Davy Crockett Also Surrendered at the Alamo

 

Kate Rogers, The Alamo Trust

What happened to the Republican woman appointed to oversee the historic renovation of the Alamo in San Antonio:

Kate Rogers didn’t know it at the time, but Oct. 13 would mark the beginning of the end of her four-year tenure leading the $550 million renovation of the Alamo.

On that day, two posts appeared on the X account of the famous San Antonio historic site. One celebrated Columbus Day. The other, which has since been deleted, celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday ​recognized by President Joe Biden in 2021 that honors Indigenous populations in the United States.

Yep. You saw it coming, right? Prominent Republicans immediately yelled "Woke!" -- parroting Donald Jethro Trump and his war on the Smithsonian for telling historical truth -- and started calling for Kate Rogers' head on a pike. The Texas Land Commissioner, a fellow Republican with jurisdiction over the Alamo, announced an investigation of her. Facing an emergency board meeting, Rogers admitted she didn't write nor post those tweets, but she offered to resign anyway. She was baffled and non-plussed by the uproar because those tweets were wholly innocent pro forma recognitions of national holidays -- probably posted by an intern. But to prove their trumpist brainwashing, the majority on her board needed to roll somebody's head out the door, so they chose to fire the Communications Director rather than accept Rogers' resignation.

According to the WashPost, eight days later Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a known bully, had gotten hold of Rogers' 2023 Ed.D. dissertation, which unpacked the ways that museums can influence how history is taught in schools. Lt. Gov. Patrick called Rogers directly, read aloud to her a short passage from page 80 of her dissertation, and demanded her immediate resignation. The passage Patrick read to her:

“Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time.”

You see the blistering idiocy of Patrick for demanding that someone resign for speaking the actual stark truth: "politically may not be possible at this time." 

At first Rogers refused Patrick. The lieutenant governor, who loves to bully people he perceives as vulnerable, immediately went public on how crypto-liberal the woman boss at the Alamo really was, calling out the dogs to hound this woman out of office. And Rogers quickly caved. Now she's suing. Earlier this week she sued Patrick, the land commissioner, and the board of The Alamo Trust in federal court in the Western Dist. of Texas for wrongful termination.

I'd probably tag her as a country-club Republican, moderate and sensible and imminently practical, which makes her highly effective and also unwelcome in MAGAland. Her long history of executive management of corporate organizing and image-building gave her access to the highest circles of the Texas Republican establishment, and her treatment at the hands of Dan Patrick may become a rallying point for moderate conservatives. Her Linked In profile:

Motivated executive with experience in campaign development, change management, public relations, advertising and communications. Winner of multiple Addy and other industry awards. Established reputation as a change agent with consistent results, with a knack for building a high performance team focused on strong innovation.