This Is Gonna Be Tough To Take Seriously
Texas Republicans lost a supermajority in the Texas Senate this election, so …. yeah, they want to change the rules. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, the man best known for saying he was willing to die of Covid to keep the great Texas economy going and every grandparent should, has a simple solution.
Dan The Tricky Man
Currently, Senate rules say 19 of the chamber’s 31 members — three-fifths — must agree to call up a bill for debate. Patrick said in the statement that he is recommending lowering that threshold to 18 senators, aligning with the size of the GOP majority heading into the legislative session that begins next month.
This is not the first time Lt. Gov Patrick has pulled this stunt. I think they should be consistent and change the rules to say: However many Republicans are in the senate constitutes a supermajority.
Now I’m waiting for New York or some other foreign state to file with the Supreme Court saying that Texas should have to count all the Republicans in the Texas senate as 3/5 a person. Hell, at least that’s been done before.
Thanks to Larry for the heads up.
“count all the Republicans in the Texas senate as 3/5 a person.”
I know you’re alluding to the Constitution, but still, you’re being generous.
1If you can’t win, cheat!
2I would hate to see someone violate Dan Patrick…..or his rights.
3Would that change require a bill needing a 3/5ths majority ??
4Sam @ 3:
5I’d hate to see the first thing for sure.
But I have to admit that just knowing either one happened wouldn’t upset me too much.
I’m pretty much okay with counting all Republicans as 3/5 of a person, pretty much everywhere.
6Time to resurrect a short story to ‘speak’ to Republicon traitors. “Man Without a Country” written by Edward Everett Hale in 1863. Grant these morons the seditious wishes with a well deserved exile.
7Rick, I agree that it’s generous to consider the Republicans in the Texas Senate as 3/5 person each. Considering all they’ve done f/o/r/ to us, both here and in Congress and the White House, it would be more reasonable to consider Important Republican Politicians as, oh, 1/5 of a normal person who doesn’t want to kill off everyone he/she doesn’t like or want to help.
But that utilitarian approach to human worth is unsavory on either side of the aisle, and leads quickly to agreeing with those who think this or that entire category is useless. Some Republicans I’ve known have performed vital functions in their community while voting on the R side.
In a small town, what matters in an electrician/plumber/carpenter/roofer/car mechanic, etc. is honesty and skill in their craft and getting along well enough with neighbors. Willingness to pitch in and help in community situations (floods, fires, etc.) I’ve sat beside Republicans on a small town city council, and library board, and they’ve shown the ability to think and make sound decisions about local issues like a well going dry, or the library roof leaking again, even if (should national politics come up) my skin crawls at their notions.
The Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton types, though…those guys need a visit from the reality fairy. The one who carries a clue bat with her to get their attention.
8Since they want to take away the blue states rights in handling their own elections, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit that this jack hole proposes one electoral vote for each of Texas’s 254 counties for the reapportionment following the census. This, of course, would come at the expense of states that don’t have the common sense to vote the right way.
9Yep, republicans changing the rules when they lose…now in Texas. Sign of future to come.
They’ve done that in Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, and North Carolina, making it harder for the WINNING side to govern from the get-go. Each time, the state involved got even less republican. I think that’s called “backlash,” or maybe “karma.”
Yup, sign of a future to come… a democratic future!
10Of course he will not ever do the right thing, he just lies!
11Changing the rules after the election is the only thing repugnanticans can do as the demographics of the country continue to change away from them. One of Patrick’s sidekicks, Kenny P, was on with fox nut job bartiromo this morning where she asked what his plan “b” is now. Being this is mostly about getting a pardon, he had a ready answer- he’s following Giuliani’s plan to now go state by state and somehow get them to overturn the election. No details on how that could happen with the EC going on record tomorrow, but somehow they have a plan for Jan 6. Expect the house repugnanticans to make that debate a full on circus.
12Then later on her propaganda program, felon flynn said there would be a plan on Jan 20 to stop the inauguration. Probably would include his proud boys with guns.
Steve, no plan for January 20th would be complete without Trump in attendence, and he ain’t gonna be there. Afraid he’ll be arrested as soon as Biden is sworn in, maybe, but he’ll be at Mar-A-Lardo waiting for his flight to the Seychelles.
13OT- the Trumpf WH gets the first of the vaccines before people who really need it. In any other WH and HHS department (who decided the WH should be first) you’d think Biden-Harris, incoming president-VP elect, would also get the vaccine, but of course we know they are hoping they’d get covid. Disgusting.
14Almost forgot. Mel from a few posts back:
15Thanks for the reminder of The War Prayer by Mark Twain.
https://warprayer.org/
There’s a great quote from the movie Cold Mountain that recalled something that made a big impression on me decades ago, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
The quote was “I imagine God is weary of being called down on both sides of an argument.”
As far as movie quotes go, it’s pretty great IMHO.
But Mark Twain it ain’t.