...or stupidity? Earlier this month when President Biden announced discontinuation of the use of Title 42 to deny entry to migrants at the southern border, Texas Governor Abbott decided to take on the responsibility of protecting the US from Covid-bearing migrants by imposing enhanced inspection of trucks crossing the border. Abbott also announced that he would provide buses to transport migrants to Washington, DC, at tax-payor expense as a way to draw attention to Biden's decision. Political grandstanding as an election approaches is par for the course. However, this proved to be a case of putting your mouth in motion before putting your brain in gear. The free bus rides were quickly panned by Republicans and praised by Democrats and Abbott tried to rectify his mistake by rescinding the offer to pay for the bus rides and asking the public to pay for them instead. Judging by the number of people taken to DC as a result of Abbott's action, this does not appear to have gone well. As for the enhanced truck inspection at the border as a way to poke Biden in the eye, Abbott appears to have emerged with a political eye injury. Predictably, the action resulted in a big back-up of commercial truck traffic at the border. To add insult to injury, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller, a Republican, in an interview with Steve Inskeep on NPR, took Abbott to task for (a) not informing him of the plan, (b) imposing superficial inspections of the trucks after his department and the USDA had already done thorough inspections, (c) not anticipating the resulting delays, spoilage of produce and negative impact on trade, and (d) not trying a "kinder gentler approach with our trade partners" - anyone remember George H W Bush? Miller did not stop there. He went on to complain that Abbott's action had caused a rise in food prices in Texas and beyond. Can you say "Inflation"?
Let us set aside the hypocrisy of a Covid-denying, vaccine doubting, conspiracy theory peddler - Abbott - using Title 42, a public health measure, to try to give Biden a black eye. I simply do not buy the premise that Abbott did not consider any and all of the consequences of his action that Miller told Inskeep about. I am left with the conclusion that an increase in the degree of inflation was precisely what Abbott had in mind. Even people who did not see a problem with the huge traffic jams at the border would notice the increase in prices at the grocery store. He just did not expect his own Agriculture Commissioner to let the cat out of the bag.
Texas voters have a decision to make in November. Neither duplicity nor stupidity is desirable in a public official.