#dan patrick

[lenbryant]

Everything’s bigger in Texas.

[makingdonalddrumpfagain]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Aliya Uteuova at The Guardian:

Nearly 1.7 million people in Texas are entering a third day without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. The acting governor, Dan Patrick, said in a statement that bringing back power will be a “multi-day restoration event”. Governor Greg Abbott, who is on a trip to Asia, is facing criticism for his absence from the state during a natural disaster. Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas on Monday, taking down power lines that left nearly 3 million people without electricity at the peak of the outages. Much of south-east Texas including Houston is enduring dangerously high temperatures with no air conditioning amid an ongoing heatwave. “With power outages continuing across south-east Texas, the lack of air-conditioning will aggravate the risk for heat-related illnesses as high temperatures warm into the lower and mid-90s,” warns National Weather Service in Houston, where the heat index reached 106F (41C) yesterday and is expected to reach 105F today.

Yesterday, President Joe Biden granted acting governor Patrick’s request for emergency disaster declaration, approving federal resources to help with recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. All 121 affected counties will receive 75% reimbursement for debris removal. “The greatest concern right now is the power outages and extreme heat that is impacting Texans,” read a statement from the White House. “As you all know, extreme heat kills more Americans than all the other natural disasters combined.” Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, killing more people each year than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. Children, the elderly, pregnant people, outdoor workers and people with chronic medical conditions are more vulnerable to heat stress. Power outages pose a serious risk to people who rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment such as oxygen machines and ventilators.

Hurricane Beryl and extreme heat are leaving at least 1.7m Texans without power.

[uboat53]

Want to see one of the fastest self-owns in politics? Look at Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

You see, Biden gave an interview in which he blamed a slow federal response to Hurricane Beryl in Texas on the Lieutenant Governor (the Governor was out of the country) not making a formal request as required and stating that his administration had tried many times to reach him. Lt. Gov. Patrick responded that "[h]e is falsely accusing me that I was not reachable. He obviously did not know his own employees from FEMA were side-by-side with me for 3 days! All he had to do was call them and have them hand their phone to me."

However, in the exact same statement he said this: "Before we made an official ask, we needed to determine what our outstanding needs were. We were working on that with local officials as we traveled the impacted areas."

Source

In other words, sure, maybe Biden personally didn't call him, but he admits to delaying the formal request! Millions of Texans were without power, many thousands were potentially threatened with flooding, there were deaths and property damage but somehow he needed to take more time to survey the damage before asking for help?

This type of thing doesn't happen in other states, most governors ask for help as soon as they know they need it and work on the specifics later. Only in Texas do their care more about the details than about the people who are in trouble. I hope all of my friends who live there are safe, I hear it's been pretty rough.

[jaceart-politics]

Dan Patrick - Plaid Nazi

(c) JACE

[mexican-texican]

Day 4, 1.2 million still without power:

Centerpoint had fleets of technicians crowding parking lots on standby ready to go at a moments notice but weren't allowed to move until an agreement had been made on pay rate negotiations. They were still getting paid to sit there, though.

Greg Abbott continued on to his nine day tech mission across East Asia the Friday before Beryl hit, and claims to be going back and forth with local officials yet Biden stated he hadn't been able to reach neither Abbot nor Dan Patrick about providing aid and emergency generators.

Meanwhile, Dan Patrick is too busy on Twitter pointing fingers literally everywhere else to pick up the phone.

Ted Cruz had left to SoCal over the weekend for a whale watching excursion but came back the Monday after the storm had hit to make a video for Twitter of him standing next to a flooded freeway. Judging by the weather I'm assuming well into the evening.

Meanwhile our power outage numbers look like this:

And our homes are reaching dangerous levels of Satan's asshole hot.

People are scrambling to any grocery store with power that won't kick them out to charge their phones and laptops (I'm side-eyeing the fuck outta you Whole Foods, don't think I haven't heard about kicking people out of the designated sitting areas in several locations) and are struggling to get anything that doesn't require refrigeration to prepare for dinner by candlelight.

All the while lingering after storms keep reflooding areas that are struggling to eliminate floodwaters.

(that's not a river, that's a thousand foot long underpass)

Everyone on Reddit keeps going on about how ridiculous this whole situation is because it was barely a Cat 1, but people forget too easily that "When you've seen a hurricane..., you've seen a hurricane." They're not cut and press, there's no two alike. I mean fuck man, Alison wasn't even a category and yet was the costliest bitch of them all (the amount of people we lost and witness drown to death, get sucked into open manholes at piss poor attempts to relieve street flooding)

Yeah, Centerpoint-less is a monopoly of a power company that shouldn't be ALLOWED to exist as it is and that's its own issue (they're literally the only allowed electric provider down here) but we also have to take into account who is allowing them to continue this way, because Hurricane Beryl should not have been able to get as strong as it did as fast as it did This Early In The Season and this is just a taste of what we have in store this season.

[diariodigitalnoticias]

El huracán Beryl azota Texas y se debilita a depresión tropical

Houston, TX • El huracán Beryl tocó tierra en Texas a primeras horas del lunes, dejando un rastro de destrucción a su paso antes de degradarse a depresión tropical al avanzar hacia el este, según informó el Centro Nacional de Huracanes de Estados Unidos. La tormenta, que entró como huracán de categoría 1, causó estragos significativos en el estado, dejando sin electricidad a casi 3 millones de…

[jkanelis]

Sanity prevails in SE Texas

Here’s a glimmer of good political news for those who care about such things: Sanity won the day Tuesday in a highly contentious race for a Texas House of Representatives seat in the Golden Triangle region. State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, fended off a challenge by a MAGA candidate, David Covey, and won the Republican Party nomination. OK, this isn’t just a House seat that was at…

[amazing-phlonde]

mount rushmore for gay people

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Zach Despart at Texas Tribune:

BEAUMONT — Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, the top electoral target for a far-right faction of Republicans intent on controlling the Legislature, emerged victorious Tuesday over a well-funded challenger endorsed by Donald Trump and his allies.

