#Gov Abbott

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Trump sycophants parroting attacks on justice system risk further provoking MAGA extremists

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Defending the Judiciary in 2024

May 17, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

Events on Thursday highlighted yet another reason Democrats must vote in record numbers in November to defeat MAGA extremism. Republicans are undermining the institution of the judiciary in every way imaginable. Eroding the legitimacy and authority of the courts is textbook fascism. Indeed, in fascist states, courts are co-opted or replaced, becoming instruments of totalitarian rule.

Every American should be concerned about the coordinated assault on the judiciary by MAGA extremists.

It is difficult to identify Thursday’s most egregious attack on the legitimacy of the courts, but it seems appropriate to begin with Justice Samuel Alito.

Justice Alito displays a “Stop the Steal” flag on his front lawn.

As a Supreme Court justice, Alito has been unapologetic in his efforts to defend Trump's lawlessness. He has risen to Trump's defense with gleeful spite and unveiled resentment against those seeking to hold Trump accountable under the Constitution.

On Thursday, the New York Times revealed that Alito’s home displayed an upside-down US flag during the fraught days after the January 6 insurrection. At the time, flying the US flag upside down was a symbol calling to “Stop the Steal” of the 2020 election from Trump. It was a call to insurrection—proudly displayed by a US Supreme Court justice sworn to defend and protect the Constitution. See New York Times, At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display. (This article is accessible to all.)

In response to an inquiry from the Times, Alito said,

I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag.

Notably, Alito did not deny the veracity of the photograph of the flag flying upside down on his lawn. He did not deny the symbolism of the upside-down flag. He did not deny that he was aware of its continued presence in front of his house. Instead, he blamed his wife, whom he claimed flew the “Stop the Steal” banner in response to anti-Trump signs in the neighborhood.

Alito’s response to the Times is a lie. He owns the flag. He owns the flagpole. He owns the property on which the flag was displayed. He permitted it to remain on display on his property. He, therefore, did have “involvement” in “flying the flag.” It does not matter that it was his wife who physically raised the “Stop the Steal” banner on the flagpole. Alito’s hair-splitting denial is misleading and incomplete—and therefore false.

All of this leaves us with a second justice on the Supreme Court whose spouse was a booster of the effort to overthrow the Constitution and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Those justices—Alito and Thomas—are currently considering Trump's presidential immunity defense to the indictment alleging that Trump attempted to subvert the election. Under any reasonable reading of Code of Conduct that applies to Supreme Court justices, Alito and Thomas should have recused themselves long ago (under Canons 2 and 3).

The fact that Alito and Thomas have failed to do so is an open wound on the Court, oozing pus and bile every time they take the bench in a matter involving Trump's coup and insurrection.

Ultimately, the feckless Chief Justice John Roberts is to blame. He has allowed a sprawling and continuing scandal to consume the dwindling legitimacy of the Court. He has allowed that scandal to fester in order to provide cover for the most corrupt president in our nation’s history—which is a fitting epitaph for Roberts’ squandered legacy.

Texas Governor Abbott nullifies jury’s conviction of racist who killed Black Lives Matter protestor.

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Daniel Perry shot and killed a protester who was carrying a gun (which is legal in Texas). A jury heard the evidence—including Perry’s claim of self-defense—and convicted Perry of murder. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison. After the verdict, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he wanted to pardon Perry.

On Thursday, the Texas pardon board gave Abbott the recommendation to pardon Perry. Abbott issued an immediate pardon, and Perry is now back on the street—with his right to carry firearms restored. See Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardons Daniel Perry, Army sergeant convicted of murdering protester in 2020 (nbcnews.com).

In pardoning Perry, Abbott issued a statement that denigrated the jury’s verdict and consideration of the evidence of self-defense. Abbott wrote,

Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury . . . .

 When a jury hears the evidence and concludes “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the defendant is guilty, notwithstanding claimed self-defense, that verdict is not a “nullification” of the law; it is the application of the law. But in Abbot’s MAGA extremist administration, jury verdicts that run contrary to MAGA orthodoxy can be disregarded.

