Are imperial governance and the related constitutional wreckage taking us down the dangerous path to a constitutional crisis in Texas? A unified independent electoral movement — beyond the two parties — is necessary to change the direction.
These guys look tired, but not as tired as WE — the people — are of them. Illustration: David Gothard, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 1, 2018
“When first elected, the Capitol community had high hopes for Greg Abbott and the intellectual horsepower he brought to the game. Instead, they found a man willing to destroy the village – and not even in order to save it.” Harvey Kronberg, Quorum Report, July 29, 2021
What’s getting overlooked in the demolition derby between the two parties is fundamental. The wreckage of the institution of the people – the Texas Legislature. One party is stuck in D.C.; the other party is stuck in the mud and attacking the people who serve them — legislative staff.
We mean not to minimize the differences, but think about this.
The Governor’s veto of Article X of the state budget, unless there is a resolution soon, will withhold pay. We’re talking about several thousand Texans who simply work at the Capitol. Their job is to serve us, the citizens.
What will the Texas Supreme Court do? Texans have known for a long time that justice is for sale in Texas. The imperial court reversed course after the titan Houston-based oil company Apache Corp. contributed $250,000 in political support to justices seeking re-election. (Correction to the article. It was Apache executives who donated. Corporate contributions in Texas are illegal.)
We have two of the three branches of government tearing governance to shreds. The republic hangs in the balance of the third branch — the Texas Legislature.
“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Ben Franklin