An order from the Texas Education Agency has helped solve school shootings …

The Texas Education Agency issued new safety guidance on Thursday afternoon, just weeks after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two adults.

Officials need to ensure that each exterior door at schools closes and locks, according to the guidance. Districts must also convene their safety and security committees in reviewing plans.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the agency to enforce weekly door inspections to ensure their security.

It’s not a gun problem; it’s a door problem. And, of course, shooters only use doors once a week. And fire fighters have magical powers to open locked doors in case of an emergency. And, of course, committee meetings are the ultimate tool against assault rifles.

And I suspect the situation in Highland Park is a roof problem.  We just need to get rid of roofs. Problem solved.

One of the things that has interested me lately is a deep dive on common traits of fascism. For the record, there are twelve of them, but it was two in particular that interest me today. These two things are obviously overwhelmingly in the news, but also have been used to change our perceptions of the world around us. I will list them all just for people to have a good list to go by, but I’ll bold the ones I’m thinking of today.

• Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
• Disdain for human rights
• Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
• Rampant sexism
• Control of mass media
• Obsession with national security
• Religion and government intertwined
• Corporate power protected
• Labor power suppressed
• Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
• Obsession with crime and punishment
• Rampant cronyism and corruption

Some lists also include fraudulent elections and supremacy of the military. I highlighted the two I did because they seem to be in the news a lot lately. Obviously, the issue of abortion and women’s rights are in the news right now and everyone is rightfully concerned. However, a thought had occurred to me as we going through the news of yet another mass shooting yesterday.

The war on drugs officially began a little over 50 years ago. That war on drugs obviously has had a tremendous impact on society at large. According to ACLU, incarceration rates have increased 500 percent since 1970. The U.S. population hasn’t even doubled since then. So, the incarceration rate has increased more than four times faster than the population. At this point, it would be fair to ask what this has to do with recent events.

The events of yesterday should make this clear. When we hear there is a mass shooting event, all of us have a picture in our head of what the shooter looks like. He’s a white male. He is usually between 18 and 25. He is also usually a right wing extremist. The numbers back this up. Yet, we should consider for a moment who enters our brain when we think of a common criminal. Obviously, that picture is very different. It is almost as if it was done by design.

Ultimately, we are left with a ton of cognitive dissonance. Who are we collectively afraid of and who should we be afraid of? Right wing extremists have become inherently dangerous. If you don’t believe me then just ask the FBI. They are the domestic terrorists and their numbers are growing. Yet, ask any typical American and they will list anything other than young white males as the danger. They will list immigrants. They will list people of color. They will list radical Muslims. They will list everyone except for the people actually committing these mass shootings and acts of terror. It’s almost as if it were by design.

Here is last week’s debate in Arizona for the Republican candidate for governor.

absolutely incredible television. https://t.co/TR5UoyQVnd

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) July 2, 2022

Okay, I admit it.  That was riveting teevee and loads of fun. I thought the host did an amazing job of keeping it together while throughly enjoying himself.

I hope you had a great weekend. It’s a tad hard to celebrate independence right now.

I don’t do this very often, hardly ever really, but I want all Texans to see this article written by James Moore who just happens to be one of my favorite Texas writers.

I know, I know, it’s long. But, its so damn well written there’s nothing I would cut from it. Pour a cup of coffee, read it, and see if Governor Death doesn’t move your soul to help us beat this cruel, heartless, and foolish man.

For you folks from foreign states, please know what Republicans have in mind for Texas.

Okay, okay, there’s a story out there that …

I don’t think he knows what that word means, y’all.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn’t think striking down women’s health care is enough. He’s going balls to the wall, Honey.

Sixteen states have laws on the books outlawing sodomy and, of course, one of those states is Texas. Those laws aren’t enforced in Texas, kinda like how laws against felony securities fraud against Attorney Generals aren’t enforced.

I’m trying to be delicate here. And ladylike. In 2003, the Supremes ruled that sanctions of criminal punishment for those who commit sodomy are unconstitutional.

Yesterday, Paxton announced that if the Supreme Court revisits sodomy laws, he will enforce them in Texas. He did it with his chest kinda puffed-out, like he’s been waiting for this his whole life.

But, I just gotta wonder if he knows what sodomy means. Let’s just check out Georgia.

There’s gonna be some hell to pay, y’all.