Wasting public money to turn troopers into babysitters

Hayley Sanchez of NPR reported on the death of James Dobson at age 89. He turned “family values” into a household phrase and into a rallying cry for conservative Christians. He also defined “family values” to be against LGBTQ rights, leading the effort for Colorado to ban LGBTQ rights in its state constitution (later struck down by the Supremes). Dobson’s political activism rallied some people to his cause. He was considered a pioneer in that effort and inspired others to be leaders belligerent conservatism. That same activism turned many others away from the church while it created a living hell for many LGBTQ people. He’s gone. On Tuesday Alex Samuels of Daily Kos reported after Gavin Newsom signed the gerrymandering bill in California, Democrats of the Texas House returned from breaking quorum. They could return because they knew the Republican maps to gain five more federal House seats would be matched by Democrats getting five more seats in California. When they returned “Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows slapped them with restrictions straight out of a police state.” They could leave the Texas House floor only if they agreed to be in the custody of a Department of Public Safety officer. Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, refused to sign that agreement. So she was stuck on the House floor, later expanded to include her office. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, stayed with her and shared meager food supplies. Samuels concluded:

The irony is striking. The GOP often claims to be the defender of taxpayers and the enforcer of law and order. Yet here they are, wasting public money to turn troopers into babysitters for political rivals. It isn’t law and order—it’s surveillance and intimidation.

I can imagine Texas Republicans saying, “We have power, you don’t. You tried to thwart our power. So we will humiliate you.” Also in Tuesday Emily Singer of Kos reported that in response to California’s plans to also redistrict, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News:

What the Democrats have done is disgraceful and potentially illegal. If California is trying to squeeze out more Republicans, there will be lawsuits that overturn that.

He’s criticizing California for doing the same thing he did in Texas. In the comments of Wednesday’s pundit roundup for Kos – after Texas approved its new maps and California approved sending new maps to the voters – there are several memes showing Newsom as an ultra strong patriotic defender of America. I rather like the one showing the studly Newsom on the back of an eagle that has the nasty guy in its talons. Toonerman posted a cartoon of Star Trek’s Spock saying:

So you maintain your innocence and yet you won’t relinquish documents that would prove your integrity. That’s not only highly illogical, it makes absolutely no fu*kin sense.

A meme posted by exlrrp asks “GOP: Do you still believe Taco-Pedo-Donnie?” It lists several of his recent statements. Here are some of them.:

I have reduced inflation to 0%. Groceries are cheaper than ever. 380 farm bankruptcies don’t affect you. Gasoline is now less than $2.00 / gallon. Ukraine started the War, Putin wants to end it. We do not need or want any imports.

Another meme posted by exlrrp has the words, “Donald Trump has released a statement.” The image shows a bowl of alphabet soup. Friday’s roundup by Greg Dworkin includes more Newsom memes. Dworkin included a tweet by Ashley Zavala:

California Democrats in Assembly this AM changed the state’s Redistricting ballot measure legislation, which basically now allows new Congressional maps to go into effect NO MATTER what other states do. Even if Texas backtracks or courts strike it down, CA would have new maps.

Pending voter approval, which polling indicates is likely. In the comments exlrrp posted a meme by Micah Erfan:

The government privately interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell for 9 hours. Right after, they quietly moved her to a low-security prison. That was a month ago. Now? Still no transcript. Still no charges against any clients. We are witnessing the biggest cover up in American history.

I add that I haven’t seen any nasty guy minion even spinning the Maxwell interview. Not even that.