Thumbs up, down
After too much abuse, a wax likeness of Trump is placed in storage in San Antonio.
While state officials debate the billions of dollars in charges for wholesale electricity generated during last month’s deadly freeze and the likely exorbitant expense of weatherizing essential infrastructure, it’s infuriating to realize that many Texans could have been spared the worst of the power outages for the cost of some time and a few ballpoint pens. According to Chronicle reporting, dozens of natural gas facilities failed to fill out a two-page form for outage exemptions, meaning they lost power when their fuel was needed most to feed struggling power plants. To compound the outrage, this issue had already been identified a decade ago, during the state’s last major freeze. Some Texans paid for this oversight with their lives. A high price, indeed, but will it be enough for the industry and lawmakers to finally pay attention?
On a lighter note, lack of preparation was not a problem for two would-be art thieves who struck the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in River Oaks this week, a facility run by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The two suspects, believed to be a man and a woman, apparently snuck in through a grate over a basement window before tripping an alarm and being chased off by security. Not exactly “The Thomas Crown Affair” so far, but then they made their getaway by jumping in a motorboat and speeding down Buffalo Bayou before vanishing down a storm drain. We are not condoning thievery, of art or any other kind, but you have to admire the panache of a well-planned caper, even if ultimately the heist stumbled in execution. So far, the would-be burglars have not been caught. It is unknown if they removed their wet suits to reveal black tie attire as they joined a high society gala or if the “failed” robbery was simply a distraction for a larger scheme. Tony Buzbee, check your art collection.
In less glamorous crime news, a woman charged with resisting arrest and trespassing after refusing to wear a face mask inside a Galveston Bank of America last week is in trouble again, this time after she refused to leave an Office Depot in Texas City. During her initial run-in at the bank, the 65-year-old woman cited Gov. Greg Abbott’s rollback of the state’s mask mandate as to why she didn’t have to cover up. “You’re taking away people’s human rights,” she told an officer, who dutifully explained the bank was a private business before escorting her outside. Perhaps Abbott will issue a pardon or at least let her know that in Texas, there’s a right time and place to endanger yourself and others.
Case in point, face masks are no longer required at the Alamo. That’s right. A place frequented by more than 2.5 million people a year thinks covering up during a pandemic is not necessary. Lest you think tourists aren’t visiting because of the whole, you know, contagion, the San Antonio ExpressNews spoke with a man who was glad he didn’t have to wear a mask. He was there with 10 family members and friends. Call us crazy, but “remember the Alamo” should not answer the question, “Hey, how did we get COVID?”
We wonder if the shrine of Texas liberty was on U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert’s mind when he recently found himself considering the word “insurrection” (although we often wonder if anything is on Gohmert’s mind). The Tyler Republican was one of three Texas congressmen who voted against a resolution honoring the U.S. Capitol Police for its efforts during the violent riot on Jan. 6. Gohmert reportedly objected to the “politicized narrative” and calling the attack an insurrection, presenting a version of the resolution that was heavy on the officers’ sacrifice but light on why that sacrifice was necessary. Whether Gohmert prefers to call the whole thing a “romp through Congress” or a case of “Proud Boys will be Proud Boys” is neither here nor there, but it’s disturbing that some Republicans are so intent on defending former President Donald Trump and his role in the insurrection that they don’t think twice about trying to rewrite history.
Speaking of protecting Trump, the fine folks at Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks in San Antonio had to remove a whacks … sorry, wax figure of the former president after visitors kept punching it in the face. It’s not just riled-up liberals eager to cancel Trump’s mug, either. Political rage cuts across party lines. “We’ve always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was — Bush, Obama or Trump — they’ve all had people beat them,” manager Clay Stewart told the San Antonio Express-News. The battered Trump figure eventually will be repaired and likely put back on display. Hopefully by then, tempers will have cooled or maybe voters will have wised up and Gohmert can enjoy a post-Congress career as a security guard protecting wax Trump.