Where do we go from here?

 

Is Texas really a political lost cause?

That’s the question a lot of Texas Democrats are asking after yesterday’s midterms. Nationally, the picture was not all bad, as everyone knows by today—may not have been a blue wave, but it was definitely not a red wave, and Democrats scored some significant, unexpected victories while Donald trump, as titular head of the Republican Party, saw some of his special candidates go down in flames.

But in Texas, it was the same old, same old. Abbott, Patrick, and Paxton, that triumvirate of evil, sailed easily into re-election, a bitter defeat for the many of us who backed Beto and his vision of a better Texas. Beto had a firm grasp of the problems facing Texas and offered solutions—school shootings, failure of the grid, the desperation of women with difficult pregnancies. In eight years, Abbott has solved no problems but created new ones or turned a blind eye to existing ones. We believed in Beto—still do. And most of us believe it’s criminal that Paxton, under indictment for seven years, was re-elected. Patrick? Who could approve of the man who spouts such callous ideas as bathroom monitors to detect LGBTQ kids. Patrick, who claims Christianity, has a heart full of hate.

But here we are—stuck with them for another four years, and with a lot of down-ballot sycophants. What’s next? I read today that Beto says he’s in this fight for a lifetime, and I’ve read several members of Mothers Against Greg Abbott swearing to continue that group and its mission. But in the depths of last night I thought of a new, probably unworkable plan.

Instead of an all-out assault or objection, how about negotiation? I don’t know who would represent us, but it seems to me we need immediate relief on two issues. And Abbott is apparently the man who has that power.

The first is the abortion clause which permits the procedure to save a woman’s life. Who’s making that decision? Far as I can tell, it’s politicians and not physicians. I’ve read several horrendous stories of women at death’s door who had to be transported to another state because of an ectopic pregnancy, a nonviable fetus, any one of many things that can go wrong in a pregnancy. In the case of a poor woman without resources, she’s likely to die. Why not review those standards and treat these women before their cases become so desperate. Why put them through a near-death experience when it’s clear that a living or life-sustaining fetus will not emerge? Or that the fetus will be so deformed that it will suffer in the hours or days before its death. Is cruelty the point? Punishing women? Legislators frequently reveal their absolute lack of knowledge about women’s bodies and/or pregnancy—and yet they are making those decisions, setting those standards.

Would Abbott, if approached right, create a panel of physicians who would set some reasonable guidelines instead of the Draconian approach taken today in which doctors know the procedure is needed but are afraid to perform it for fear of the consequences. In God’s name, what kind of society have we become? It has too many similarities, to me, to the burning of witches in New England.

The other area that simply can’t wait four more years is the danger of school shootings. We have kids throughout the state who are terrified to go to school. That’s hardly conducive to learning. Children’s gun deaths have doubled under Abbott, and Texas now has the distinction of the highest number of children killed by gunfire of any state. (As I write those words, I am appalled at how awful that is!) Abbott is a gun aficionado, and he does what we all hope people will not do—imposes his personal beliefs on the entire state. He’ll never sign on to a ban on assault weapons, which was one of Beto’s goals—and maybe a rash remark several years ago that sealed his doom.

But how about stricter controls on assault weapons. It is beyond belief that the  Uvalde shooter, eighteen years old, could buy an assault weapon with no training, no background check. What’s more important, protecting the freedom and rights of a deranged teenager or saving nineteen school children? Law officers generally want more control on the sale of weapons. Why not have a panel of law officers draw up guidelines for preventing these guns from getting into dangerous hands. Personally I think the age limit should be, maybe fifty, but that’s me. There should be rigorous background checks, extensive training emphasizing the killing power of these weapons. Counseling for those who express generalized anger of hostility during the process. We have the knowledge and ability to weed out potentially dangerous people. We’re just not doing it.

Governor Abbott is not a man known for his empathy. He was, as we all know, badly crippled in a freak accident. Instead of making him more empathetic, that accident somehow made him determined that no one else would get the benefit of the large monetary settlement he got. So I don’t know that an appeal to his better sense would work, but if there was strong enough support in the state …. Law enforcement, churches, legislators, parents of school-age children? There are many blocs of people who would enthusiastically support stricter controls, if there were an organized movement.

Or just call me Pollyanna.