If Harris County Can Sue Over FEMA, Why Can't Whitmire Ever Stand Up To Trump?

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​Above you see Harris County Commissioner Leslie Briones announcing that Harris County is suing the federal government for putting the people at risk by decimating FEMA. 

(Commissioner Briones has still not apologized for signing on to the insulting letter from the Whitmire team, regarding the justified admonishment of the Mayor by Harris County Democratic Precinct Chairs. It's never the role of elected officials to be in the business of the active rank & file.)

From NPR KUHF on 2/11:

" In a series of other statements on Wednesday, Harris County commissioners Lesley Briones, Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia supported efforts to halt mass layoffs at the agency. Though previous court orders temporarily blocked widespread federal layoffs, those protections are expiring, and terminations already began at the end of last year. More than 10,000 FEMA positions are expected to be eliminated in the coming months, according to the county attorney’s office. ...“Dismantling FEMA risks the health and safety of millions of people along the Gulf Coast, especially in the face of devastating hurricanes, winter storms, and other extreme weather events,” Ellis said in a statement. “I’m proud that Harris County is standing up to an out-of-control White House whose misguided mass layoffs will harm workers and endanger our entire community.”

​I'm glad the county is suing on this important matter. What I don't grasp is how Harris County can risk angering Trump on this issue, but Mayor Whitmire says we can't have any official response to the ethnic cleansing of ICE. The Houston Police Department cooperates with ICE. 

There is seemingly nothing that will get John Whitmire to stand up to the state and federal government. Not ICE. Not the evident reality of Houstonians being sent to the immigration concentration camps being built in Houston. Not the prospect of Republicans stealing our Harris County elections. 

We know however that local officials can oppose Trump's actions. We see an example right here. 

Whitmire's refusal to acknowledge what is clearly taking place-and the refusal of Houston City Council to ask better of him-makes it clear that opposition and self-defense here in Houston will have to come from each of us. 

The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. The work ahead is ours. We've seen that in Minnesota in the self-organized networks that oppose ICE and in South Korea is December, 2024 when citizens successfully took to the streets to overturn martial law. 

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