by Ruth A. Sheets
It is often possible to know when a political party or position is morally and ideas bankrupt. One way, it manufactures crimes to charge individuals from groups they don't like. Republicans and conservatives in general, and Texas in particular, have reached moral-bankruptcy (and you are pretty close to ideas-bankruptcy too). Unfortunately for our nation, the infection is spreading.
In one current case, Melissa Lucio, a mother of many children is facing execution on April 27, 2022 for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah — a crime that never occurred. Mariah died two days after accidentally falling down a steep flight of stairs in a new home. The child had a disability that made maintaining her balance difficult. Ms. Lucio has maintained her innocence on death row for more than 14 years, because of course, she is innocent. If she were not innocent, the police and prosecutors would not have used coercion to get her to confess to something she had not done. There is no evidence that she ever abused any of her children in any way. So, why kill this innocent woman?
Every parent worries about accidents that can befall a child and when they occasionally happen, the parents don't get charged and put on death row for it, that is, if they are white and wealthy. Over the years, the Texas criminal justice system has proven itself racist and sexist too, a double-whammy! How can any woman or person of color ever believe there is justice in Texas? They can't. Unless the accused are white, wealthy, and a citizen, oh yes, and straight too, justice is a toss-up at best. (I just remembered that Texas Republicans are homophobic and transphobic too.)
Oh, Texas Governor and Republican legislators, I don't know who you are trying to impress. Why the continuing need to kill an innocent woman? Is it your warning to the people of Texas, to the country, of what people can expect if Republicans get more power? I know that governors of Texas, at least Republican ones in recent decades have held it as a badge of honor to see how many death row inmates they can kill on their watch with their execution pen, and it is clear at least some of the executed in recent years have actually been innocent.
I know of no remorse on the part of any Republican governor of Texas, in fact, signing execution orders is one of the things that got George W. Bush elected president. He had no real skills, no real ideas, could be manipulated rather efficiently into wars and other actions, but could come off as a guy "tough on crime" because of the number of death warrants he had signed as Texas governor. Is that your goal, Mr. Abbott, to be President of the United States? Are you running up your numbers so people will think you are worthy of being in any office beyond governor of Texas?
I hope not, but it is such a Republican thing to do in the
past few decades. The difference now is that you, Governor Abbot, have
alienated many people in this country: independent women, people of
color, the LGBTQ community, honest Christians. The voter manipulation in
Texas has given you Republicans a continuous undeserved control of state
politics but that may not be as effective in places that are not part of the
former Confederacy or among Confederate wannabees. I do know that your
colleagues in other states have been working hard to manipulate voting.
Republican racism and misogyny encourage you to keep those people from
casting their rightful ballots
Unfortunately, lying and cheating have become the "coin of the realm" in Republican circles and will be used to "buy" anyone susceptible, and Republican governors of Texas are susceptible. You have used lying to try to defend indefensible positions, even to stand against the laws of our country, lying and cheating to keep certain people from voting, to claim Trump won an election he clearly lost, to cry "fraud," where there is none, to execute an innocent woman. Truth just isn't within your playbook anymore, if it ever was.
I hope you will choose to grant Ms. Lucio clemency, no, actually, freedom, before your lack of judgment brings about an irreversible injustice. You won't, though, because your rabid base doesn't want you to. They probably won't vote for you for office again if you free an innocent Latinx woman. Shame on you and them. Most of you all claim to be Christian, but I am not noticing any Jesus-like activity among you and your hate-filled base in Texas. Yep! Morally-bankrupt!
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