I’m kind of on a Texas kick, but this was too good not to mention. Democrat Taylor Rehmet just won a Texas state senate seat in a district that Trump won by 17 points.
That gerrymandering the Texas Republicans did just might come back to haunt them. Wouldn’t that just be special.
Last night I said nasty things about Texas, but tonight I will give some Texas residents a big thumbs up. Volunteers went down to the beach in the Corpus Christi area and rescued 522 Green Sea Turtles. The turtles were in a bad way because of the extremely cold weather. Over 300 were taken to the Texas State Aquarium near Corpus. Some of the turtles required intubation and specialized care to restart their breathing.
These were not the baby turtles that people often help to reach the ocean before they are gobbled up by gulls. Some of these turtles were very large indeed. Great effort. Great outcome.
Migration to Texas from other states has fallen for the 3rd year in a row. In fact, in-migration has sunk to the lowest level since 2005. The state’s rapid growth is over. Texas is still getting more in-migration than states like New York and California, but I predict that in just a few years people will start moving out.
Florida also has seen a major decline of people moving in, even more steep than Texas.
On the other hand midwestern states have seen an increase in population after years of decline. Personally, I would much rather live in Atwood, Kansas, or Cozad, Nebraska, than in Dallas or Miami.
Some info for this post is from J; David Goodman and Jeff Adelson, “Trend of Migration to Texas Falls for 3rd Year in a Row,” New York Times, (Jan. 31, 2026), p. A10.
In 1968 the nation was polarized, the National Guard was deployed against demonstrators (remember Kent State), the President abused power and misused federal agencies, campuses were shut down, mass demonstrations occurred, people worried about urban rioting, the cops beat people (remember Chicago), and our foreign policy was a mess (soldiers were dying every day in Vietnam).
Nonetheless it wasn’t the same. There was more optimism then. We believed that state of affairs wouldn’t last. Things would get better. And they did.
Nixon was impeached by congress members from both sides of the aisle. The war did end. Women were winning rights. The Supreme Court ruled that the New York Times had a right to publish the Pentagon Papers. Roe v. Wade was decided. And Nixon, for all his chicanery, knew American history, hired some competent people, supported the EPA, never sold presidential pardons, and resigned when he knew it was over.
Today the pessimism is overwhelming. It is hard to imagine things getting better. Our business and political leaders lack courage. The Republican Party has been corrupted. Much of the media is complicit. The full force of the national government is used to harass opponents.
Nonetheless, I don’t think it is too late. I am given hope by those people in Minneapolis out there in bitter cold, united with their neighbors. All kinds of people, from high school students to retirees. I think we can still turn this around, but it will take courage and a lot of effort and commitment.
It’s a fake, but it is too funny not to repeat. The supposed “Variety” judgement of the Bezos-financed film “Melania” said, “If they showed this film on the plane, people would still walk out.”
The film was screened at the “Trump Center.” Most of the media was kept from the screening. The audience didn’t show up either.
I really think there is a handbook. I don’t know the order of the actions, but they would include:
form a national police force
capture the legal system
control the media
sow fear among the citizenry
intimidate business leaders
discredit your opponents
seize the law enforcement apparatus
There are more, but Trump and his lackeys are doing all of those things. Today the FBI was sent into Atlanta to seize 2020 ballot materials. These are the people who lied about Minneapolis; of course they will lie about “voter fraud.” Trump will say, “See, I really did win.” His followers will believe him. The Republicans in Congress will back the lie, as will Kash Patel and Pam Bondi.
We know the truth. Speak it.
I watched it yesterday on YouTube. What a great speech. Not stupid, not silly like the rambling screed from the U.S. President.
The speech has been compared to Churchill’s “iron curtain” speech at Fulton, Missouri. Carney talked about a new order in the world. He said it was too late to fix the one we had; he noted that Canada was in talks with China, and he discussed the power of what he called the “middle countries.”
He noted that trying to appease Trump would not work, and referenced a speech by the former Czech President Vaclav Havel, who told about the merchant who put a sign in the window praising a dictatorial government because he was afraid. Soon all the other merchants began to put similar signs in their windows, fearing the consequences if they didn’t. Carney then said Canada was taking down the sign.
You can watch it yourself. It’s not that long. I had two reactions. The first was what an intelligent and moral man Carney is. The second was profound embarrassment at Trump’s speech with its self-congratulations and its stupidity.
