Melder's Musings

Tuesday was the day many Texans had been holding their collective breath for. It's also the day many other Texans were suddenly reminded of an important issue that's been overshadowed by more frivolous events.

In what many are calling a landmark decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state's current system of funding the public schools, commonly known as the "Robin Hood" plan, amounts to a statewide tax and as such is unconstitutional.

The justices (five of whom were elected, four of whom were appointed to fill vacancies, and all of whom are Republicans) have given the state until June 1, 2006 to fix the system. That means that Governor Rick Perry will have to call the legislature into a fourth special session on this matter. The legislature does not meet again in regular session until January 2007. Perry will likely call the special session after the March 2006 primaries.

It's good timing on the part of the Supremes. With the axe not set to fall until the summer, schools can finish the academic year. As politicians themselves, the Supremes have given their fellow politicos in the lege breathing room for the primaries.

It's also good timing because the decision came one day after the first meeting of Perry's blue-ribbon panel charged with cleaning up this mess. As this blog speculated last month, putting former Comptroller John Sharp in as chairman of that panel likely keeps him out of the Governor's race.

Whether it's the panel's plan or their own, should the legislature fail to adopt a new one, Texas schools will not open next school year.

Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill won't seek another term. (Dallas Morning News photo)

Let me say at the outset that this blog post is fueled by rank speculation. It's speculation that I think deserves attention and discussion. With that said, let's lay out the facts.

The Dallas Morning News reported late last week that Republican District Attorney Bill Hill won't seek a third term. According to the paper, this came as a shock to everyone who knows anything about politics in north Texas. Hill's announcement came without warning and after he had publicly began raising funds and support for a third term.

Hill's bombshell has also left Dallas County Republican Party leaders scrambling to find his replacement on the ballot. It's also left potential Democratic challengers scratching their heads.

Hill's shocking announcement was followed by another bombshell earlier this week. In a stunning defeat for Hill's office, a Dallas County grand jury refused to indict the driver involved in a tragic bus fire. It's a defeat that was covered by media outlets around the world.


Juan Roblez Gutierrez will face no criminal charges after driving the bus that killed 23. (Dallas Morning News photo)

That driver is none other than Juan Roblez Gutierrez. Gutierrez is the man many hold responsible for the deaths of 23 nursing home patients. Those patients were killed when the bus they were riding in during Hurricane Rita evacuations burst into flames on Interstate 45 near Dallas. Dallas County Sheriff's officials say Gutierrez had no Texas Driver's License, that his Mexican Driver's License did not have commercial vehicle status, and that he'd been cited for some 11 safety violations during the past year. Sheriff's officials were pursuing negligent homicide charges.

In other words, it should have been a slam dunk case. As Republicans are fond of saying (especially in Tom DeLay's case), a good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich.

As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, the case against Mr. Gutierrez has not proceeded smoothly. For nearly a month now, officials with the District Attorney's office and the Sheriff's office have accused each other of botching steps in the legal process.

Does the failure to secure an indictment of Gutierrez have anything to do with Hill's decision not to run again? I don't know, but I think it could. Hill made his surprise announcement nearly a week ago. Hill's office disclosed the shocking grand jury's decision two days ago. It's certainly bad timing, if nothing else.

Today's Uberchristians seem to hate the ACLU. They seem to forget that the ACLU is fighting to keep religious expression of all kinds legal in this country. I suppose they would prefer that only their kind of religious expression be legal.

That said, the ACLU has drawn a little more fire than usual from the Holy Rollers this week. Their latest controversy comes from Georgia. As reported by the Dallas Morning News, the ACLU is fighting to expand tax-exempt status to cover a variety of spiritual books. Currently, only the Holy (Christian) Bible is granted that status by Georgia law.

The ACLU is fighting on behalf of a bookstore owner that carries texts from a number of theologies. Her quote sums it all up: "If they're not taxing someone's holy scriptures, they shouldn't be taxing anyone's," said Candace Apple, who owns the Phoenix and Dragon Bookstore in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs. "I'm not willing to stand at the counter and tell someone, 'Oh sorry, your religion is wrong.' "

Let's make sure we understand exactly what's happening here. The ACLU is not persecuting Christians. They not taking away anything from Christians. They're trying to provide equal government protection to all religious people.

