Texas Hate
The official motto of Texas is “Friendship.” That’s a big joke for sure.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, GOP Texas legislators, and the Texas GOP do a great job of promoting hate in Texas. It wasn’t surprising to see Texans well represented amongst those that were packed in a U-Haul truck in Idaho.
8 of the 31 arrested were from Texas.
That’s what we called dumbarse haters. Stepping into a U-Haul in broad daylight increases your chances of someone seeing you and getting reported to law enforcement.
I am surprised Abbott, Patrick and Texas GOP House Speaker Dade Phelan weren’t there planning to high five them as they exited the U-Haul. You know, the immoral support thing.
Here is from the Chron:
Texas residents were among 31 individuals affiliated with a white nationalist group arrested Saturday in Idaho on suspicion of conspiracy to riot after police there found them packed in a U-Haul truck apparently heading to a Pride celebration with riot gear and at least one smoke grenade, authorities said.
It was not clear by Saturday night how many of the individuals detained in Coeur d’Alene, a city in north Idaho about 33 miles east of Spokane, were from Texas or what part of the state they reside in. The others arrested, who were still being booked Saturday, were residents of Utah, Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Virginia, the city’s police Chief Lee White said.
A person called authorities around 1:38 p.m. after seeing some 20 people jump into a truck wearing masks and carrying shields, looking “like a little Army.” Police stopped the truck about 10 minutes later and arrested the 31 individuals, who appear to be affiliated with the group Patriot Front, White said, citing logos on their hats, similar outfits, insignia and at least one patch that said Patriot Front.
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the group as a white nationalist hate group.
Texas is a major producer of oil and gas, agriculture, and hate. Thanks, GOP.
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Along the same lines, Chron business columnist Chris Tomlinson wrote this weekend about Texas’s anti-LGBTQ+ climate. Here is how the column starts:
Rainbow flags are ubiquitous during Pride Month, but Texas remains a horrible place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to live, work and do business.
Anti-LGBT bigotry remains a mainstay of Christian conservative politics. From proposed “Don’t Say Gay” laws to bans on LGBT books, Republican state leaders are promising to crush the civil rights of people who do not share their religious strictures.
Texas ranks near the bottom in the new State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index published by Out Leadership, a coalition of businesses that promote gay rights and counts 94 of the world’s leading companies across 13 industries as members.
Out of a potential 100 points, the average state score was 64.61. Texas came in at 45.63.
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Speaking of the Chron, they had a very informative front-page piece on school shootings yesterday. You need to check it out. It says there is only so much hardening of a school you can do. If a shooter is going to kill, he (and they are mostly of the he persuasion) is going to do damage even if you have armed security at the school. Go read the Chron article. It was eye opening. Good job, Chron.
The Trib also has a piece on police responses here: After Uvalde massacre, Texas police wonder how much training is enough | The Texas Tribune.
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I watched the Tony Awards last night and the only shows I knew were the “Music Man” and “Funny Girl” from over 50 years or so ago.
Wow! I saw this tweet from the New York Times last night:
Jennifer Hudson just became an EGOT at the #TonyAwards
When “A Strange Loop” won best new musical, Hudson, one of the show’s co-producers, joined a select group of people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
Here is from the Daily Beast:
On Sunday night, Jennifer Hudson became the 17th person in history to win the four major American entertainment awards, adding a Tony to her already impressive collection of an Emmy, a Grammy, and an Oscar. The actress and singer won the Tony as a co-producer of A Strange Loop, which took home the evening’s top prize for best musical. Hudson is the second Black woman, after Whoopi Goldberg, to join the exclusive club of EGOT winners, and the fifth woman overall. She previously won an Oscar in 2007 for her role in Dreamgirls; has two Grammys under her belt, including one for her self-titled debut album from 2008; and won a 2021 Daytime Emmy for executive producing an interactive animated short film. Hudson became a producer of Michael R. Jordan’s smash musical during its Broadway transition earlier this year, joining other heavyweights like Don Cheadle, RuPaul, Billy Porter, and Alan Cumming. Introducing A Strange Loop for a performance earlier in the ceremony, Hudson called it a “brilliant, funny masterpiece.”
Congrats!
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For years now, MLB and StubHub have been working together to let season ticket holders like Commentary sell their tickets on the secondary market. It is a big money maker for MLB and StubHub. Last week, StubHub sent us an email informing us that they would be making some changes with MLB, and they would be down a few hours. A few hours turned into a few days and folks were not able to sell or buy MLB tickets on StubHub. It is still not fully functioning.
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Ok. Here is here is where we are at after 60 games. 37-23. We are tied with the Dodgers for the third best record in MLB. We have 102 games remaining. 55 at The Yard and 47 on the road.
Our pitching has been pretty good. Justin Verlander leads MLB with 8 wins. Our hitting needs to improve. Alex Bregman is hitting a paltry .225 and Yuli Gurriel .221.
We end the month of June with nine games against the teams with the best record in MLB. 5 with the Yankees with 4 in New York and 1 at The Yard. 4 with the Mets with 2 at The Yard and 2 at Citi Field.
Got it?