Folks, Texas is just plain nutz...

[DKW 86 7,410]

Opinion: The Texas Republican Convention just voted to reject democracy - CNN

This is why I hope no one ever votes for a Republican that can do this.

The gathering rejected the outcome of a democratic election, supported bigotry toward the LGBTQ community and imposed far-right religious beliefs on others by seeking to have them enshrined into law. And that wasn't half of it.

In fact, the convention showed us one thing: Texas Republicans are no longer hiding their extremism. Instead, they are openly embracing it.

 

Texas GOP adopts resolution rejecting 2020 election results

Even before the opening gavel, they gave us a glimpse of the party's extremism in the Lone Star State by banning the Log Cabin Republicans from setting up a booth at the convention. WTF???

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Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi cast the deciding vote on the move to bar the group that has advocated for LGBTQ Republicans for decades. "I think it's inappropriate given the state of our nation right now for us to play sexual identity politics," Rinaldi told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Once it formally got underway, the convention took a number of appalling and un-American actions. First, delegates approved a measure declaring that President Joe Biden "was not legitimately elected." In short, the Texas GOP -- like Trump himself -- is embracing a lie because it's unhappy with the election results. Put more bluntly, the Texas GOP voted to reject American democracy.

Republican delegates also booed John Cornyn, the senior US senator from Texas, at the convention Friday because of the Republican lawmaker's role leading negotiations to reach a Senate deal on a bill to stem gun violence. Those legislative efforts follow last month's horrific shooting that claimed the lives of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

 

The platform, set to be approved, called for repealing or nullifying gun laws already in place, such as the Gun Control Act of 1968, which prevents felons and other dangerous people from being able to purchase a gun legally. Apparently, the Texas GOP believes that even dangerous people should have a constitutionally protected right to buy a gun.

The Texas GOP platform also embraced ramping up anti-abortion rhetoric in public schools. For example, the platform states that "Texas students should learn about the Humanity of the Preborn Child, including ... that life begins at fertilization." It even seeks to force students to watch "a live ultrasound" and for high-schoolers to read an anti-abortion booklet that critics say "includes scientifically unsupported claims and shames women seeking abortion care," according to The Texas Tribune.

It sounds like the curriculum that you might find in a theocratic government such as the Taliban -- not one in the United States funded by taxpayer dollars. But the GOP in large swaths of this country is no longer hesitant to support laws to impose its religious beliefs -- as we see with measures some Republicans champion that would totally ban abortion. The GOP convention's document additionally urges officials "not to infringe on Texas school students' and staffs' rights to pray and engage in religious speech."

The Texas GOP platform also does its best to demonize those in the transgender community. It describes transgender people as suffering from "a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition." And it sees sexual reassignment surgery as a form of medical malpractice.

The platform takes aim at gay Americans as well with the statement that homosexuality is "an abnormal lifestyle choice." Instructively, the Texas GOP platform did not include such language in 2018 and 2020.

This platform gives us a glimpse into the views of the Republican base on key issues that in turn will pressure GOP elected officials in Texas -- and possibly beyond the state -- to adopt similarly extreme positions or run the risk of a primary challenge from an even more extreme Republican.

What caused this move to the far right? Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston, told The Texas Tribune about the state GOP's new extreme platform, "Donald Trump radicalized the party and accelerated the demands from the base." He added alarmingly, "There simply aren't limits now on what the base might ask for."

 

I agree -- in part. I don't think Trump radicalized the base -- rather he simply gave people permission to be who they always wanted to be.

But I agree with Rottinghaus that there are now no limits for what the GOP base might seek -- be it rejecting election results it doesn't agree with to enacting more laws based on extreme religious beliefs. And that should deeply alarm every American who wants to live in a democratic republic.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece mistakenly stated the Texas Republican Party platform had been approved already. The platform is set to be approved once the votes from the weekend's convention have been fully tallied.

Edited June 21, 2022 by DKW 86

[AU9377 4,908]

On 6/21/2022 at 6:25 AM, DKW 86 said:

Opinion: The Texas Republican Convention just voted to reject democracy - CNN

This is why I hope no one ever votes for a Republican that can do this.

The gathering rejected the outcome of a democratic election, supported bigotry toward the LGBTQ community and imposed far-right religious beliefs on others by seeking to have them enshrined into law. And that wasn't half of it.

