We Have an Issue: Another Dispiriting Lege Session
Why does the Texas GOP hate Texans so much?
By Kimberley Jones, Fri., June 2, 2023
Credit where it's due: In voting Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, 60 Republican members of the Texas House opted to briefly break free from political tribalism and hold one of their own accountable. (The A.G. has been credibly accused of multiple charges of bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction; by the investigative committee's own admission, Paxton would have kept his job if he'd just paid the court-ordered $3.3 million settlement to whistleblowers himself rather than demanding us taxpayers foot the bill for his misconduct. For more on that, see Brant Bingamon's report here.)
In any case, one good deed does not offset the terrible damage the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature has done on its citizenry in this last session. The so-called party of small government took every opportunity to undermine local authority. The so-called party of family values stripped parents of the ability to get their trans children the medical care necessary for their mental and physical well-being. They responded to the senseless and ceaseless gun violence plaguing our state not by enacting commonsense gun laws but by pledging to place armed guards in our schools. Speaking of schools – they think a chaplain is just as qualified to advise your kid on their college plans as an accredited counselor, and they torpedoed a bill that would get raises for public school teachers by hanging a voucher program millstone around its neck. The most radical, right-wing members of the GOP have dictated the terms of this session, wasting time on frivolous, cruel legislation – because banning drag queens from reading picture books to kids is somehow a priority? – and signaling to vast swaths of the population that they do not respect or value us as Texans.
Read more in the News staff's postmortem here.
Online This Week
Day Trips & Beyond: Gerald McLeod serves up a buffet of travel destinations for summer, including the legendary homestyle cooking of Po Po Family Restaurant outside of Boerne and the Cajun cuisine and music at one of the last remaining old Chitlin' Circuit venues, Teddy's Juke Joint in Zachary, La., owned by Lloyd "Teddy" Johnson (pictured).
Farewell to the Danger God: Richard Whittaker remembers Austin stunt performer and filmmaker Gary Kent, who died Thursday in a South Austin hospice at the age of 89.
Tito's Prize Winner Announced: Austin-based Trinidadian artist Rodell Warner has won this year's prestigious Tito's Prize, which includes a $15,000 award and an upcoming Big Medium show.
Ed Wood Writers Honored: The Austin Film Festival announced screenwriting partners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon) will receive the Bill Wittliff Award at October's fest.
Carrots for Productions: TMIIIP, the state's incentives program for film, TV, and video games, gets its biggest boost to date – but by how much?
