Uvalde

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez sent this out yesterday:

Tomorrow (Today) marks one year since the devastating massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. Where a teenage shooter killed 19 innocent children and their 2 wonderful teachers and left lifelong wounds to many others. It is a day etched in our hearts as a tragic reminder of the urgent need to address gun violence and to protect our children.

I still remember the moment I heard about the shooting. I dropped everything I was doing and drove there. When I got there, I saw parents anxiously waiting to reunite with their children. Some never did. 

As we reflect on the events of that fateful day, we must remember the abject failure of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to protect our children. DPS stood outside the door of that classroom for 77 minutes while children lay dying, covered in blood, because they were scared of the killer’s gun. Despite this, nothing has been done this session by Governor Greg Abbott or Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to fix our gun violence issue.

The featured photo is from a few days after May 24, 2022. It is one of the most heart-breaking front pages in the history of the Houston Chronicle.

Here is the hard copy headline of today’s Chron E-Board take:

Uvalde families will prevail

From the E-Board take, an apt description of GOP toadie Texas legislators who are owned by the NRA:

 Like eager-to-please hotel bellhops, they scurry to serve the loudest and most vociferous of their constituents. (A tip awaits.)

Bellhops are owed an apology.

And this:

In a way, though, they are succeeding. In their grace and their courage, their unrelenting determination, the good people of Uvalde are citizen exemplars. They are reminders that good can prevail, that change, however slowly, is coming (even to Texas) — indeed, has come to Colorado, to Washington state and other states, towns and cities determined to claim the basic American right to live free from gun violence. 

(Sen.) Gutierrez suggested the gun lobby senses that change is coming. “For all my years in the Senate,” he said on Tuesday, “I’ve never seen the NRA lobby so hard as it did this time.”

As state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, pointed out at the Capitol press conference, “This is a movement. All movements take an incredibly long time.”

Here is the entire take: Uvalde families will one day prevail (Editorial) (houstonchronicle.com)

For now, the State of Texas turned its back on the families of the victims of Uvalde. You know that.  Abbott, Patrick, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, and the whole bunch are cowards and NRA lackeys.  History will remember them as such. You also know that. It is one of the most egregious letdowns in Texas state government history.

Normally, I probably would have just let the above stand alone. These are not normal times. Five days left in the legislative session.

_____

It looks like Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth will be conducting the elections in Harris County. That is probably a good thing for Harris County Democrats.  Since the GOP Texas Legislature is doing away with the Harris County Elections Administrator and handing the conduct of the elections to Teneshia, they have eliminated the bogeyman and now must cooperate with Teneshia.  They have now silenced their own conspiracy theorists. It is the GOP’s system in place, and they have to work with the County Clerk, who is a Democrat.  When we whip them in 2024 here in Harris County, their claims of the election being rigged or stolen are going to ring hollow. 

They asked for it.

_____

Welcome to the party. Commentary is talking about GOP Texas House leadership who now join Dems is knowing GOP AG Ken Paxton is a very dirty crook. What took you so long?

Now, when are you going to join us on Donald Trump being a dirty punkarse crook.

You gotta think Paxton is begging Trump at this moment to make a statement on his behalf.

I have to hand it to the House General Investigating Committee for keeping the Paxton matter under wraps for a few months.

_____

From the Chron:

The Texas Legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill to make Houston and its firefighters go to arbitration to help settle their long-running contract stalemate.

The Texas House voted 125-10 on Monday in support of the bill, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature. Barring a veto, the law will take effect immediately upon his signature.

The firefighters’ union said on Twitter it expects the law to take effect within 10 days. Nobody in the Harris County delegation opposed the bill, despite City Hall’s opposition to the measure.

This should have been handled years ago. Just saying.

_____

88 years ago, this evening, MLB played their first ever night game as the Reds hosted the Phillies at now gone Crosley Field in 1935.