Perry was Lt. Gov. under Bush, and one of the first proofs the power was in the person, not in the office.  Perry is better remembered as Ag. Commissioner (he defeated Jim Hightower) than at Lt. Gov.  He was truly a "Lite Guv."  Greg Abbott, current governor of Texas, is turning into a Trumpian figure.  He doesn't bluster like Trump, but he clearly doesn't have any power, either.  He refused to take a stand on the bathroom bill until a House version came up; and his backing of that bill seems to be making no difference at all.  He promoted some of the loonier conspiracy theories when Jade Helm passed through the state; promoted them by giving them any credence at all.  Otherwise, he's largely a cipher.  He likes to rail about issues that appeal to hard-core conservative interests, but he really doesn't do anything about them.

He's Trump-lite because Trump himself is proving to be so useless he's actually weakening the "Imperial Presidency":

These last-minute caves are undermining not only his own dealmaker reputation as a dealmaker, but the limited political capital a president has to sway resistant lawmakers or rally the American public behind a piece of legislation. Trump’s all-bark, no-bite presidency is weakening the office itself.

It's really hard to see Trump recovering the power of the bully pulpit anytime in the next four years.  He complains to Reuters that the job is much harder than he thought; although he seems to spend hours watching cable news and tweeting about it, and every weekend he can in Florida and on the golf course.  His negotiating technique is pretty neatly summed up here:

 On critical issues from Obamacare repeal to NAFTA renegotiation, an identifiable pattern has emerged. Trump makes an outlandish ask late in the negotiating process; White House advisers and lawmakers struggling to adjust to this new reality release a wave of contradictory statements on where the administration stands; and, ultimately, the President backs down, issuing a vague promise to circle back to the issue or claiming he never intended to do what he initially said he wanted to do, anyway.

It doesn't work for him, but what else does he know?  To expect Trump to overcome these strategies and become an elder statesman or even a Barack Obama (who, despite not being LBJ, actually accomplished quite a bit) is to expect a 70 year old man to spin a cocoon around himself and emerge some time later as a new being, completely transformed.

It isn't, in other words, going to happen.

The office, it turns out, is really only as strong as the person holding it.  Trump has governed by executive order, but that's a very weak tool of governance.  His most egregious orders have been suspended by the courts; his other orders have turned out to be toothless paper tigers.  His approval ratings have been underwater since he took office, and he's shown no skill in maneuvering for his preferred outcomes.  He is weakening the office simply by his incompetence.  He has consistently presented himself as a "strong man," yet every foreign leader he has encountered has schooled him on his ignorance.  The President of China made him change his position on North Korea; Angela Merkel convinced him he couldn't use trade as leverage against Germany; the leaders of Mexico and Canada schooled him on NAFTA.  If he gets any weaker, he's going to have to turn the job over to Mike Pence.*

If you are a betting person, get in on a pool as to how long it is before Trump quits, or is forced from office.  His weakness as a leader is going to put blood in the water, and the stories about the corruption and graft, the blatant violation of the Constitution (taking money from foreign powers can be excused by Congress, but takes an explicit act to do so.  There is growing concern Trump benefits from state pension plan investors, an emolument the Constitution bans absolutely.).  There are so many ways to take down a king who is weak, that it is bound to happen to Trump.

The only question will be how long it takes.


*It's not just on the foreign front:

In the health care debate, Trump has been all over the map. He first warned Republican lawmakers that he would leave the Affordable Care Act in place and move on to other priorities unless they approved a bill to repeal and replace it. The ultimatum failed to sway skeptical conservatives in the House, and lawmakers bolted town for a two-week recess without voting on the measure. He and his aides then threatened to reach out to Democrats to resuscitate his stalled agenda, but that too went out the window. This week, the administration is once again pushing for a party-line vote on an Obamacare repeal bill.

As for that vote:

“We are not voting on health-care tomorrow,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Thursday night, according to the Washington Post.

