Apparently we are not done inflicting dangerous indignities on migrants. It’s not enough to force them to take a long, danger-filled path to try and enter the United States without legal authorization because Congress can’t break gridlock for long enough to pass a workable plan for immigration; now, the state of Texas is lining the banks of the Rio Grande river with razor wire to trap migrants, injuring some, including young children.
This is George Wallace standing on the schoolhouse steps all over again. President Kennedy sent federal troops to help Governor Wallace understand that he would abide by the law, like it, or not. President Biden should do the same. In fact, President Biden should start by nationalizing the Texas National Guard placing them under federal jurisdiction to make clear whose orders they will be required to follow, and then send the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the barriers and razor wire, deducting from any federal funds due Texas the entire cost of compliance.
Oh! This is much worse than George Wallace. This is an inhumane act of physical harm to an individual who is desperately trying to flee her country to avoid just such mobster treatment.
We should look beyond Abbott and DeSantis for accountability. This is a well funded, orchestrated assault on our humanity which exemplifies what some on the right have embraced as they have catered to citizens who have been regularly misled by elected leaders, right wing media and special interests.
This type of horrifying criminal actions must be outed, shouted from roof tops and voted out.
There's a reason I'm now rereading Jane Mayer's DARK MONEY. When I read it the first time, early in the 45 administration, I had no idea how far the co-optation of the Supreme Court had progressed, or the draconian laws that would ensue if/when Roe v. Wade were overturned.
Another thing: George Wallace and the white South were on the defensive. At the time, it looked like the tide was turning against them. Now? DeSantis, Abbott, and the white Republicans are on the OFFENSIVE. They want to take "their" country back. One way or another, they've been at it at least since the beginning of the Reagan administration -- and in some ways since George Wallace took his stand for Dixie.
The idea that integration was going to win the day was taking hold at least in some minds and Wallace pretty much acknowledged that there was no hope that he would prevail in a confrontation with Kennedy. If I'm remebering correctly Wallace was only accompanied by two state troopers. And, Kennedy only sent 100 National Gardsmen so he knew there would be no serious resistance.
I think it's worth recognizing that both sides took action on the ground however symbolic where today both sides run to the courts which are already so overburdened with cases and controversies and the underlying Constitantial support so tenuous that outcomes are too often the product of a compounded series of decisions each of which might have only gotten it partly right. As a person more inclined to resolving the undecided through action and then letting either the courts or history to decide what was right, I would prefer to see the administration resolve the issue on the ground first and see who history sides with later. And, by the way, there appears to be absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever about whether Abbott had the authority to do what he did.
Not to say having the Army Corps take over is without risk, or that it wouldn't add to the backing for the Abbotts and their kin. It might also take some wind out of their sails since they always know that the progressives are committed to non-confrontation.
Sounds like a plan! How could Abbott retaliate if the feds came in to remove it? What are they (the Feds) waiting for? More photos of children with sutures/staples on their bodies from the razor wire? Photos of that poor woman caught in the wires while having a miscarriage? My brain resents the image of that. Abbott would probably order her to be arrested for terminating her pregnancy. This is a monster at work!
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Joyce Vance
This is beyond horrifying! I must also add that as a pediatrician, my first reaction to the photo of the child's arm was also horror at the choice of using staples instead of the more appropriate standard in this country for this location; stitches or surgical glue. Sadly this child will have the addition of terrible external scars to the internal scars from this experience.
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Joyce Vance
I have lived in Texas for over sixty years, and we have had immigration issues for all of those sixty years. John McCain with three other Republicans and four Democrats came up with a workable bipartisan immigration plan. The Freedom Caucus killed it. As he wrote in his last book, The Restless Wave, the Freedom Caucus (which he labeled the 'say no to everything club') would never allow any legitimate immigration reform until it benefited them politically. Both parties have failed in this respect. BUT, since Trump's separation of migrant children from their parents, Greg Abbott and the Republican controlled Texas Legislature have taken a hard right turn to cruelty. They sing hallelujah Jesus with one breath while behaving like the Gestapo in the next. And it is all performative. Ted Cruz is railing against Barbie dolls and Abbott is assuring the dimwitted in my State he is protecting them from the Brown hoards. The stupidity runs deep and with the continued assault on our voting rights here, I worry it will never change.