Naturally, that won't stop Uberchristians from attacking the ACLU. I reprint below, unedited and in its entirety, an e-mail from one such "Christian" hate group.

Date: November 17, 2005
From: Faith and Action
By: Rev. Rob Schenck and Dane Rose

Christian Activists to Hand-Deliver Letters Demanding ACLU Back Off

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 /Christian Wire Service/ -- The Reverends Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK) and Patrick J. Mahoney will visit ACLU headquarters today to hand-deliver more than 20,000 petitions demanding that the left-leaning liberal attack group back off of terrorizing communities and individuals who seek to affirm America's Judeo-Christian values.

Schenck, who heads up Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital, and Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, asked their respective members to sign the statements after the ACLU sued a small rural school district in Adams County, Ohio, over four displays of the Ten Commandments in front of public schools there. The ACLU won an order for the Commandments to be removed, then demanded that the school reimburse them for legal expenses. After Christian ministers in the community stepped forward with a pledge to replace the money taken from the school budget, the ACLU settled for $80,000.

"The ACLU is this generation's Ku Klux Klan," said Rev. Rob Schenck. "They gallop into small towns with legal hoods over their heads and terrorize good people by threatening to harm children by draining the coffers of local schools if they so much as dare to recognize our nation's true heritage. These ACLU bullies are nothing more than psychological terrorists."

You'll notice two things about that headline. First, that it's not something you'd expect to read here. Second, it has (which hopefully is obvious) a double meaning.

George Will is a right-wing columnist. I rarely agree with anyone representing the right-wing, least of all George Will. That said, these days we are forced to watch as religious zealots have hijacked (much like their Muslim counterparts on airplanes) the GOP. The true conservatives are left out in the cold (or...and perhaps more accurately...the flaming fires of Hell).

Will's latest column in the Washington Post should send a message to those who are genuine conservatives. It's a warning taken from the November 8 election results in Dover, Pennsylvania.

Will includes a quote from one of our founding fathers that is very appropriate in today's political climate: "It does me no injury," said Thomas Jefferson, "for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." But it is injurious, and unneighborly, when zealots try to compel public education to infuse theism into scientific education."

Amen, Brother Will. Amen.

This blog will make more regular attempts at updating the prosecution of Tom DeLay. As news develops, look for it here.

There are two major developments today.

First, as reported by the New York Times, the investigation into DeLay is expanding to cover his successor. Texas prosecutors issued a subpoena yesterday for records of transactions between DeLay's national political action committee and a political committee run by the new House majority leader, Roy Blunt of Missouri.

Second, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is finally answering DeLay's false charges against him. As reported by the Dallas Morning News, Earle filed court papers yesterday denying that prosecutors did anything improper before a grand jury to obtain DeLay's indictments.

In other court action this week, DeLay has filed papers to have his trial moved out of Austin and separated from his co-defendants. Court TV has also filed papers with the court. They want permission to televise the proceedings.

Stay tuned.

Former Senator John Edwards now regrets voting to approve war in Iraq.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, if he could, would change his vote. In an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post, Edwards admits that he was wrong to vote for the war in Iraq.

"It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake -- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed heroically and paid a dear price."

This change of heart and mind won't improve the situation, but I applaud him (or any political figure, for that matter) for admitting his mistake. In case you've forgotten, Edwards was the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in last year's election.

Rick Santorum thinks medical malpractice awards should be limited...unless they're his own. (CNN photo)

True to his party, Rick Santorum is the latest Republican to believe in a double standard. After some investigative journalism by ABC, Santorum is now having to defend his hypocrisy on the issue of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Republicans like to call the issue tort reform. Saying it's a drain on the healthcare industry, Republicans believe that the ability to file lawsuits against healthcare providers should be limited. GOPers also advocate limits on the amount of monetary damages plaintiffs can win in medical malpractice lawsuits.

As reported by ABC, Santorum says:

"... that the No. 1 health care crisis in his state is medical lawsuit abuse and in the past he's called for a $250,000 cap on non-economic damage awards or awards for pain and suffering. "We need to do something now to fix the medical liability problem in this country," he declared at a rally in Washington D.C., this past spring.

But Santorum's wife sued a doctor for $500,000 in 1999. She claimed that a botched spinal manipulation by her chiropractor led to back surgery, pain and suffering, and sued for twice the amount of a cap Santorum has supported.

