Volum e 1 9
N umber 31
November 22 -28, 2023
INSIDE
STAFF Anthony Mariani, Editor Lee Newquist, Publisher Bob Niehoff, General Manager Ryan Burger, Art Director Jim Erickson, Circulation Director Edward Brown, Staff Writer Emmy Smith, Proofreader Michael Newquist, Regional Sales Director
Roasted
Jennifer Bovee, Marketing Director
Tim O’Hare, Mercy Culture, Greg Abbott, asshole lawyers, Roots Market, book banners, Jerry Jones — Turkeys run rampant here.
Julie Strehl, Account Executive Tony Diaz, Account Executive Wyatt Newquist, Digital Coordinator
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Digging Indigenous Fare At Hooker’s Grill, Indian Tacos aren’t the only Native American things on the menu.
CONTRIBUTORS Christina Berger, E.R. Bills, Jason Brimmer, Buck D. Elliott, Juan R. Govea, Patrick Higgins,
Siege of Too Long
Laurie James, Kristian Lin, Vishal Malhotra,
And boring. Napoleon strives for grandeur but comes up … short.
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Cody Neathery, Wyatt Newquist, Madison
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By Kristian Lin
Music Awards Backlash
EDITORIAL
BOARD
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Fort Worth Weekly mailing address:
Feature Screen Night & Day ATE DAY8 a Week
Thanksgiving. . . . . 14
17 Eats & Drinks 20 Music
Music Awards. . . . 21
22 Classifieds
Backpage . . . . . . . . 24
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COPYRIGHT The entire contents of Fort Worth Weekly are Copyright 2022 by Ft. Worth Weekly, LP.
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TOTAL MERRIMENT
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Skip the stress of driving to the airport with fabulous $5 a day long-term parking at most TEXRail stations. Plus, ride FREE all November for Trinity Metro’s Fare-Free 40th Anniversary! Learn more at RIDETRINITYMETRO.org/TEXRAIL-LTP.
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300 Bailey, Ste 205, Fort Worth TX 76107
NOVEMBER 22-28, 2023
Cover art by Ryan Burger
Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue, Cole Williams
Anthony Mariani, Edward Brown, Emmy Smith
Can’t complain unless you vote. By Patrick Higgins
Simmons, Steve Steward, Teri Webster,
FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY
By Edward Brown
Clintastic, Brand Ambassador
Cour tesy Sony Pictures
By Weekly Staff Writers and Contributors
Stacey Hammons, Senior Account Executive
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The 2023 Turkey Awards
pop-culture norms of how “beauty” is defined or by the knowledge that way too many people in this country are somehow OK with women not being allowed to choose what to do with their own bodies. Our elected officials should do everything in their power to ensure that these future leaders have the resources and self-confidence to be independent and thriving women instead of using them as bogeymen to further warped political agendas.
The anti-Best Of, our 25th annual celebration of highly questionable local actions and actors is served.
Eat Crow
Everyone makes mistakes, but the antics we point out in this issue aren’t just slipups. Most of them have been committed by bad actors with malicious intent or rampant, perhaps even temporary stupidity in their brain pieces. Or both. Don’t worry. We don’t expect anything to change. We’ve been writing about local corruption and dumb decisions for decades, and Fort Worth, North Texas, and the entire state are now worse off than they’ve ever been. Christian Nationalists have taken over the highest elected positions in Tarrant County, and several local school boards have fallen under the sway of these warped, racist bigots. When Fort Worth becomes a Christian caliphate, it won’t be because we didn’t warn you. We have. And we will continue to do so. It’s our job. Just remember to set a reminder next time an election rolls around, mmkay? Our founding fathers sure would appreciate it. And now for the 25th Annual Fort Worth Weekly Turkey Awards … — Anthony Mariani
Culture Vultures
The message from Near Southsiders couldn’t be clearer: Christian Nationalists, get lost. Keep your latte-toting, essential oil-loving cult at your Mercy Culture Church compound because your obsession with Pastor Landon Schott’s prophecies and QAnon-tinged Instagram stories may make for great convos after church, but the rest of our fair city is moving forward with crazy notions of equality and the strict separation of church and state/hate. In June, residents of Fort Worth’s most progressive neighborhood learned that a local outdoor market had booted a vendor because she’s queer. Carlie Alaniz was shocked to be kicked, largely because the married couple behind Roots Market never showed their disdain for the queer community to her. Another queer person, Madelaine Klein, was similarly tricked by the owners and left after Alaniz. If Mercy “Cult” followers were initially ignorant of the unapologetically LGBTQaffirming Near Southside community, the charismatic churchgoers got schooled
this summer as dozens of loud and proud protestors took to peacefully protesting Roots Market’s weekly events that drew fans like LaunchBox Collective’s co-owners and Westside Garments, a pop-up retailer that sells clothes “stained by encounters.” Hope they have a good return policy. #gross Roots Market’s last appearance on the Near Southside was in August. As out of touch as Mercy Cult’s congregants are, they appear to have gotten the message that the only thing Near Southsiders hate is hate. Cults and other misguided populist movements thrive when decent-minded people tolerate intolerance. The backlash against Roots and Mercy isn’t an attack on organized religion but rather righteous resistance to crazies hiding behind the Bible to disparage people who aren’t straight (and rich and white), so a heaping helping of tasty turkey breast to the feisty Near Southsiders who spoke out and stood up for vulnerable and marginalized groups and nothing but gizzards for Roots and Mercy.