Rita, my heart is breaking open because of this and other cruelties done in the name of something I don't even understand. Racial purity? I have been loath to compare the extremist right wing to Hitler's Germany, but this kind of thing is uncomfortably reminiscent of some of the early Nazi actions toward marginalized groups early in their takeover of Germany. Your use of the word "Gestapo" is all too on point. I am hoping that JOP gets the reprieve they are asking for, and barring that, that we all demand, as several have suggested, the National Guard be federalized and sent in to remove those hideous barriers. This is not acceptable. Abbot is sickening.
I have not shied away from comparing the actions of the orange sadist and stevenmiller against migrants to the U.S. with the beginning of Hitler's ascent to power. The separation of infants and children from their mothers was "intended to be a deterrent" according to one MAGA I know, who thought it was a good thing. And you've probably heard that SM talked with the military about using drones to bomb boats carrying migrant workers to our shores. He was told that that is illegal. He had to be "told"!!!
That has been a common comparison for years, in terms of authoritarian tendencies. My take was that Trump had a cruel streak, but had not yet reached the level of the kind of cruelty of Hitler's version of fascism. Plus, we still retained the ability to remove Trump either by impeachment (failed because R senators were being politically controlled- don't want to go there right now, but still very much a factor) or by voting him out. Which we did, despite desperate attempts to undermine the election. The issue now is not so much Trump (who is a has-been making noise), but his political spawn, people like Abbot and DeSantis. Both these men have moved closer to the kind of authoritarian control that can be fairly compared to Hitler in his early years. Hitler learned from the USA, which originated many of the tactics and "social" philosophy that Hitler used. Pray we don't go back there.
Trump himself had not. But he surrounded himself with people who would. He turned over the ENTIRE immigration work to Miller. BTW, Miller's family (Jewish, whose ancestors had escaped the Holocaust by coming to the U.S.) has disowned him.
good question; like many, I enjoy my fresh, crisp, beautiful vegetables at (still) relatively low cost in the grocery store. And, chicken for well under $2/lb. that wouldn't be the same on union wages, right. A quick trip through a European grocery will debunk anyone of the fantasy of cheap food without cheap labor.
Both Abbott and DeSantis have operated with impunity, bussing and flying groups of immigrants to blue states. They have engaged in what amounts to kidnapping and human trafficking. Now the sick bastard Abbott is booby trapping the Rio Grande in a horrific way. Where is the Justice Dept?
See the link underlining “said” by the DOJ Assistant Attorney General Gupta; a lawsuit has been filed in the Western District of Texas under the “.....Rivers and Harbors Act” with federal precedent and overriding any state authority. The absolute horror and inhumanity of both Abbott and Desatan in dealing with migrants is “a stain on this nation” and must be remedied. The thorny issues involving immigration and refugees must be addressed while human beings are being not only injured but dying seeking refuge from untenable situations. Where is the humanity of our citizens, the empathy for those desperate people seeking escape from situations we cannot even imagine, some climate related, other factors as well? Biden has done his job to reverse this situation and we must support our President and the DOJ in ongoing efforts to end this abuse of power by state governors.
People like Trump, Abbott and DeSantis are responsible for the hatred many Americans feel toward immigrants, especially Asians, Arabs and those who come from Central and South America. Racism, the belief that they're criminals and that they're stealing jobs from Americans have all been spread widely by politicians who are afraid of diversity.
The cruelty and willingness to torment and kill these people is what I just cannot understand. What has happened to us?
Just a thought regarding racism in America. It is pretty much the most visible canker in our society, and honestly, yes, we must address it any and every time we see it, in small places in our lives and in our own thinking. We are not to blame for what we were taught. We are to blame for what we ignore in ourselves that makes us ashamed.
