Texas is trying hard to show us what a dis-united states of America would look like. Vigilante-ism. No regulations, no laws. Rule by gun and intimidation. In just a few weeks here’s what the crazed TX legislature and Governor have done:

• Passed a law that prohibits abortion after six weeks (actually, after a fetal heartbeat is detected), before most even women know they’re pregnant. Worse, they’ve included a bounty (!) for any citizen who reports someone assisting a women getting a post-six-week abortion. Random people with no standing in the matter can sue any participant they allege is part of the activity. Clinics and MDs will be overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits incented by the new law. Pure vigilante. Chaos.

• Passed a law that allows allowing all Texans to own guns (not a problem) and “to carry them in public, without a license and without training”. So now any dumbass with no training, no license, can carry a weapon anywhere in the state. That’ll help our nation’s gun violence problem.

• Passed executive orders that prohibit mask mandates of any kind, in schools or otherwise. The rallying cry behind this is “my body, my choice”. Texans seem to fail to see the irony of this with reference to the abortion law.

• From Digby: “On Tuesday, the Texas legislature passed the final version of the Republican voting bill that bans drive-through and 24-hour voting, both used disproportionately by voters of color; imposes new limits on voting by mail, blocks election officials from distributing mail-ballot applications unless specifically requested; gives partisan poll watchers more leeway to influence vote counting; and places new rules and paperwork requirements that deter people from helping others to vote or to register.” In other words, anything that makes it easier for people to vote, they’re against. And vigilante “poll watchers” are empowered. I detect a theme here.

I hope all those Californians who moved to Texas to take advantage of favorable job and housing markets, along with favorable tax rates, are happy with their new vigilante home. When an unlicensed, unhinged nutter tries to enforce his “understanding” of voting laws or school mask requirements and draws down on them, they’ll understand what it really means to be back in the wild, wild west.

This situation is not going to end well.