It will come as no surprise that Greg Abbott is now infected with Covid-19 and no one knows how many people he spread the disease to before the announcement today.  Just last night he appeared at a Collin County GOP fundraiser where hundreds of attendees  were maskless and refused to social distance.  Who knows how many knuckle dragging anti-vaxxers were in the room.

Another standing room only event in Collin County tonight.

Thank y’all for the enthusiastic reception.

Let's keep this energy up and send a message that Texas values are NOT up for grabs in 2022. pic.twitter.com/wlPZyrHpx3

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 17, 2021

This won’t be a wake up call, though, since Abbott is desperate to be re-elected so he can prepare for the presidential race in 2024.  He doesn’t care if Texans live or die…it’s all about staying in power.  No matter who has to die for him to do it.

On top of everything else we call him, we can now call him #superspreadergreg

Hospitalizations and deaths are rising at an alarming rate in Texas, but not fast enough for Abbott and Paxton, who have been losing in lower state courts to school districts and counties desperately trying to protect their citizens and students from Abbott’s death plan.  In true Trumpian fashion, Abbott has been sowing chaos all over the state by banning all safety protocols that only morons and religious nuts oppose.  The chaos has overrun the hospitals, and now threatens to overrun the courts.  Yesterday, Abbott was handed two losses in quick succession, one in Dallas and the other in San Antonio, and concerned that the courts might be daring to protect Texans, Abbott instructed indicted felon Ken Paxton to run to the 100% GOP controlled Supreme Court to stop local governments from doing the right thing.  Said court generally follows the party line, backing business and corrupt politicians rather than protecting Texans, but this one really counts.  This is the test – will the judicial system of Texas once again rule against common sense and the common good, or will they surprise us?  I’m not holding my breath.

Yesterday, a parent responded to his refusal to mandate masks in schools despite the CDC recommendation that all schools must do so to protect the health of children against the delta variant. His response to his constituent on his official Facebook page starts with “WTH is wrong with you?”

Chris Hill also campaigned maskless in November, shaking the hands of many of his constituents. He later discovered he had COVID during this time, and then deleted all of the photos of himself campaigning without a mask.

Elections have consequences, Collin County. Specifically, tent hospitals, refrigerated body trucks, children on ventilators, and 870 fatalities.

H. Scott Apley was a Dickinson city council representative and a member of the Texas GOP executive committee.  He was also an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker.  He’s railed against public health policy and flaunted guidelines to keep people safe.  Last Friday he posted a claim the COVID vaccine doesn’t work on Facebook.  Over the weekend, he, his wife, and his son all tested positive for COVID.  He was admitted to a hospital in Galveston on Monday, and he died yesterday.

Oh, and here’s his Facebook profile pic:

He gave his life “owning a lib”.  He sure showed us.

I am a proud native Texan. I’m the product of Texas schools, from 1st grade in Cypress, TX to UNT and UH. In fact, for the totality of my life and the life of my children, we have been legally compelled by the state to attend a school or we face truancy charges. The law mandates that the state is responsible for ensuring every child in Texas is educated. I like that law – overall, it makes Texans smarter, better people, and fuels the economy so we can enjoy these beautiful skies and all the natural resources Texas has to offer.

Lately, I love my state less and less. I’m a mom. I’ve got a freshman in high school who is fully vaccinated against COVID as of today, and a 10 year old who is too young to be vaccinated. Next week, this kid will go back to school, wearing a mask, but the teachers around her will not be permitted to tell the other children that might be sick to wear a mask to protect her and her peers.

One of my closest friends is an ICU nurse administrator at my local hospital, so I happen to know that we have no COVID beds left in my city and that the Children’s ICU/COVID beds are full and not accepting transfers for trauma. I know that the patients in those beds are getting less care than usual because nurses are taking double their patient load – even patients requiring 1:1 care are getting 1:2 care. School has been out for months here, so the daily exposure to hundreds of children isn’t happening. But next week, it starts.

Despite the new data coming out about the delta variant of COVID and how contagious it is to people who are vaccinated, Governor Abbott has tied our hands behind our back. We give our kids a mask and send them out into the world knowing that, vaccinated or not, the new Delta variant will likely infect them if they are exposed. We sigh with relief that our older, vaccinated children will likely fight this variant off and hold our breath that our younger children do not become seriously ill. We could prevent this infection with smart public health policy, but our Governor needs to win a primary. He has mandated that our school district can not require vaccinations for COVID nor can they require mask-wearing. Not under any circumstances.