Phelan defeated former Orange County Republican Party chairman David Covey, who also had the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and former Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi. In doing so, he avoided the ignominious fate of becoming the first House speaker to lose a primary in 52 years. With all precincts reporting, Phelan was up 366 votes — within the margin that Covey can call for a recount. Covey, however, conceded in a speech to supporters at his election night party in Orange shortly after 9:30 p.m. Phelan, 48, who has seen his popularity plummet among Republicans since he backed the impeachment of Paxton on corruption and bribery charges exactly one year and one day ago, was defiant in his victory speech at JW’s Patio in Beaumont. “I will be your state rep for HD 21 and I will be your speaker for the Texas House in 2025,” Phelan said to a raucous crowd of more than 100 supporters. “This was a true grassroots effort — not the fake grassroots.”

Covey, a 34-year-old first-time candidate, not only forced Phelan into a runoff in March but secured more votes than the two-term House speaker. That outcome shocked many in the district, as Phelan was previously reelected four times without Republican opposition and hails from one of the most prominent families in Beaumont. Candidates for the Texas Legislature who trail after the first round rarely win their runoffs. Phelan carried the unique advantage of being a statewide leader with a prolific roster of political donors. Through May 20, his campaign reported spending $3.8 million on the runoff, more than double Covey’s $1.6 million. Their combined hauls amounted to what was almost certainly the most expensive state House race in Texas history. It was also an ugly contest — Phelan accused Covey of running on “lies and deceit” — where the candidates attacked each other in a flood of mailers and television advertisements.

[...] Phelan’s win is a major blow to the party’s ultraconservative faction that is led ideologically by Patrick and Paxton and financed by megadonors like West Texas oil magnate Tim Dunn. It is a group that rejects compromise and bipartisanship, demonizing Democrats and the Republicans willing to work with them. This ascendant wing has supplanted the party’s traditional focus on taxes and regulations with highly divisive social issues like transgender rights and book bans. In defeat, that group did not go quietly. Covey called Phelan an "Austin swamp creature" who only secured reelection through the support of Democrats, which he said was a "brazen act of betrayal." Paxton, an early endorser of Covey who had campaigned for the challenger as late as Tuesday afternoon, echoed the claim. The attorney general, who had vowed revenge against Phelan for supporting his impeachment, said the speaker had "blatantly stolen an election from the hard-working people of his district" by courting Democrats. Paxton said Republicans should move to closed primaries — a priority of the far right — and he issued a warning to members of the House.

[...] But whether Phelan can hold on to the speaker’s gavel is unclear. One of his own committee chairmen, Republican Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress, declared his candidacy for speaker in March. But no members have publicly endorsed Oliverson, and while his reelection was in doubt, Phelan was able to keep the rest of his caucus from open rebellion. [...] Attacked by his enemies as a RINO, Phelan was also widely considered more conservative than his predecessors, Phelan secured passage of the state’s near-total ban on abortion, permitless carry of handguns and several first-in-the-nation border security bills. Phelan was easily reelected speaker in January 2023 with all Democrats and almost all Republicans in support; conservative rumblings of dissatisfaction amounted to a paltry three votes for another candidate. And he batted away far-right criticism of the House’s longstanding practice of appointing Democratic committee chairs, appointing them to lead eight of 34 committees.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) staves off MAGA wing/Farris Wilks/Tim Dunn-funded candidate David Covey to narrowly keep his seat and his Speakership gavel.

[head-post]

Texas official sent message on US-Mexico border to Supreme Court

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick sent a message to the US Supreme Court on Monday regarding the US-Mexico border, The Herald reports.

During an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” programme, Patrick said the Supreme Court will decide on Monday whether Senate Bill 4 can take effect while it is being debated in the courts or whether there will be a pause.

The bill criminalises crossing the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry and allows police to arrest those they believe have crossed the border illegally. Patrick said:

To the Supreme Court justices, who are watching Fox I’m sure this morning as they get up early, we are being attacked, Lawrence, by land, by sea, by air, literally millions coming across the border, many armed, many criminals, terrorists.

The Lieutenant Governor added that the Supreme Court will not decide today whether the law is constitutional. They’ll only be deciding if it can go into effect.

Read more HERE

[spanishamilton]

life time works.

[oneequalworldblog]

First Amendment Means Drag Too

The First Amendment isn’t disposable, says a new ruling from a Texas judge against anti-drag laws. In a major win for the LGBTQ+ community, a federal judge in Texas has shut down S.B.12, a controversial law taking aim at drag performers. U.S. District Judge David Hittner declared the law unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction, preventing state officials from enforcing it. This…

[theraiderramble]

Raiders' Two-Game Win Streak Fails to Impress Dan Patrick

Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce is 2-0 after taking over for Josh McDaniels. Some applaud the Super Bowl champion for getting the Silver and Black back to .500. However, Dan Patrick isn’t one of those people. So, why does Patrick seem unimpressed by Pierce winning his first two games with the Raiders? Heading into the 2023 NFL season with names such as Davante Adams, Maxx…