# Screw Greg Abbott {Texas Governor} **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141 "2021-03-02T21:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/21 "2021-03-03T12:48:39Z")
I saw somewhere that he started the mask mandate with Texas was doing better than it is now, so this is stupid even by his own standards. I’ll happily avoid Texas, but as someone on this board put it, having a bunch of responsible states and a few irresponsible ones is like having a peeing section in the pool – at some point, we’re all going to be swimming in pee. The really crazy thing is we have a chance to kill this thing now, with three vaccines approved. Just wait a couple of months, keep the mask mandate in place. Sure, open a few more things if you want, as long as people are masked and getting vaccinated. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/22 "2021-03-03T12:51:02Z")
Rolls by, he is in a wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/23 "2021-03-03T12:51:11Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > The really crazy thing is we have a chance to kill this thing now, with three vaccines approved. Well, that’s why Republicans are in a hurry to monkeywrench it before Biden gets credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/24 "2021-03-03T12:54:47Z")
I’m really trying hard not to come to that conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/25 "2021-03-03T12:56:30Z")
I prefer to avoid bias and simply follow the science. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/26 "2021-03-03T13:04:56Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > The really crazy thing is we have a chance to kill this thing now, with three vaccines approved. Just wait a couple of months, keep the mask mandate in place. Sure, open a few more things if you want, as long as people are masked and getting vaccinated. B-b-b-but if things continue to improve, then Joe Biden might get some of the credit! NOOO! Can’t let that happen. Much better if people die and it’s Joe’s fault for \<_mumble something mumble_\>. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/27 "2021-03-03T13:10:26Z")
You know what? The Republicans did the same thing when Obama was president – they purposely hobbled the economy, which kept millions more unemployed, so I will no longer resist the idea that Abbott could be doing this to somehow harm Biden. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/28 "2021-03-03T13:16:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > So the governor here in Texas just announced that he’s rescinding all his executive orders for mask mandates, capacity restrictions, or pretty much everything else related to COVID-19, and is also preventing any enforcement of anything like that on a local level. Woohoo, get ready for the victory surge! /s > [@bump](#): > > WTF is wrong with him? Does he have brain damage or something? Your OP forgot to mention the recent 10-day power fuckup in Texas, so I’d say Abbott has accomplished what he set out to do. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/29 "2021-03-03T13:21:14Z")
This makes sense to me (as in “if I were an evil and stupid politician…”, but it could make Abbott look bad too since he will draw his share of blame. Now, to be fair, he’s a Republican in Texas, so it’s not like he can actually lose an election, unless something else bad happened to Texas, such as power outages, water shortages, etc. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/30 "2021-03-03T15:05:49Z")
Yeah, the County Judge is basically the highest elected official at the county level- it’s analogous to mayor in a city, but at one tier higher in the government structure. No idea where the actual term comes from- it’s not a judicial position. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/31 "2021-03-03T15:13:51Z")
> [@bump](#): > > No idea where the actual term comes from- it’s not a judicial position. It’s probably an old term that comes from the Bible - The Book of Judges are about leaders of Israel, not courts. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/32 "2021-03-03T15:21:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Still, I wonder if Abbot is so extreme it provides cover to make Hutchinson seem reasonable by comparison The weirdest part is that during most of his term, he didn’t seem entirely insane (much like John Cornyn) relative to other Republican politicians, but in the last four years, seems to have drunk the kool-aid and has gone crazy. I guess what angers and dismays me the worst isn’t that he did this, it’s that it seems to be the political equivalent of him saying “Hold my beer” right before doing something stupid and reckless. I fully expected there to be a relaxation of restrictions when he said there was a surprise on Monday, but I was thinking more like bars could reopen, restaurants at 75%, and maybe modifications to the mask mandate, but I didn’t expect complete and total revocation with stipulations that local officials can’t enforce anything tighter. It just seems… insane. Especially when you can look at sites like CNN and have one say “Texas removes all COVID restrictions” and 3 lines down it says “CDC and medical authorities caution that now is not the time to relax restrictions.” I started a thread about this stuff about six months ago asking why the state was relaxing restrictions in the face of expected rising case counts, and now it seems like they’ve doubled down on the crazy by doing this. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned during this whole pandemic business, it’s that I shouldn’t underestimate the lengths people will go to or the depths they’ll stoop to in order to be selfish. Because that’s what all this ultimately boils down to- they think what THEY want for their convenience and financial gain is more important than others’ lives and health. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/33 "2021-03-03T15:24:24Z")
Doesn’t make a lot of sense for him to try to draw attention from his failure to protect Texans from dying in a snowstorm by drawing attention to his new attempt to kill us with COVID, but maybe! I assume he’s getting pressure from his overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/34 "2021-03-03T15:34:29Z")
This is my thought. Let’s not forget just a few days ago Rick Perry suggested Texans would be willing to die to keep the Feds out of their electrical grid. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/35 "2021-03-03T15:36:57Z")
Yeah, that was a head-scratcher for sure. I’d be willing to bet 99.999% of Texans don’t give a shit whether we’re on our own independent grid or not, so long as we have reliable, abundant and _reasonably_ cheap power. And NONE of them shivering in the cold thought that was an acceptable price to pay to stay independent, I’m guessing. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/36 "2021-03-03T16:25:51Z")
Abbot has been weird through this whole thing. Like, he says or does something sorta reasonable, then 3 days later it gets walked back to crazy town. I am assuming someone comes and talks to him and he sees the “light”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/37 "2021-03-03T16:30:45Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > it gets walked back to crazy town. - Rolled back. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/38 "2021-03-03T16:42:56Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Doesn’t make a lot of sense for him to try to draw attention from his failure to protect Texans from dying in a snowstorm … It wasn’t his fault that the power grid almost cratered. It was the Democrats’ fault because of their nasty Green Energy!! Not true, of course, but who cares about truth? The important thing is sticking the blame where it will do the most good for us. > **[Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans blamed green energy for Texas’ power...](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/17/abbott-republicans-green-energy/)** > > Green energy has been a political punching bag for Texas Republicans like Gov. Greg Abbott throughout the winter storm. Experts say that politicians never take responsibility for natural disasters when it comes to preparedness. > … > Abbott said in an interview with Sean Hannity in the middle of a crisis that “the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America.” Ignoring that experts and officials agreed that **a disruption in energy powered by fossil fuels was the biggest culprit behind Texas’ outages** , Abbott added that losses in wind and solar energy “thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power in a statewide basis.” > … My bold. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/39 "2021-03-03T16:56:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The weirdest part is that during most of his term, he didn’t seem entirely insane (much like John Cornyn) relative to other Republican politicians, but in the last four years, seems to have drunk the kool-aid and has gone crazy. Hmmm, let’s see. What happened about four years ago that might had led him to believe crazy can win elections? Let me think… ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141/40 "2021-03-03T16:59:43Z")
Dude, we don’t have to mock the man in a wheelchair for being in a wheelchair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-greg-abbott-texas-governor/934141.md?page=3)