Melder's Musings

The May 2010 Elections

2011-05-06T03:03:00.005-05:00

It's May, and that means that many municipalities and school districts across Texas are holding elections. Below are my endorsements for those elections in Lampasas. Needless to say, candidates who are throwing about the word "conservative" won't be listed here. If you want me to explain any of my endorsements, leave a comment and I'll reply with the reasons behind my choices.

City of Lampasas

Mayor: Judith Hetherly
City Council, Place 1: Jason Hamilton
City Council, Place 2: Robert McCauley
City Council, Place 6: John Cole
Proposition 1 (Library Expansion): For
Proposition 2 (Civic Center Construction): For

Lampasas Independent School District

Board of Trustees, Place 7: James “Jamie” Briggs

Election Day is Saturday, May 14. The First Methodist Church at 2 Alexander Lane in Lampasas is the sole polling place on that day. Polls will be open from 7:00 that morning until 7:00 that evening.

Early votes can be cast weekdays through May 10 in the office of the Lampasas County Elections Administrator at 407 South Pecan Street in Lampasas. The office is open during the standard business hours of 8:00 each weekday morning through 5:00 each weekday evening.

A special extended early voting option is available today, May 6, at the office of the Lampasas County Elections Administrator. The office will be open from 7:00 this morning through 7:00 this evening. I'll be casting my vote there when I arrive in town this afternoon.

Thank You, Senator

2011-02-17T21:51:00.002-06:00

While being a Democrat in the Texas Legislature doesn't mean much these days, sometimes the few who are there make me especially proud.

I'll let an e-mail written by Texas State Representative Carol Alvarado and distributed to Democratic e-mail lists across the state say the rest.

Friends:

We all remember that in 2007, State Senator Mario Gallegos literally risked his life by traveling to Austin to beat back the voter-suppressing Photo ID bill from his sick bed. Over the last two days, the Senator has once again put his service to the people of Texas above himself.

Yesterday, Senator Gallegos' daughter Melissa gave birth to his 6th grandchild, a beautiful baby girl. Today, the Senate passed the shameful sonogram bill that intrudes on the rights of women and on the doctor/patient relationship in the name of politics and personal ideology. Senator Gallegos, as expected, voted against the consideration of the bill under the Senate's 2/3rds rule and against the bill on final passage.

Honestly, no one would have blamed Senator Gallegos had he been absent for the vote - it was a foregone conclusion that the bill was going to pass the Senate, but he ultimately made the difficult decision to stay in Austin and fight for what he believes in.

Senator Gallegos has time and again gone beyond the call of duty and proven his loyalty to our party, our state, and our personal freedoms above all else. I hope you will join me in thanking my friend, our Senator, the Honorable Mario V. Gallegos.

Proudly,

Carol Alvarado
Senate District 6 Resident

I join Representative Alvarado in thanking Senator Gallegos. While neither of them officially represent me in Austin, they do a lot more for me than either my Republican Representative (Aycock) or Senator (Frasier).

Quote of the Day

2010-12-15T22:18:00.001-06:00

For today's "Quote of the Day" we return to the wit of Marc Campos.

"If the Democratic Caucus of the Texas House of Representatives has any more defections, they are going to have to call themselves the House Democratic Focus Group."

You can read the entire blog entry that was taken from here.

Quote of the Day

2010-12-14T11:31:00.003-06:00

In the past, I've used my "Quote of the Day" posts to ridicule some terrible or stupid (or terribly stupid) thing that a conservative said. Today, I'm reserving the honor (dubious as it may be) for an incredibly spot-on observation made by someone on my side of the political spectrum.

"I was checking out the GOP U.S. House Speaker-to-Be [sic] Sunday night on '60 Minutes' and the fella loves to shed a tear and cry. If Nancy Pelosi had cried a tenth of the time that Boehner has cried she would have been labeled as not up for the job or emotionally unfit for the job or something like that."

The quote comes from today's "Daily Commentary" blog posting by Marc Campos of Campos Communications. I generally take a few minutes each day to read what he says. His comments usually make their way to my computer by way of Carl Whitmarsh's e-mail list.

I don't always agree with him, but today, Mr. Campos is absolutely correct.

Correcting the Chronicle

2010-12-13T23:28:00.003-06:00

The Houston Chronicle got at least two wrong.

While there is no disputing the fact that Texas Democrats suffered massive losses in the November 2 elections, the paper did short us at least two victories.

The Chronicle's R.G. Ratcliffe reports that only one Democratic County Judge, Don Pozzi of Victoria County, won re-election on November 2. Actually, Judge Pozzi is not alone. Andrews County Judge Richard Dolgener also won re-election over his Republican challanger that night.

Of course, it wasn't an entirely good night for Democrats in Andrews County. Mark Hooper, the Party's candidate for Judge of the 109th District Court lost to his Republican opponent in the contest for that open seat.