The Fed case against Abbott & Texas seeking a TRO is correctly venued in Federal Court, Austin Texas. For injured human beings with inhumane bodily injuries, those cases (plural) must be handled by the ACLU who is aware of the facts on the river & the blood in tne water. Counsel must separate injuries to the US & physical attrocities to human beings.
There should be criminal charges against Abbott and DeSantis, and an injunction by the court against these two, preventing them from engaging in any further crimes against asylum seekers and all immigrants.
The TRO is pending. Such exigent judicial relief requires a solid evidentiay foundation which will in reality be sumitted to the Court Watch that space.
Absolute cruelty. Abbott had spent millones on the cruel border activities and in busing migrants to other states. As of June 2023, Los Ángeles had received 5 buses. Please stop sending our federal monies to TX!
Good point Fred. I will address that Platform issue with Substack Inc as I appear to be in day-to-day communication with Substack Inc ( SF) on multiple Platform matters.
The next time you communicate with Substack, please ask them why I suddenly have "Writes KMD's Substack" next to my KMD ID! I don't write a Substack & don't intend to write a Substack. But I can't find any info on their platform telling me how to remedy this.
Who the hell have we become as a country? This sick abuse of power and indecency needs to be uniformly rejected no matter political party. We cannot condemn the atrocities of other countries when this behavior is permitted here. Hope the DOJ is able to find criminality that results in people like Abbott being incarcerated.
Debra, you have answered your own question defining what too many elected leaders and citizens have embraced. We have some real problems in the United States. I can only hope that those of us who see what is happening will get the message out to the voting public that cares.
at this point, I'd be thrilled to read about an arrest, 72 hours in the county jail in an orange jumpsuit until the first court hearing, in shackles, like the little people experience.
Why can't the appropriate federal agency simply go in under an emergency proclamation and remove those inhumane devices? Let Texas then sue the federal government if it's an issue for them. The wheels of justice often move slowly and in the meantime people are being severely injured by this cruel and inhumane practice.
Even if the case gets all the way to the Supreme Court and the DOJ wins, Texas will do what Alabama is doing--Abbott will ignore the Supreme Court. And the administration will have to send in the Army Corps of Engineers, likely guarded by the military, to do what could be done right now.
And then the federal government should bill Texas for the cost of removing the barriers. The federal government could subtract the amount due from any federal funds that would have been allocated to Texas.
I swear, they are all mini-Putins. Just destroy, kill, wreak havoc, and dare anyone to stop them. If there is a response, it will be an excuse to "Fire on Ft. Sumpter," if you know what I mean.
There is a hymn sung in Catholic Churches and I am sure other Christian Churches with the refrain, "and they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love and they'll know we are Christians by our love"
I just watched a video of Neil Degrasse Tyson speaking on civilizations rising on the strength of their sciences and civility, only to fail again and again when religious authority interfered. Could that parallel our rise to Christian Nationalism? The world's rush to ideologic authoritarianism?
hmm...is that blaming God for the behavior of the state of man? Maybe an alternative might be blaming men(some women too) for abusing the highest principles of religion? Those who are true to the wisdom literature are servants, NOT masters.
I don’t think that blaming a god is the root, rather I think it’s those who subscribe to a religious belief are foisting their faith’s tenets into civic life (civic life? Is that even a correct way to describe the government?) if one has a religious belief, good, but do not insist that we all follow its rules. One can be moral, conscientious, and a good citizen without a religious belief.
agnosticism and atheism are no less belief systems than religious faith traditions. They represent an attitude towards the unseen and unknown. Individuals attitudes, morals, world views are what they are, they come from many sources. Making villains of "religion" flies in the face of the tremendous amount of philanthropic, charitable work that is inspired and organized by groups who are defined by common beliefs. You might just as make villains out of humanists, environmentalists, historians, or any other interest group that have some influence on civic life. It's simply not reasonable or possible to categorize individuals and groups of individuals so simply by these labels. You and I actually agree that faith tradition and political/civic policy should rightfully stay in separate lanes. This is memorialized in our Constitution. The magic of our great nation is in the concept that we are free to believe or not believe, engage in religious practice freely (or not) in the context of a tolerant society where other belief systems and views are equally accepted. Morality, conscience and good citizenship outside the bounds of religion still must be defined in some common context. I think what you're actually against is intolerance, not religion per se.