Overriding the justice system to advance partisan political ends is dangerous. If some Texans believe that the law does not apply to them, they will act lawlessly—exactly as Daniel Perry did when he shot a protester who was trying to make the point that Black lives matter to the same degree as white lives. Today, Governor Greg Abbott told Texans that is not true in Texas—and he did so by attacking the integrity of the jury trial system. The message and the means are antithetical to democracy.

New parade of GOP representatives appears at Trump trial

The “red tie” brigade was back in force at the Trump trial in Manhattan. About a dozen Republicans (mostly from Congress) appeared outside the courtroom to bash Judge Merchan, his family, and prosecutors. They filed into the courtroom as a phalanx, interrupting the cross-examination of Michael Cohen.

Why was Thursday’s spectacle worse than those on previous days? Because those who rose to show their support for Trump included Trump's indicted co-conspirator, Jeffrey Clark, as well as outcasts of the Freedom Caucus Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz.

In a particularly appalling statement, Gaetz posted a picture of Thursday’s parade of GOP officials at the trial alongside the caption, “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President.”

To be clear, Gaetz’s statement is a threat of violence against the judiciary if Trump is convicted. There is no other reasonable interpretation of the picture and caption in the context of the statements made outside the courtroom. See HuffPo, Matt Gaetz Parrots Trump’s Call To Proud Boys At His Trial.

The continued spectacle by Republican lawmakers is a clear violation of the gag order. The government officials are escorted into the courtroom and seated in seats reserved for Trump's defense team. As visible members of Trump's defense team, their statements are made on behalf of Trump. Judge Merchan should find Trump in contempt for those statements and order Trump to be detained. The failure of Judge Merchan to do so further undermines the authority of the judicial system.

While I am not criticizing Judge Merchan, it is clear that the willingness of Republican officials to break every norm of the rule of law has overwhelmed the ability of the judge to enforce the rules against Trump. And with the overlay of Gaetz’s threat of violence, Judge Merchan’s reluctance to apply the rule of law to Trump is understandable—though disappointing.

Here's my point: Thursday brought to the fore multiple examples of the MAGA effort to undermine the judiciary in the US. The only way to stop the attacks is to defeat Republicans up and down the ballot. The 2024 election is important for many reasons, not merely because we will re-elect Joe Biden. We must reverse the retrograde, reactionary MAGA movement to destroy one of the most important guardrails in democracy—a fair and independent judiciary.

Justice Alito dissents in case that would have triggered a Great Depression

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In so holding, seven justices rejected a theory that would have declared two-thirds of federal funding unconstitutional and eliminated regulations that control the banking and financial markets. The banking industry was so alarmed that it begged the justices to save the CFPB and the regulations that instruct the industry on how to conduct business lawfully. See Ian Millhiser in Vox, The Supreme Court decides not to trigger a second Great Depression.

The case is notable because it represents another defeat for the rogue judges on the reactionary Fifth Circuit who are hellbent on destroying the federal system of regulation that is responsible for the orderly operation of the world’s largest economy. See Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, Supreme Court CFPB: The judicial arsonists went too far for the conservative justices this time.

But justices Alito and Gorsuch dissented, arguing that Congress must continually re-authorize and fund federal programs that are permanent fixtures of the American system of regulation. As Mark Joseph Stern notes, Alito cited to English history under King James to bolster his contention that the Supreme Court can strike down congressional appropriations:

To side with the 5th Circuit, Alito had to fixate on a somewhat random period of English history in the 17th century—from James I to Charles I—to assert that the Constitution empowers courts to strike down appropriations that they dislike.

Alito and Gorsuch are dangerous radicals whose voices must be overwhelmed by expanding the Court.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

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GOV ABBOTT HAS GOT TO GO! Unisex Tshirts

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[ms-boogie-man]

Angie/Maddie🦇❥✝︎🇺🇸

[muddypolitics]

Crockett calls Texas Gov. Abbott ‘Governor Hot Wheels’

BONUS - some reddit-suggested nicknames for Hegseth:

DUI Hire

Whiskeyleaks

[coochiequeens]

It's not pro-life if Women die.

