Rev. Dr. Barber II, Beto O'Rourke on First Leg of 27-Mile Texas Voter Rights March to Austin

Republish via AOC at FeedBurner CC 3.0 License Attribution Required: Daily Fashion Design Culture News

They're off in Texas — marching south from Georgetown to Austin over four days, led by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and and former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. The early stage of the Georgetown-to-Austin March for Democracy is limited to about 100 people, because they are practicing social distancing, masking -- all the protocols.

I know how I felt coming out of a torrid session in the gym today. In the 93-degree heat, all I wanted was to get home as quickly as possible. So I worry about Rev. Dr. Barber. I just do. He's such a great leader, and I worry about him the same way I worry about Simone Biles, every time she goes into orbit.

I can't imagine Rev. Barber walking all that way in this heat. I trust they have air-conditioned medical vans with them, in case anybody has a heat stroke.

It's so sad that America has come to this place again. Texas already has the most restrictive voting laws in America. But for Texas Republicans, they're not strict enough.

It blows my mind frankly, in 2021. I never thought it would be like this with our beloved country totally divided. Stupid me.

I'm so sorry Texas Democrats. I'll be praying for Rev. Dr. Barber. He dishes it out with concerns for his people. But given the temperature in Texas, he needs us praying for him and his wellbeing. Beto O’Rourke, I’m not worried about.

Make good trouble, my fellow Americans. We’re with you in spirit, and AOC will be following you to Austin. ~ Anne

Follow the March at the Texas Tribune: Voting Rights Activists Begin Selma-to-Montgomery-Style March in Texas

The Odds Were Greater That Richard Branson Would Die Today Than Voter Fraud in Texas

Republish via AOC at FeedBurner CC 3.0 License Attribution Required: Daily Fashion Design Culture News

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity 22 didn’t deliver peace on earth today, but Sir Richard Branson and his crew created hope for humankind. Thankfully, the flight had nothing to do with the state of Texas, because Texas has gone totally retrograde.

New Mexico Gov. Grisham Celebrates Space Travel While Texas Gov Abbott Goes Retrograde

Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott and his insurrectionist-supporting right-wingers were busy rolling back the rights of people to vote in Texas — people of color, in particular — this weekend. Across the western Texas border, New Mexico’s Democratic governor Michelle Lujan Grisham looked into the future of space travel.

Minutes before the launch, Gov. Grisham said the international attention on Sunday’s flight would help cement New Mexico’s place in the history of space exploration. Virgin Galactic flew out of a new spaceport constructed with New Mexico taxpayer dollars — a fact celebrated by the governor, who is anything but Texas retrograde.

“We’re not just competing; by God, New Mexico is leading,” the governor beamed in a scrum with reporters, as quoted in the Austin American-Statesman.

The enormous success and publicity of today’s Virgin Galactic’s Unity flight will give New Mexico a more prominent position for drawing aerospace companies and other businesses in the future.

Why Should We Care About Space Flight When American Democracy Is Under a Full-Frontal Assault by the Greg Abbott Crowd?

It's easy to say "why do we even care about Branson’s flight,when Texas is trying to disenfranchise voters of color, when Texas citizens, who lined up at 6am in Austin Saturday waited 16 hrs. for testimony to even begin Saturday night."

We care about Branson's flight because many of us are hopeful adventurers. Rather than watch fellow humans who are red state Republicans still clamoring for Donald Trump to be reinstalled as their king of America, the optimists among us look for answers in the unknown.

If Branson can blast off and live to tell the story -- why the hell cant' we figure out democracy in America.

By their own admission in Texas, there are only 44 people under investigation for voter fraud out of the 11 million who voted in the 2020 election.

The odds that Branson and his team would have died today were far greater than the possibility that voter fraud has any significance on election results in Texas.

If we only live mentally with the Texas vision of possibility in America, we are doomed. This is why AOC says that Texas thinks and acts retrograde -- and yes, the results are devastating for our democracy.

From pumping out fossil fuels and rolling back every environmental regulation in effect under the Obama administration to curtailing voting rates when TEXAS ALREADY RANKS among the lowest states in voter turnout, Texas is totally retrograde.

Even though more voters cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election than in 30 years, Texas still ranked 44 out of 50 states in America.

Richard Branson and Ubuntu

And in the case of Branson, we hope he's not another adventurer who just plunders this sacred new horizon -- which is one that has existed for countless millions of years.

Richard Branson, the founder and CEO of the Virgin Group, makes a powerful argument in his writings for using business to make a positive impact in the world and shifting our values from an exclusive focus on profit to also caring for people, communities and the planet. Ubuntu is doing what you would do for yourself to others as well, and injects a level of much-needed accountability in business.

The Virgin website spoke to the practice of ubuntu in business in 2015.

For me, people like Branson help me to believe there is a way out of the current human condition. Breakthroughs are possible in the future world of Richard Branson and the vision of New Mexico governor Grisham. There is only Trump-style, Texas swagger in the vision of Gov. Greg Abbott.

You can be Texas proud, and still understand why Texas is retrograde. Swagger and brains are usually inversely related. The more you have of one, the less of the other. Texas drowns in swagger — and even Texas white men will proudly confirm that fact.

Don't be like Texas, when in the universe, we can have "ubuntu for all" in the words of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

Sir Richard Branson is an exception to my swagger vs brains comparison. Honestly, he’s got bigger ba**s than most of the men in Texas — except for Jeff Bezos. If Branson decided to sell Texas style snake oil, he could. Luckily for the planet, Branson has always had vision.

The founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, who will himself jettison into space in nine days ,was born in Albuquerque but grew up in Houston and later Miami. Blue Origin operates out of west Texas — and yes, Bezos has brains. Big brains and big ba**s, too. But there’s a big difference between Branson and Bezos.

With true Texas swagger, the Blue Origin team has tried aggressively to discredit Virgin’s suborbital space plane. If Richard Branson were an American, he would have voted for Biden, as would Bezos’ ex-wife McKenzie Scott, who is breaking every record in history rewriting the philanthropy guide to giving money away handbook. McKenzie Scott has perfected the art of ubuntu.

As for Jeff Bezos, I find it hard to believe he voted for anyone but Trump. So view his diminution of Branson through that lens. The Blue Origin team — and Bezos himself — only got nice on launch day because we were all groaning over the crassness of Blue Origins Trumpian, no-ubuntu behavior.

I wept uncontrollably today watching the beauty of Unity’s grand space flight. It gave me comfort and hope knowing that the state of Texas is a total threat to the future of American democracy. Branson walks his ubuntu talk daily because — like me — he believes it’s embedded in the universe.

That’s why AOC is betting on Virgin Galactic and New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, when the vision is America’s future. No one has all the answers to improving our mixed up world. But I’d rather live with futurists who honor the ancestral past and Gaia, than a bunch of retrograde white men Texans who honor a made up story about the Alamo.

May the force be with you both Sir Richard and Governor Grisham. ~ Anne