There Has To Be a Name For This
Okay, so what do you do if you’re the meanest man in town?
This.
Gov. Abbott announced last Monday that he … would stop efforts to allow Syrian refugees into his state in the wake of the deadly attacks in Paris. Part of the governor’s announcement included the sending of a letter from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to local non-profits, demanding that they comply with the Governor’s request by Friday afternoon.
So let me see if I have this straight. The man who wants smaller government wants government to dictate to local small humanitarian non-profits what they can and cannot do, even if what they want to do is the kind and loving thing to do and perfectly legal.
Yo, Abbott, you can kiss my big blue butt, sir. And you can kiss it on the steps of my local Helping Hands.
He is threatening to turn down federal funds for those non profits who don’t follow his … wait for it … “directive.” So, do what Abbott says or you may lose your whole program.
So, is his next step to tell churches that there will be no rooms at the inn?
Thanks to Mazie for the heads up.
He makes your Texas rattlesnakes look like good Samaritans for shaking their tails.
1Republican dictionary definition of “smaller” government: eliminating any government spending that does not either directly benefit their top donors, create an inage of “toughness”, or help suppress their political opponents.
Example: eliminating inexpensive programs designed to keep people out of prison, expand the (far more costly) privately-run prisons. Because the privately-run prisons make large campaign donations to “law and order” candidates, they are a good example of smaller government even though funding programs designed to keep people out of prison acheive better results at a far lower cost.
2Somebody just needs to tell him….. plainly and simply, what he wants doesn’t matter.
The Federal Government makes these decisions.
Abbott just needs to sit down and STFU. (sorry Momma).
3Looks like the rthug stupid rubbed off on our tbagger governor over here in New Mexico. She wants to ban them also.
4Greg Abbott makes me wish I believed in Hell.
5This is anti-Christianity in action. He thinks it will get him support from the fear mongering crowd and it probably will, but for the much larger minority crowd it may just be the straw that broke the Repug’s back. Can’t wait until the Attorney General of the United States sends troops down there to enforce federal law.
6Texas Governor Greg Abbott greets the season of giving with his own special brand of vile and evil hatred.
7He’s got his followers out at an Irving, Texas Mosque, “most carrying long guns, some masked …To “Stop the Islamization of America,”
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/armed-protesters-set-up-outside-islamic-center-of-irving.html/
8Interesting retrograde of “charity.” Since 1000 points of light conservative have been saying that government shouldn’t support such programs; that private charities would do a better job with less waste, fraud and obtuse. Now they just want to dictate what the private charities do. Any guess where it goes from here?
9He DOES realize what he’s doing is very much like what (p)Rick Perry got indicted for, right?
10i doubt this story will show up in the “austin american weenie news”
11When Greg Abbott gets done with Texas, its citizens can all sing “Me and Bobby McGee.”
“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose …”
12He is an evil dictator and needs to be stopped. Treason and abuse of power should mean trial and execution. Not reelection and popular support.
13How fitting. The non-profit organizations had to “comply with the directive ” by the following Muslim Sabbath.
And then there’s one of my favorite posters of all time. A statue of Jesus face-palming with the caption, “So let me get this straight. You take the Bible literally enough to reject what the vast majority of scientists say and NOT literally enough to feed the poor?”
14To Annabelle Lee:
15He makes me glad I believe in karma.
Another jerked knee kicking the refugees.
Someone needs to explain to these ignorant bigots that becoming a refugee is probably the HARDEST way to get into the US. The vetting process takes 18-24 months.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/20/politics/paris-attack-refugee-visa-waiver/index.html
16I’m not sure he can do this.
I have been dealing with local, state, and federal grants for many years now, and sunkn down inside every single one of them is a condition that individuals caanot be discriminated against on the basis of national origin.
If I have a contract with the state and under the grant, I can’t discriminate against someone on the basis of national origin, what happens when the state then turns around and demands that I discriminate on the basis of national origin?
17I’m not suggesting that Greg Abbott is stupid. He just really sucks at being smart.
18Katy Anders, A-Butt cannot legally do this. However, what shysters like the Butt count on is the unofficial ‘grace’ period in which they slide by, until someone or an organization files a complaint against them. Hopefully, a writ twit with Texas bar privileges will weigh in on your question as to why the US DOJ isn’t all over this and why that unofficial ‘grace’ period isn’t met with some serious fines for those Butts circumventing the law.
