Greg Abbott to Texans: Get Off My Lush, Green Lawn

For the next year, I’ll be telling at least these two stories about Greg Abbott over and over again. Understanding them is critical to understanding what kind of governor he would be—a governor who is concerned about making sure he gets his, and his cronies get theirs, and tough luck to any other Texans facing tough times.

First:
Greg Abbott was in a horrible accident that paralyzed him for life. A tree fell on him while he was jogging. He took full advantage of the legal system and Texas tort law to win a huge settlement that has made him wealthy.

Please note that I do not begrudge him for taking advantage of that system in order to have the funds both to pay for his medical needs and compensate him for losses on many levels.

I begrudge him for becoming a shrill, aggressive advocate for reform in the laws and courts that means someone who suffered the exact same accident today would never be able to bring the same case, or win the same sort of damages, that he won. He got his, and then he worked to pull the ladder up behind him.

Still from the Wendy Davis for Governor ad that highlights Greg Abbott’s hypocrisy.

Second:
Water. We can’t live without it. Texas has been deep in drought for years. The Rio Grande, on any given day, no longer reaches the sea. Conservation isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity. We’ve got to be aggressive in figuring out ways to share so we can be  sure that all Texans have the water they need. Maybe not the water they want, mind you, but at a minimum, the water they need.

Greg Abbott is concerned about getting enough water.

For himself.

That’s why he dug a well at his house in Austin. Now, he’s got a lush, green lawn, even when the rest of the city is practicing heavy conservation measures on a yearly basis (when not coping with horrible flooding that still hasn’t restored reservoir levels).

I hear people talking about being patriots all of the time. Their photos are all over my Facebook timeline as they tote their guns and act like they are defending our life and liberty.

Well, you know what’s really patriotic in this day and age?

 

Tearing up your St. Augustine and planting low-water landscaping.

When farmers can’t get enough water for crops, there is no reason that people in wealthy neighborhoods should be hanging on to acres and acres of green, inedible grass. To then drill their own private wells to thwart city watering restrictions is just insulting.

This is Tragedy of the Commons 101 stuff, people.

I mean, the state song is Texas, Our Texas, not Texas, My Texas.

But Greg Abbott lives in his Texas, not our Texas. He doesn’t care if you live on the border and don’t even have municipal water you can drink out of your tap. He doesn’t care if you struggle to keep your family farm afloat, the farm that has been in your family for generations. He’s got a green lawn, after all, because he drilled a well.

Texans need a governor who will represent the rights of the least among us and preserve the common good so that we can all benefit. We deserve a governor who will champion ideas and plans that will set Texas up for success in the future. Greg Abbott is not that governor.