As long as the right stops insisting that we embrace christianity ‘just as the founders wanted’ and that, of course, is not what the founders wanted or planned
I hardly think the founders would have made explicit reference to the separation of church and state if they actually wished to establish Christianity as the official religion of the state. The fact that MAGA follows a leader who has made lies into "Truth" simply by the size of his megaphone and the duration of his protestations tells you how deeply these people think. The religion they seek to use to justify their xenophobia directly refutes their positions. That's worse than deceptive; it's downright stupid.
I’m horrified by Greg Abbott and his profoundly immoral dictates. But my horror doesn’t end there. Trump and all his MAGA groupies are offensive with every breath they take. Please let this nightmare in our history be over!!!
We’re all working together to keep our democracy -- as I’m reading these comments I’m entreating all of us to do more than we think we can to protect democracy and each other from the morass of cruelty,violence mendacity, corruption and injustice.
These inhumane actions are chilling! Has a parallel to the way that Texas wants to treat women, attempting to get an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy? Terrible to treat any desperate humans this way after they have walked for days in the summer heat. These are people who are escaping horrid conditions, then entering a country with worse conditions!
When is it going to catch up with Abbott? He has no right or power to do this. Biden should crush him with every power the federal government has! Cut down that barrier! Buses are still being packed and sent to CA! Does Abbott abuse this practice, too. What terrible state of affairs!
What a piece of work, Mr Abbott is . A cruel depraved attitude towards human beings perpetrated by this governors twisted stump of a mind . He and De Santis seem to be birds of a feather in keeping up with each others most heinous treatment of people .
It seems to me that the capability for their atrocities lies in evil.
This is pure hatred of human beings cruelty being the Governors point.
Why have they been held to a lower standard that anyone else perpetrating these crimes would be.
They are Governors and a tragic excuse for human beings.
They should be charged as these are not actions that are lawful and they very we know it .
With people like Abbott, cruelty is the point. He has lost any moral compass, and cares only about what he (foolishly, let us hope) sees as his own narrow interest. Fifty years ago, federal courts were the place you went when you sought justice. It is good to see them fulfilling that role again, even as imperfectly as is now the case.
This is George Wallace standing on the schoolhouse steps all over again. President Kennedy sent federal troops to help Governor Wallace understand that he would abide by the law, like it, or not. President Biden should do the same. In fact, President Biden should start by nationalizing the Texas National Guard placing them under federal jurisdiction to make clear whose orders they will be required to follow, and then send the Army Corps of Engineers to remove the barriers and razor wire, deducting from any federal funds due Texas the entire cost of compliance.
Oh! This is much worse than George Wallace. This is an inhumane act of physical harm to an individual who is desperately trying to flee her country to avoid just such mobster treatment.
We should look beyond Abbott and DeSantis for accountability. This is a well funded, orchestrated assault on our humanity which exemplifies what some on the right have embraced as they have catered to citizens who have been regularly misled by elected leaders, right wing media and special interests.
This type of horrifying criminal actions must be outed, shouted from roof tops and voted out.
There's a reason I'm now rereading Jane Mayer's DARK MONEY. When I read it the first time, early in the 45 administration, I had no idea how far the co-optation of the Supreme Court had progressed, or the draconian laws that would ensue if/when Roe v. Wade were overturned.
Another thing: George Wallace and the white South were on the defensive. At the time, it looked like the tide was turning against them. Now? DeSantis, Abbott, and the white Republicans are on the OFFENSIVE. They want to take "their" country back. One way or another, they've been at it at least since the beginning of the Reagan administration -- and in some ways since George Wallace took his stand for Dixie.
The idea that integration was going to win the day was taking hold at least in some minds and Wallace pretty much acknowledged that there was no hope that he would prevail in a confrontation with Kennedy. If I'm remebering correctly Wallace was only accompanied by two state troopers. And, Kennedy only sent 100 National Gardsmen so he knew there would be no serious resistance.
