Celebrations and condemnations
Governor Abbott chose the 185th anniversary of Texas Independence Day to announce he is completely reopening the state and eliminating face mask mandates, too. This action goes into effect next week, on Wednesday, March 10. Reactions from Texans and others came swiftly and were as split as the nation is in general. As Allahpundit pointed out yesterday, there are not a lot changes with the governor’s move. The timing is questionable. Is this a counteraction to the CDC and others like Dr. Fauci stressing that now is no time to ease up on taking precautions against the coronavirus? Or is it a move to distract from the other big story in Texas, that of the catastrophic power failure during the Valentine’s Day winter storm? Supporters were celebrating and opponents were full of doom and gloom. For example, Rep. Dan Crenshaw is pleased and Beto O’Rourke flat out says Abbott is killing Texans. There is no room for nuance here. Happy Independence Day Texas. https://t.co/aHUNxEcH7D Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) March 2, 2021 One-time presidential candidate and former El Paso Rep. Beto O’Rourke called Abbott’s move a “death warrant for Texans.” “Add them to the 44,000+ killed as he failed to confront the pandemic & botched the vaccine rollout,” O’Rourke said in a Tweet. “And those who froze to death because he cares more about energy companies’ profits than keeping Texans alive. Abbott is killing the people of Texas.” No one loves their hair set on fire more than Beto. Democrats around Texas expressed themselves in a similarly dramatic fashion. Among the first out of the gate were Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, both strong supporters of completely shutting down the country’s fourth-largest city. Is the Governor‘s statement today an attempt to deflect from the winter storm systemwide state leadership failure? Yes. — Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) March 2, 2021 To be fair, that tweet was posted by a staffer – Turner signs his tweets with his initials at the end. Here’s one of his: Every time we start moving in the right direction the Governor steps in and sets us back and makes all of our jobs harder. He minimizes the sacrifices of people and businesses. I just don’t get it. st — Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) March 2, 2021 No one enjoys victimhood more than the mayor. The county judge issued a statement of disapproval.