Our school cannot offer online learning for the children who are immunocompromised because they don’t have the funding – much of the funding in our wealthy district is taken and given to the rural districts that voted for this school funding system so they can build giant football palaces in the middle of the great plains. Children who can’t risk getting COVID will have to be withdrawn from school, and those parents will have to find some way to care for and educate them while also trying to work. If they do not educate the child, they will face jail time for truancy. Teachers who are high-risk or immunocompromised choose between their health and their career.

Texas moms and dads who are facing this reality right now feel powerless. We are like big mama bears with our hands tied behind our backs and just a snap away from being able to bite the man who has tied our hands up. Those of us that are not part of the vast right-wing conspiracy universe see this for what it is: lunacy. We are a Republic, not a libertarian Wild Wild West. It is my hope that the apathetic, non-voting working people and parents of Texas finally wake up to what is going on in our government and vote these guys out.

I don’t know if Beto O’Rourke can win the race, but I fear he is the only candidate who has the name recognition to do it state-wide. I call on him to risk his political future and run for Governor, knowing full well that another huge loss like this will likely end his political career. I think he cares about Texans and if he can walk back his “I’m going to take your guns” comment, he is the only candidate with the fundraising power to challenge Greg Abbott’s corruption campaign chest filled with millions from big donors.

Complete disregard for the health and safety of children has to be the line, doesn’t it? The line where we don’t sit back and take this political nonsense anymore?

Note:  COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective and protect recipients from contracting the virus or greatly reducing symptoms if they did.  Serious reactions to the vaccines are very low.  The risk of serious illness or death from the virus far outweighs the risk of serious negative reactions to the vaccine.  The vaccine is our only hope for coming out of the endless waves of infection as the virus mutates.

Yesterday, Kay Ivey, conservative Republican governor of Alabama, finally said it:

There’s not much that Ivey says that I agree with, but I do agree 100% with this.  She along with many other governors, public health officials and the millions of responsible vaccinated people are fed up with the idiocy and irresponsibility of other millions of Americans’ not doing their part to stop the pandemic that has killed 600,000 Americans and infected millions.

I’m certainly fed up and believe it’s long past time to start shaming people who cling to bullshit conspiracy theories, religious dogma, and just plain old garden variety stupidity in resisting receiving the vaccine which is safe, effective, easily obtainable and FREE.  For fuck’s sake, folks, we’re now well into the fourth wave of infection and death and almost ALL of those falling ill and dying are unvaccinated.  What else do you need to convince you to get the vaccine?

We all know who to blame for politicizing science, vilifying scientists, and fomenting all of the divisiveness and fear.  It ranges from right wing talking heads, governors, local and state representatives, national representatives, and religious nuts, ending up at the feet of Trump.  The anti-vaccine hysteria will always be with us, especially with liars like Joseph Mercola, an Osteopath and the largest individual purveyor of vaccine lies to sell his “natural” cures.  He is number one in the “Disinformation Dozen”, the 12 most prolific spreaders of lies about COVID-19 and the vaccines.  Their misinformation is cynical, immoral, and is getting people killed.  The fact that they are profiting from it is inexcusable.

It’s time for normal, responsible Americans to start calling out and shaming those who peddle or support the spread of bullshit and who refuse to be vaccinated.  We need to stop the soft-peddling of “vaccine hesitancy” because that hesitancy is based on lies, distortions, and outright falsehood and it’s simply got to stop.  If you know someone you do business with is anti-vax, stop doing business with them and tell them why.  I recently did that with my dentist when I discovered he’s anti-vax.  If you have a family member who refuses, tell them you won’t see them until they get vaccinated.  If nothing else has worked, maybe this will.  If not, you don’t need to be exposed to that kind of stupidity.   I know it’s hard, but it’s time.  We’re not coming out of this until we get to herd immunity, and worse, the virus will continue to mutate into more contagious and possible deadly strains as it propagates.

Societies who don’t look after one another die.  Our society is in danger of suffering years of infection, economic strife and death driven by anti-vaxxers who callously inflict their stupidity on everyone else.