Did I say fines? Nah. When these shysters knowingly and willfully circumvent the laws, I wish the judges would slap the “Urkel Defense” out of their mouths and sentence them to serious prison time. When it comes to white privilege, none fare better than white collar criminals.
19I read about this too. What a shame.
By that I mean that A-Butt should be ashamed of what he’s trying to do to folks trying to emigrate to the “land of opportunity”, ie, USA, and to the other folks trying to help them. Unfortunately for all the rest of us, the shame sense that any decent person has seems to be missing from A-Butt and many other snacilbupeR.
20I think I’m culturally deprived. What does ‘snacilbupeR’ mean?
21Flinging holiday good cheer (to some only), Pontius Abbotte, Imperial Prefect of Texaea, does his ‘best’ to placate and pander to his legions of flying teavangelicals.
Yawn…another ginned up bedwetter’s nightmare for the dumbest, sleaziest politicians since the Know-Nothings roamed the land.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know-Nothings
22[ The Native American Party, renamed in 1855 as the American Party, and commonly named Know Nothing movement, was an American political party that operated on a national basis during the mid-1850s.
It promised to purify American politics by limiting or ending the influence of Irish Catholics and other immigrants, thus reflecting nativism and anti-Catholic sentiment.
It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, whom they saw as hostile to republican values and controlled by the Pope in Rome.
Mainly active from 1854 to 1856, it strove to curb immigration and naturalization, but met with little success.
Membership was limited to Protestant men. ]…
not too ironic, eh?
I have a feeling that Caritas and Refugee Services of Texas (both listed as charities who provide services for incoming refugees) will ignore Abbott. They both work with the federal agencies involved in refugee resettlement, so I doubt any of their “federal money” will be at risk because Abbot’s a [redacted] [redacted]. I believe that local branches of these two do most of the provision of services, though of course local food relief and so on also contribute. There are branches of both in various cities, in case anyone’s moved to contribute. http://www.rstx.org/austin.html and http://www.caritasofaustin.org/ (both links are to Austin branches, because that’s my nearest big city. Also, IN YOUR FACE, ABBOTT!)
23And I just tweeted Abbott that his attempt to bully nonprofits into supporting his immoral notion of refusing aid to Syrian refugees was despicable.
So there.
24@Marge: I think Micr started it, but it’s backwards “Republicans” and it took me some pondering too, but I AM an Aggie (sheepish grin)
I wonder how fast the “religious freedom” movement will dry up when these boobs figure out that helping refugees REALLY IS protected activity for charitable groups (religious and otherwise!), while picking on LGBTQ people and denying their civil rights is not protected at anytime for any reason? It looks to me like cat or dog or God or the FSM or jeebus or Vishnyu or SOMEONE!! is attempting to get their attention again, but nothing short of a personal rapture appointment is going to work, I’m afraid! And it won’t be awfully rapturous either, IMO!
25Annabelle, people like Greg Abbott make me believe in Hell. Only they make it happen here on earth.
26I wonder if any Christian would go to jail over their religious conviction to do what Jesus commanded, to help the least of my brothers?
27This is the REAL War on Christianity. And yes, Diane, I would. Heinous…..the man is heinous.
28And this will end up with SCOTUS. My two cents sez they will uphold the separation of church and state and that the faith organizations involved with refugees will be receiving donations addressed directly to them from people like me. Have already decided that when my parish sets up an apartment for a refugee family they will get my entire dining room set. I know how important on all levels it is for a family to set down together, hold hands and give thanks.
29@Marge
@Aggieland Liz
As much as I LOVE “snacilbupeR” (and use it as often as possible), taint mine. I’ve seen it on another website as early as December, 2014 but @Gregory Perry used it here first in front of my eyes on October 18, 2015 in “Texas Votes”. Its unvarnished brilliance was and remains, well, brilliant. I am so unworthy!
30Fiddlestix Micr- you knew a good thing when you read it, and you come HERE all the time! Nothing unworthy about keeping the ball rolling! And thanks, Greg for the funny! I may have missed that column…
31I’d say it’s time to consider impeachment/recall, but he is apparently quite the popular guy down there. scary.
32