I think it's worth recognizing that both sides took action on the ground however symbolic where today both sides run to the courts which are already so overburdened with cases and controversies and the underlying Constitantial support so tenuous that outcomes are too often the product of a compounded series of decisions each of which might have only gotten it partly right. As a person more inclined to resolving the undecided through action and then letting either the courts or history to decide what was right, I would prefer to see the administration resolve the issue on the ground first and see who history sides with later. And, by the way, there appears to be absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever about whether Abbott had the authority to do what he did.
Not to say having the Army Corps take over is without risk, or that it wouldn't add to the backing for the Abbotts and their kin. It might also take some wind out of their sails since they always know that the progressives are committed to non-confrontation.
Sounds like a plan! How could Abbott retaliate if the feds came in to remove it? What are they (the Feds) waiting for? More photos of children with sutures/staples on their bodies from the razor wire? Photos of that poor woman caught in the wires while having a miscarriage? My brain resents the image of that. Abbott would probably order her to be arrested for terminating her pregnancy. This is a monster at work!
And Abbot's opposed to abortion, but apparently not to heinous miscarriages.
You are so right on all comments! Do something other than getting tangled up in Courts!
Guaranteed inaction with lawyers! This is an emergency, and it has been for sometime.
DO SOMETHING!
Amen.
This is horrendous behavior, and Abbott needs to be punished accordingly.
👏👏👏👏👏
👏
Those were the days of yore. Oh how I wish to see true clout being respectfully exercised.
This is beyond horrifying! I must also add that as a pediatrician, my first reaction to the photo of the child's arm was also horror at the choice of using staples instead of the more appropriate standard in this country for this location; stitches or surgical glue. Sadly this child will have the addition of terrible external scars to the internal scars from this experience.
My heart is breaking!
I have lived in Texas for over sixty years, and we have had immigration issues for all of those sixty years. John McCain with three other Republicans and four Democrats came up with a workable bipartisan immigration plan. The Freedom Caucus killed it. As he wrote in his last book, The Restless Wave, the Freedom Caucus (which he labeled the 'say no to everything club') would never allow any legitimate immigration reform until it benefited them politically. Both parties have failed in this respect. BUT, since Trump's separation of migrant children from their parents, Greg Abbott and the Republican controlled Texas Legislature have taken a hard right turn to cruelty. They sing hallelujah Jesus with one breath while behaving like the Gestapo in the next. And it is all performative. Ted Cruz is railing against Barbie dolls and Abbott is assuring the dimwitted in my State he is protecting them from the Brown hoards. The stupidity runs deep and with the continued assault on our voting rights here, I worry it will never change.
Rita, my heart is breaking open because of this and other cruelties done in the name of something I don't even understand. Racial purity? I have been loath to compare the extremist right wing to Hitler's Germany, but this kind of thing is uncomfortably reminiscent of some of the early Nazi actions toward marginalized groups early in their takeover of Germany. Your use of the word "Gestapo" is all too on point. I am hoping that JOP gets the reprieve they are asking for, and barring that, that we all demand, as several have suggested, the National Guard be federalized and sent in to remove those hideous barriers. This is not acceptable. Abbot is sickening.
I have not shied away from comparing the actions of the orange sadist and stevenmiller against migrants to the U.S. with the beginning of Hitler's ascent to power. The separation of infants and children from their mothers was "intended to be a deterrent" according to one MAGA I know, who thought it was a good thing. And you've probably heard that SM talked with the military about using drones to bomb boats carrying migrant workers to our shores. He was told that that is illegal. He had to be "told"!!!
That has been a common comparison for years, in terms of authoritarian tendencies. My take was that Trump had a cruel streak, but had not yet reached the level of the kind of cruelty of Hitler's version of fascism. Plus, we still retained the ability to remove Trump either by impeachment (failed because R senators were being politically controlled- don't want to go there right now, but still very much a factor) or by voting him out. Which we did, despite desperate attempts to undermine the election. The issue now is not so much Trump (who is a has-been making noise), but his political spawn, people like Abbot and DeSantis. Both these men have moved closer to the kind of authoritarian control that can be fairly compared to Hitler in his early years. Hitler learned from the USA, which originated many of the tactics and "social" philosophy that Hitler used. Pray we don't go back there.