Tribes

No, I haven't read her book, but finding out she's the original "Tiger Mom" cements my disdain for her argument as presented in an interview I heard today.  An analysis will all the depth of a teaspoon, all the insight of a broken mirror.  Feh.

It's early voting for primaries in Texas, and I'm getting a lot of mail from Democratic hopefuls.  (I've voted in Democratic primaries, they've found me.).  I've noticed a common thread in them:  they're all about helping people.

Candidates send me postcards proclaiming their interest in healthcare for people; education for children.  Jobs for everyone.  I can't speak to Republican campaign literature, except what I see on line or in yards, and the emphasis there is on ideology or fear.  Republicans will protect our bathrooms (be afraid!  Innocent daughters are at risk!) and protect convervatism ("a true conservative" is a favorite).  Dan Patrick did try to re-write his legacy in the last legislative session (he forced a special session just to get his "bathroom bill" banning transgendered public school children from having a bathroom set aside for them at school; he lost) to say he wanted to raise teacher's salaries (he did; he wanted to tell school districts, which are taxing entities on their own, to be required to pay teachers more.  He didn't want the state to contribute to that effort.  It's an "unfunded mandate."  Texas schools face a lot of those.).  That wasn't really about people, but about the old hand jive:  don't pay attention to what I do, pay attention to what I say.

Are the Democrats ta-roo and ba-loo, foursquare and Boy Scouts every one, male or female?  No, of course not.  But the appeal is to people, not to ideas; and not to a bait and switch like Patrick's "I-gave-them-more-money-what-more-do-they-want?", which is how he will play that if he wins again. Right now he's playing it to keep his job, because his primary opponent is trying to get school employees across the state to turn out and vote in the GOP primary, so Patrick never makes it to the ballot in November.  He's a bit concerned, in other words.

And still a weasel.

There is much talk now about tribalism and how divisive we have become.  Feh.  I remember the '60's, when the Baby Boomers were convinced they were going to rule the world and make radical changes.  I remember American society ripping at the seams as blacks demanded the same treatment socially and under the law, even economically, as whites.  I remember the government shipping people off to Vietnam, the ones who couldn't afford college.  I remember Malcolm X, and Muhammed Ali becoming "Muhammad Ali."  Divided?  You people are pikers.  Boomers assisted their elders (King & Co., LBJ, etc.) in some of that, but immediately turned into yuppies when the decade (and the war) were over.  I'm impressed by the Parkland kids and their frontal assault on the NRA (they have yet to face the group that makes the NRA look like squishy liberals) and power to them if they can break the hold on our national politics that guns have had for 40+ years (no, it hasn't been since the ratification of the 2nd Amendment).  Their pitch is people, too:

@nra my favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out The back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe.

— Chondi🌙 (@_omg_chondi_) February 28, 2018

And yeah, they're good at this "social media" thing:

That picture of him was a mugshot after police and the swat team escorted him to jail. Yeah, probably not the best picture, but if the only argument you have against my teacher and I is based on our looks, stop arguing. Youre trolling a 16 year old. Let that sink in.

— Chondi🌙 (@_omg_chondi_) March 1, 2018

Really good:

He calls his rivals and other leaders names like:
Crooked Hillary
Little Marco
Lyin’ Ted
Pocahontas
Mr. Magoo
Low energy Jeb

But sure...we teenagers are the ones who are too “immature” to be involved in politics.

— Emilia (@PoliticalEmilia) March 1, 2018

Don't troll Emilia.  She doesn't deserve it.  Besides, she's only 14.

Grow up.

Meanwhile, Back At The State House

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signed a civil arrest warrant for Democratic state Rep. Philip Cortez, who rejoined his colleagues in Washington. D.C.

It is unlikely to have an impact since Texas law enforcement lacks jurisdiction outside the state. https://t.co/4V7KVe87Uz

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) July 26, 2021

Dan Patrick said:

"Well Bill, they have to come home eventually. And when they come home I believe the House will put out an order for their arrest if they don't return to the [Texas] Capitol," Patrick said. "Because once they hit the ground in Texas, they can be arrested and brought back to the Capitol. And some time they're going to have to return, whenever it is. And whenever it is, we're going to pass this bill out of the House."

