Texas, a friend used to say, is hard on women and little things. That would come to mind over the years when reporting seemed to bear it out. In 2015, I watched a foster mother testify in court, via telephone from her daughter’s hospital bedside, that state cuts to the Medicaid acute therapy program were having disastrous consequences for her child’s incurable, debilitating genetic disorder. In 2021, an eleven-year-old boy in Conroe suffocated from carbon monoxide poisoning after seeing snow for the first time, as his family tried to keep their home warm after the collapse of a horribly...…Texas, a friend used to say, is hard on women and little things. That would come to mind over the years when reporting seemed to bear it out. In 2015, I watched a foster mother testify in court, via telephone from her daughter’s hospital bedside, that state cuts to the Medicaid acute therapy program were having disastrous consequences for her child’s incurable, debilitating genetic disorder. In 2021, an eleven-year-old boy in Conroe suffocated from carbon monoxide poisoning after seeing snow for the first time, as his family tried to keep their home warm after the collapse of a horribly...WW…

MenuSome 16,000 years ago, one theory holds, Homo sapiens crossed the Bering Strait and swiftly migrated down the West Coast of North America. Eventually, descendants of those early humans found their way to Texas, encountering camels, ancient bison, and giant armadillos. “Californians!” the critters probably grumbled. “There goes the neighborhood.”The latest flash point in the seemingly never-ending conflict between Texas natives and new arrivals comes courtesy of another coterie of Californians, most notable among them superstar podcaster Joe Rogan and eccentric billionaire Elon Musk....…MenuSome 16,000 years ago, one theory holds, Homo sapiens crossed the Bering Strait and swiftly migrated down the West Coast of North America. Eventually, descendants of those early humans found their way to Texas, encountering camels, ancient bison, and giant armadillos. “Californians!” the critters probably grumbled. “There goes the neighborhood.”The latest flash point in the seemingly never-ending conflict between Texas natives and new arrivals comes courtesy of another coterie of Californians, most notable among them superstar podcaster Joe Rogan and eccentric billionaire Elon Musk....WW…

MenuOn the warm and perfectly pleasant Saturday afternoon of October 10, Allen West, the newly minted chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, stood on the steps of the Governor’s Mansion, and loudly condemned one of his party’s most high-profile and popular officials, . Elected in July, West was in part responsible for leading the defense against the liberal blitz, supposedly coming in November, when polls suggested that Democrats had a chance of taking control of the state House, winning several congressional seats, and even flipping Texas to Joe Biden. Abbott also had a role to play,...…MenuOn the warm and perfectly pleasant Saturday afternoon of October 10, Allen West, the newly minted chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, stood on the steps of the Governor’s Mansion, and loudly condemned one of his party’s most high-profile and popular officials, . Elected in July, West was in part responsible for leading the defense against the liberal blitz, supposedly coming in November, when polls suggested that Democrats had a chance of taking control of the state House, winning several congressional seats, and even flipping Texas to Joe Biden. Abbott also had a role to play,...WW…

MenuFriday afternoon, after this article published, the Supreme Court dismissed the Texas lawsuit to invalidate the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, writing the state lacked standing to bring it.The broken windows theory of criminology holds that lesser crimes and offenses, if met with no response from authorities, create an atmosphere of wrongdoing that encourages greater crimes and offenses. We can only guess what might have been if Texas attorney general Ken Paxton had been taken to the woodshed a few times earlier in his career to...…MenuFriday afternoon, after this article published, the Supreme Court dismissed the Texas lawsuit to invalidate the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, writing the state lacked standing to bring it.The broken windows theory of criminology holds that lesser crimes and offenses, if met with no response from authorities, create an atmosphere of wrongdoing that encourages greater crimes and offenses. We can only guess what might have been if Texas attorney general Ken Paxton had been taken to the woodshed a few times earlier in his career to...WW…

MenuHere’s the bad news: a 150-year-old habit is going to be tough for Texans to kick. But there’s good news too. Unlike lupus, voter suppression is curable.The ability of the Republican majority to suppress turnout and influence election results should lessen, bit by bit. If Democrats take control of the state House, they’ll have a seat at the table in the 2021 round of redistricting, perhaps the most consequential way the Legislature shapes election outcomes. (Although they’ll have much less power than they’d like: the Texas Constitution contains a way for state leaders to override the...…MenuHere’s the bad news: a 150-year-old habit is going to be tough for Texans to kick. But there’s good news too. Unlike lupus, voter suppression is curable.The ability of the Republican majority to suppress turnout and influence election results should lessen, bit by bit. If Democrats take control of the state House, they’ll have a seat at the table in the 2021 round of redistricting, perhaps the most consequential way the Legislature shapes election outcomes. (Although they’ll have much less power than they’d like: the Texas Constitution contains a way for state leaders to override the...WW…

MenuAs lawsuits by Democrats proceed against Governor Greg Abbott’s order limiting Texas counties to one mail-in ballot collection location, the state’s lawyers will rely on a plausible-sounding justification for the action: to improve the “security” of the mail-in ballot process. The state will also surely argue that the order is limited in scope. Most of Texas’s 254 counties already had only one drop-off location. The rule affects mainly a few populous counties, including Harris, home of Houston, which had set up twelve collection spots for its 2.4 million registered voters. The order...…MenuAs lawsuits by Democrats proceed against Governor Greg Abbott’s order limiting Texas counties to one mail-in ballot collection location, the state’s lawyers will rely on a plausible-sounding justification for the action: to improve the “security” of the mail-in ballot process. The state will also surely argue that the order is limited in scope. Most of Texas’s 254 counties already had only one drop-off location. The rule affects mainly a few populous counties, including Harris, home of Houston, which had set up twelve collection spots for its 2.4 million registered voters. The order...WW…

MenuYou took a nap today, and you woke up in charge of the 2020 campaign of the Republican party of Texas. Congratulations! Here’s your badge and your gun. Also, condolences: There’s not much time left. There’s little more than a month to go before early voting starts, and the fundamentals of the thing are set. This is an election defined by a deeply unpopular incumbent president, a terrible economy, and nearly 200,000 Americans dead from a global pandemic that could have been mitigated. You gotta think carefully about how to make a dent. Donald Trump and John Cornyn are probably going to...…MenuYou took a nap today, and you woke up in charge of the 2020 campaign of the Republican party of Texas. Congratulations! Here’s your badge and your gun. Also, condolences: There’s not much time left. There’s little more than a month to go before early voting starts, and the fundamentals of the thing are set. This is an election defined by a deeply unpopular incumbent president, a terrible economy, and nearly 200,000 Americans dead from a global pandemic that could have been mitigated. You gotta think carefully about how to make a dent. Donald Trump and John Cornyn are probably going to...WW…