Trump himself had not. But he surrounded himself with people who would. He turned over the ENTIRE immigration work to Miller. BTW, Miller's family (Jewish, whose ancestors had escaped the Holocaust by coming to the U.S.) has disowned him.
teddy-O may rail against Barbie dolls -- but I'm sure the fact that they are plastic, and thus made with oil, doesn't bother him in the least.
I fear it’s catching.
good question; like many, I enjoy my fresh, crisp, beautiful vegetables at (still) relatively low cost in the grocery store. And, chicken for well under $2/lb. that wouldn't be the same on union wages, right. A quick trip through a European grocery will debunk anyone of the fantasy of cheap food without cheap labor.
Positive in all respects.
Both Abbott and DeSantis have operated with impunity, bussing and flying groups of immigrants to blue states. They have engaged in what amounts to kidnapping and human trafficking. Now the sick bastard Abbott is booby trapping the Rio Grande in a horrific way. Where is the Justice Dept?
See the link underlining “said” by the DOJ Assistant Attorney General Gupta; a lawsuit has been filed in the Western District of Texas under the “.....Rivers and Harbors Act” with federal precedent and overriding any state authority. The absolute horror and inhumanity of both Abbott and Desatan in dealing with migrants is “a stain on this nation” and must be remedied. The thorny issues involving immigration and refugees must be addressed while human beings are being not only injured but dying seeking refuge from untenable situations. Where is the humanity of our citizens, the empathy for those desperate people seeking escape from situations we cannot even imagine, some climate related, other factors as well? Biden has done his job to reverse this situation and we must support our President and the DOJ in ongoing efforts to end this abuse of power by state governors.
People like Trump, Abbott and DeSantis are responsible for the hatred many Americans feel toward immigrants, especially Asians, Arabs and those who come from Central and South America. Racism, the belief that they're criminals and that they're stealing jobs from Americans have all been spread widely by politicians who are afraid of diversity.
The cruelty and willingness to torment and kill these people is what I just cannot understand. What has happened to us?
Just a thought regarding racism in America. It is pretty much the most visible canker in our society, and honestly, yes, we must address it any and every time we see it, in small places in our lives and in our own thinking. We are not to blame for what we were taught. We are to blame for what we ignore in ourselves that makes us ashamed.
Indeed. Where are the Federal authorities?
The Fed case against Abbott & Texas seeking a TRO is correctly venued in Federal Court, Austin Texas. For injured human beings with inhumane bodily injuries, those cases (plural) must be handled by the ACLU who is aware of the facts on the river & the blood in tne water. Counsel must separate injuries to the US & physical attrocities to human beings.
There should be criminal charges against Abbott and DeSantis, and an injunction by the court against these two, preventing them from engaging in any further crimes against asylum seekers and all immigrants.
The TRO is pending. Such exigent judicial relief requires a solid evidentiay foundation which will in reality be sumitted to the Court Watch that space.
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/24/1189732169/gov-abbott-refuses-to-remove-floating-border-wall-tells-biden-see-you-in-court#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Justice%20has,between%20his%20state%20and%20Mexico.
Absolute cruelty. Abbott had spent millones on the cruel border activities and in busing migrants to other states. As of June 2023, Los Ángeles had received 5 buses. Please stop sending our federal monies to TX!
Millions! Sorry for the typo!
Click on the 3 dots that appear next to "REPLY." This will enable you to edit your comment. 😀
Why does the edit feature have to be a mystery? Could Substack not have used four other characters, e.g. "edit?"
I know, obscure. It took me a while too. But it is actually the standard in software! Just takes a little to get used to.
Good point Fred. I will address that Platform issue with Substack Inc as I appear to be in day-to-day communication with Substack Inc ( SF) on multiple Platform matters.
