Last week in Dallas, the Orange Occupant held a vitriol-filled cult meeting where he spewed a record-setting number of lies, including:
- Texas “made a fortune” on Hurricane Harvey.
- Made false accusations (again) against Joe and Hunter Biden.
- Claimed the Obama administration spent “no money” on the AIDS crisis.
- Accounts of his Ukraine call from the whistleblower were “all wrong”.
In total, Trump made at least 20 blatantly false statements, but he was telling the truth (unintentionally, I’m sure) when he said that the fate of our democracy hangs on the 2020 election. (CNN)
Meanwhile, Beto O’Rourke held a “Rally Against Fear” in the nearby Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie. He spoke about women's healthcare, immigration, mass shootings, and the recent shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson to a crowd of about 6,000. Between our gerrymandering and voter suppression, I’m not sure if any Democrat can take Texas in 2020—but if anyone can, it will be Beto. Remember, Republicans have no path to the White House without Texas, while the Democrats have several different roads they could travel (with the right candidate). (WFAA)
Following months of speculation, the political backlash from a secret audio recording has finally caught up with Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. After dozens of Texas House Republicans dropped their support for him, Bonnen announced he would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives in 2020. As a result, District 25 becomes the latest Lege seat up for grabs as the GOP cult continues to lose support in Texas. (Newsweek)
Former U.S. congressman from Dallas Pete Sessions will now and forever be known as “Congressman-1” as more members of the Texas GOP are implicated in the Ukrainian scandal. Giuliani operatives Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman acted as straw donors to funnel foreign cash into U.S. elections and used a front company to conceal the source of their contributions. According to the indictment, it was all an effort to “buy political influence” with elected officials, including Sessions. Hopefully, among other consequences, this might help prevent Sessions from weaseling his way back into Congress. (Texas Observer)
As this column reported on October 9th, former Gov. Goodhair Rick Perry was starting to suspect he was being set up to take the fall for the infamous Ukrainian phone call. Sure enough, the Mango Mussolini “said that it was Perry who wanted him to call the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky” and, very soon after this statement, Perry crawled out from under the bus and resigned as secretary of the Department of Energy. (Texas Standard)
Mini-Rant—Evil Usually Triumphs, Unless Good Is Very Careful
Many years ago, Will Rogers quipped, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” As we head into the primary season, this quote doesn’t seem as funny as it used to be. Because if we aren’t very careful, Democrats will make the same mistakes as 2016 with the same results—another four years of the Orange Occupant. And quite honestly, I don’t think our democracy can survive it.
The signs are there…especially last week, when Democratic infighting seemed to be on the rise. As a party, we simply cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated by outside forces (like Twitter bots and Facebook ads) or inside forces like immaturity and selfishness. I’m not laying this on any one particular group—I’ve seen baseless accusations and prejudicial comments coming out of every candidate’s camp.
Because I’ve been struggling with a fibromyalgia flare this week, I’m cutting today’s rant short, but I’ll leave you with this thought. As a Democrat and a liberal, every time you’re tempted to take your toys and go home, picture this face in the White House for another four years.
If this image makes you physically ill, then recommit yourself to:
- Working hard for the candidate of your choice in the primaries.
- Being respectful of your fellow Democrats.
- Not allowing yourself to be manipulated—resist infighting and cutting down legitimate Democratic candidates.
- In November 2020, Vote Blue No Matter Who.