In another race missed by the Chronicle, a comment left on the Ratcliffe story's webpage says that the incument Democratic Judge in San Jacinto County also won re-election over a Republican. A quick check of election returns from San Jacinto County shows the comment to be true. Judge Fritz Faulker did indeed beat a Republican to win re-election.

In fact, and as the commenter "SanJac56" pointed out, every Democrat running for a county office in San Jacinto County won. The comment was met with replies that question the intelligence and immigration status of voters in San Jacinto County. That tells us all we need to know about those who bristle at the news of Democratic victories.

So, and for whatever it's worth, there's at least a little salve for Demoratic wounds.

Guage Of Support

2010-09-07T22:47:00.002-05:00

Without a script to copy and paste from, I'm going to start this post with some paraphrasing. Terry Jones, the so-called pastor who plans to burn Korans on September 11, told Terry Moran of ABC News that his receipt of some 200 copies of the book are an indication of the support he enjoys across the country.

With that thought in mind, let's extend the apparently self-proclaimed pastor's logic to its mathematical conclusion. Assuming that the widely-cited figure of 300,000,000 is an accurate count of the population of the United States, we can determine (thanks to this handy calculator) that Jones enjoys the support of 0.00006666666666666667 of the American people. In other words, not even close to 1% of Americans physically support what Jones is planning to do.

I take some comfort in that tiny figure. With all of the media foolishness surrounding the incorrectly labeled "Ground Zero Mosque" having resulted in majorities of polled Americans being against its construction, I was beginning to doubt the character of many of my countrymen. Thankfully, the act of Islamophobia proposed by Jones is a bridge too far for almost all of us.

Thank You

2010-09-04T21:20:00.008-05:00

Following my previous criticism of the Hector Uribe campaign, I was quite happy to receive what I did from them yesterday. In an e-mail, the Uribe campaign announced what I would call a major policy position.

In that e-mail, Uribe does an excellent job of laying out the problem and proposes an almost certainly lucrative solution.

"[T]he state has now used up most of the oil and gas on its own lands and the revenue flow which used to gush into the permanent education fund is now a
trickle. Adjusting for inflation, the value of the money from oil and gas leases
on Texas lands in 2010 will have dropped nearly 67% since 1984.

Texas owns the submerged lands stretching 10.3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico along its 376 mile coast. I have proposed that the General Land Office aggressively promote the development of wind farms on our submerged lands to provide a clean and permanently renewable source of energy to our Texas cities. I will ask legislators to support legislation that will require that at least 50 percent of the revenues derived from our state lands be generated from clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020.

Wind farms over Texas' submerged lands would create a new and permanent source of funding for our Permanent School Fund. Furthermore, the installation of approximately 5000 wind-turbines would generate as much value as generated by our mineral leases back in 1984."

I am glad to see the Uribe campaign putting out serious ideas for the serious problems that Jerry Patterson's failures have allowed to fester.

Last month, Uribe proposed to "extend the authority of the Veterans Land Board to issue bonds so that we can either build or purchase an existing hospital right here in the Rio Grande Valley so that we can finally have our veterans’ hospital that has been so long in the making.”

I hope that the Uribe campaign will keep up the good work. I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with them.

Fox News Is A Terrorist Organization

2010-09-04T20:59:00.004-05:00

To be fair, the title of this post is probably over the line. With that said, if I practiced the same kind of propaganda that the folks at Fox News do, it would be well within their standards.

The parent company of Fox News, as it turns out, has a major shareholder that is also a significant benefactor of the imam in charge of the incorrectly labeled "Ground Zero Mosque" that they spend so much time being in a frenzy about at Fox News.

NPR is finally reporting the story long after Jon Stewart first brought it to people's attention.

"Yet the parent company of Fox News shares a financial backer with the imam who is at the center of the firestorm. The second-largest holder of voting stock in News Corp. is Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a nephew of the Saudi king. And through his philanthropies, Waleed has given generously to initiatives pursued by the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf.

But that connection has not been spelled out by Fox to viewers. Fox's intense coverage of the Islamic center, combined with its lack of disclosure about the corporate connection to Waleed, has sparked scorn from some media critics and from liberals — including, repeatedly, from satirist Jon Stewart."

It would be in order for the rest of the media, especially those in the media who have followed Fox's lead in broadcasting the controversy around the proposed facility from hell to breakfast, would also report these facts. I won't hold my breath, though.

Let me end here with a question of semantics. Since terrorist organizations seek to achieve their political ends by terrorizing people (thus the term), and since Fox News spends most of its time running stories that are intended to scare the shit out of its audience, can't we really justify calling Fox News a terrorist organization?

Put Up Or Shut Up

2010-08-22T17:34:00.006-05:00

Since we won't see anything of substance discussed in the media until the incorrectly labeled "Ground Zero Mosque" issue is resolved, I have a solution.

