Dem
51
GOP
49
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) appears to be in some sort of perverse marathon against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), trying to keep pace in demonstrations of anti-wokeness or anti-Democraticness or anti-whatever it is.
Just this week, Abbott has added two more feathers to his anti-woke cap. First, he arranged for yet another bus full of migrants to travel from Texas to Los Angeles. There, 42 tired, scared people, including 8 children, were unceremoniously dumped. The Governor described this as "much needed relief for Texas." Let's see, 42 people, population of about 30,000,000; that's about .00014% of the population that Abbott is no longer responsible for. Phew! That was close. (We will concede, however, that those extra 42 people just might have been enough to crash Texas' electrical grid.)
In addition to the latest migrant delivery, Abbott also signed into law a measure that he had championed, a ban on transgender athletes joining women's sports teams at Texas' colleges and universities. "Women's sports are being threatened," Abbott explained. "The legacy of women's sports will be safeguarded for generations to come." Here he is celebrating his accomplishment:
It's truly remarkable to us that someone who has undoubtedly faced challenges due to a biological fact that is not his doing (namely, his disability) could be so pleased about something like this. But what do we know?
In any case, we simply do not believe that Abbott actually thinks these things are meaningful actions undertaken to solve the problems facing Texans. He might well believe that unchecked immigration is a serious problem, but he doesn't really believe that relocating 42 people is going to address that problem. And he might well think that trans people are somehow a threat to the American way of life, or something like that, but he doesn't really believe that stopping a very few trans women from joining college sports teams is somehow a curative to that problem (especially since most college sports matchups are inter-state, and Abbott has no control over the teams at Arizona State or Missouri or Notre Dame, and exactly which athletes they bring to compete for games and matches in Texas).
In other words, this is all political theater. Of that we have no doubt. The thing we can't figure out is what particular goal Abbott has in mind. Maybe he's laying the groundwork for a fourth term, but does he really think these stunts will be remembered in 3 years, when he's next up for reelection? He's clearly taking a pass on a 2024 presidential run, and while he might run in 2028, 5 years is even longer than 3. Maybe he's thinking about a U.S. Senate run? Perhaps challenge, and knock off Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)? That makes the most sense, we suppose, but even then, it's not a great explanation. We just don't get it. (Z)