Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans Rebuke Obama’s Bathroom Mandate at Convention

Texas Governor Greg Abbott led a number of state Republicans attacking Obama’s public school bathroom as the Texas Republican Convention continued in Dallas today:

I announced today that Texas is fighting this. Obama can’t rewrite the Civil Rights Act. He’s not a King. #tcot https://t.co/vDgfQPZXjR

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 13, 2016

Abbott went on to vow that Texas will fight Obama alongside North Carolina’s governor, and intends to announce next steps in the bathroom battle as soon as today:

“Obama is turning bathrooms into courtroom issues. I want you to know, I am working with the governor of North Carolina, and we are going to fight back…. Our country is in crisis, and Texas must lead the way forward.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick just spent a week of fighting a Fort Worth School superintendent who wanted to open all his school district bathrooms to persons of all genders. He was in no mood today to deal with Obama’s new gender policing effort:

“This will be the beginning of the end of the public school system as we know it…. President Obama, in the dark of the night – without consulting Congress, without consulting educators, without consulting parents – decides to issue an executive order, like this superintendent, forcing transgender policies on schools and on parents who clearly don’t want it.”

.@DanPatrick ” we will not yield to blackmail by the President of the United States” @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/JIaY6Manid

— Julie Fine (@JulieFineNBC5) May 13, 2016

Probably the best quote from a Texas Republican was the “straight to the paper shredder” blast by Port Neches-Groves, TX Superintendent Dr. Rodney Cavness:

“I got news for President Barack Obama. He ain’t my President and he can’t tell me what to do. That letter (to be released to all public schools tomorrow) is going straight to the paper shredder. I have 5 daughters myself and I have 2,500 girls in my protection. Their moms and dads expect me to protect them. And that is what I am going to do. Now I don’t want them bullied… but there are accommodations that can be made short of this. He (President Obama) is destroying the very fiber of this country. He is not a leader. He is a failure.”

Apparently a Texas lawsuit challenging Obama is on it’s way:

This signals a lawsuit- from Attorney General Ken Paxton @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/r21WOQMVNh

— Julie Fine (@JulieFineNBC5) May 13, 2016

Expect to hear more about the all-important bathroom politics from the Convention all weekend.

For Some Reason, Trump Didn’t want to go to Texas this Weekend

Texas Senator John Cornyn tried to get the presumed nominee to visit the convention, but apparently he was too busy hiding tax returns and lying to the media about the fake names he used for previous interviews:

Senator Cornyn says he invited Donald Trump to the convention, but he is not coming @NBCDFWpic.twitter.com/e4mD1seIUK

— Julie Fine (@JulieFineNBC5) May 13, 2016

Fiorina Makes a Major Endorsement Announcement

Carly spoke alongside Rafael Cruz at the  Texas Convention last night and teased the crowd with an endorsement announcement:

“I am endorsing — for Senate, in 2018, Ted Cruz.”

“Sometimes we can get so caught up in party politics … that we forget about governing and we forget about what really matters and we forget about who we really are and what we’re really about, so I come here tonight to say … let us not forget who we are. We are the party of Lincoln.”

Inspiring Photos of Our Military Women in Afghanistan and Iraq

These ladies didn’t need to be drafted – they volunteered. This is an exceptional photo essay by Reuters.

Well That’s it for the water cooler today. It’s an open thread so have at it.