Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
This post is in: How about that weather?, Nature & Respite
20 miles off Texas, finally warm-ish waters. 62° – a perfect spot to return the first 2200 of 5300+ rescued sea turtles. The cold weather stunned the turtles that would have otherwise drowned had volunteers with @SeaTurtleInc not responded. @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/yhQ8vgNGBZ — Kerry Sanders (@KerryNBC) February 22, 2021 The ‘sea turtles stunned by cold water’ …
Respite Open Thread: Good News Out of TexasPost + Comments (54)
This post is in: How about that weather?, Proud to Be A Democrat
The federal government has sent generators, blankets, water, and other critical supplies to Texas, but local organizations on the ground need help. Here’s how you can pitch in. https://t.co/gp6PaGe87G — President Biden (@POTUS) February 20, 2021
More Progress in TexasPost + Comments (158)
THREAD/ As Texans begin repairs on broken pipes and other damage from hard-hitting winter storms, these consumer tips can help you with the insurance claims process. #txlege #TexasFreeze #TexasBlackout pic.twitter.com/GUjZyCOyDV
— Texas Watch (@TexasWatch) February 20, 2021
One last update (I think!): We just hit $5 million raised for Texans across the state.
Thank you ALL for your collective action when people need it most.
Charity can’t replace policy, but solidarity is how we’ll face climate change and build a better world. ??????
Thank you ???? pic.twitter.com/RzdgXllXoS
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 22, 2021
"I think what you have is people who are in government who don't believe in government at a time that we all need government to work," Beto O'Rourke says about Sen. Cruz. "And in Ted Cruz, you have someone who actually tried to overthrow the govt."https://t.co/kI5Ir5qCzh
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 20, 2021
"Beto O’Rourke, who nearly unseated Senator Ted Cruz in 2018, has organized volunteers to make over 784,000 wellness calls to senior citizens in Texas this week."#FlyingTedhttps://t.co/E1luEQDU2a
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) February 20, 2021
In the last 48 hours, Secretary Julián Castro's People First Future has raised more than $335,000 from more than 6,200 donors for Feeding Texas, the largest hunger relief organization in the state.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 21, 2021
How come @BetoORourke and @AOC work to raise money for struggling Texans, many of whom didn't vote for Beto and think AOC is a she-witch, doesn't count as a UNITY story?
How come the media isn't spinning it that way? How come "unity" can only mean "giving the GOP what it wants"?
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) February 19, 2021
If you're a Republican who thinks that Democrats are only raising money for Texas to make Republicans look bad, I'd be happy to give you a list of people in need in blue states so you can own the libs with some donations of your own.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) February 20, 2021
Hospital workers collected rainwater, people lined up at a running tap in a park, and university professors raised money so their students could afford meals. As their state collapsed in a winter storm, millions of Texas residents found ways to survive.
https://t.co/tgbYqI44UF— The Associated Press (@AP) February 21, 2021
This post is in: Cruz-ifiction, How about that weather?, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity
Ted Cruz continues to be a trailblazer as he becomes the first Hispanic person to flee FROM Texas TO Mexico because of ICE — Wayne Lawson, PhD (@WayneALawson) February 20, 2021 Could not happen to a more deserving simulacrum of a human being…
Late Night Open Thread: Cruz, In for A Bruisin’…Post + Comments (53)
Texas is freezing, but the roast of Ted Cruz is on https://t.co/UB0DQU0V87
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 19, 2021
WaPo reporter Ashley Parker, FOR THE WIN:
Usually, it takes at least one full day in Cancún to do something embarrassing you’ll never live down.
But for Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), it took just 10 hours — from when his United plane touched down at Cancún International Airport at 7:52 p.m. Wednesday to when he booked a return flight back to Houston around 6 a.m. Thursday — for the state’s junior senator to apparently realize he had made a horrible mistake…
Cancún-gate checked nearly every possible box of a scandal. The sad-sack black roller suitcase and oversize canvas tote, awaiting its beach debut! The fleece half-zip as part of the classic frumpy Dad ensemble! The 6 a.m. scramble to book a return flight! The politician seeming to blame his preteen daughters! The adorable family dog, possibly left home alone! The police escort! The leaked text messages, with a “Real Housewives of Houston” mood!
And the hypocrisy of a man who has trashed fellow politicians for vacationing during crises — vacationing in Cancún during a crisis himself…
Just when the situation seemed like it couldn’t get much worse for Cruz — his statement about coming back Thursday, after all, had been misleading at best — a cute pooch entered the narrative. Houston-based journalist Michael Hardy had driven by Cruz’s house Thursday and snapped a photo of the front of his home — lights off, tiny white fluff ball staring out of the glass front door…
Would you guys watch a limited action/adventure docuseries about my undercover mission to rescue Ted Cruz’s dog? Asking for Netflix.
— Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) February 20, 2021
everyone is ragging on Dinesh D'Souza but it is undoubtedly true that the best thing Ted Cruz can do for a place is to leave it.
