Abbott resists, so far
Thumbs up, down: Trump slams ‘weak’ vote audit; two critters go extinct; Correa redeemed.
Donald Trump is just impossible to please. That’s not news to anybody — except maybe the governor of Texas. Last week, when the former Republican president inexplicably pressured Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to call for an “audit” of the 2020 election results in a red state that Trump won handily, the secretary of state’s office responded quicker than you could say “Simon says” to say audits of Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties were already underway. It wasn’t clear why, though, since the former secretary of state’s administration had called the election “smooth and secure.” Maybe that’s why she’s no longer with the agency after Republican senators refused to confirm her appointment. But a measly review of four counties in a state that has 254 wasn’t enough for Trump. He’s kept pushing Abbott to add audit legislation to the special session agenda and essentially call for the same dog and pony show that Arizona recently completed — even though the fiasco there didn’t result in any revelations of fraud or scandal. To Abbott’s credit, he hasn’t budged on calling for legislation and hasn’t agreed to letting an outside firm conduct audits underway. Trumpy isn’t happy and he’s entering full-blown tantrum mode, suggesting that Abbott’s inaction will endanger Republican campaigns in 2022 and ensure that Texas “turns blue.” Then he sent an email calling Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Paul Bettencourt “patriots” and “bold” leaders for moving the Texas audit bill forward and calling Abbott’s “risk-limiting” effort “weak.” Come on, governor, them’s fightin’ words. Texas’ elections are already safe from fraud — ridiculously so. Don’t let Trump bully our state into a sham “audit” that will waste taxpayer dollars and sow doubt in a process that ain’t broke and doesn’t need fixing.
Besides, Republicans in Texas are at no risk of extinction. We wish we could say the same for two critters with Texas ties that made the mournful list of 23 species that the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing from endangered species protection because they’re assumed to be extinct. One is the mysterious and majestic ivory-billed woodpecker, whose range once reached into the bayous of East Texas. The bird, last seen in 1944 but sought in the wild for decades, was nicknamed the “Lord God bird” because the creature was reportedly so big and beautiful that those fortunate enough to have laid eyes upon it were moved to utter the Lord’s name. Far lesser known but equally doomed is the San Marcos gambusia, a 1-inch fish found only in the San Marcos River and notable for its ability to give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. Last seen in 1983, the fish is reportedly the victim of water pollution and depleted groundwater. May they rest in peace. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting a local nature conservancy or at the very least, not supporting the opportunists who claim this rare announcement of extinctions somehow shows the inefficacy of the Endangered Species Act. On the contrary, of the species protected by the act, 99 percent still exist.
We could use an uplifting tale of survival about now. Redemption, thy name is Carlos Correa. Houston’s favorite trash can banger singlehandedly put the Astros back atop the American League West division on Thursday night after rocketing a three-run home run to put away the Tampa Bay Rays. After four straight years of playoff berths post-Trash Can-gate, are we allowed to finally say that maybe, just maybe, the Astros’ remarkable run of success had very little to do with cheating? The team is stacked! Maybe another World Series win will finally cleanse the stench from the first one. Until then, we’ll be satisfied with another deep October run. Keep banging, er … hitting homers and taking names, boys.
Speaking of second acts, after rapper 50 Cent moved to Houston, we noted that it would take more than a few isolated acts of philanthropy to earn street cred in a city where big-hearted celebrities such as Trae Tha Truth make headlines more often for philanthropic endeavors than artistic ones. Trae has given back and stood up for so many — kids, families, women, voters, the homeless — that it’s probably easier to list the ones he hasn’t helped than the ones he has. Except we can’t think of any. Now 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson, is making an impact on three Houston ISD schools with a business and entrepreneurial internship program he is funding with $300,000 over two years, plus HISD’s matching funds. The 12-week course, which kicked off this week at Wheatley High School, will help students develop business skills and will culminate with a competition in which the student winners will get seed money to start businesses. “When you grow up with the circumstances that I grew up under, it starts to feel like the biggest restraint is the financial restraint,” Jackson told students, saying he wanted to help them overcome that hurdle “the right way.” Locals also call it the “Houston way.”