And Greg Abbott said:

"As soon as they come back to the state of Texas, they will be arrested," Abbott said. "They will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done." 

Except that didn't happen when Philip Cortez returned to the state.  Speaker Phelan did finally issue a warrant for his arrest; but he's already back in D.C.  Besides, can the Texas Rangers or any other law enforcement in Texas actually execute such a warrant as they would a criminal arrest warrant?

No.

The sergeant-at-arms issues civil warrants, not criminal — meaning that errant lawmakers aren't charged with a crime for their nonattendance, and thus wouldn't be taken to jail.

So what if members, upon returning to Texas, locks themselves away at home and absolutely refuse transportation to the Capitol? What level of force could officers use to make an arrest and return them to the House floor? Would they be placed in handcuffs?

Neither Phelan's office nor the House sergeant-at-arms, Michael Black, have responded to questions about the mechanics of such an arrest.

But a source within the Texas Department of Public Safety said that law enforcement is legally unable to compel lawmakers in violation of House rules to do anything or go anywhere. 

Longtime political consultant and lobbyist Bill Miller compared the situation to students skipping school.

"It's like being a truant at school," Miller said. "You're supposed to be in the classroom, but you're not. Well, I have the power to send someone to find you and bring you back to the classroom. Let's assume you don't want to return to the classroom. What does that truant officer have to do? What can they do? What are they willing to do to bring them back? That's what you have — you have truancy here in the purest sense of the word.

"These officials don't want to be back in the chamber, and if you're going to bring them back, you're probably going to have to resort to something that you're not going to be happy about," Miller said.

Never in Texas history have state police successfully captured quorum-breaking lawmakers. But there have been close calls. 

During the legislative session of 1979, an alliance of liberal senators known as the Killer Bees broke quorum for several days and evaded police by bunkering in a garage in Austin. One state senator, Gene Jones, left the garage to see his granddaughter in Houston, prompting Texas Rangers to search for him. 

"Photo in hand, they knocked on his door. A man who looked a lot like the picture opened the door. The Ranger asked him if he was Jones. He said, yes. They arrested him and took him to Austin. He was Jones all right, but not Gene Jones. They had arrested Gene’s brother, Clayton," recalled then-Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby. "When the knock came at the door, the senator had jumped over the back fence and stayed lost for another day." 

Gene probably could have just stayed in the house and waited for the Rangers to drive off with his brother.  They didn't exactly have the authority to enter the house on demand, and search every room for a criminal suspect.

But the funny part, to me, is that for all the bluster from Abbott and Patrick, his yap-yap dog (who still wants Abbott to put the quorum requirement of the state constitution on the next special session agenda so he can change it.  Such a bill would never get through the House, and this is evidence of that.), the House is not nearly as crazy as the bedbugs Patrick and Abbott are.  Phelan got the House to vote to return the escaped members.  He never told the sergeant-at-arms to execute an arrest warrant, until now.  And that's only for one member.

I wonder how many have left D.C. and just gone quietly back home?  They might as well; nobody's looking for them.

I quietly hope that pisses off Patrick and Abbott no end.  We've already had a speaker censured by the Texas GOP for not giving them the bathroom bill they wanted.  I wonder if they'll censure Phelan, too.

Plus ce change....

I want to agree with Richard Parker; I really do:

Harvey is forcing Texans to rethink our political dogma of small government at any cost. Harris County, which surrounds Democratic Houston and includes bedrock Republican suburbs, has placed everything on the table to prevent disasters in the future: from radical rezoning to land conservation and a giant Dutch-style engineering project to protect the region from another direct hit. That will take at least tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Even the state’s right-wing lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, has found religion, singing the praises of expensive engineering. Mr. Abbott is being too clever by half so far, refusing to tap the state’s $10 billion rainy day fund while asking for the federal government to pick up the entire tab for the hurricane. Though as a politician he has done nothing but oppose the federal government, his re-election may end up hinging on how effective he is at bringing home the federal bacon. The same is true of the state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz, notorious for opposing aid to areas hit by Superstorm Sandy.