Angry, racist Republicans, put your money and your free market principles where your mouths are. The group building the project paid a little under $5 million for the building. So, all you rich Republicans should bundle together $6 million and buy them out.

Problem solved. Of course, Republicans would rather have a non-issue to scream about than actually work to solve a problem, so I won't look for this to happen.

Sisters In Stupidity

2010-08-19T14:26:00.003-05:00

Radio hatemonger Laura Schlessinger has announced that she's giving up her radio show at the end of this year (conveniently enough, when her current contract expires) to regain the First Amendment rights that she says she's lost.

Apparently needing to feed on controversy, Sarah Palin has tweeted her support of Schlessinger. In the span of 140 characters, Palin also manages to accuse activists of taking away Schlessinger's First Amendment rights.

Ladies, please take your heads out of your asses. No one is taking away anyone else's First Amendment rights in this situation. Both of you have every right to spout all the bullshit you want. People like me have just as much right to call you on it. We also have the right to call your sponsors and radio affiliates (in Schlessinger's case) to make our distaste known to them. They have every right to respond by pulling their advertisements or cancelling your show in order to protect their business interests.

The only way in which anyone's First Amendment rights would be violated in this situation is if the government somehow intervened to stop Schlessinger, Palin, activists, sponsors, or affiliates. That hasn't happened here. It won't happen here. There is no First Amendment breach.

Now, I should probably take some time to explain that broadcasting is not entirely subject to First Amendment protections because the airwaves are a public resource. That's why George Carlin was able to tell his "seven deadly words" joke. It's why CBS paid a lot of money for showing Janet Jackson's breast. Read the Federal Communications Act of 1934 (which was significantly amended in 1996) and you'll understand why. Then we can have that discussion.

Once Schlessinger leaves her show, she'll still have just as much freedom as she does today to say the stupid things she does. Palin will have just as much freedom to support Schlessinger. Activists will still have just as much freedom to call them stupid. Everyone's First Amendment rights will remain intact. The only thing that will be lost is Schlessinger's current opportunity to say stupid things to millions of people at the same time. It's her own choice to lose it. The First Amendment does not guarantee her (or anyone else, for that matter) the right to a radio show.

For a pair of women who make daily use of their First Amendment rights to say outrageous things, it's a sad indicator of their lack of integrity when they accuse people who use their own First Amendment rights to make their outrage known of somehow violating the First Amendment.

He's A Thief

2010-08-17T19:12:00.005-05:00

Republican State Representative Joe Driver admitted to billing taxpayers for expenses he also billed to his campaign. (Photo Credit: Texas House of Representatives)

Joe Driver is a thief.

The Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Garland has admitted to billing Texas taxpayers for expenses that he also billed to his campaign.

Driver made his admission when he was confronted with the findings of an investigation by the Associated Press (AP). According to the AP's report, that money went straight into Driver's pocket.

Here's the most damning information from the AP story:

"The veteran Republican legislator, faced with findings from an investigation by The Associated Press, acknowledged in an interview that for years he has been submitting the same receipts — for luxury hotels, airline tickets, meals, fees and incidentals — to both his campaign and to the Texas House. He has also been collecting thousands of dollars in state mileage reimbursements for travel in vehicles for which his campaign has shelled out more than $100,000 since 2000.
The AP’s review of hundreds of pages of state and campaign travel records found that Driver double-billed for at least $17,431.55 in travel expenses, much of it at fancy out-of-state hotels, since 2005. The number could go higher, but House travel records before mid-2005 have already been destroyed. Driver has been in office for 18 years. The double-billing figure does not include the vehicle expenses.”

Let me repeat one part of that. Records only exist to prove Driver's thievery since 2005. We will never know how much of a thief he truly is and he will likely never have to make restitution for any money he stole between 1993 and 2005.

Not surprisingly, Driver is one of those Republicans who spends a lot of time railing about taxation and government spending. I guess as long as that taxation is for spending that lines his pocket, it's no problem.

Almost as infuriating as his actions is Driver's defense of those actions. He says he didn't know that what he was doing was wrong. Driver goes on to claim that someone, but he can't remember who, told him that double-billing is an acceptable practice.

"Driver, former chairman of the House Law Enforcement committee, said that state ethics authorities approved the arrangement years ago, but he couldn't remember who told him that or when it was. He said he was told to just keep the state money and not reimburse his campaign for the expenditure.

The Ethics Commission says it doesn't provide such advice because campaign money can't be legally converted to personal use."

The Texas Democratic Party has called for a full investigation. Hopefully, we'll all get one.

Proof Positive of Partisanship

2010-08-17T18:40:00.003-05:00

The Fox News Channel's parent corporation gave $1 million to the Republican Governor's Association.

That news comes to us from Politico who originally got it from Bloomberg.

So, the next time you see or hear some Fox News promo calling themselves "fair and balanced," join me in a good, long, loud laugh.