Sept. 20, 2024

By Erika Edwards, Zinhle Essamuah and Jason Kane

The number of women in Texas who died while pregnant, during labor or soon after childbirth skyrocketed following the state’s 2021 ban on abortion care — far outpacing a slower rise in maternal mortality across the nation, a new investigation of federal public health data finds.

From 2019 to 2022, the rate of maternal mortality cases in Texas rose by 56%, compared with just 11% nationwide during the same time period, according to an analysis by the Gender Equity Policy Institute. The nonprofit research group scoured publicly available reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and shared the analysis exclusively with NBC News.

“There’s only one explanation for this staggering difference in maternal mortality,” said Nancy L. Cohen, president of the GEPI. “All the research points to Texas’ abortion ban as the primary driver of this alarming increase.” 

“Texas, I fear, is a harbinger of what’s to come in other states,” she said.

The SB 8 effect

The Texas Legislature banned abortion care as early as five weeks into pregnancy in September 2021, nearly a year before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the case that protected a federal right to abortion — in June 2022. 

At the time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, lauded the bill as a measure that “ensures the life of every unborn child.”

Texas law now prohibits all abortion except to save the life of the mother. 

The passage of Texas’ Senate Bill 8 gave GEPI researchers the opportunity to take an early look at how near-total bans on abortion — including cases in which the mother’s life was in danger — affected the health and safety of pregnant women. 

The SB 8 effect, Cohen’s team found, was swift and stark. Within a year, maternal mortality rose in all racial groups studied.

Maternal mortality rates in Texas

Deaths per 100,000 live births

This grouped bar chart compares maternal mortality rates among all women, Black women, Hispanic women and white women from 2019 to 2022. In all categories, rates were lowest in 2019. In most categories rates doubled from 2019 to 2021, then declined in 2022. Rates in 2022 are highest among Black women, followed by white women, all women, then Hispanic women.

Source: Gender Equity Policy Institute analysis of CDC data

Among Hispanic women, the rate of women dying while pregnant, during childbirth or soon after increased from 14.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 18.9 in 2022. Rates among white women nearly doubled — from 20 per 100,000 to 39.1. And Black women, who historically have higher chances of dying while pregnant, during childbirth or soon after, saw their rates go from 31.6 to 43.6 per 100,000 live births. While maternal mortality spiked overall during the pandemic, women dying while pregnant or during childbirth rose consistently in Texas following the state’s ban on abortion, according to the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

“If you deny women abortions, more women are going to be pregnant, and more women are going to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term,” Cohen said.

Beyond the immediate dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, there is growing evidence that women living in states with strict abortion laws, such as Texas, are far more likely to go without prenatal care and much less likely to find an appointment with an OB-GYN.

Doctors say the feeling among would-be moms is fear.

“Fear is something I’d never seen in practice prior to Senate Bill 8,” said Dr. Leah Tatum, an OB-GYN in private practice in Austin, Texas. Tatum, who was not involved with the GEPI study, said that requests for sterilization procedures among her patients doubled after the state’s abortion ban.

That is, women prefer to lose their ability to ever have children over the chance that they might become pregnant following SB 8.

“Patients feel like they’re backed into a corner,” Tatum said. “If they already knew that they didn’t want to pursue pregnancy, now they’re terrified.”

Tatum said she’s seeing many women in their late 30s and 40s who, even though they’d like to have a child, worry they wouldn’t have an option to end the pregnancy if it turned out that the baby wouldn’t be born healthy. “‘What happens if I end up with a genetically abnormal fetus?’” Tatum said her patients have asked her. They worry their options are limited, she said. ‘Treated like a criminal’

That unthinkable tragedy happened to Kaitlyn Kash, 37, of Austin, Texas. 

Kash had a textbook pregnancy with her first child, a healthy little boy, born in 2018. 

“It’d been so easy the first time,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would go down the journey that we went down.”

When she became pregnant again, it wasn’t until Kash’s second trimester, at 13 weeks, that she and her husband, Cory, discovered that their fetus had severe skeletal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder affecting bone and cartilage growth. It was highly unlikely the baby would survive. 

