NEW: Ken Paxton’s far-right backers are promising swift retribution for those who supported his impeachment — namely House Speaker Dade Phelan — as the Texas GOP’s long-running civil war continues to escalate. #txlege #PaxtonTrial https://t.co/9ByJBI1qQe
— Robert Downen (@RobertDownen_) September 17, 2023
I have very little surprise reserved in the tank for Ken Paxton's acquittal: long story short, how can Texas Republicans even hold someone accountable for acting in his self-interest and doing the bidding of his big donors when it isn't in their self-interest and sends the wrong message to their big donors? But it's more than that:
“You and your band of RINOs are now on notice,” Defend Texas Liberty PAC leader Jonathan Stickland tweeted at Phelan on Saturday, as voting continued in the Texas Senate. “You will be held accountable for this entire sham. We will never stop. Retire now.”
Paxton’s impeachment trial was the latest — and among the most consequential — battle in an ongoing civil war between the Texas GOP’s establishment members and a well-funded right wing that has for years claimed the party is insufficiently conservative.
Being even somewhat opposed to Paxton's corruption is simply not conservative and you are not a real Republican if you bring it up. He may even be corrupt, but he's the right kind of Republican so long as he's right-wing enough.
I think the party refers to this ethos as: Values!
2 comments:
He's a corrupt fuck, but he's their corrupt fuck.
My standing aphorism about Republican conflict of interest is that a Republican firmly believes that if they always operate in their own self-interest, there's never a conflict.
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