In fact, the convention showed us one thing: Texas Republicans are no longer hiding their extremism. Instead, they are openly embracing it.

 

Texas GOP adopts resolution rejecting 2020 election results

Even before the opening gavel, they gave us a glimpse of the party's extremism in the Lone Star State by banning the Log Cabin Republicans from setting up a booth at the convention. WTF???

Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Five Things Newsletter.

close dialog

 

 

Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi cast the deciding vote on the move to bar the group that has advocated for LGBTQ Republicans for decades. "I think it's inappropriate given the state of our nation right now for us to play sexual identity politics," Rinaldi told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Once it formally got underway, the convention took a number of appalling and un-American actions. First, delegates approved a measure declaring that President Joe Biden "was not legitimately elected." In short, the Texas GOP -- like Trump himself -- is embracing a lie because it's unhappy with the election results. Put more bluntly, the Texas GOP voted to reject American democracy.

Republican delegates also booed John Cornyn, the senior US senator from Texas, at the convention Friday because of the Republican lawmaker's role leading negotiations to reach a Senate deal on a bill to stem gun violence. Those legislative efforts follow last month's horrific shooting that claimed the lives of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

 

The platform, set to be approved, called for repealing or nullifying gun laws already in place, such as the Gun Control Act of 1968, which prevents felons and other dangerous people from being able to purchase a gun legally. Apparently, the Texas GOP believes that even dangerous people should have a constitutionally protected right to buy a gun.

The Texas GOP platform also embraced ramping up anti-abortion rhetoric in public schools. For example, the platform states that "Texas students should learn about the Humanity of the Preborn Child, including ... that life begins at fertilization." It even seeks to force students to watch "a live ultrasound" and for high-schoolers to read an anti-abortion booklet that critics say "includes scientifically unsupported claims and shames women seeking abortion care," according to The Texas Tribune.

It sounds like the curriculum that you might find in a theocratic government such as the Taliban -- not one in the United States funded by taxpayer dollars. But the GOP in large swaths of this country is no longer hesitant to support laws to impose its religious beliefs -- as we see with measures some Republicans champion that would totally ban abortion. The GOP convention's document additionally urges officials "not to infringe on Texas school students' and staffs' rights to pray and engage in religious speech."

The Texas GOP platform also does its best to demonize those in the transgender community. It describes transgender people as suffering from "a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition." And it sees sexual reassignment surgery as a form of medical malpractice.

The platform takes aim at gay Americans as well with the statement that homosexuality is "an abnormal lifestyle choice." Instructively, the Texas GOP platform did not include such language in 2018 and 2020.

This platform gives us a glimpse into the views of the Republican base on key issues that in turn will pressure GOP elected officials in Texas -- and possibly beyond the state -- to adopt similarly extreme positions or run the risk of a primary challenge from an even more extreme Republican.

What caused this move to the far right? Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston, told The Texas Tribune about the state GOP's new extreme platform, "Donald Trump radicalized the party and accelerated the demands from the base." He added alarmingly, "There simply aren't limits now on what the base might ask for."

 

I agree -- in part. I don't think Trump radicalized the base -- rather he simply gave people permission to be who they always wanted to be.

But I agree with Rottinghaus that there are now no limits for what the GOP base might seek -- be it rejecting election results it doesn't agree with to enacting more laws based on extreme religious beliefs. And that should deeply alarm every American who wants to live in a democratic republic.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece mistakenly stated the Texas Republican Party platform had been approved already. The platform is set to be approved once the votes from the weekend's convention have been fully tallied.

The platform looks more like an April Fool's joke than a  real political platform.  Unfortunately, it is not.

[homersapien 11,342]

2 hours ago, AU9377 said:

The platform looks more like an April Fool's joke than a  real political platform.  Unfortunately, it is not.

It reminds me of Joseph Nye Welch's statement to McCarthy  at the McCarthy hearings:

"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Just substitute Texas Republican Party for McCarthy.

 

[DKW 86 7,410]

3 hours ago, homersapien said:

It reminds me of Joseph Nye Welch's statement to McCarthy  at the McCarthy hearings:

"You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

Just substitute Texas Republican Party for McCarthy.

 

Actually had the very same thought. 

[DKW 86 7,410]

I heard the folks leading the LCR for Texas just resigned from the TRP. Sad. These people are killing their long term prospects.