Kaitlyn Kash and her husband, Cory, at home with their two children.NBC News

“We were told that his bones would break in utero and he would suffocate at birth,” Kash said. “We were expecting our doctor to tell us how we were going to care for our baby, how we were going to end his pain.”It was October 2021, just a month after Texas passed the SB 8 abortion law. 

“We were told that we should get a second opinion, but make sure that it was outside of Texas,” she said. 

At 15 weeks, Kash had to travel to Kansas to terminate her doomed pregnancy. Outside the medical clinic, protesters harassed the grief-stricken mom. 

“I was being treated like a criminal,” she said. “I didn’t get the dignity that I deserved to say goodbye to my child.”

“It’s just another example of how it’s heartbreaking to practice in the state of Texas,” Tatum said. “These patients are asking for help. The state of Texas has failed women.”

CORRECTION (Sept. 21, 2024, 8:17 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the maternal mortality rates by demographic. The figures represent the number per 100,000 live births, not percentages.

Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and "TODAY."

Jason Kane is a producer in the NBC News Health & Medical Unit. 

[whatthehelloh]

Hey Texans, CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION!

[msclaritea]

Corsicana ISD educator injured by student could lose her eye, calls on Gov. Abbott to make changes - CBS Texas

This poor woman. I'll just bet Feminists won't say one fucking word on her behalf.

[notesfromthecactuspatch-blog]

"You Want Wire? Well Hoss, We Got Some Wire!"

There’s a sanctified saying that’s been used in Texas for at least 40 years, ” Don’t Mess With Texas,” and we damn well mean it. Our governor, Greg Abbot, has the cajones of a penned-up bull, giving the middle finger salute to those elitist som- bitches in Washington. Old Gov is now known as the “Crazy Texas Wire Dealer.”Here’s an excerpt from his commercial that’s running on the radio down by…

[xtruss]

Close-Up Video Shows Texas Floating Barrier Has Circular Saws

— By Khaleda Rahman | August 9, 2023 | Newsweek

Migrants walk after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas as seen from Piedras Negras, Coahuila State, Mexico on August 4, 2023. Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia has called the installation of the barrier "inhumane." Guillermo Arias/AFP Via Getty Images

The wrecking ball-sized buoys that make up the floating barrier that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installed in July in the Rio Grande have circular saws between them, according to a video posted by Rep. Sylvia Garcia.

"Appalled by the ongoing cruel and inhumane tactics employed by @GovAbbott at the Texas border," Garcia, a Democrat, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, alongside the clip. "The situation's reality is unsettling as these buoys' true danger and brutality come to light. We must stop this NOW!"

Mexican authorities said last week that two bodies had been recovered from the river in recent days, including one that was caught in the floating barrier. One body was found stuck in the lines of orange buoys, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement on August 2. A second body was recovered about three miles upriver from the buoys, The Associated Press reported.

A repost of the video by Laiken Jordahl, a Southwest conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, amassed more than 8 million views.

The center is an environmental group where Jordahl works to protect wildlife, ecosystems, and public lands throughout the Southwest desert and U.S-Mexico borderlands, according to its website.

"Abbott has installed circular saws between the Rio Grande border buoys to maim or kill anyone who attempts to climb over," Jordahl wrote in the post. "Two bodies have already been found trapped in the floating barrier. He wants more migrants to die."

Jordahl told Newsweek: "Each day the floating wall, saw blades and concertina wire are allowed to stay up, more migrants will be injured or killed and more wildlife will suffer.

"Governor Abbott is turning this beautiful river into a death trap for people and wildlife. Our wildlands and communities will not be turned into war zones. Abbott must be stopped."

The U.S. Justice Department is suing Abbott over the barrier, after warning that it violates federal law and raises humanitarian concerns for migrants crossing into the country from Mexico. The lawsuit is asking a court to force Texas to remove it.

"We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement in late July.

"This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns. Additionally, the presence of the floating barrier has prompted diplomatic protests by Mexico and risks damaging U.S. foreign policy."