One wonders how much of that money will be funneled to Rick Perry's campaign to get around those pesky Texas laws that prohibit contributions from corporations and require the source of all contributions to be disclosed. Perry's campaign recently settled to avoid a lawsuit that could have proven similarly illegal conduct the last time he was on the ballot.

Wondering What They'll Call It

2010-08-17T18:14:00.008-05:00

The McKinney Police Department identified Patrick Gray Sharp as the man who attacked their headquarters on August 17, 2010. (Photo Credit: KTVT-TV)

Imagine a scenario in which a angry young man drives up to a government building, uses his truck as an improvised explosive device (often called an IED for short), and fires at least 100 rounds at government employees.

If something like that happened in Baghdad, Kabul, or Tehran, the national media would trip over themselves to call it an act of terrorism. Instead, it happened in McKinney, Texas, today, and I haven't heard that word "terrorism" said once.

If it had been done by a brown-skinned man with an Arabic-sounding name, the national media would trip over themselves to call it an act of terrorism. Instead, it was done (according to the police who were the apparent target of the attack), by a white-skinned man with a name that couldn't be more American-sounding. I haven't heard that word "terrorism" said once.

To be fair, the police have said that his motive remains unclear. Even so, I know what news anchors would be calling it if the incident played out the same way but it happened somewhere else.

Core Conservative Values

2010-08-03T19:09:00.003-05:00

With today's news that a growing number of Republican senators want to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the core values of Conservatism have finally become crystal clear to me.

Conservatives love the Bible (except for those parts they ignore).
Conservatives love America (except for those states they want to secede).
Conservatives love the Constitution (except for those parts they want to scrap).

A fourth core value would be that Conservatives love private property rights (except when people use those rights to build a mosque), but I think the list of three really drives the point home.

Shysters

2010-07-17T20:07:00.003-05:00

To be fair, and as a quote in the New York Times article that inspired this post points out, "not all [car] dealers are shysters."

Those that are, however, can continue their shysterism unimpeded thanks largely to Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas.

As the Times reports:

"Sometime next week, President Obama will finally sign a financial reform bill.
Plenty of banks will have to deal with messy new rules, but one big winner in
the 'spare me from further regulation' sweepstakes was auto dealers.

Mr. Obama wanted the new consumer financial protection agency to oversee dealers and the loans they arrange for consumers. So did many consumer groups and military organizations, because crooked dealers have taken advantage of many young soldiers.

But the dealers prevailed, winning exemption from oversight by the new agency, in part through the efforts of Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas."

No one should be surprised that a Republican senator acted to protect a moneyed special interest like car dealers. What should be asked of Republicans, though, is why people who constantly pound on their chests and wrap themselves in the mantle of support for American troops are so unwilling to protect them from an enemy at home.

Cry Me A River

2010-07-17T16:33:00.004-05:00

The Austin American-Statesman brings us the story of a former bus driver who feels he's been slighted because of his religious beliefs.

"A former bus driver has sued the Capital Area Rural Transportation System,
charging that the nine-county transit service discriminated against him based on
his religion when he was fired for refusing to drive a woman to a Planned
Parenthood clinic in January."

Frankly, I think that Edwin Graning, the "ordained Christian minister who is opposed to abortion" and is no longer a bus driver, needs to put on his big boy pants and realize that his rights don't trump anyone else's.

The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is a publicly-funded entity and that makes Graning, by extension at least, a government employee. If he was running some private taxi service, I'd have no issue with his decision. It would be his fare to lose. As a CARTS employee, he had a duty to provide the service he was paid to provide to anyone eligible to receive that service.

It's also worth pointing out that a trip to a Planned Parenthood clinic does not mean an abortion is about to be performed. Planned Parenthood provides an array of services. A half-brained notion on the part of some "minister" (especially one who hasn't figured out how to dupe enough followers out of thier tithes to avoid having to get a real job) is not enough to justify a public service to anyone.

I have to assume that, as an apparent religious conservative, Graning is probably also a limited government conservative. As such, what the hell was he doing working for a public transportation service in the first place? Once again, the hypocrisy of conservatism shines through.

Harold Cook Responds

2010-07-12T18:11:00.004-05:00

Following yesterday's criticism on these pages of the latest press release from the Hector Uribe campaign, Harold Cook has made his rebuttal. I encourage you to read it and I thank him for making it. Not only does Cook answer my complaints, but he also provides a great deal of information about Uribe's positions on the issues in the Texas Land Commissioner race.

Thanks to Cook's rebuttal, I now know that Uribe has already debated his Republican opponent, I know where he stands on energy issues, I am reminded of his speech to the Texas Democratic Convention, and I know what a Commissioner Uribe would do about the Christmas Mountains.

Cook also reports that I can expect a written reprimand from Charles Kuffner for my suggestion that he and I are of the same mind on the latest Uribe press release. I'll link back to that reprimand when it comes.

