Greg Abbot

Snake Oil Fraud

Thursday, November 3rd, 2022

Leadership requires correctly identifying problems and developing solutions. Demagogues often recognize when others are in pain, but they then exploit the pain for personal gain.  This technique helps the politician gain, and solidify, power.  Demagogues behave exactly like snake oil salesmen.  Before the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), capitalists crisscrossed the country offering a […]

Did You Get the Goldmine or the Shaft?

Thursday, October 27th, 2022

I used to love listening to country music in my dad’s pickup.  He had an eight-track that played all of his favorites.  Dad also knew where to find all his country stations on the radio.  I had a steady diet of 60s, 70s and 80s country hits. Dad always liked the playful songs from Johnny […]

Life and Death in Texas

Wednesday, October 19th, 2022

Texas Republicans want you to prepare for the next schools shooting.  Greg Abbott is sending school children home with fingerprint and DNA kits.  Abbott wants to make it easier for you to identify your child’s dead body. Republicans have controlled Texas Government for the past two decades.  They have cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires.  […]

Straw Man

Thursday, October 13th, 2022

Boxers and soldiers often train fighting dummies.  It is easy to understand why.  Dummies don’t fight back.  Eventually, however, a good fighters needs to train against another human as an opponent if they want to win a real fight. Debates work similarly with words.  Some debaters only fight straw men; others, preferring a challenge, argue […]

Is That An Elephant in Your Uterus?

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

When a woman walks into a doctor’s office should Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton walk in too?  Should national Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and Ted Cruz watch a woman’s exam?  Should these politicians make medical decisions for women? Republican politicians in Austin and Washington think they should.  Pregnancy is one of […]

I’m Staying

Thursday, June 23rd, 2022

I love to travel. I inherited this love from my parents.  Dad’s service in the United States’ Army opened a world to me.  Our three years living in Germany had the most impact. Weekends and holidays in Germany were an adventure. The Churches and the castles overflowed with history. The natural history museums literally had […]

Freeing State Power

Wednesday, May 4th, 2022

After the Second World War, the United States Supreme Court has been following a single star.  Individual liberty is stronger than state power.  Millions of Americans from all walks of life had risked their lives, and the nation honored their service with individual liberty. The new conservative Supreme Court is on the verge of empowering […]

Cut the Test, Pay the Teachers

Thursday, March 24th, 2022

Our Texas founding fathers knew we needed to guarantee public education if our State was to continue to be successful. They wrote: “A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make […]

Covid: Think Globally, Active Locally

Thursday, August 26th, 2021

I don’t know about you, but I started off my summer with hope.  Together—united as one nation–we had turned the corner on Covid 19.  The experts were right.  Masks and physical distancing saved lives and bought time for many of us to get vaccinated. In June, however, conservative politicians decided it was time to surrender.  […]

Can you do a little?

Friday, August 13th, 2021

First conservatives told us to sacrifice seniors.  Now, they want us to sacrifice teachers and school children.  Over 600,000 Americans have already died.  Conservatives call this Pro Life. In March of 2020, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick objected to Covid 19 mitigation efforts.  He said, “No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a […]