Santorum declined a request for an interview, so "Primetime" caught up with him at the signing of his new book in Pennsylvania this August to ask if he thinks his stance and history are in conflict.

"I guess I could answer that in two ways," he said. "Number one is that I've supported caps. I've been very clear that I am not wedded at all to a $250,000 cap and I've said publicly repeatedly, and I think probably that is somewhat low, and that we need to look at what I think is a cap that is a little bit higher than that."

But the fact is that Santorum has sponsored or co-sponsored a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages two times — even though he testified in his wife's case against the doctor.

"Of course I'm going to support my wife in her endeavors," he said. "That doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with everything that she does."

But Santorum agreed enough to tell the jury that he had to carry the laundry upstairs for his wife and that, because she suffered humiliation from weight gain, she no longer had the confidence to help him on the campaign trail. The jury was so moved it voted to award Karen Santorum $350,000."

I'm not sure which bothers me more: Santorum's hypocrisy, or that he would actually complain in open court about having to carry laundry upstairs for his wife. If you'll read the entire article, you'll notice that even his claims of lost income are bogus. That's Republicanism for you.

Bill O'Reilly welcomes a terrorist attack on a large American city. (AP Photo)

Right-wing talk show host and Fox News stalwart Bill O'Reilly is advocating a terrorist attack on a major American city. Which city? San Francisco, California.

O'Reilly was (and presumably still is) angry at a proposition presented to voters on last Tuesday's ballot. San Francisco voters opted to urge the city's public schools to ban military recruiters on local campuses.

The measure passed with over 60 percent of San Fran's voters approving. Even with passage, schools are not required to take any action.

Here's what O'Reilly said:

"Hey, you know, if you want to ban military recruiting, fine, but I'm not going to give you another nickel of federal money. You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, "Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead."

"And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, city officials are not responding kindly to O'Reilly's remarks. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin (whose district includes the Coit Tower) told the Chronicle, "It sounds like he's on the same medication Rush Limbaugh is addicted to, and he should go see a therapist.''

O'Reilly's handlers have removed that portion of Tuesday's show from their on-line transcripts and recordings. Luckily for those on the side of truth, both are still available from Media Matters for America, a media watchdog group that makes daily recordings of O'Reilly's broadcasts.

O'Reilly began his terrorist advocacy on last Monday evening's edition of his television show "The O'Reilly Factor." On that show, O'Reilly blasted Angela Alioto, the former president of the city's Board of Supervisors.

"Why should the rest of the country protect your butt, with all due respect, OK, when it comes to the war on terror, if San Francisco is going to thumb your nose and give the big digit to the military? Why should ... why should we protect you from al-Qaida and terrorists if you're going to disrespect the military, by passing this ... even though it's symbolic ... this resolution?"

Naturally, city officials are now calling for O'Reilly to be taken off the air. O'Reilly, meanwhile, is now defending his comments.

Robertson to Dover: God shall smite thee!

The Uberchristians have been busy this week, and a lot of it has to do with Tuesday's elections.

Religious-right leader Pat Robertson used his 700 Club program to warn the people of Dover, Pennsylvania, that God may abandon them. That town's voters threw out school board members who had advocated adding discussions about "intelligent design" to biology textbooks used in local schools.

Robertson said: "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God; you just rejected Him from your city. And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there."

Meanwhile, back here in Texas, a local fight is feeding into a larger national one. Public school officials in Ector county (that's the Odessa area, for all you non-Texans) are moving forward with plans to institute Bible classes. According to one Christian extremist organization, the curriculum for those classes will make children Communists.

Also from Texas, and with Tuesday's resounding defeat of Proposition 2 (the Gay Marriage amendment) under their belts, Lone Star Uberchristians want to expand their efforts.

As the Dallas Morning News reports:

Texas social conservatives want to translate their resounding victory on a gay marriage ban into broader results: reducing the state's divorce rate and passing a nationwide amendment to prevent same-sex unions.

Rep. Warren Chisum, who wrote the amendment, Proposition 2, endorsed by Texas voters by a ratio of more than 3-1, said Wednesday that it's too easy for spouses to split up. The state should consider repealing or modifying its no-fault divorce law, the Pampa Republican said.