Uribe's Ubiquity

2010-07-11T17:36:00.003-05:00

Hector Uribe is apparently everywhere. At least, that's what his campaign press people (or, perhaps, person) want us to think.

Less than two weeks since his last campaign press release drew sharp criticism from this blogger, his latest press release is not much better. He's gone from bragging that he saved someone's life to bragging that someone is vicariously living his life.

I will make no attempt to justify someone falsely using the candidate's photo on an Internet dating profile, and I fully support Uribe's efforts to get the fictitious profile taken down, but to issue a press release broadcasting this foolishness to the public (or hoping that Texas media outlets will do the broadcasting for him) is just plain silly.

The tongue-in-cheek tone of the release makes it that much worse. Reminding us that Uribe is an occasional actor with professional head shots does absolutely nothing to make him a more credible candidate.

Uribe's campaign should be using its press releases to attack the Republican incumbent and to announce Uribe's own policy ideas (assuming they actually exist). There's a lot to attack about Jerry Patterson. His record as the custodian of state lands is a terrible one. He's also a pompous ass, but Uribe's campaign seems to be doing all it can to bestow that insult on its own candidate.

The man behind the Uribe campaign press releases is reportedly Harold Cook. The author of his own usually humorous blog about Texas politics, Cook seems to think that getting a chuckle is the sole purpose of all political communication. Sadly, that's not how politics work in the real world. This is especially true in Texas, where the reactionary right has kept Texas Democrats in the political wilderness since 1994 largely by scaring the shit out of people.

Thankfully, I'm not alone in thinking that the Uribe campaign is bringing mockery upon itself. I can only hope that Cook, Uribe, or somebody else in that camp will wake the hell up before November. By then, we may have all enjoyed a few laughs, but we'll have no prospects for a better Texas Land Commissioner.

Democratic National Convention 2012 Finalists

2010-06-30T19:58:00.003-05:00

Thanks to an e-mail chain that began with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and eventually ended with me, I can pass along the list of those four cities "selected as finalists to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention."

They are:

Charlotte, North Carolina;
Cleveland, Ohio;
Minneapolis, Minnesota; and
St. Louis, Missouri.

The Convention is scheduled for the week of September 3, 2012.

I have no particular favorite among the finalists. I've been to both Charlotte and Cleveland (at least a couple of times each, actually), so it might be nice to visit either of the two cities I haven't already.

The Texas Democratic Party will hold their 2012 Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The dates for last weekend's 2010 Convention changed more than once, so I'll let the Party nail it down before I pass along something that I'd have to change later.

Bad Taste

2010-06-30T18:32:00.004-05:00

Hector Uribe (Photo Credit: Hector Uribe Camapign)

There's no way to sugarcoat this. Hector Uribe, the Democratic Party's nominee for the office of Texas Land Commissioner, put out a press release that is in very bad taste.

Saving a life with CPR is great. Bragging about it is not.

Had the press asked his campaign for comment after learning of Uribe's heroic act from an eyewitness or from the official logs of emergency responders, that would be one thing. The Uribe campaign's effort to get some ink by announcing this on their own is quite another.

The overly descriptive language of the release and Uribe's quote make the taste that much worse. Frankly, I'm embarrassed for Mr. Uribe, his campaign staff and Texas Democrats.

Hopefully, the campaign of Republican incumbent Jerry Patterson will let this gross error stand on its own.

All You Need To Know About Ayn Rand

2010-06-19T21:19:00.003-05:00

Like the anti-government Conservatives she (unfortunately) continues to inspire, Ayn Rand was a hypocrite.

"She claimed to have created herself with the help of no one, even though she was the lifelong beneficiary of social democratic largesse. She got a college education thanks to the Russian Revolution, which opened universities to women and Jews and, once the Bolsheviks had seized power, made tuition free. Subsidizing theater for the masses, the Bolsheviks also made it possible for Rand to see cheesy operettas on a weekly basis. After Rand's first play closed in New York City in April 1936, the Works Progress Administration took it on the road to theaters across the country, giving Rand a handsome income of $10 a performance throughout the late 1930s. Librarians at the New York Public Library assisted her with the research for The Fountainhead."

That's probably the most important passage from an article on Ayn Rand by The Nation's Corey Robin.

It's a shame that Depression-era tax dollars were wasted on someone who would spend the rest of her life railing against government spending and praising the people whose greed and excess made that spending necessary.

Gay Sex (Literally) Claims Another Conservative

2009-03-26T01:57:00.004-05:00

George Weber was killed by a teenage boy he invited into his home for "rough sex." (Associated Press Photo from New York Daily News website)

Usually, when a conservative is caught up in a gay sex scandal, he lives to deny it. That's not the case for deceased ABC News Radio anchor George Weber.

The self-described "moderate conservative" was murdered last Friday by a teenage male prostitute that he arranged to meet using the Internet. A report by the New York Daily News offers details about the encounter that led to Weber's murder and the subsequent arrest of the underage suspect.

