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HA U.S. federal appeals court last week temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s order mandating that companies with 100 or more employees require their workers to get vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Texas was among the states that fi led a joint petition challenging the order.
HGov. Greg Abbo accomplished the impressive feat of losing two court cases on the same day last Wednesday. Both state and federal courts ruled against Abbo on issues related to his orders banning localities from issuing mask mandates. A federal judge ruled that banning schools from requiring masks violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, while a state appeals court ruled that San Antonio can issue a mandate while a suit questioning the legality of Abbo ’s order is litigated.
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HWarner Bros. last week sent a ceaseand-desist le er to the local bar ownership group planning a Harry Po er-themed pub crawl in San Antonio. In its le er, a California-based a orney wrote that the pub crawl “a empts to take advantage of and improperly benefi t from the enormous goodwill already established in the Harry Po er properties” — goodwill threatened in recent years by the transphobia of author J.K. Rowling. The renamed crawl will take place Nov. 18.
Delta-8 THC is, for the moment, legal in Texas again. Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer last week issued an injunction barring the state from enforcing its ban on the sale of the compound. Retailers began off ering Delta-8 after the Texas Legislature passed a 2019 law legalizing the sale of hemp. However, the state health department placed it on its list of illegal drugs in October. — Abe Asher
Facebook / Rick Scarborough
ASSCLOWN ALERT
‘Taking over’ Texas school boards with ‘Christocrat’ Rick Scarborough
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Self-described “Christocrat” — apparently shorthand for “homophobic foe of the separation of church and state” — Rick Scarborough has doubled down on his threat to help conservative evangelicals “take over” Texas school boards.
Four candidates backed by the far-right activist were successful in forcing runoff s this month for seats on the Houston Independent School District’s board. And he’s now raising money through his group Recover America to put far-right candidates on two other Houston-area districts, the website Right Wing Watch reports.
Scarborough has said that once he’s fl ipped those Houston boards, he’ll turn his sights — and his fundraising eff orts — to others across the state. Of course, the outcome of those Houston ISD runoff s will off er clues whether Scarborough has the political heft to carry through with his threat.
The name of Scarborough’s podcast, “Mixing Church and State God’s Way,” provides a clear view of his agenda. But if that’s not reason enough for concern, the activist has also claimed God would “probably give us the cure for AIDS today” if the U.S. stopped supporting LGBTQ rights and that Santa Claus leads kids to Satan, according to Right Wing Watch’s reporting.
Regardless of how successful Scarborough is in engineering a statewide power grab, this is one assclown who has no business tampering with Texas schools. — Sanford Nowlin
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YOU SAID IT!
— Cal Jillson,
Southern Methodist University political scientist on Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for a probe into “pornography” in Texas schools.
A comprehensive study from Texas’ state health department found that unvaccinated Texans were 20 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated. The analysis, which tracked data from September 4 through October 1, also found that unvaccinated people were 13 times more likely to contract the virus than people who have received their jabs.
Gov. Greg Abbo last week demanded that the Texas Education Agency investigate criminal activity associated with students obtaining “pornography” in Texas schools. Abbo didn’t provide any evidence that students are obtaining obscene material at their schools, nor did he explain why asked the TEA to take on the task since it has no law enforcement capability. The infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month will set aside $35 billion for Texas projects. While much of that will be sunk into maintenance, an estimated $3.3 billion will be used to advance public transit projects around the state — a fi gure many experts feel is insuffi cient given Texas’ expanding population and the threat of climate change. Texas could also receive money to weatherize its energy infrastructure. — Abe
Asher
Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com
CURRENT EVENTS
Crusader for Chaos
Yes, Gov. Greg Abbott’s witch hunt for ‘porn’ in public schools is laughable — but it’s not without consequences
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
It’s tempting to write off Texas Gov. Greg Abbo ’s absurd call for criminal charges against teachers and school librarians who supply “pornographic” materials to kids as mere political theater.
After all, it’s an u er joke from a legal standpoint. Abbo issued his demand last week in a le er to the Texas Education Agency, which has no law enforcement personnel. Further, the two books the governor has so far cited as evidence of “obscene” material in Texas schools wouldn’t qualify under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Texans have also witnessed a cavalcade of stunts from Abbo in recent months as he looks to stave off challenges from far-right candidates in the upcoming Republican primary. Those range from his “steel wall” of DPS vehicles at the border to a San Antonio press conference where he claimed with no proof that a federal migrant shelter was abusing teens.
Yes, like those grabs for a ention, Abbo ’s le er to the TEA is pure look-at-me grandstanding. Legal and political experts say there’s li le chance school employees will be jailed because of his call to prosecute alleged campus porn pushers “to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I suppose he could ask the TEA to do anything,” said Michael S. Ariens, a St. Mary’s University Law School expert in constitutional law. “The question is what the TEA will do with it. I’m guessing the answer is: as li le as possible.
But, as with much of Abbo ’s hard-right posturing, there will be damage left in the le er’s wake.
Just as the “steel wall” photo op had the real-world consequences of diluting law enforcement resources and draining public coff ers, the governor’s anti-“porn” crusade has repercussions for Texas’ already beleaguered education system.
The disruption comes as students, educators and parents muddle through another school year made even more trying by the pandemic. It also instigates more chaos for districts already dealing with angry anti-mask diatribes and board meetings overtaken by Qanon conspiracy theories and threats against educators.
Abbo ’s TEA le er followed days after Democrat Terry McAuliff e’s loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election. The timing is no accident, according to political observers. McAuliff e’s trouncing came after he became a target of growing parental ire by saying, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
“This investigation will politicize Texas’s education system, send a deeply alarming message of exclusion to LGBTQ+ students, and treat librarians and teachers as potential criminals for doing their jobs,” said Jonathan Friedman, PEN America’s director of free expression and education in a statement emailed to the Current. “Gov. Abbo claims that he is making these moves to protect children, but instead he is disrupting their education for political gain.”
To Friedman’s point, Abbo ’s crusade comes as LGBTQ+ students and students of color face increasing marginalization in Texas schools. This year, the state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed laws banning the teaching of critical race theory and limiting the participation of transgender athletes in school sports.
The le er and its timing demonstrate the governor’s willingness to weaponize chaos for his own political gain. Rather than a empt to solve any of the real problems plaguing Texas schools, it creates one to villainize educators who have struggled to do their best during one of the most diffi cult times in their careers.
Further, Abbo ’s directive to the TEA shows just how disingenuous he was as he proclaimed himself a champion of free speech by prioritizing a bill passed by Texas lawmakers that bars social media networks from “censoring” the voices of right-wing users.
Indeed, the le er comes against a backdrop of national fervor to ban controversial material from school campuses.
This month, two members of Virginia’s Spotsylvania County School Board said its vote to ban “sexually explicit” books from library shelves didn’t go far enough. They wanted to see the material burned.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Offi ce for Intellectual Freedom, last week told the New York Times that she’s endured a “steady hum of censorship” during her 20 years with the group. “But I’ve never seen the number of challenges we’ve seen this year.”
Clearly, Abbo ’s concern for free speech, like his concern for Texas’ schools and children, is subservient to one top priority: his own political gain.
Instagram / governorabbott
THANKSGIVING DAY
November 25, 2021 | 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
FIGHT HUNGER WITH EVERY STEP AT THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK’S TURKEY TROT 5K RUN/WALK!
Starting and ending in front of the Commander’s House at H-E-B’s Arsenal campus, Turkey Trot is the San Antonio Food Bank’s annual 5K Run/Walk that raises funds to help feed families during the holidays. This year, you can participate in-person or virtually. Every registration provides a turkey for a family facing hunger this holiday season.
