sunday open chat: it's a good day
Ken Paxton impeached and a debt deal reached
news isn’t supposed to break on the Saturday of a long holiday weekend, but here I am at the laptop this Sunday morning.
act one
imagine being a Texas Republican and being so fucking corrupt that all the other Texas Republicans think you’re too toxic to remain in office.
you don’t have to imagine it: meet (suspended) Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.
corruption, bribery, influence peddling, mishandling of funds — you’d have to work overtime to find a power that Ken Paxton hasn’t abused.
and so yesterday, the Texas House voted 121 to 23 to impeach the fuck out of Paxton.
Paxton immediately turned to page one of the MAGA playbook and called the impeachment “illegal.”
keep crying, Ken.
the impeachment vote caused the stupidest fucking idiot in the universe to melt all the way down and throw a shit-fit, which is always a plus in my book.
Paxton is currently suspended from office. the matter now heads to the Texas Senate, where a two-thirds majority vote is needed to permanently remove him.
act two
when news came out last night that Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy had reached deal over the debt ceiling, my immediate reaction was “oh shit, this can’t possibly be good.”
a deal is not the outcome I wanted. I really wanted to Joe Biden end this charade for once and for all by invoking the 14th Amendment.
but alas.
my worst fear — that Joe Biden would give away the store in order to avoid default — doesn’t seem to have materialized. in fact, Joe seems to have actually gotten the better end of the deal.
here’s what we know so far:
debt ceiling raised for two years
no budget caps after 2025
work requirements: no changes to Medicaid
phases in and then sunsets (in 2030) SNAP time limits to people up to age 54
WH pushed to reduce number of people subject to time limits
the Freedom Maniacs are throwing a twenty-megaton tantrum right now.
which has to be a good thing, right?
but none of that is why it’s a good day. it’s a good day because it’s middle of a long holiday weekend and the sun is shining and as soon as I send this out, I’m going to close the laptop and do some serious relaxing.
here’s some music for a good day.
what are you all up to?
Paxton is one of those thuggish morons at the heart of the corruption in the US. Heartened, but with low expectations. Still, it's not nothing. And some crimey fucks might be starting to wonder about those slowly grinding wheels of Justice headed their direction.
(Expect more cries that Soros is coming for them. It always leads back to the Jews.)
I was thrilled, yet shocked, that this was done to Ken Paxton. Not because he isn’t deserving of impeachment, but the fact that there is anything that bothers the GOP enough to impeach one of their own. We’ve seen them ignore so many crimes and “unpleasantries” over the years. Why now? Why Paxton? I feel there is much more to this. I don’t think for one nanosecond that the Texas GOP is suddenly concerned with inappropriate, or even illegal behaviors. They must have his replacement already chosen, someone who is more devious and corrupt than Paxton. There’s a reason they want him out, and I think it’s to replace him with someone worse. Hope I’m wrong.