To be fair, there is no evidence that Weber was a closeted homosexual or that he actively sought to discriminate against his fellow homosexuals a la Larry Craig. In fact, Weber admitted to being "embarrassed about" how he "taunted them [gays] on the air" during his college radio days.

Weber did list Senator John Kerry "siding with those who support gay marriages" among "stuff that bugs him" on a web page still maintained by radio station WABC. According to the Daily News report, "Weber, 47, had been laid off from WABC, where he worked for a decade. He freelanced for ABC's national radio network and wrote a blog."

Supporting gay marriages was apparently undesirable in Weber's opinion, but paying to have gay sex with teenage boys was just fine. Unfortunately, gay marriage wasn't his only complaint against the GLBT community.

Weber, in one blog post, blamed gay people for gentrification and the disappearance of certain "dive bars" in New York City. In another blog post, he used anonymous police sources to bolster his claim that a Manhattan club with a particularly ethnic clientele is responsible for crime in the surrounding streets, including "fights, stabbings, robberies, public drinking and general rowdiness."

In addition to being critical of a club patronized by gay men of certain ethnic groups, Weber also used his blog to disparage the Internet personal ads of young gay men he linked to those same ethnic groups. He posted examples of what he called "ghetto speak" and a "bastardized version of the English language."

Weber's use of gay men's Internet postings wasn't restricted to his social commentary. He also used them as a source of sexual gratification. According to the Daily News report, Weber and his "Satan-loving sadomasochist...hustler...agreed to a drug-fueled rough sex romp for $60."

"He and Weber met online sometime last week and had arranged to meet," New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the Daily News. "There was going to be an exchange of money."

Weber's story is one that has received almost no attention in the media. Even among websites that would normally use such a story as the basis for commentary, little has been said. I don't understand the silence. Like so many prominent conservatives before him, Weber has been exposed as someone who partook in illegal activities with a person that he would have publicly scorned. His being a reporter for a major news outlet should be additional fodder for some kind of public reaction. Perhaps, though, we've become so used to this sort of thing from outspoken conservatives that it's not even worth pointing out anymore.

Stomach-Turning History

2008-04-15T16:37:00.003-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI meets First Lady Laura Bush at Andrews Air Force Base. (Getty Images photo from CNN.com)

A bit of history was made in the nation's capital today. For the first time ever, at least according to CNN, the President and First Lady traveled to Andrews Air Force Base to greet a foreign dignitary arriving in Washington. Normally, such a formal meeting is held at the White House. Watching it all play out on television this afternoon made my stomach turn. As you read the rest of this post, what went on today should make yours turn, too.

Today's history-making handshake was reserved for Pope Benedict XVI. He's beginning a six-day visit to the United States. It's his first visit to the country since his election to the Papacy.

On the flight to Washington, the Pope made news by proclaiming that he is "deeply ashamed" of his fellow priests' penchant for molesting children. Unfortunately, none of those same reporters, at least as far as anyone knows, had the gall to ask him about his role in keeping that molestation quiet.

The man who, as Pope, is so "deeply ashamed" of all the sexual abuse that went on within the Catholic Church is the same man who, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote a letter to Catholic officials telling them to send all information about abuse cases to the head office in Rome. That letter, according to the British newspaper that obtained a copy, "asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood." Such a lengthy stonewalling by the church will cause statues of limitations to run out on many potential criminal prosecutions here in the States.

With his holy order hindering criminal proceedings against the reverent rapists, the Ratzinger letter has been the basis of some civil court action Stateside. Meanwhile, the media have largely failed to notice as victims pressed for the Pope to face an indictment.

In the long and short of it, the Cardinal-turned-Pope used his official power to direct that evidence of sexual abuse be boxed up. Couple this with the fact that young Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the "Hitler Youth" and you've got some awfully strange qualifications for such a historic meeting.

Unfortunately, the same sheepish press core that won't ask the Pope how he can claim to be "deeply ashamed" of a scandal he tried to keep from being brought to light is the same that won't ask President Bush why a former Nazi who worked to protect pedophiles deserves a history-making official welcome. I would love to see his reaction if they did, but that's an experience none of us will ever get to enjoy.

Assuming that the press ever did ask such a question, and assuming that President Bush did actually try to answer it, we could almost certainly expect the same kind of multiple denials that conservatives are already parroting.

Thankfully, there is at least one major media outlet probing why nearly a score of accused pedophile priests have yet to be sanctioned by the church. Hopefully, more reporters will ask more tough questions as the week goes on.

What Conservatives Won't Tell You

2008-03-02T18:56:00.002-06:00

Conservatives hate the idea of universal health care. I would suspect it's greed and a fear of being proven wrong that motivates such strong hate among them, but whatever their reasons, conservatives are willing to say whatever they have to in order to persuade the American people from wanting what every other industrialized nation on the face of the earth enjoys.

