Are we watching our society crumble?
Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said famously, “There’s no such thing as society.” That was easy for her to say in the 1980s when she and Ronald Reagan held power. The claim is easy to refute in 2025 as we witness a society breaking down: ours.
The rest of that Thatcher quote goes, “There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours.”
Let’s consider some people looking out for themselves but shirking their duty to look after the rest of us.
First up, would-be king Donald Trump.
Last week at Trump’s behest, Texas Republicans unveiled a highly unusual plan to redraw congressional districts mid-decade. The goal? To craft five new Republican congressional seats ahead of the 2026 elections and prevent Trump losing control of the U.S. House in 2027. Trump is so obsessed with appearances that he’s gilded the Oval Office to mimic the style of the Hapsburgs or the tsars. He means to maintain the appearance of constitutional rule too, for now, by rigging the outcome.
Next up, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Texas Tribune, July 30:
Texas GOP lawmakers released their first draft of the state’s new congressional map Wednesday, proposing revamped district lines that attempt to flip five Democratic seats in next year’s midterm elections.
The new map targets Democratic U.S. House members in the Austin, Dallas and Houston metro areas and in South Texas. The draft, unveiled by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, will likely change before the final map is approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state.
Texas Democrats did make themselves scarce. Democratic governors in California, Illinois, Kansas, New York, and Wisconsin are outraged. They are reluctantly “weighing counteraction through special elections, special sessions or additional means of redrawing congressional maps.” Tit for tat.
Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus accused Abbott of “using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal.”
Abbott late Sunday threatened to remove Texas House Democrats from office if they do not return for the redistricting vote (Texas Tribune, Aug. 3):
The Republican governor’s late-night missive came after more than 50 Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon so the Texas House would not have a quorum — the number of lawmakers needed to consider and pass legislation under chamber rules — aiming to grind all legislative activity to a halt for the remainder of the special session, slated to end later this month.
Abbott issued an ultimatum:
“This truancy ends now,” Abbott said in a letter sent to each of the departed members. “The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025.”
If they are not back by then, Abbott said, he would initiate legal action to remove them from office. He cited a nonbinding 2021 legal opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said it would be up to a court to decide whether a lawmaker who had left the state to deny quorum had forfeited their office. If a court were to decide that the legislators had vacated their offices, Abbott would be permitted to fill those seats with appointees of his choosing, Paxton’s opinion stated.
Goodbye Marquess of Queensberry. Hello bare knuckles.
Things get uglier.
Abbott further alleged members could face felony charges for fundraising to pay the $500 fine they will each accrue every day they are away from Austin during the session. Lawmakers who are “soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules” may be violating bribery laws, Abbott said, adding that anyone who donates to the cause could also be liable.
Never mind that Trump raised millions to fund his attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election and is taking bribes in broad daylight.
Abbott threatens to extradite “any potential out-of-state felons” the way the Department of Homeland Security threatens to deport potential undocumented immigrants, and any legal residents and naturalized citizens it doesn’t like by, potentially, stripping them of their legal status and citizenship.
In the eyes of the autocrat
Finally on this Monday morning, there is Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.
Crooks and Liars on Saturday spotlighted Roberts’ speech to the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Roberts advocates that state governments controlled by Republicans de-charter capitol cities “whose local government is not representative of the will of the people.” Meaning, controlled by duly elected Democrats. Such cities should be restructured as state municipal districts “in the name of common sense.”
The only thing American about such people is their birth certificates. Like Trump, they are keeping up the appearance of maintaining a republic they have abandoned in all but ceremony.
Margaret Thatcher was wrong. Society does exist. We’re watching ours break down. Rather, we are watching saboteurs demolish it before our eyes.
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