Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive order prohibiting so-called vaccine passports. That sounds great until you dig in to it and you realize that he only prohibits state agencies or any private entity that receives state funding from requiring an individual to get a vaccine or provide proof of immunization status.
This is pretty emblematic of Abbott’s performance in the wake of the pandemic. Crisis doesn’t build character, it reveals it. He gave in to the fear early on and issued stay at home orders and closed businesses which cause people to lose their jobs and businesses. Then we had that deep freeze a couple of months ago and we found that he was woefully unprepared and people died because they had no heat and food was scarce. You expect these things to happen in leftist hellscapes like Commiefornia, Taxachusetts, New York and Chiraq, places run by leftist governors and mayors; but that should never happen in Texas.
So why the about face? I suspect that Abbott has aspirations beyond being the governor of Texas, but any shot he had at the presidency a couple of years ago is now gone. He sees the love that Ron DeSantis is getting on a national level and wants some of that for himself. When you read the executive orders issued by both governors, the reasons for DeSantis’ ascendance and Abbots decline become abundantly clear.
From the beginning, DeSantis refused to give in to the fear porn peddled by the American Pravda and did not shut down the Florida economy, did not issue stay at home orders or mask mandates. His version of the vaccine passport executive order prevents private businesses from mandating patrons show proof of vaccination. As noted from the beginning, Abbott’s version does not address private businesses unless they receive state funding. Removing the mask mandate and now this toothless executive order that doesn’t go far enough are transparent attempts to reverse the damage that he did to his reputation and rehabilitate is his chances at reelection in 2022.