One conservative talking point we hear most often goes like this: the American health care system is so superior to others in the world that people are clamoring to come to the United States to get what they can't get at home. Canadians are spilling across our northern border, conservatives tell us, because their evil socialist government is killing them with inferior health care services.

I do not dispute that some Canadian residents do choose to have some medical procedures performed in the United States. With that said, I do dispute the idea that there is some sort of flood of sickly Canadians streaming across the border to get services they can't get at home. I strongly suspect that where a Canadian lives in relation to an American hospital, how much disposable income a Canadian has, and how urgently he or she needs a particular procedure all factor in to an individual Canadian's decision to look for care in the United States. I don't have any numbers at my immediate disposal to back up my suspicions, but not surprisingly, all the conservative arguments to the contrary I've seen also lack any such numerical evidence.

What I do have at my disposal are recent media reports that prove my fellow Americans are looking overseas to get the care they can't get at home. Those that don't have the option of going overseas to get needed care are increasingly relying on a medical relief organization that was founded to bring health care to remote overseas jungles.

First, let's look at two reports about the growing business of so-called "medical tourism" here in the United States. Contrary to what the name might suggest, "medical tourism" is not the business of bringing impatient Canadian straw men to American hospitals. It is the business of sending uninsured and underinsured Americans to Third World countries to receive vital medical procedures they simply can't get here.

As documented by WFAA-TV, the costs associated with getting care from "medical tourism" as compared to the costs for the same care here in the States "are appealing numbers to Nicki Zito, who is insured. But she is also in debt trying to treat her seven-year old daughter's rare disease."

"'You think that you have insurance and it'll be OK,' Zito said. 'And then you just get the bills and they keep coming in. It's something we never prepared for, that's for sure.'"

"She never dreamed of surgery overseas, either. Now, however, she sees no other way."

Meanwhile, and as documented by KTVT-TV, "Broderick Martin of Allen [Texas] is no stranger to hospitals. The 22-year-old has been suffering from a number of medical issues, and has been in and out of hospitals his whole life. But when these health problems caused his hip and joints to deteriorate, Martin's doctor told him it was time for surgery."

"'No insurance,' said Martin. 'We didn't have the $60,000 for the surgery.'"

"So, Martin and his family began looking for alternatives. 'Somebody had seen an article, or seen it on TV, an ad for medical tourism,' he explained. 'So, I just started looking online.'"

According to numbers cited in the WFAA report, Americans can get the care they need overseas for about one-fifth the price they would pay (if they could) in the United States. Without traveling abroad to get the care, the people featured in the two reports simply wouldn't get it. Both reports take time to explain some of the risks involved in "medical tourism," but the message is clear: Americans are having to leave their country to preserve their health. It's the exact opposite of what conservatives are saying to convince us that universal health care is a bad thing.

If the stories above aren't enough proof for you that we have a problem, the CBS News program 60 Minutes just aired a piece on an the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM). It's a group that uses cash donations and time volunteered by medical professionals to bring medical care to underserved areas. They were founded to bring doctors, dentists, and optometrists to remote jungles in the Amazon and other foreign lands. Now, most of their work is done in rural areas of the United States.

One part of the 60 Minutes piece stands out most in my mind. Correspondent Scott Pelley asked a very pointed question to RAM founder Stan Brock. "You created this medical organization designed to go into Third World countries to go into remote places, and now doing 60 percent of your work in urban and rural America, what are we supposed to make of that?"

A look at the organization's schedule offers ready proof of the need here in the United States. As of this writing, there is only one mention of an ongoing effort in Guyana, yet there are numerous events listed for places in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Conservatives would look at the 60 Minutes piece and try to hijack the issue with another of their false talking points. They would tell you that the people being helped by RAM are lazy, unemployed, or simply choosing to depend on charity rather than secure their own health care. As RAM volunteers will tell you, that simply isn't the case.

"Ross Isaacs is one of the doctors. Asked who these patients are, Dr. Isaacs...told Pelley, 'It's the working poor, middle of their lives, most with families, most not substance abusers, and employed without adequate insurance.'"

So, let's review. The health care situation here in the United States is bad and getting worse. Wealthy conservatives, who do not have to worry about how much it costs to see a doctor, want you to believe that Canadians are pouring over our northern border because government-run health care in Canada is bad. In fact, the opposite is true. Americans of modest means are having to go to the Third World to get care. Meanwhile, Americans of lesser means are having to depend on international relief agencies to get theirs.

That's not all. Assuming that Americans can survive to old age by going overseas for care or by waiting for it to come from international relief agencies, those embarking on their golden years are also looking outside the country for their care. A recent report by WFAA-TV's Angela Kocherga featured American families who decided to obtain round-the-clock nursing care for their aging parents in Mexico. Personally, I thought the piece seemed more like a commercial for Mexican nursing homes than honest-t0-goodness news reporting, but the point remains. I'll add a link to the story as soon as I can find one.