The next time you communicate with Substack, please ask them why I suddenly have "Writes KMD's Substack" next to my KMD ID! I don't write a Substack & don't intend to write a Substack. But I can't find any info on their platform telling me how to remedy this.
Thank you in advance!
KMD, I informed the Platform and asked Substack to follow directly up with you. Cheers.
Good to know! Thank you!
I just get 3 options when clicking on the three dots: share, delete, and something else restock or some other substack action, no edit 🥹
I don’t know why buses have never been confiscated. It would send a message to bus companies.
This is absolutely inhumane. But then with republicans, the cruelty is the point.
When cruelty is the point, that's sadism.
Who the hell have we become as a country? This sick abuse of power and indecency needs to be uniformly rejected no matter political party. We cannot condemn the atrocities of other countries when this behavior is permitted here. Hope the DOJ is able to find criminality that results in people like Abbott being incarcerated.
Debra, you have answered your own question defining what too many elected leaders and citizens have embraced. We have some real problems in the United States. I can only hope that those of us who see what is happening will get the message out to the voting public that cares.
at this point, I'd be thrilled to read about an arrest, 72 hours in the county jail in an orange jumpsuit until the first court hearing, in shackles, like the little people experience.
Just think if Abbott got incarcerated and he dropped the soap ... 🚿🧼
Just think, if the Mango Maniac were incarcerated and dropped the soap....ewww! Too gross!
Why can't the appropriate federal agency simply go in under an emergency proclamation and remove those inhumane devices? Let Texas then sue the federal government if it's an issue for them. The wheels of justice often move slowly and in the meantime people are being severely injured by this cruel and inhumane practice.
Even if the case gets all the way to the Supreme Court and the DOJ wins, Texas will do what Alabama is doing--Abbott will ignore the Supreme Court. And the administration will have to send in the Army Corps of Engineers, likely guarded by the military, to do what could be done right now.
And then the federal government should bill Texas for the cost of removing the barriers. The federal government could subtract the amount due from any federal funds that would have been allocated to Texas.
And likely met by a bevy of armed citizens...a la Cliven Bundy.
I don’t think so
Presumably, the DOJ will seek an immediate mandatory injunction to remove the barriers.
I swear, they are all mini-Putins. Just destroy, kill, wreak havoc, and dare anyone to stop them. If there is a response, it will be an excuse to "Fire on Ft. Sumpter," if you know what I mean.
There is a hymn sung in Catholic Churches and I am sure other Christian Churches with the refrain, "and they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love and they'll know we are Christians by our love"
Well so much for that!!!!
One of the many reasons I’ve left the church and am far happier as an atheist
I just watched a video of Neil Degrasse Tyson speaking on civilizations rising on the strength of their sciences and civility, only to fail again and again when religious authority interfered. Could that parallel our rise to Christian Nationalism? The world's rush to ideologic authoritarianism?
I am always in awe of Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Awful thought.
I have taken a sabbatical myself
hmm...is that blaming God for the behavior of the state of man? Maybe an alternative might be blaming men(some women too) for abusing the highest principles of religion? Those who are true to the wisdom literature are servants, NOT masters.
I don’t think that blaming a god is the root, rather I think it’s those who subscribe to a religious belief are foisting their faith’s tenets into civic life (civic life? Is that even a correct way to describe the government?) if one has a religious belief, good, but do not insist that we all follow its rules. One can be moral, conscientious, and a good citizen without a religious belief.
agnosticism and atheism are no less belief systems than religious faith traditions. They represent an attitude towards the unseen and unknown. Individuals attitudes, morals, world views are what they are, they come from many sources. Making villains of "religion" flies in the face of the tremendous amount of philanthropic, charitable work that is inspired and organized by groups who are defined by common beliefs. You might just as make villains out of humanists, environmentalists, historians, or any other interest group that have some influence on civic life. It's simply not reasonable or possible to categorize individuals and groups of individuals so simply by these labels. You and I actually agree that faith tradition and political/civic policy should rightfully stay in separate lanes. This is memorialized in our Constitution. The magic of our great nation is in the concept that we are free to believe or not believe, engage in religious practice freely (or not) in the context of a tolerant society where other belief systems and views are equally accepted. Morality, conscience and good citizenship outside the bounds of religion still must be defined in some common context. I think what you're actually against is intolerance, not religion per se.