"Gee whiz, our divorce rate's higher than New York," Mr. Chisum said. He proposed that between now and their next regular session in 2007, lawmakers study ways "to make marriage thrive more in our state."

Meanwhile, leaders of the pro-amendment campaign said Tuesday's vote should add momentum to the drive to have Congress pass a federal constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.

I think a certain Mr. Chisum is a candidate for Governor in 2010. Like that song by the group Little Texas says, "God bless Texas." Lord knows, we're gonna need it.

As troubling as the item you're about to read is, what's more troubling is the lousy date the Republicans on the Hill chose to make this decision...right before Veterans' Day.

The following comes from a press release issued by the Disabled Veterans of America.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 --A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.

Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.

"The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse," said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

For several decades now, these joint hearings have been held each year to allow the elected leaders of veterans groups to discuss their organization's legislative agenda and foremost concerns with the lawmakers who have jurisdiction over federal veterans programs. Senators and Representatives who serve on those committees also get the rare opportunity to address the hundreds of constituent members from these organizations' who make the annual pilgrimage to Capitol Hill.

"The right to fully participate in the democratic process is a cornerstone of our nation," said Commander Jackson. "Eliminating these joint hearings is an insult to the men and women who have fought, sacrificed and died to protect our Constitutional rights, including the right to petition the government."

This important dialog between veterans and their elected representatives is crucial to the democratic process and a unique opportunity for the men and women who've put their lives on the line for America. Many of the veterans who take part in the hearings view it as their patriotic duty, as well as a fundamental right.

Does anyone still believe the GOP truly supports our troops?

Often, Republicans like to pat themselves on the back for being the "America First" crowd. They accuse Democrats of being far too concerned about the needs of people elsewhere in the world, often to the neglect of issues in the United States.

Action on Capitol Hill this past week (Thursday, to be precise) proves that the Republican Hypocrisy Train was right on time to make its last stop there.

As reported by the Associated Press:

On a 358-39 vote, the House signed off on the spending package that provides $20.9 billion for foreign policy programs and provides financial aid to poor nations for health, education, counter-narcotics and military initiatives. The Senate is expected to approve the bill next week, sending the measure to the president for his signature.

Meanwhile, and also as reported by the Associated Press:

Louisiana is expecting a $3.7 billion bill from the federal government for the state's share of the hurricane recovery, far exceeding anything the governor had anticipated.

The state is already dealing with its own crippling budget problems, including dramatic jumps in unemployment, business shutdowns and a state budget deficit of nearly $1 billion in tax revenue alone, and the estimate from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was a shock.

In other words, we're spending five times overseas what we need to spend here at home to recover from a major disaster. The measure will almost certainly receive the President's signature. He hasn't met a spending bill yet that he didn't like (unless, of course, it makes torture illegal; then he hates it).

With this state's constitutional amendment election on Tuesday, and with the anniversary of Luther's Reformation one week behind us, it's a shame how some so-called Christians are making a mockery of their own religion.

As reported by the Austin American-Statesman:

Ten men and four women calling themselves members of the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan gathered at City Hall plaza Saturday for a brief and hugely contested rally against gay marriage.

The group came to Austin from their home in San Angelo, Texas. According to their hometown newspaper, the group's existence is a surprise to many in that community.

Before anyone of the Christian faith gets too self-righteous about why the Klan was in Austin yesterday, consider what the group's leader said. ''We're asking Texans to support Proposition 2 because God supports it.

That's the same kind of language the conservative Republican authors and supporters of Proposition 2 use at their own rallies. Like it or not, many who call themselves Christians are in the same boat as a group who is anything but Christ-like.

Convicted murderer Charles Victor Thompson didn't get a mug shot nearly so nice as Tom DeLay's.

The same people responsible for making Tom DeLay's mug shot oh so pretty are feeling oh so stupid today, and rightfully so.

As this is written, law enforcement agencies from all over southeast Texas are searching for a convicted and twice-condemned murderer. He walked out of the Harris County Jail yesterday.

As reported by The Houston Chronicle and KTRK-TV, Charles Victor Thompson managed to get out of his handcuffs, get into civilian clothing, and get through security with a badge that showed him to be on the Texas Attorney General's staff.

