Horns Down: Abbott Appears with sexist rockstar Nugent
Greg Abbott, attorney general and gubernatorial candidate, faced criticism Tuesday for his choice to appear with aging rocker and tea-party darling Ted Nugent at an event in Denton. The criticism was deserved. As has been widely reported, Nugent has previously admitted to having relationships with high school girls and has publicly called female politicians and feminists names including “worthless bitch,” “fat pig” and “dirty whore.” Abbott’s representatives attempted to distance Nugent from the candidate, saying that “while [Nugent] may sometimes say things or use language that Greg Abbott would not endorse or agree with, we appreciate the support of everyone who supports protecting our Constitution.” We don’t know what’s worse: Abbott agreeing to appear with Nugent in the first place or Abbott’s campaign thinking that there’s any room for sexist, self-admitted sexual predators in the noble quest to “protect our Constitution.” Horns Down to everything about this situation: Nugent’s language, Abbott’s choice to appear with him and the Abbott campaign’s insane insistence that fighting for the second amendment somehow makes up for disgusting behavior toward women.
Horns Up: UTPD offers free pizza for reporting crime
In Wednesday’s paper, we reported on a delectable incentive to report crimes to UTPD: a free pizza. While the program is limited to bike thefts, UTPD officer William Pieper noticed almost immediately after its inception that the number of reports of suspicious activity around bikes spiked. The program discourages false reports by offering the reward only to tipsters whose information leads to an arrest. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the program doesn’t cost the University a thing — according to Pieper, the money for the pies comes out of officers’ pockets. Horns Up to the men and women of UTPD for their continued, creative commitment, often at personal expense, to keeping students, faculty, staff and visitors safe.
Horns Down: Health And Human Services leaves out HB2
The state Senate Committee on Health and Human Services is meeting Thursday to discuss women’s health services, and noticeably absent from the agenda is any discussion of the elephant in the room: the impact of the abortion regulations passed over the summer that, among those already in effect, require doctors to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility. The committee’s exclusion of the issue is a shortsighted, politically calculated move with dangerous consequences. Although the law has not yet gone into full effect, its impact is already being felt acutely across the state: only five of the 22 remaining abortion facilities in the state will remain open once the other restrictions take full effect in October. This legislation needs to be discussed, and we’re disappointed but not surprised that the committee would deny this reality.
