Ugh. Because they're not people when you have to provide them health care—only when they're continued existence serves to punish and shame women for having sex. Got it.

Yeah, the voter turnout was bad, and it's dismaying. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact that people feel like the state government is so crooked and entrenched that it's hopeless. But it does still suck.

The legislative bodies may be 64% Republican—but the people of the state are only around 53% Republican. Still a majority. But a slim one. The reason that the legislature was able to pull this nonsense is because of gerrymandering. Because the voting districts have been manipulated to effectively erase most…

Fyi, Lucio (from Brownsville) is a dem and he voted for SB5. I sent him an email telling him where to go this morning. What's especially galling is that he lists access to health care as one of his special concerns.

I just sent them all thank you notes! And I sent "shame on you" notes to Dewhurst, Campbell, Lucio, and a couple of other douches.

I think this may be a generational thing? My mom thinks of the French Revolution in a bad light—I think it's the whole blood lust thing that eventually took over. Me? I say fuck the aristocracy. Off with their heads.

Uh, but they were after the arms stored there, weren't they? They weren't trying to release political prisoners—they were looking to stage a national uprising against their government, and they needed weaponry.

Ugh. Greg Abbot is the legit worst. Frankly, I'd happily take Kay Bailey Hutchison over all of those douches. But Wendy Davis would be the total dream. She's such a boss. Last session filibustering on education cuts, this time for women's rights. I have hearts in my eyes.

I think she's the parliamentarian—an expert on parliamentary procedure. So. Not necessarily a bitch. Just doing her job.

Y'all were AMAZING last night. Thank you so much. If it weren't for you and the other people in the gallery, SB 5 would've passed. Y'all (and Sens Davis, Watson, Van De Putte, et al.) saved us (for now) from a misogynist dystopia. Seriously. It was about to get all Handmaiden's Tale up in this state.

Cool. Thanks for this link. I've been feeling guilty because I haven't been able to participate in the rallies at the capitol—so I submitted my story instead.

During discussions about Affirmative Action, I always end up wishing that people would focus on something other than what they normally do (which is on the idea of reparations, or leveling the playing field) and instead focus on something that you touched on in your first paragraph: how AA policies benefit the…

Yep. Lloyd was my guy back then. He's not anymore. I have some rando Republican now. But I am a little comforted by the fact that Lloyd is still in office.

Also, I'm pretty sure he should fall closer toward the "reviled" end of the scale.

Dude. A Like Father, Like Son sighting! *steeples fingers* Eggsellent.

"this is a big one"

It's true—there's still a slight Republican majority (I think it's around 53-55%), but it's dwindling. And even many of the people who are Republicans don't support these shenanigans. That's sort of what I meant by "held hostage." Most people in the state (whether Rep or Dem) don't support most of what the…

It's definitely complicated—I remember learning about gerrymandering (which is what it's called when political parties redraw the voting districts to ensure that they get more votes) in school, but I really didn't understand it until much later, when the Texas legislature started doing it. At the time, I had a…

Except, it's not that simple. Because the Republican Party has been in power for a long while, they've manipulated the voting districts—gerrymandered the urban areas and other Democratic areas so that those Democratic votes are basically obliterated. It's not that a majority of the people are necessarily voting…

Ugh. And they've been pushing to gut teacher pensions too (they didn't get it through this session, thankfully, but I'm sure they'll try again next session). So, tens of thousands of already-retired teachers would lose what they live off of. They fucking disgust me.