The gutlessness of Greg Abbott

How to lose the culture war

To score points with the basest of his base, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott just sent a bus of migrants to D.C. After announcing his intention to drop migrants off at the Capitol, Abbott’s office immediately announced that the trip would be voluntary. (Anything else would be illegal.) He has also ordered planes to transport the people elsewhere because this is what a sham political leader does: Use people as props for inhumane publicity stunts that scream “I Don’t Know How To Govern!” I am not the only person to believe this to be the case:

But was the trip voluntary? Was it really? Read this story about a 26-year old asylum-seeker with two children. How voluntary is a ride north if you’re this woman? You’re grasping for anything — anything — and you land in a state that passes you off to someone — any one — else.

Abbott et al insist this is a reaction to the federal government ending Title 42, which was put into place during the pandemic.

So let’s see if I have this correct: The Republicans want all pandemic protocols to end, except for any that affect brown people? Those restrictions are OK? Did I get that right?

Funny enough, some of the Texas migrants said they took the free trip to get closer to Florida, another less-than-welcoming state. So when Abbott and DeathSantis go mano a mano? My money’s on neither. All that’s left to say is: