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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thank you, Beto

Thank you, Beto

by | 89 Comments

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Beto O’Rourke crashed Governor Abbott’s press conference in Uvalde, Texas today and dropped some truth bombs:

They kicked him out, but he wasn’t done:

Go Beto.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  2. 2.

    realbtl

    Beto has been knocked for saying things he shouldn’t (AKA the truth) but I’m beginning to like this in a politician.

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    I love Beto. He’s passionate and speaks from the heart. And he speaks like a normal person, not with all the extra pauses that some politicians have (apparently) been taught to do.

    Plus, he tells the fucking truth. And he trusts voters to know truth when they see it.

  5. 5.

    SpaceUnit

    I think I see the problem. Look at all the schlubby, balding / gray-haired white dudes on that stage.

    Ladies of Texas, step up.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    Beto’s got balls. All those “good old boys” aka angry white men shouting were intimidating me as i sit here in my comfy chair.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    ‘@realbtl
    May 25, 2022 at 5:38 PM

    >>Beto has been knocked for saying things he shouldn’t

    I do that all the time.

    >>(AKA the truth) 

    Oh.

  8. 8.

    Raoul Paste

    Beto brings the facts, and he won’t be deterred. This coming election is truly a referendum on the people of Texas.
    It’s also a referendum on this nations media—- I would be sick if they “both sides” this issue

  9. 9.

    Mike in NC

    Abbott is about as bad as GOP governors get. I guess he could be worse than DeSantis. No politician from Texas must ever be put in the White House after the disasters LBJ and Dubya wrought in foreign policy.

  10. 10.

    debbie

    O/T, but Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was unamused when the GOP resubmitted a previously rejected map. The court has ordered a legitimate map by 6/3:

    “ In Wednesday’s ruling, the court ordered the commission to reconvene and submit a sixth set of maps before June 3 at noon. The map proposal would be due to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is also a member of the committee, by 9 a.m. that same day.

    The ruling also states explicitly the Ohio Supreme Court retains jurisdiction for “the purpose of reviewing the new plan.”

    Late last month, a panel of federal judges set a May 28 deadline for the commission to pass acceptable maps or implement the set of maps rejected in the state court’s ruling. The federal court said that is the date LaRose has designated as the absolute last date the state can begin preparing for a second primary election, which would be scheduled for Aug. 2. That date, LaRose has said, is the last date the primary can be held in order to prepare for November’s general election.”

    Let the whining begin!

    https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/ohio-redistricting-maps-rejected-by-court-again/

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    ‘@SpaceUnit: The last 24 hours or so of video footage have shown that Texas has a lot of fat cops. Many probably unable to tackle an 18-year-old.

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    I think of DeSantis as conniving and hyper-self serving and Abbott as mean to the marrow.

    Not that the people of Florida and Texas feel a difference, but Abbott is pure evil.

    That the Lt Gov and AG are arguably worse, well, I’ve got nothing.

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    ‘@WaterGirl: I like Beto too. He gets out over his skis sometimes, but that’s because he’s real.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@JPL

    That’s what I thought as soon as I saw it:

    “How dare you politicize our… political event!”

  18. 18.

    MazeDancer

    Go get ’em, Beto!

    The Uvalde School District set up a fund for the victims families at the local bank.

    Make check to Robb School Memorial Fund
    Mail to FSB Uvalde at 200 E. Nopal St. Uvalde, Texas 78801, or send a Zelle to [email protected]

    Seems legit, it’s on the bank’s website: https://www.fsbuvalde.com/

  19. 19.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    The only way to stop school violence is to arm all the children.

    Everyday you issue a gun and instead of recess the kids have target practice.

    Call it: The Cannon for Kids Program

  20. 20.

    UncleEbeneezer

    More evidence that our DOJ would never dare investigate Trump’s high-level associates /sarcasm:

    NYT: A federal grand jury in Washington has started issuing subpoenas in recent weeks to people linked to the alternate elector plan, requesting info about several lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. The subpoenas also seek information on Jenna Ellis.

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1529517713634349062

  22. 22.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Glad I found this place, btw.

    Been really missing the Juice this week!

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@ Suzanne

    haha. My vote on that is yes.

    Call me crazy, but I think Beto and Stacey Abrams both have a good shot at winning in November.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    My phone is set to dark mode, but I just turned on the website toggle for dark mode and it’s much better (darker).

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    ‘@WG: // Call me crazy, but I think Beto and Stacey Abrams both have a good shot at winning in November. //
    Yup, I think so too. They’re both getting money from me, and Stacey’s getting a good chunk of my time and energy as well.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    Texas massacre leads Newsom, Democrats to promise fast gun control action
    …..
    SACRAMENTO — 

    Gov. Gavin Newsom and top legislative Democrats pledged Wednesday to expedite more than a dozen bills aimed at reducing gun violence in California, promising to quickly pass laws that would allow private citizens to sue firearm manufacturers and distributors as well as require school officials to investigate credible threats of a mass shooting, following the violent attack Tuesday on a school in Texas.
    ……
    The most sweeping measure, Senate Bill 1327, would allow private citizens to sue gun manufacturers or distributors and anyone who imports or sells assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles and ghost guns. The bill is modeled after a Texas law that bans most abortions after six weeks and authorizes citizen-led civil lawsuits against providers and clinics.

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-25/texas-massacre-leads-gavin-newsom-democrats-to-promise-fast-gun-control-action

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@Baud

    So if your phone is always set to dark mode, how do not-dark-mode websites show up on the phone? Sort of dark mode?

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@ Baud

    I just tried it on my phone, and I am just not a dark mode kind of girl. But I’m glad I added the option because people seem to like it.

  32. 32.

    cain

    Love Beto – we should all be confronting them. They need to feel uncomfortable.

  33. 33.

    banditqueen

    The loser GQP TX gov offered his assessment of the killer–he was ‘mentally ill’. Did the loser GQP TX gov see to it that Uvalde had crisis hotlines, therapists, talk groups, a suicide hotline, since he believes only ‘mentally ill’ people would kill someone? No? Their needs, as he sees them, went unmet? Yet the reporter outside the loser gov’s confab wondered how Beto felt about “politicizing” this slaughter of children. What kind of solution to these non-stop gun deaths is there other than a political one? That’s pretty much what politicians do–make laws, compromise, aid in emergencies, etc. It’s political, loser TX GQP gov, and that’s why Beto tried to correct the asshole loser gov but since that jerk wouldn’t allow it, Beto is making his case to the people of TX.

  34. 34.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Beto is the real deal. When they exclude you, keep going, keep fighting.

    And yeah, the GOP party people and activists (not the local pols) tanked my judicial candidacy. For fuck’s sake, I had the GOP Speaker of the KY House and his wife (they’re Chamber of Commerce Republicans) in my corner (this is his district) along with some really nice local GOP candidates who had no opposition, and still got crushed.

  35. 35.

    MaiNaem mobile

    I’d like to know who the nasty piece of work to the left of Abbott is. The one in the light blue shirt. He looks majorly po’d and is real loud about his displeasure at Beto’s appearance.

  36. 36.

    Will

    I liked him blowing up their bullshit press conference. Beto has zero chance of winning, but maybe he can lift the boats of others in close races and destroy the facade of the GOP enough at the same time to setup change after him.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    ‘@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    I’m sorry to hear that. I was rooting for you.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    The press conference was just silly. The information provided by Abbott is what the local police chief or sheriff would have given in the same situation. He only wanted camera time.

  41. 41.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Baud, the local GOP party officials have decreed that no registered Democrats will be tolerated in any nonpartisan offices, and that local Republicans will be vetted for fealty to a MAGA agenda.

    Wish I were joking. The folks who won their Jailer, Sheriff, Magistrate and Senate races took a risk supporting me.

  42. 42.

    Citizen_X

    ‘@MaiNaem mobile

    The Grand Dragon of shouting there is the *mayor* of Uvalde.

  44. 44.

    banditqueen

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg May 25, 2022 at 7:10 PM
    I think you would have had a great chance if their thumbs weren’t pressed on the scale.

  45. 45.

    bluejersey43 (fka texasboyshaun)

    I’m proud of Beto. I hope he wins.

    I have no faith in Texas (as a whole) to do the right thing anymore. It’s not just the leadership- the TXGOP isn’t a cabal or junta that rules by force, we all know they’re vigorously supported by millions of not well-meaning Texans.

    I want things to be better there. I’m afraid that window may be closing. It’s smart for other American Dems to think about ways to help resettle good Texans who are suffering/will suffer if or when Roe, Obergefell, etc., are rolled back.

  46. 46.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Banditqueen, I’m not changing registration and not joining an evangelical congregation to satisfy the GQP party folx. I’ll remain an apostate Greek Orthodox Democrat as long as I live.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    Jack Jenkins
    @jackmjenkins
    FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Judge sentences former reality TV star Josh Duggar to more than 12 years in prison for child pornography conviction.

  48. 48.

    JMG

    Mayor of Uvalde has been a guest on Tucker Carlson more than once. All you need to know about the guy.

  49. 49.

    guachi

    I know you’re upset about the recent school shooting. But I’m focused on the real problems in schools, trans-gender students playing sports and CRT. Now you’re little Susie won’t have to worry about losing that track meet to a man who thinks he’s a woman. We’ve banned the one transgender athlete in the entire state. Priorities! Also, little Susie was killed in another school shooting this morning. She’s now safe from the horrors of CRT and learning about anything bad that was ever done to Black Americans. Which is nothing, by the way.

    But our mission isn’t done yet. There’s so much more evil out there to combat, even if we haven’t invented it yet. Send your ideas and campaign contribution to our website. The winner will receive an AR-15 and a pack of rainbow flag targets as a prize.

  50. 50.

    CaseyL

    JMG – And I’m sure the safety of a school that brown little kids attended was a high safety priority for him. Might explain why the local cops’ response to the active shooter was, shall we say, less confrontational than if they’d found a black man walking down their street at night.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    ‘@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

     May 25, 2022 at 7:35 PM

    >>Banditqueen, I’m not changing registration and not joining an evangelical congregation to satisfy the GQP party folx. I’ll remain an apostate Greek Orthodox Democrat as long as I live.
    _____________

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    You know, if that asshole is the mayor of what seems like a very large-majority Hispanic town, I can’t help wondering what a visit by a couple of forensic accountants would find.

  53. 53.

    scav

    Abbott and Texas will probably pass a law making it mandatory for all Texans to personally sue teachers they learn are not arming their students.

  54. 54.

    Kay

    Manu Raju
    @mkraju
    Asked Rubio why not ban AR-15s, and he said: “The truth of the matter is these people are going to commit these horrifying crimes, whether break them:they have to use another weapon to do it, they’re going to
    figure out a way to do it.” Also contends more background checks won’t fix problem

    We have a way to test this conservative theory. Ban the high powered guns for 5 years with a renewal. If it reduces the slaughter they’ll all have to vote to increase school shootings.

    Test it out!

  55. 55.

    Kay

    Conservatives are confident nothing will work so if we just start passing regulation we can find out if they’re right.
    Be pretty powerful evidence for the not-insane part of the public if we put in some regulations and went a year without a school shooting.
    Conservatives are terrified of that, though, because what that means is they could have stopped some of these and didn’t. That can’t be revealed. That woud make them monsters.

  56. 56.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    ‘@Kay

    Maybe they would, Senator Aqua Buddha, but it would be harder to do so. And that doesn’t have to be the only solution either

  57. 57.

    Eolirin

    We did have an assault weapon ban didn’t we? Didn’t get renewed?

    These people are shameless, and even if the amount of deaths did decrease it wouldn’t change their opposition to renewing such a ban.

    And their base won’t hold them to account for it. Which is the real problem.

    This will only change when enough people become single issue voters *for* gun control, or abortion rights, etc.

  58. 58.

    Suzanne

    I’m really sad and not doing a great job with focus today, for all the same reasons as everyone else, I’m sure.

    I’m, like, really sad this evening about Sweet Tomatoes (aka Souplantation) going out of business. They closed at the beginning of the pandemic. It was one of my favorite places to go with my kids. It was an absolute treat when I was in college. I really wish I could go there tonight. A small thing that the pandemic took from us, but I miss it.

  59. 59.

    Suzanne

    I also want to note that one friend had to evacuate her house yesterday with her kids because there was an active shooter on her adjacent block. Another friend got a call today that there was a shooting threat against her son’s school (the third one this year).

    I am emotionally exhausted.

  61. 61.

    Eolirin

    ‘@Kay

    I think they’d just lie about it working and carry on as if whatever successful things were done in fact did nothing, trusting, correctly, that the electorate will be too tuned out to be paying attention and that the media won’t bother reporting on a “lack” of news.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@The Thin Black Duke

    Can I ask why you are not publishing it here, too? :-)

  63. 63.

    Redshift

    ‘@Kay:
    I think it was Norm Macdonald, back in his SNL days, responding to a similar anti-gun control statement with “maybe not, but it’d be a lot harder to kill people with a stick!”

  64. 64.

    The Thin Black Duke

    To Watergirl: I just found out about this new speakeasy/gin joint/opium den from my Beloved.

  65. 65.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    ‘@Eolirin

    The sad thing is, not even getting shot and nearly dying back in 2017 changed Steve Scalise’s mind about guns. How does that even happen? You’re nearly killed by a gunman and that Road to Damascus moment never happens.

    In retrospect, I almost wish the overwhelming response to the GOP Congressional Baseball Practice Shooting had been, “What are you complaining about? It was an attempted Second Amendment Solution. Why do you people hate America?”. Let’s see how they liked having their own BS rhetoric shoved in their faces when it was a few of their own in the crossfire for once

  66. 66.

    oldgold

    How in the Hell did this dip shit become the Democratic Party’s nominee for the Senate from Arizona?

    Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), when asked about reforming the filibuster in order to pass gun regulation, “You know, I don’t think that D.C. solutions are realistic here.”

  68. 68.

    Suzanne

    ‘@oldgold
    Have you ever tried to be politically active in Arizona?! It’s full of gun nuts and Mormons and people who elected Paul Gosar. Believe it or not, but Kyrsten Sinema is a step up over Jeff Flake and Jon Kyl, who held that seat before her.

  70. 70.

    LauraToo

    ‘@SiubhanDuinne late I know but in hopes you see this-I had trouble getting zoom chat to work last night. Thanks for the beautiful comments. You represented us well.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@ LauraToo

    I wondered why you didn’t have video last night and also wondered why we didn’t hear a peep from you.

    I thought they were really terrific! What did you guys think? It’s fine if you disagree!

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@The Thin Black Duke

    Oh, no! Did you not see the email I sent to all the front pagers, asking if they wanted a login on the site?

    Shall I make one for you? I’d love it if you posted your article here, and anything else, of course!

  73. 73.

    RaflW

    I really want candidates like Beto, and electeds like Ruben Gallego to be encouraged and supported.

    Being blunt, angry, and strong is really needed in these times.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    ‘@The Thin Black Duke

    I’m super tired so I am about to head for bed, but I started to make your login just now but I couldn’t find the right email address for you.

    So if you send me email I would happily may your login in the morning.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    Local news is saying the shooter went off after fighting with his grandmother over a phone bill. What is the thought process for responding to an argument with an AR-47?

  77. 77.

    eddie blake

    ‘@the thin black duke:

    yeah, my older brother was one of those hemophilacs. they killed WAY more than eight.

    FFS.

  78. 78.

    Kropacetic

    ‘@JPL: “”they accused Beto of politicizing the conversation while they held a press conference to politicize the event.””

    Hell, it’s still to soon to talk about the previous one…

  79. 79.

    Steeplejack

    ‘@Deputinize Eurasia:

    How did they tank you? Can they keep you off the ballot?

    Sorry to hear it.

  80. 80.

    Jim Appleton

    The pushback to Beto’s interruption is, to my mind, the most telling.

    Texan good ol boys telling what for, posturing as if their own embrace of the politics of that posturing itself is not what it is — projection.

  81. 81.

    Ruckus

    banditqueen
    I don’t think those were thumbs on the scale.
    I don’t want to say what they lay on the scale because it is extremely disgusting. And really, considering that telling what they laid on that scale and how little it weighed would do for your after dinner snack I’m going to leave it blank and let you think what you will.

  82. 82.

    206inKY

    God, I love Beto so much. Still have my Beto 2020 yard sign. It’s too bad the HBO documentary came out too late to shape the primary. He and Stacey Abrams are the future of the party.

  84. 84.

    lowtechcyclist

    I guess we have to teach kids and teachers to charge the shooter, because the cops won’t.

    https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-44a7cfb990feaa6ffe482483df6e4683

    UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.

    “Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the close-knit town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not go in.

    Javier Cazares, whose fourth grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting, arriving while police were still gathered outside the building.

    Upset that police were not moving in, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.

    “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said. “More could have been done.”

    “They were unprepared,” he added.

  85. 85.

    lowtechcyclist

    Of course they were unprepared, who can really be prepared for something like this? But it was their goddamn JOB to do something, prepared or not. Nobody else was going to be any more prepared to try to stop the shooter than they were.

    Forty minutes.

  86. 86.

    Bobby Thomson

    “Gentlemen. You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”

    I was inspired. I haven’t donated to a candidate since 2020 but I threw a bunch of scratch around yesterday. If you really want to make symbolic contributions, the following are good choices:
    Beto (Gov-TX): obvious reasons
    Cheri Beasley (Sen-NC): running against a literal gun shop owner
    Val Demings (Sen-FL): gun control is one of her signature issues; running against NRA tool Marco Rubio
    Mark Kelly (Sen-AZ): spouse of Gabby Giffords, also one of the three most endangered incumbent Democratic Senators
    Democratic Party of Wisconsin (Sen/Gov: WI): We won’t know who is running against doofus Ron Johnson until August; Tony Evers is also up for re-election in a key swing state
    Gretchen Whitmer (Gov-MI): up for re-election in a key swing state; was the target of an attempted kidnapping/murder by white supremacist terrorists
    Stacey Abrams (Gov-GA): the key to expanding Democratic success in the South and nationwide

    Katie Hobbs is also running for Governor of Arizona, another important swing state.

    If you’re more interested in playing defense and securing gains, in addition to the incumbents above (Kelly, Evers, Whitmer), Raphael Warnock (Sen-GA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Sen-NV) could also use help, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to contribute to Steve Sisolak (Gov-NV, incumbent).

    My PA peeps: in addition to supporting the state legislative committees, the three Democratic districts most at risk of swinging Republican are PA-07 (Susan Wild; Lehigh & Northampton counties); PA-08 (Matt Cartwright; (Pike, Wayne, & Lackawanna counties); and PA-17 (Open but Chris Deluzio is the Democratic nominee; NW of Pittsburgh).

  87. 87.

    Bobby Thomson

    ‘@lowtechcyclist: particularly galling when the justification given for militarizing the police is they need to be prepared to respond to well-armed bad actors.

  89. 89.

    lowtechcyclist

    Shit.

    https://www.kens5.com/article/news/special-reports/uvalde-school-shooting/its-time-to-die-fourth-grade-survivor-uvalde-shooting-recalls-what-gunman-told-student/273-51cc4e26-7a0a-49c0-ba7a-48cdd47fa235

    The boy and four others hid under a table that had a tablecloth over it, which may have shielded them from the shooter’s view and saved their lives. The boy shared heartbreaking details about what happened in that room.

    “When the cops came, the cop said: ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘help.’ The guy overheard and he came in and shot her,” the boy said.

    And this: https://twitter.com/paleofuture/status/1529669808228294656

    And more video: https://twitter.com/paleofuture/status/1529689677749534721

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