I dunno. I don’t know what Greg Abbott’s ambitions are, but he seems to be doing a lot of stuff to perform to the US as a whole. DeSantis polled second behind Trump in a straw poll for the next President at CPAC last week (sure, it did take place in Florida). DeSantis’ behavior seems to be working well for him with that group even though I keep hearing his own poll numbers drop. Like someone else said, I also think this is in anticipation of Spring Break. I can imagine them “powering through” any spikes like Florida has.
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My state and my town are highly dependent on tourism. I’m just waiting for the “opening up” to follow the Spring thaw up the East coast… rather than follow where the virus is most active.
That’s what happened last year.
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Tate Reeves: “Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed It is time!”
Given that Mississippi is in the bottom 10 in COVID vax rates, this is no less stupid than, “Someone is bringing us parachutes tomorrow. It is time to jump out of this plane right now!”
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Their broad brush is justified because Biden (or Bernie) didn’t win Texas. Therefore all Texas politicians and citizens are monsters.
Texas was pretty close.
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I am currently in Texas. That brush paints me also.
Not to mention that more people voted for Biden in Texas than in New York. How does that affect your brushstroke?
Gerrymandering is a powerful powerful thing.
I won’t be altering my behaviour one whit, and I know in Austin things will more or less remain as they are, but man do I feel for those places already dealing with maskholes. It’s going to be 100x more difficult now.
(ETA: Fixed misremembered state)
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One of your Texas Politicians. (Will have to try and find it) suggested that the excess vaccine be distributed to Mexico and Canada to help stabilize things once the US gets done in May/June
Edit:
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Democrat party “we made history in Texas!..”
Democrat voter “we didn’t win, therefore all Texans are rolling coal”
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I am so tired of churlish dirtbags like Abbott running our state. Here in Harris County, our judge, Lina Hidalgo, has been facing nonstop flak from assholes and bigots while she’s been trying to keep people safe with various guidance rules. This move is going to get so many people killed. I’m so pissed, like… I have friends and family who work in hospitals and clinics who want this shit to be over, and this has me worrying for their mental health.
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Texas hasn’t even seen the consequences of massive power outages and a halt on our vaccine programs. I personally know at least 6 households that were forced to bunk with others because of no power or water.
Abbott’s delcaration is unconscionable. He professes to be a christian. He is going straight to hell. His political career is apparently more valuable than his soul.
Also, for those calling us Texans stupid or suicidal because of our “leadership,” I remind you that voter suppression is big here. Voter ID laws, voter roll purges, gerrymandering, as many obstacles to registering as possible. The ways and means are varied and many. The fact democrats did as well as they did this last round is actually pretty amazing and totally freaked out the GOP. No area is a monolith.
Texans do not all think the way Abbott or Magas do. This is a political ploy by Abbott to try and make us forget about the energy disaster so many of us are still suffering through. I think and hope it will not work. I’m working to help make sure Abbott’s career is at an end.
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You and me both. The medical professionals 8 know are mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.
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I do still live in the US, just not Texas.
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There are plenty of good people in Texas. I’m sorry their elected leaders are putting them at risk.
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Damn, Abbot is so damned stupid. Texas is among the slowest states in getting vaccination done, and we’ve had three different catastrophic statewide outbreaks because he wanted to open up for major holidays. It sure would be nice if any Republican actually understood the math of this.
I’m really hoping we can vote him out.
Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention. – Molly Ivins
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A hell of a lot of Texans did vote for Biden, but I’m wondering where you’re getting your information about which state delivered more total votes. The numbers I have are that Biden received 5.2 million votes from Texas, and 11.1 million from California. Gerrymandering is indeed powerful and evil, but has no direct bearing on total presidential votes in a state.
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Haven’t heard about the newest variant yet, eh?
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Oops! That’s what I get for trying to remember stats from memory. Corrected. Thanks.
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All we ask is to not blame us for having stupid neighbors. We don’t control that.
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and just to add to your comment, while you are a recent immigrant to the state you can also be assured that there are also people like me: i’m an 8th generation native who is also a steadfast left-liberal democrat. my immediate family are also democrats. we aren’t going to be run off from a place we love and we will keep trying to turn the state blue.
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Not to mention the COVID patients in the hospitals in Texas who died because even the hospitals ended up not having power and generators didn’t all compensate for the grid’s downtime, and those ventilators need electricity to run–to ventilate people’s lungs.
Been here in Austin and Central Texas for ~30 years.
Before that, lived in the American Midwest.
I’d still pick Texas over Missouri and Illinois, thanks.
Eh, nope.
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There’s a reason I place the blame on the elected leaders and not the people. Those leaders have personally demonstrated that they are willing to take actions that show at the least a callous disregard for human life.
Whether you or anyone else voted for them, regardless of how rigged the system is, those individuals could have chosen differently. Whether COVID, the freeze, hurricanes… they are consistently deciding to go the route that endangers people most. They have the power that you don’t.
It didn’t have to be like this. Their choices are why it is.
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