Yes, Harvey has flooded the garden of the Texas economy. But the garden was already unkempt. And fall, in Texas, is a good time to start over with honest perspiration. To quote that most famous Texas gardener, Lady Bird Johnson, “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”

But I was here in the '70's, when Texas was as liberal as it ever got.  We passed a consumer protection law that was a model for the nation, rewarding treble damages to a consumer who could establish fraud in the transaction.  The severity of that law inspired, and lasted two years.  It was whittled away, legislative session after session, until it vanished.  Texas also jumped on the bandwagon early, and passed motor voter, long before it was a federal law.  Now we pass the harshest voter restriction laws in the country, and out-ICE ICE with laws about "sanctuary cities".  And if you think Harvey is going to make people look to Austin to fix things, or even to add a tax that isn't property tax or sales tax: well, as we say around here, you're barkin' up the wrong tree.

Yes, the Texas miracle is over.  But what else is new?  This is oil country:  boom is always followed by bust.  Why do you think state politicians are focussing attention on who uses what bathroom where?  There is a crisis in school funding, but with a legislative session and a special session, we couldn't fix that, and nothing about Harvey is going to make the Governor call the Lege back into session before 2019.  Homeowners are concerned with their property taxes this year, because their homes have been destroyed.  Unfortunately for them, assessments take place based on value as of January 1 of each year, not as of the date after a hurricane leaves behind the flooded wreck that was your property.  That's going to be the flash point:  taxes paid to school districts port districts (in Houston), counties, cities, a half-dozen other local taxing authorities (depending where you live).  Taxes paid on houses that are ruins, that are water-logged with toilet water (the e. coli count was HUGE!), personal property, from refrigerators to shoes, ruined and lost and piled up on the yard waiting for the trash trucks to arrive.  But it's going to be a very local flashpoint, as tax assessments are a county matter.

The anger is going to be local, against counties that didn't prevent the flooding, cities that didn't contain the flooding, or river authorities that didn't divert the flooding, and any taxing entity that isn't seen to give some kind of relief to distressed homeowners of flooded homes.  There may be some attention turned toward Austin, but only insofar as Austin can get money from D.C.  We expect FEMA to help us recover, not Harris County.  Abbott need only blame D.C. for not opening the money taps, and all will be well with him.  Everybody in Texas hates the federal government, until the feds are gonna build a new interstate highway or fund a dredging operation at the port or establish a new military base in San Antonio, or just send us money to recover, and money to build flood control.  Houston homeowners are increasingly expecting their flooded homes to be bought out; that comes from the federal government, and the anger at the process (which won't be swift or easy, or inevitable) will be directed to D.C., maybe to Austin, probably to the county.  But it won't change opinions about the role, or the efficacy, of government.

I wish it would change; I wish it were that dramatic, that profound, fundamental, radical.  But it isn't. Dan Patrick is no fool:  there'll be time again to protest bathroom usage.  Greg Abbott is not an idiot:  he can damn the feds and still take their money, Texas Governors have been doing that for generations; Ted Cruz can damn spending in New Jersey and still ask for it for Texas, and he'll probably get it, too.

This is not an upheaval, a fruit-basket turnover, a golden opportunity for Texas to see the light and change its ways.  This is same song, second verse.

I have a book about a Texas childhood, a memoir titled:  This Stubborn Soil.  The people of Texas (and odd, since so many are not native Texans, but they take to the culture like a fish to water) are stubborn, too.  Stubborn as mules, and just as unwilling to see what's good for them even when it's obvious the current situation ain't that.  If the economy is bad now, oil will recover and lift us.  It always does, it always has; we're convinced it always will.  And if it doesn't, well; it will later.

The more things change, you know, the more they stay the same.