I Love Yew, Texas
I just flat haven’t been writing about the Texas Legislature near enough. Darlin’, they are a mess.
Here’s the short version.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ embattled GOP House speaker announced Tuesday that he won’t seek re-election after a growing number of Republicans called for his resignation following the release of a secretly recorded conversation in which he sought help to oust members of his own caucus in 2020 and used foul language to disparage Democrats.
The decision by Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen comes less than a week after the release of the hourlong tape that sparked among the biggest political scandal in the state in years. Bonnen’s retreat puts Republicans’ fragile dominance of the state Legislature further at stake.
Okay, that’s just the surface. The secret conversation was recorded by a far rightwing group who wanted press passes (they are in no way members of the actual press) so they could be on the floor of the Texas House when votes were taken.
Bonnen made a Donald Trump deal with them – if they’d help him get rid of some Republican members of the legislature he didn’t like, he’d get them press passes.
The longer story is that he said that Donald Trump “is killing us” in urban and suburban districts, called a Republican female lawmaker “vile,” and called a Democratic state representative “gay.”
The fight has been going on for several months but Bonnen took his sweet time to announce he wasn’t running again.
So once again we see what petty self-righteous people Republicans can be.
“After much prayer, consultation, and thoughtful consideration with my family, it is clear that I can no longer seek re-election as State Representative of District 25, and subsequently, as Speaker of the House,” Bonnen said in the statement.
Yeah, right. A little late for the prayers and thoughtful consideration, ya think?
Thanks to everybody for the heads up. And Steve for the reminder.
TARNATION! This really happened!
Matt Gaetz and a bunch of the Goop boys got all liquored up and and tried to bust into the Classified Hearings Saloon. They didn’t know the marshall was waitin’ for them and they got their asses escorted out into the street. Where they presumably muttered loudly among themselves.
https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/beyond-parody-matt-gaetz-and-dozens-of-his-gop-colleagues-try-to-barge-into-secret-hearing-in-latest-anti-impeachment-stunt/
1I so wish someone would start a GoFundMe to send a few thousand pocket Constitutions to these GOP clowns. I envision something like the court postal scene at the end of Miracle on 34th St.
2comment from that story:
Manu Raju
3✔
@mkraju
More than two dozen House conservatives rail on Schiff and the process outside the closed impeachment proceedings, and have now entered the SCIF – and they are bound to be kicked out bc they don’t serve on the three committees conducting the probe. It is being led by Matt Gaetz
Texas’ own Louie Louie Gohmert was in the rabble. What a clown.
4Apparently they not only carried their Obama phones into the secured room, they even texted from them during the “riot”.
Please, please, let’s have video when the Sergeant at Arms has to taze them and drag them out with their nasty hands zip-tied behind them …. I’d sit and watch it over and over.
5You know what keeps getting glossed over in the Dennis Bonnen story is that there are pressure groups buying their way onto the floor of the Texas House to stare down legislators during House business. Imagine if by some Trump-driven rage election the Texas House flips Democratic in 2021, and the new Speaker auctions off access to the floor among Texas Trees Foundation, Planned Parenthood and the teachers union. Dan Patrick would go back onto talk radio to incite a riot.
6Let’s hope former Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen can now spend more time with his family, and if he treats them like he did his colleagues at the House, his wife gets a big dog that bites.
7