The family of Thompson's victims are once again living in fear. He has publicly threatened to kill them in the past. The Republican Sheriff of Harris County and the Republican Attorney General of Texas should both be ashamed for this colossal failure.

As New Orleans lay in ruin, "Brownie" and his advisors discussed this shirt.

Former FEMA Director, and current, still-on-the-payroll FEMA Consultant Michael Brown appears more of an unqualified idiot with each passing day.

As Newsday reports...

Former Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown discussed his appearance, his dog and his public image as the government's relief effort unraveled after Hurricane Katrina, based on e-mails released yesterday. "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit," Brown wrote to colleagues the morning of Aug. 29, the day the storm hit the Gulf Coast. "I am a fashion god."

Read more for yourself at The Smoking Gun. Download your own copy of the e-mails in PDF form.

Don't forget: you're still paying this guy's salary.

Conservative boss William Buckley is blasting today's conservatives. (NPR photo)

The often-called "father of the conservative movement," William F. Buckley, is not happy with his children.

He takes up some space in The National Review, a right-wing rag he helped found, to berate them for their behavior in the Valerie Plame case.

Former CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson got out of the kitchen before the heat.

As reported by Reuters via Yahoo! News, Kenneth Tomlinson's reign of terror is over at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He's leaving before a report by the CPB's Inspector General.

It looks like the RNC's effort to make PBS and NPR publicly-subsidized versions of Fox News will not work.

As a professor once told me, "Truth just doesn't work well for Republicans."

Just when we thought Mr. DeLay couldn't give liberals any more to attack him for, he's given us a double helping.

That "Fair and Balanced" channel that claims to be "America's Newsroom" is also Tommy's personal airline. A new ethics report filed by Mr. DeLay shows that the Fox News Channel paid thousands of dollars to fly him from Texas to Washington and back to Texas.

Apparently, satellite hookups aren't available in Houston, Texas, the nation's fourth largest city. All of the Fox satellite trucks that brought us the World Series from Houston must have been...um...down for repair. Yeah...that's the ticket.

Be sure to download the PDF of the report for yourself.

In another news, we now have more proof that there are strong connections between Mr. DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In the interest of time, I'll let you research the lobbyist's name yourself.

The back door of the RNC headquarters building in Washington, D.C., is easier to find with its new addition.

The crazy tempo we've been keeping up at work lately has kept me away from my blog for far too long. That said, I'm away from the office today to handle some personal business and I'm taking advantage of some free time. Don't worry, I'm still working. I left my office last night with a file box and three notebooks full of work.

This being my first post in some time, it had to be a good one. It is.

That Republican Hypocrisy train that is constantly working its way across the country apparently makes many stops in the seedy part of town. Many of the Republican party's best known insiders and supporters, all while claiming to be the upholders of virtue and morality, are themselves authors of pornography!

As reported by The New Yorker magazine, the Republican who's who could also qualify for jobs at Harlequin and Hustler.

I'll reprint a small sample below. If you're feeling randy, read the rest for yourself, but make sure the kids are out of the room. The article mainly focuses on the naughty writings of former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, but it brings to light some writings by other noted conservatives.

Libby has a lot to live up to as a conservative author of erotic fiction. As an article in SPY magazine pointed out in 1988...

... [moral highgrounder William] Safire ("She finally came to him in the bed and shouted 'Aragghrrorwr!'’ in his ear, bit his neck, plunged her head between his legs and devoured him") ...

...[father of the conservative movement William] Buckley ("“I'’d rather do this with you than play cards")...

... [Nixon burglar-in-chief and right-wing radio host G. Gordon] Liddy ("“T'’sa Li froze, her lips still enclosing Rand's glans . . .") ...

....[another Nixon hack] Ehrlichman ("‘It felt like a little tongue"”)...

...[Republican apologist and faux journalist Bill] O'’Reilly ("“Okay, Shannon Michaels, off with those pants"), ...

...extracurricular creative writing has long been an outlet for ideas that might not fly at, say, the National Prayer Breakfast. In one of Lynne Cheney's books, a Republican vice-president dies of a heart attack while having sex with his mistress.

I wonder how much of Mrs. Cheney's writings represent her own personal sexual fantasies. Perhaps she'll read them aloud this year at the National Prayer Breakfast.

It's always good to return to the blog...pardon the pun...with a bang.