by Noah
Ah, Texas! Always in the mix for the Biggest Nut State title! Watch out Flor-i-duh!
And, now, it's official, the people of Texas have spoken! "More guns-Less Voting! Their elected representatives, at least the Republican ones, have made it easier to get a gun than it is to vote, and they're proud of it! Very proud! Now, thanks to the Republican legislators of Texas, if you're over 21, you can get a gun in Texas without a permit, without a background check, and without even 30 seconds of training. No waiting period. Concealed carry? Why sure! Can gun vending machines at the airports be far behind? Maybe they'll just start handing you one when you land in Texas and step off the plane! How about some cross-promotion action? Buy or rent a new American car-- Get an AR-15 in the trunk and a box of grenades under the driver seat! I can't wait to see the new Baby Gun locations at the malls! What could go wrong?
So far in 2021, we've had 233 mass shootings, and at least 17,524 people in the U.S. have died from gun-related violence, (Note: I actually started writing this post a week ago and have since had to adjust these figures three or four times times) but psychopathic Death Cult Texas Governor Greg Abbott, while working to increase gun violence in his state, intends to join 20 or more other states in removing ballot drop boxes, removing registered voters of color from the voter lists, removing voting locations from minority neighborhoods while adding his permitless permissive gun laws.
Texas Republicans are now even working on legislation that is designed to, among other anti-democracy things, enable them to overturn the results of elections if they don't like those results. In other words, if a Democrat were to win the 40 electoral votes that Texas holds, that vote could be overturned. Other Republican legislators in other states are planning to do the same thing. It's all part of the Trumpian dream to do in 2022 and 2024 what Republicans couldn't pull off in the last election. Think of it as a rolling coup that will get less attention while it's going on than the violent attempted coup of 1/6 but, if it succeeds, will have been more effective in bringing about the end of democracy in America.
Democrats in the Texas legislature, however, recently threw a monkey wrench into the Republican plans by walking out of the session thus destroying the needed quorum. The Republican efforts have stalled, at least temporarily. Governor Abbott, in a fit of pique, now has decided to play king and take the pay away from all of the legislators and the rest of the people who work in the state capitol. Watching Abbott is a thing to behold. This morning, I was watching him on TV with the sound off. If I didn't know who he was, I would naturally assume that the camera was just trained on some poor soul who had escaped from an asylum or at least a home for severely mentally impaired elderly folks. I guess he thinks Texas is run by a monarchy or dictatorship. Why don't the repugs just move Putin to Texas and get it over with?