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Cour tesy Instagram
FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY
NOVEMBER 22-28, 2023
fwweekly.com
Dig In
Ar t by Ryan Burger
B Y W E E K LY S TA F F W R I T E R S A N D C O N T R I B U T O R S
Mercy Culture followers lack the selfawareness to realize that they, not our awesome gayborhoods, are the main source of evil in this town.
Gobbling Up Girls’ Futures
Add misogyny to the long grocery list of deplorable acts committed by Republican county leaders over the years. In early October, three right-wing county commissioners voted to block $115,334 earmarked for Girls Inc. of Tarrant County, a nonprofit that helps young women lead healthy, educated, productive lives. Nowhere in the charity’s programming are signs or even hints of “Marxist indoctrination,” but that didn’t stop a few Southlake Trumpanzees — most notably County Judge Tim O’Hare and Leigh Wambsganss, who leads Patriot Mobile, a far-right PAC masquerading as a cell phone service provider — from spreading lies about the nonprofit. Wambsganss, who has tirelessly worked to turn Southlake into a safe zone for fragile white racists, described Girls Inc. as an “extremist political indoctrination machine advocating for divisive liberal politics.” With the three Republican commissioners outvoting the two Dems, Girls Inc. lost around 20% of state funding to support STEAM programming along with stress management classes and other important resources — all due to bullshit peddled by the racist Southlake trash in charge. Life in tony Southlake affords a buttress against life’s dangers and stressors for O’Hare and Wambsganss, and for the Southlakers to use their privilege and influence to snub economically disadvantaged girls speaks to the vile and sadistic motivations driving politics in Tarrant County these days. Repressing girls and women places Tarrant County squarely in line with Taliban values at a time when commissioners O’Hare, Gary Fickes, and Manny Ramirez paradoxically laud our county as a destination for business and families — yeah, rich, straight, white or *gag* white-adjacent families who claim they follow Jesus but with all the hate in their hearts act more like Satan. Our girls and young women face tremendous challenges, whether it’s low self-esteem driven by social media and
It’s a shame that national Democrats have given up on Texas for ’24, essentially handing this great, diverse state to a sexist, racist, felonious rapist/conman who cares only about himself and his billionaire (“billionaire”) cronies. (Remember, Donald Trump’s favorite Bible verse is “all of them.” #truechristian) Despite all the gerrymandering, Texas is still verging ever more closely toward purple every day, and while Grandpa Joe might not carry the state this time, his predecessor Hakeem Jeffries (please) may have a shot. Lay that groundwork now, Dems. Fuck Greg Abbott. Yes, fuck him every which way. Easily one of the most despicable, loathsome, and evil U.S. governors in the history of this great nation, Abbott recently endorsed tRump for president, meaning that pretty much every wealthy, educated, white Christian in this state and every poor, uneducated, white Christian here and every wannabe[-] white Texan (gosh, must suck to hate the skin you’re in) will vote for the guy openly advocating for a dictatorship. That’s it. The end of democracy. And the beginning of the absolute rule of an utter POS whose brown shirts will jail you or worse for even thinking differently than Fox Nation. Fight back now because silence and apathy equal complicity. We understand that Dems are always short on cash because most of them aren’t puppets to power-hungry oligarchs or to greedy billionaires and millionaires looking for tax breaks. Still, with the exception of this backwater, nearly every major Texas city is progressive. Where’s that foundation, Biden/Harris? The time is now. Especially now because Abbott is hurting. Just last week, the Texas House voted 84-63 against vouchers, the governor’s billionaire-backed scam to defund public education to subsidize private/Catholic schools for wealthy whites. It’s a yuge loss for him and one from which he may not recover politically if you do-nothing Dems actually do something here. Cut the “they go low, we go high” bullshit. It should be “they go low, we go lower.” The very foundation of this nation is at stake. Time to get dirty, damn it. So while we’re more than happy to pile onto Abbott’s plate a heaping helping of gruel, we’re also going to set aside a bowl of crow for him. Mmm. Rich, white, conservative Christian man tears. Tasty.
Side of Scabs?
Taylor Sheridan has made Yellowstone into an enormous hit among the kind of people who hang Don’t Tread on Me flags in their living rooms. We’re not putting the Polytechnic High grad on this list for that dubious achievement. No, the superstar continued on page 5