And Draco himself, they say, being asked why he made death the penalty for most offences, replied that in his opinion the lesser ones deserved it, and for the greater ones no heavier penalty could be found.
Plutarch, Life of Solon (wikipedia.org)
As we headed into summer of 2021, Democratic Texas senators fled the state in protest of Greg Abbott’s drive to stop people from voting for Democrats in the state. This isn’t the first time that Texas legislators have broken quorum, and it didn’t end any better this time than it did last time, which is too bad because being a good citizen in Texas is already hard enough to do. We don’t need more laws keeping people from the polls and that is what this latest effort from the Trumpists who run Texas amounts to.
In the 2020 general election 60% of Texans showed up to vote, and the Republican oligopoly that runs Texas came closer to loosing control of the state than it has since Rick Perry took the Lt. Governor’s office from Bob Bullock in 2000 and flipped the last statewide office to Republican hands. 60% is one of the highest ever modern turnouts for Texas voters, and yet that is just barely over half of eligible Texans taking the time and the risk to go out and do their basic civic duty. Barely over half, and still the Republicans think that is too many people voting.
Finally facing the long-predicted blue wave surging across Texas, a blue wave fueled by young people of color swelling the ranks of minorities across the state, Republican leadership panicked. They panicked just like any threatened dictatorial regime would, and they passed even more restrictive laws to keep even more people from voting for their opponents in the next election. They passed these new laws over the steadfast opposition of the entire Democratic caucus; Democrats who are finally waking up to what it is that they will have to do to win in the South.
They have to win at the ballot box with new voters, and Republicans are dead set against allowing the formerly oppressed minorities the liberty of the ballot box, raising legal threats against anyone who dares to vote against them:
Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday called for Texas lawmakers to increase the penalty for illegal voting — less than a month after he signed a bill that lowers the maximum punishment.
texastribune.org
The reduced penalties were part of amendments that Democrats negotiated with Republicans to get into the bill in an attempt to soften the impact on citizenry who are caught up in the draconian new laws Republicans put in place this summer. Mercifully, the Democrats managed to get the provision to allow the Texas State legislature to reverse the will of the voting public removed from the bill, as well as softening punishment.
This was Texas voting law before this summer:
It’s harder [to vote in Texas] than in 49 other states, according to a “cost-of-voting index” compiled by political scientists at Northern Illinois University, Jacksonville University and Wuhan University in China.
texastribune.org
Now there are whole new classes of illegal voting created by the new laws demanded by Greg Abbott and his Trumpist cronies in the Texas state government, and the few things that Democrats managed to get changed in order to soften the burden on Texas voters are now being targeted for reversal.
Make no mistake here, Greg Abbott wants to force Texans to reelect him. That is his goal right now in pandering to the Trumpist voters that make up the majority of Texas Republicans. “Don’t primary me, I’m on your side. Nominate me again and we’ll stick it to those softy Democrats by hook or by crook.” This drive to increase penalties is just another attempt to terrorize Texans into voting for him. Vote for me or face punishment. Vote for me because I will make sure your voice is not heard no matter what you do:
“The story in Texas is very similar to the story across the United States. You’ve got urban areas that are increasingly disproportionately Democratic. And you’ve got rural areas that are disproportionately decreasing,” said Stephen Klineberg, a demographer at Rice University.
“You can’t prevent it. So redistricting becomes one of the major mechanisms by which the party that is in control of the senate, the house, and the governorship has really free rein now to redraw the districts to minimize the power of non-Anglos for the Republicans.”
theguardian.com
Greg Abbott say support him and his boss Donald Trump, or else. Support him the twice-impeached insurrectionist that created the pandemic we are still suffering under and currently is directing the actions of our Texas state government from his hideaway in Mar-a-Lago Florida. Are we Floridians now? Are we New Yorkers who must bow to the will of the corrupt land developers that own the government?
No. We are Texans and we have made it our mission to resist government in all forms since the day we told Santa Anna what he could do with his demand that we declare allegiance to him. Therefore, it is our patriotic duty to kick Greg Abbott and the rest of the Trump-loving fraudsters out of our state government. Wake up Texas and see just what the hell is really going on here.
