Honestly, I don’t know how long women of childbearing age can stay in Texas. I am grateful my daughters are settled in states where their health and lives are respected. Tuesday’s decision by the Fifth Circuit reaffirms how broken Texas is. I am using my A language here, because Momma’s watching from the great beyond, but what I really want to use is my F language.

And then there’s this. Too many people are suffering and dying from bad air. Bad air along industrial zones on the Gulf Coast is not news. Just ask Juanita Jean. Yet, the powers that be in these states (and the Supreme Court) don’t want government interference or the EPA telling them what to do, until they want to blame Joe Biden. You can’t have it both ways, guys. Voters, you need to hold your leaders accountable up and down the ballot. All Politics is Local, right?

This will sound harsh, and certainly doesn’t apply to Salon patrons who are doing all they can to turn things around, but no one in a clean air/water state is going to feel too sorry for you if you don’t help yourselves. I do know that some of us will be sending a little cash to candidates in foreign states who give a hoot, joining GOTV letter campaigns, and supporting our own legislators who understand how important a clean environment is for all of us. Especially with the impacts of climate change. After all, we are pro life no caps, have friends and family we care about, and are good American patriots in the purest sense of the word. Some of us are even fans of the NE Patriots, even when they have losing seasons (like they did when I was growing up). See how I lightened up this rant??? Tomorrow, I go back to drinking half-caf in the morning, I can’t keep this up.

If there isn’t landslide mail in, early and on site Election Day voting in 2024, I will be more disappointed than I was on election night 2016. Okay, maybe AS disappointed. That was a hell night I will never recover from, and an order of magnitude worse than election night 2000.  I’d better stock up the bar just in case. At this rate I won’t come close to Damp January, never mind Dry January. Who knows where things will be at by November. Hang on, it is going to be a wild ride.

Fifteen votes to elect a Speaker,
But only one vote will undo it.
A Chinese spy balloon drifts above us,
But Air Force jets don’t pursue it.

Finland joins NATO,
And Russia is pissed,
Elon blows up big giant rockets,
But Tesla and X persist.

A former President gets indicted,
On ninety-one felonies he’s booked.
Ukraine’s counter-offense falters,
But Putin’s Chef’s goose is cooked.

WHO declares the pandemic is over,
When cases and deaths go down
Canada’s forests turn black,
As New York’s skies turn brown.

Hollywood writers and actors strike,
AI, they say, is unsound,
A hurricane lands in Los Angeles,
And Lahaina burns to the ground.

The Big 3 gets struck at all their plants,
And auto workers rejoice.
SCOTUS Justices exposed for grift
While Red States opt for Choice.

Murder in the Holy Land.

Arabs throw a climate change party,
To make oil production descend.
Mass shootings take 649 lives,
But AR sales won’t end.

This all happened in twenty twenty-three.
That’s not all of it, but it seems enough to me.
In “Hair” they promised an “Age of Aquarius”,
Where peace and harmony will rule,
I doubt that it will ever come,
But wouldn’t it be cool?

.

Texas AG Ken Paxton must be a special kind of stupid. Not only does he do whatever stupid thing he wants in his own state, he thinks he can do stupid in states not his own. Because he suspects some Texas families have taken their children for gender affirming treatment, he feels he’s got to crack down on that caca de pollo. So he sued Seattle Children’s Hospital to get them to hand over information. Never mind that  Seattle Children’s has no ties to Texas, is not incorporated in Texas, does no banking or advertising in Texas, and has no staff that provides care in Texas. Oh, and HIPAA anyone? Such a stunt worked for the Tennessee AG with Vanderbuilt, which is now being sued for releasing patient records. But Paxton sees no downside to his stupidity. Fortunately, we have the best AG in the country in Bob Ferguson (now running for Governor). And WA was a step ahead of these bozos, passing the Shield Law in response to the Dobbs ruling. “Under the law, Washington courts and law enforcement may not aid, enforce subpoenas and investigations by or make arrests at the request of outside states seeking to prosecute treatment that they ban but that is legal in Washington.” I love living in WA State. I really do.

The title says it all.

Remember Kevin McCarthy? The guy who took 15 votes to become House Speaker, and one vote to “unbecome” one? Well, here on the Left Coast, where Kevin is from, we still have a problem – of sorts.

Seems that Kevin chose to quit his job as Congressman for California’s 20th district so close to the California primary filing date – which has just passed – that he has caused a major conundrum here.

McCarthy’s protégé, one Vince Fong, his former district director, was urged by McCarthy to run for his vacated spot. Fong, testing the winds, declined the offer because the better known California State Senator, Shannon Grove, whose district overlaps Kev’s former one, was the preferred candidate. So he qualified and filed for re-election to his current posting as a California Assemblyman. Then, the world shook as Senator Grove also declined the golden opportunity to serve in the cesspool that the US House of Representatives has become.

So quicker than you can say, “Lauren Bobert’s hand job,” ol’ Vince filed to finish McCarthy’s unelapsed term.

That makes a total of two offices that Vince Fong was running for – one more than allowed by state law.

Or so said Secretary of State Shirley Weber.

This led to a trade-off of threats to file suit between Fong and Congressman-Wanna-Be David Giglio, who had already decided to primary Kevin. I’ve visited Giglio’s website (and you can, too, just not with Juanita’s and my help). He is not just MAGA, Giglio is, shall we say, MEGAMAGA. TFG would be bonkers not to endorse him.

So, according to the article linked above, if Vince Fong has no path to the CD-20 ballot, and that seems likely, California Republicans will have a choice between Giglio, the Tulare County Sheriff, or the owner of a Native American casino to replace their favorite former congressman.

Oh, they could vote for one of the Democrats on the ballot, but in this Cook Partisan Voting Index R +16 district, that seems doubtful.