“When Texas froze last week, so did Greg Abbott. The temperatures dropped, the power went out, and Abbott checked out. As the disaster unfolded, Texans heard nothing from their governor. He waited two days to address the public.
A week later, Abbott continues to blame others. Even after we’ve learned that it is Abbott who appoints and controls the people in charge of our energy grid, he has failed to hold himself accountable for a disaster he did nothing to head-off and kept doing nothing as it got worse.
All of us should recognize – especially those in the media – that Abbott’s remarks this evening are simply an exercise in political damage control.
We’ve seen this Abbott act before. After chemical explosions, mass shootings, and deadly hurricanes, he displays fake anger and staged sympathy followed by promises of vague reforms that never happen. His game is to avoid accountability and protect the status quo by getting the public and media to focus attention on empty promises going forward instead of broken promises looking back.
Expect the same play tonight – orchestrated outrage, pointed fingers, no accountability.
After spending the last 20 years as a front row cheerleader to an unaccountable, unregulated energy industry, Greg Abbott has forfeited any trust to find the real cause for the Texas power grid collapse or to fix it going forward.
Greg Abbott’s speech tonight should include only one item – an apology to Texans for failing them badly.”