[theonion]

In an effort to crack down on the statewide proliferation of adult foodstuffs, the Texas Legislature passed a new law Friday requiring all residents to show identification to buy phallic foods. “From bananas to cucumbers to submarine sandwiches, obscene foods will no longer be allowed to fall into the hands of minors in the Lone Star State,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, adding that an officially issued driver’s license or passport would be needed to purchase a baguette, which is defined in the legislation as “any elongated breadlike object used to simulate male genitals.”

Full Story

[loscerritoscommunitynews]

LAT: Migrants Sent to California Say They Were Duped & Abandoned by DeSantis

JUNE 17, 2023 SACRAMENTO —  They saw themselves in the video that Florida officials offered up as proof of their consent to travel to California, but they said it’s not what it seemed. They were happy, yes. That part was true. They had finally made it to America after traveling thousands of miles over the span of three months from their home in Venezuela. They walked until their feet bled and…

[nudityandnerdery]

What the fuck.

First off, the fucking name of the act. Weirdos. Second, kids play pretend. That's what kids are supposed to do. Third, kid gets frustrated in school and knows he can't swear, so they just hiss like a frustrated cat? That needs to be a criminal offense? What the fuck?

This is the GOP manufacturing problems to keep people distracted from what's actually going on in the world.

[queerliblib]

queernewsdaily feature!?!? <33333 ❤️‍🔥

"Looking for a great queer book to read this Pride month? This LGBTQ+ digital library is here to help you out.

The Queer Liberation Library (QLL) is an online-only resource housing more than 1,200 ebooks, according to NBC News. Its collection includes frequently banned texts like “Gender Queer” by Maia Kokabe, “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson, and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, as well as diverse books reflecting authors from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. The library, which is run by nine volunteers, was founded partially in response to the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ+ book bans across the country. Last year, 4,240 titles were targeted for removal in schools and public libraries in the United States, according to the American Library Association. Nearly half of those books — 47% — have LGBTQ+ themes. Fifteen states currently have laws restricting discussion of LGBTQ+ identities in school, and in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a law in June 2023 that even forces private booksellers to put MPAA-like warning labels on books with alleged sexual content. (The law was eventually found to be unconstitutional.)"

help Queer Liberation Library thrive this coming year by meeting our fundraiser goal of ✨ $30,000 ✨ in cold, hard cash

[politijohn]

Source

Gov. Abbott installed circular saws in the Rio Grande. Migrants have already been caught and died in these “river walls.” This is clearly meant to hurt and kill more. Blatant human rights violation if that wasn’t immediately clear

[liberalsarecool]

Red State manufactured crises. #immigration

Gov Abbott will always pick cruelty. Look how they manage their power grid.

[doylewesleywalls]

It takes a lot of gall for gov. abbott to use the following words in the text one of his lackeys wrote for him: “...our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new President.” I guess he’s now even saluting and bowing his head as he uses the words “democratic tradition of transferring power.” That’s the very crime the Jan 6 mob committed when their “team” didn’t win the big game. Does he think nobody will see this?

Emily Singer at Daily Kos:

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas announced on Monday that he is ordering flags to be flown full-staff on Donald Trump's Inauguration Day, a blatant disregard of federal code that says flags should be flown half-staff for 30 days after a current or former president dies. Adhering to flag code, President Joe Biden ordered the flags to be flown half-staff on Dec. 29, the day former President Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. That means the flags should be lowered during Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. But Trump has whined about the fact that flags will be lowered when he puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office—likely with his fingers on his other hand crossed behind his back.  "The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my Inauguration," Trump moaned on Truth Social on Jan. 3, incorrectly using the “half mast” term, which applies to flags on ships. "They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. … Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

[...] And now Abbott is appeasing his Dear Leader Trump by raising the flags in Texas on inauguration day.  "On January 20, our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new President by inaugurating the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. As we unite our country and usher in this new era of leadership, I ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings for the inauguration of President Trump," Abbott said in a statement. "While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America."

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) disrespects the US Flag Code and Jimmy Carter’s memory by raising the US Flag to full staff on January 20th for Donald Trump’s 2nd inauguration.