As long as the right stops insisting that we embrace christianity ‘just as the founders wanted’ and that, of course, is not what the founders wanted or planned
I hardly think the founders would have made explicit reference to the separation of church and state if they actually wished to establish Christianity as the official religion of the state. The fact that MAGA follows a leader who has made lies into "Truth" simply by the size of his megaphone and the duration of his protestations tells you how deeply these people think. The religion they seek to use to justify their xenophobia directly refutes their positions. That's worse than deceptive; it's downright stupid.
I’m horrified by Greg Abbott and his profoundly immoral dictates. But my horror doesn’t end there. Trump and all his MAGA groupies are offensive with every breath they take. Please let this nightmare in our history be over!!!
We’re all working together to keep our democracy -- as I’m reading these comments I’m entreating all of us to do more than we think we can to protect democracy and each other from the morass of cruelty,violence mendacity, corruption and injustice.
And let’s not leave DeSantis out of that equation. He’s a newly hatched monster playing with his new buddies Greg and Donald ...
These inhumane actions are chilling! Has a parallel to the way that Texas wants to treat women, attempting to get an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy? Terrible to treat any desperate humans this way after they have walked for days in the summer heat. These are people who are escaping horrid conditions, then entering a country with worse conditions!
When is it going to catch up with Abbott? He has no right or power to do this. Biden should crush him with every power the federal government has! Cut down that barrier! Buses are still being packed and sent to CA! Does Abbott abuse this practice, too. What terrible state of affairs!
"We will see you in court, Mr President."
IF this gets to court, Abbott will find himself without a leg to stand on.
OK. I laughed.
😂😂😂 I laughed too, although that was kinda mean; not even a pinhead dot as mean as Abbott is tho, so it’s justifiable 😂😂😂👍
Ohh, that's cruel.
Abbott is the cruelty here.
I’d like to tell Abbott, No, you will see the Solicitor General of the United States in Court.
😂
Not sure he has any anyway or was that a pun?
What a piece of work, Mr Abbott is . A cruel depraved attitude towards human beings perpetrated by this governors twisted stump of a mind . He and De Santis seem to be birds of a feather in keeping up with each others most heinous treatment of people .
It seems to me that the capability for their atrocities lies in evil.
This is pure hatred of human beings cruelty being the Governors point.
Why have they been held to a lower standard that anyone else perpetrating these crimes would be.
They are Governors and a tragic excuse for human beings.
They should be charged as these are not actions that are lawful and they very we know it .
GACGH! This is horrid. I've gotten tangled up in a pile of barbed wire - not pleasant by a long shot - but this is beyond cruelty.
This is razor wire - worse than barb wire! Check out the picture of it here:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HERCHR-NATO-Razor-Wire-Helical-Wire-Roll-Galvanized-Steel-197/960425943?irgwc=1&sourceid=imp_UqfQzU2ORxyPUqKTq4RCLSM7UkFwgcTtwwEmxY0&veh=aff&wmlspartner=imp_150372&clickid=UqfQzU2ORxyPUqKTq4RCLSM7UkFwgcTtwwEmxY0&sharedid=STD&affiliates_ad_id=1285218&campaign_id=9383
I know. That's why I say beyond cruelty. TX cattle is not subjected to this.
Wow!!! That's wicked!!!!!
Disgusting and just plain EVIL. So many in TX government call themselves Christians. They must have a redacted Bible.
Very redacted. It stopped after Deuteronomy.
With people like Abbott, cruelty is the point. He has lost any moral compass, and cares only about what he (foolishly, let us hope) sees as his own narrow interest. Fifty years ago, federal courts were the place you went when you sought justice. It is good to see them fulfilling that role again, even as imperfectly as is now the case.