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) February 18, 2021
only ted cruz could make the excuse “I’m fucking useless anyway” and get total agreement amongst both his detractors and supporters
— kilgore trout, ted’s travel agent (@KT_So_It_Goes) February 18, 2021
“As soon as I heard that guy’s iPhone make the shutter click sound, I began to have reservations” https://t.co/mgAvMsM8xA
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz cutting his Cancun vacation short so he can show he takes the Texas emergency seriously by … going on Hannity
this is not a joke this is literally what is happening
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) February 19, 2021
"As I got a luxury full body massage at the Ritz Carlton spa, I would have been reading many documents & taking many phone calls" https://t.co/qOnXQDzvx5
— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) February 19, 2021
If Ted Cruz were an ordinary dude, and he did a Mexico roundtrip in less than 17 hours, the DEA would be waiting on his lawn when he got home.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 18, 2021
.@tedcruz welcome back to the US, found these while you were gone pic.twitter.com/kb1TKs1JhP
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 18, 2021
Asked about Ted Cruz Cancun trip, @presssec said White House focused on Texans without power or resources they need. "We expect that would be the focus of anyone in the state or surrounding states who was elected to represent them. But I don't have any update on his whereabouts."
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 18, 2021
— PatriotTakes ???? (@patriottakes) February 19, 2021
This post is in: How about that weather?, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You
While power has been restored for millions of Texans, millions still don't have safe water at home and residents looking for groceries or bottled water said they arrived to stores with bare shelves and long lines. https://t.co/2H4umYolpN — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 19, 2021
(Some) Good News Out of TexasPost + Comments (104)
Millions of people in Texas were urged to boil their water after pipes cracked, wells froze and water treatment plants were knocked offline by this week’s powerful winter storm.
Follow updates on the storm here.https://t.co/wOxrelLrKq
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 19, 2021
The only institution coming out looking good in all of this is the Texas Tribune. They've been knocking it out of the park and filling a social responsibility role that has sorely been lacking.
(Also, everyone should donate to them) https://t.co/DtIjFKaQnk
— Nathan McDermott (@natemcdermott) February 19, 2021
From @Breakingviews: @rob_cyran explains the fundamental problem behind the Texas power outage pic.twitter.com/nPKCubOG3r
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 19, 2021
Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday. https://t.co/3Uk8YrTB89
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 18, 2021
— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) February 17, 2021
El Paso is not on the Texas grid AND practices the Scouts motto of “Be Prepared.”
As a result, a few thousand customers lost power for a few minutes in the same conditions as the rest of the state. https://t.co/S72Aod5hTd— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) February 17, 2021
Chaotic scenes were playing out all over Texas as hospitals faced an onslaught of problems from the brutal winter storm. "COVID surges were nothing compared to the current situation," one emergency room worker wrote on Facebook. https://t.co/pvlvY6rqNl
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 19, 2021
Texas, the go-it-alone state, is rattled by the failure to keep the lights on https://t.co/PifHQE39Ld
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 19, 2021
"I think this is a catastrophe so big that it's going to require federal intervention."https://t.co/YK21DIgrLz
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) February 19, 2021
If this were any other state than Texas, I’d think Ted Cruz had come to the end of his political career. (More about that dude later — probably in the late-night post.) Seems like every GOP Death Cult in Texas has been doing their best to destroy their constituents’ faith in them, frankly…
Texas had more Joe Biden voters than any blue state except for California.
More than New York State.
More than Pennsylvania.
More than Michigan.
More than Wisconsin.
More than Georgia.
Even more than all of New England combined.They matter.
— Matt says “Wear a mask ??” (@introvertgay) February 18, 2021
While #FlyingTed was doing his walk of shame through IAH Airport, we delivered over 800 Asian lunch boxes and about 1500 street tacos to needy families in SW Houston who haven't had a hot meal in days. pic.twitter.com/oVhr09k8HM
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) February 19, 2021
This post is in: How about that weather?, Proud to Be A Democrat
**Why did this happen?** Texas leaders failed to heed warnings that left state's power grid vulnerable to winter extremes, experts say. An absolute must-read from @McGeeReports @erinmdouglas23 @jsmccullou https://t.co/Q9bPXJgiei #txlege — Evan Smith (@evanasmith) February 18, 2021
Holy Shirtballs, Texas…Post + Comments (90)
President @JoeBiden's administration is providing generators to Texas and preparing to move diesel in to the state for generators at communications facilities, hospitals, and water.
FEMA is also supplying Texas with water and blankets at their request. #txwx
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) February 17, 2021
Last night, after we’d lost power & my pipes burst, my toddler choked on a peanut in our dark house. We rushed him across town on icy roads for emergency surgery at a hospital that does not have enough water pressure to flush toilets.
Texas is a disaster. https://t.co/LPFsmiKnTl
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) February 17, 2021
One clarification: The hospital does not have *any* water. They’re trucking it in. Nurses and staff are exhausted — many of them away from families stuck in frozen houses — but doing a great job caring for my little guy.
