We Have an Issue: Honoring RBG
The stakes have raised even higher for the most consequential election in a lifetime
By Kimberley Jones, Fri., Sept. 25, 2020
It's a terrible shame that the passing last Friday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was instantly politicized. A champion of equal rights both in front of the bench as a trailblazing attorney and on the bench as our country's second-ever female justice, Ginsburg deserved to have her death mourned and her life celebrated without all the yakking about "the Mitch McConnell Rule."
Air quotes, obviously, because the GOP is just making this shit up as they go along, right? McConnell twisted himself into a pretzel in 2016 to justify refusing to consider President Obama's Supreme Court pick, and he's done it again to justify fast-tracking a Trump nominee before the clock runs out on this cursed presidency. Grudging respect for the majority leader's diabolical gamesmanship aside, it's just more of the same gaslighting we've been enduring for four years. Rules get rewritten overnight. Long-held standards get brushed off like crumbs from a beard. Outright lies so wackadoo you think you might actually be losing your mind get repeated and retweeted, and the heroic work of fact-checkers simply cannot make a dent in the reach of those lies and the insidious hold they have on the minds of so many Americans.
Ah yes, but this was supposed to be about RBG. What a tickling treat it was when she became a pop culture icon. For once, the meme gods smiled on someone worthy; now little girls dress up like Supreme Court justices for Halloween. Her loss flattened me, as it did so many others. But it was cheering how swiftly our collective sorrow turned to action. The nonprofit PAC ActBlue reported record donations over the weekend, and every tribute I saw came to the same conclusion – that the best way to honor RBG is to show up and be counted in the most consequential election in a lifetime.
Our own election coverage kicks into high gear this issue. In this week's cover story, Jack Craver and Mike Clark-Madison provide a closer look at Austin's many attempts to improve and expand public transit, culminating in the multimodal, massively ambitious Project Connect, to be funded in part by a property tax rate increase that's on the ballot as Proposition A. (Additionally, there's a bond on the ballot, Proposition B, that would fund sidewalk improvements, bikways, urban trails, and other mobility projects.) Clark-Madison also takes the temperature of the Congressional District 25 race – that's the Julie Oliver-Roger Williams rematch.
In next week's issue, we'll run our endorsements for the November election – a little earlier than usual to account for so many voting by mail and voting early to give the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service a fighting chance. (You can bypass the mail altogether and drop your ballot off directly at one of several designated drop zones in Travis County.) The following week we'll print the League of Women Voters of Texas election guide, a most excellent resource.
We're also pleased to partner in the Time to Vote initiative, a nonpartisan effort to support voting participation in the workplace. Participation starts with registering to vote. We've made that part easy for you. Check out p.13 for a fully functional Travis County registration form. The envelope and stamp are on you.
Online This Week
SXSW Is Back The cultural festival confirmed March dates for three core elements, all going online for 2021: the conference, the film festival, and SXSWedu. Tuesday's announcement did not rule out the possibility of an in-person event, or of the music festival going on in some capacity.
In Memoriam: Jan Reid A longtime Texas Monthly writer who turned a brush with death into the powerful memoir The Bullet Meant for Me, Jan Reid passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. Friend and fellow author Jesse Sublett and Arts Editor Robert Faires both pay tribute online.
C3 Slims Down Austin events and artists management company C3 Presents issued widespread layoffs last week. The pandemic has forced the cancellation of C3 signature events Lollapalooza and ACL Fest.
The Deets on Date Night From amuse-bouche to what to read while the pork chops marinate, Wayne Alan Brenner walks you through the makings of a homebound night of romance.
