Mark Easterly

Lobo canoso. From the Big Thicket to Big Bend.
In-house counsel. Views are my own.

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@HoustonChron Quite a move here by Paxton, since there are 12 other NCAA Division I FBS teams in Texas, and those schools' alumni vote.

[FOX Sports @FOXSports]

MEXICO SCORES THE FIRST GOAL OF THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP 🇲🇽

It's Julián Quiñones in the scoresheet!

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@atrupar 🥨

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@atrupar "They just don't know it yet."

[Waffle House @WaffleHouse]

bacon is just straight up good for the soul

[Mike Young @micyoung75]

Let's walk through what actually happened here, in order.

DOGE cut the USAID program specifically designed to prevent screwworm from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. DOGE cut USDA's animal disease control and prevention funding. That funding had supported more than 180 outbreak investigations in 22 countries and capacity-building in more than 160 laboratories. The screwworm monitoring and response program that watched the border for exactly this parasite - cut.

Then screwworm showed up in Texas cattle. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a disaster for Zavala and Uvalde counties this week.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins went on CNBC this morning and blamed the Biden administration, 17 months out of office.

Her specific words: "obviously not much had been done to push back."

The program that was supposed to push back existed. DOGE eliminated it in March 2025. Rollins has been Agriculture Secretary since February 13, 2025. The cuts happened on her watch.

Beef prices are already high. Ranchers in south Texas are now dealing with a flesh-eating parasite that was eradicated in this country in the 1960s - eradicated, specifically, using the sterile fly program her department defunded.

The flies existed. The program existed. The budget existed.

Until it didn't.

[Texas Tribune @TexasTribune]

A proposal to bar the Trump administration from building a border wall in Big Bend, which is rarely traversed by migrants, died Wednesday in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, after the GOP-controlled panel rejected the idea along party lines. https://t.co/BCJ7VCyLHy

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

Bombshell from Haberman and Swan:

Trump wanted the Epstein issue buried and snapped at anyone who mentioned it.

In the days before WSJ published that Epstein birthday book scoop, Trump tried to quash the story by calling Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.'s chief executive, and The Journal's editor in chief.

He failed. https://t.co/FRS0DNATAh

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@WalshFreedom @jefftimmer Solid tweet, Joe.

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

I’m astounded whenever I’m out of the city and hear people booing Jose Altuve, and then I remember that this country twice elected Donald Trump.

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@Kasparov63 Ukraine is not in NATO.

[Nick Anderson/Political Cartoonist @Nick_Anderson_]

Craven Cruz
Link in comments...
#tedcruz #txlege

[Mark Easterly @chilicook]

@billybinion See also, e.g., Cornyn v. Paxton.

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump three rules:

1. Never admit when you're wrong
2. Never concede defeat when you lose
3. Attack anyone who attacks you even when you're wrong.

50 years later - in 2026 America - we are living under the insanity and tyranny of those three rules.

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

The inflation rate in Biden's last month in office was 2.9%. Trump (supported by a Republican Congress) has driven it up to 4.2%.

Thank you, voters, for your attention to this matter.

https://t.co/2BWtpX5aEf

[San Antonio Express-News @ExpressNews]

The Trump administration is planning to build 17 miles of metal barriers in and around Big Bend National Park to prevent access by four-wheel-drive vehicles. https://t.co/WTMb0PSxeE

[Super 70s Sports @Super70sSports]

If your coach doesn’t look like a cattle rancher who also runs a reputable whorehouse and your quarterback got more than 45 minutes of sleep before kickoff, you don’t even know what badassery is …

[Reuters @Reuters]

Reuters examined four Trump family crypto ventures and found a common template: The Trumps risked little up front, hyped the ventures and raked in money--all while many buyers lost big when prices later tanked https://t.co/i9nPKaMH2c @specialreports

[danny @dabbs346]

Update?

[Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳 @chefjoseandres]

.@SenTedCruz the guy who didn’t defend his wife and who left Texas as an brutal Snow storm was arriving to Texas, talking about the meaning of “masculine”…🤣🤣🤣😆😅😇hello?