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) February 17, 2021
I worried about school vacation week leading to further Covid-19 superspreader events, but I didn’t have a sufficiently evil imagination when it came to Ted Cruz:
Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they've visited before. Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing. pic.twitter.com/6nPiVWtdxe
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) February 18, 2021
Look, out of fairness to Ted Cruz, traveling to Cancun while millions in your state are freezing and without water is somehow less worse than enabling an attack on the U.S. Capitol, so this is technically a month-to-month improvement. ??
— Charlotte Clymer ?????? (@cmclymer) February 18, 2021
It’s easy to have schadenfreude for Texas. Until you realize it’s largely a state of BIPOC folks, gerrymandered out of representation, enduring a Republican regime.
— Daniel Peña (@danimalpena) February 17, 2021
Millions of Texans already out of power, and here’s what @GregAbbott_TX was tweeting.
More worried about a primary challenge than the biggest storm the state has faced in decades. pic.twitter.com/tnR1pR10p2
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) February 16, 2021
It's looking like power plants in Texas unplugged to avoid skyrocketing natural gas spot market rates that went to hundreds of $$ to avoid losses. @ERCOT_ISO has now passed an emergency order allowing them to charge consumers those spot market prices. Capitalism at its finest. pic.twitter.com/xxaHsSbgCX
— Joel Montfort ?? (@jmontforttx) February 16, 2021
NO THE FUCK WE ARE NOT. https://t.co/5yi0AOMcwE
— Keri Blakinger (@keribla) February 17, 2021
seriously these guys will tell you to be prepared and keep a spare gun stashed in the toaster “just in case of toast bandits” but dudes couldn’t be bothered to insist their natural gas pressure gauges can survive a bad winter
— kilgore trout, back in some form (@KT_So_It_Goes) February 17, 2021
It was the ‘failures in coal and natural gas,’ and not renewables, that added to the Texas energy shortage, leaving millions of people without heat during a punishing winter storm, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said https://t.co/hkcSbezYJM #TexasBlackout pic.twitter.com/gNgADKmpHR
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 18, 2021
One small (relatively) bright spot…
Thousands of 'cold stunned' sea turtles were rescued off the southern coast of Texas as temperatures plunged amid a winter storm in the state https://t.co/mvm51tmiDe pic.twitter.com/9DxrWiN30w
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 18, 2021
This post is in: How about that weather?, Open Threads
so my eldest brother, who is a moron, has been playing soldier with his moron friends in the deserts of texas for the last year preparing for the collapse of civilization if biden won (lol). they were burying food and ammo stashes out in the desert, running drills, crazy stuff — Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) February …
Late Night Open Thread: Off the Grid, Not So EasyPost + Comments (121)
anyways, you would assume given that they've been prepping for the end of the world for at least a year they're well situated to ride out the rolling blackouts right?
wellll
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) February 16, 2021
they can get into the pull top cans just fine, but the ones that require an opener? their only can opener is electric. so a good 3/4 of his canned food store is inaccessible to him unless he goes after it with a knife, which i sincerely hope he does.
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) February 16, 2021
he told my mom that the blackout is due to texas switching everything to "wind power" but that he didn't discount that the government was doing this on purpose. if you can figure out why they'd arbitrarily freeze out a giant state hey points to you.
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) February 16, 2021
presumably he's sitting there shivering, ranting about libs while he sucks down cold beefaroni. what a life.
— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) February 16, 2021
… Continued at the link. One hell of a kicker at the end, too.
This post is in: How about that weather?, Open Threads
Be careful out there, jackals… Bison at 35 below zero. Yellowstone National Park, USA. Photographer by Tom Murphy Photography pic.twitter.com/k1g1UdNjLL — Karrie Flannigan (@Karrie1313) February 13, 2021 Better still, don’t be out there at all! Especially if you’re in Texas or thereabouts. I know it’s objectively colder & snowier in the Midwest — I lived …
Monday Morning Open Thread: FreezingPost + Comments (145)
“All of Texas is facing an extremely dangerous winter storm.” Snow and ice storms are dipping into areas as far south as Texas’ Gulf Coast. Storms are also expected to deliver ice and up to 12 inches of snow across parts of the southern Plains. https://t.co/F1555oEVS0
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 15, 2021
Following a request from Gov. Greg Abbott, the White House issued a federal emergency declaration Sunday for Texas due to the winter weather.
This allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance and help with care and shelter statewide. https://t.co/HhrX3igRFK
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) February 15, 2021
Guess Kyle Biedermann’s secessionist cosplay will have to wait until after the federal checks clear.
But seriously — I’m glad Gov. Abbott’s proud GOP independence didn’t keep him from asking for help, and that our current President doesn’t divide the country into ‘very fine states‘ and ‘who cares about those losers who didn’t vote for me anyways.’
Also, this is probably Too Soon, but the replies are pure gold…
Roads in Dallas are snowy and icy and the government is telling me to stay home or I might die. But this is infringing on my FREEDOM and we need to keep the economy OPEN. I will drive the speed limit on untreated overpasses because I REFUSE to live in fear.
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) February 15, 2021
(To reiterate: Stay the hell home. Even if *you* know how to drive in weather like this, think of all your lovely neighbors who *don’t*.)