Add it all up and it's one big thing that conservatives don't want to tell you. Our free-market based health care system is leaving a lot of people without care and forcing them to look abroad for alternatives. It's time for government to step in and even the playing field.

We Brand Cattle And Voters In Texas

2008-02-25T18:31:00.002-06:00

In Texas, we enjoy a two week early voting period before most elections. For the upcoming March 4 primary, Texans have been turning out in record numbers to take advantage of that early voting period. Early voting turnout numbers across the state have been very, very high. In some places, early voting turnout has seen a ten-fold increase over previous presidential elections.

Without a doubt, some of that record turnout is likely due to Republicans crossing party lines. They could be disgusted enough with their party to actually want to elect a Democrat, or they could be acting as spoilers hoping to give their nominee an easier race in November. Whatever is happening in the minds of voters as they choose which primary to participate it, it's important to know that we don't register a party affiliation here in Texas. The party whose primary we participate in is generally considered the party we're a member of between election cycles.

Some of those Republicans that are choosing to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary are running into a legal requirement that will haunt them for at least the next two years. They will be clearly and publicly identified as having voted in the Democratic primary. For some of them, being labeled as having voted in the Democratic primary is apparently akin to wearing a scarlet letter.

Gordon Peterson, a Democratic activist in Dallas, reports that "...we had one woman who came in and was very upset that she couldn't vote for all of the candidates (in both parties) that she wanted to vote for. She finally ([and] with obviously a great deal of angst) finally chose to vote in the Democratic primary, but only after being promised that we did not have to stamp her voter registration card to 'brand' her as having voted in the Democratic primary (even after being told that it was, regardless, a part of her permanent and public voting history)."

For the record, the emphasis in the above paragraph is his.

Mr. Peterson is right in that a voter's primary participation is a matter of public record. For as long as the woman he wrote about is a voter, anyone can do a search of the public record and see that she voted in the Democratic primary.

Where Mr. Peterson is wrong, and I suspect, so are a lot of other Democratic activists who serve as poll workers is that Texas law does indeed require voters to be "branded" with the name of the party whose primary they choose to vote in.

The law requires that voters be affixed with that brand in one of two ways. First, a voter's registration card is stamped with the name of the party whose primary he or she participates in. Second, and only if the voter doesn't bring his or her registration card to the polls, voters are issued a certificate showing which primary they voted in. In either case, the poll book is stamped with the party's name. Registration cards are used by voters until new ones are issued by the county and the poll books become part of the public record. One way or another, everybody can know which party a voter cast his or her lot with.

Personally, this poses no problem for me. I am proud to be a Democrat. I rather enjoy having my card stamped as such and seeing myself listed as a reliable "DP" (or Democratic Primary) voter in any number of databases. I don't really know what to tell people like that woman in Dallas.

What I do know is that having your primary voting history made public is a matter of law here in Texas. It's clearly laid out in Section 162.004 of the Texas Election Code. The use of the word "shall" in that section of the Code removes any ambiguity. Like it or not, the primary you vote in is the party you're labeled with.

Democratic poll workers across the Lone Star State need to keep this in mind. Every person that comes to vote in the Democratic primary must have their card stamped or be issued a certificate. If they don't want it, then they probably shouldn't be voting in our primary. If they're Republican spoilers, then forcing them to wear a label they hate is the least we can do. After all, they're trying to use our own election process to hurt us, so they deserve some kind of trouble in return.

The Road To Denver Starts In Lampasas!

2008-02-22T19:05:00.003-06:00

Lampasas County Democrats invite all interested Democrats to attend a “mock” precinct convention on Tuesday, February 26, at 602 South Walnut Street. The "mock" convention will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson expects “significant levels of voter turnout” for the March 4 Texas Primary. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie says this year's turnout may be more than 200% greater than the 2004 primary. Local Democrats encourage all voters in the Democratic Primary to maximize their participation by attending the precinct conventions following the primary election at the polling places used on March 4.

Betty Lindsey, past-president, of the Democratic Women’s Association of Lampasas, observes that “many voters overlook the precinct caucuses from lack of experience, but almost a third of the delegates to the national convention are selected by the caucus process.” Democrats who hope to get the most delegates for their presidential candidate need to be at the caucuses on March 4.

Keith King, Chairman of the Lampasas County Democratic Party, says “the caucus hasn’t been important in recent presidential elections in Texas because the candidate had been decided before Texas voted. Because of the intensity in this presidential campaign our state party wants to be certain that precinct conventions are fair, orderly, and disciplined ‘in order to promote confidence in the outcome’. To foster this atmosphere we can hold a mock convention without the pressures of the true campaigns so participants will feel comfortable on March 4."

Daniel Melder, Executive Director of the Lampasas County Young Democrats, joined King in encouraging all interested Democratic voters to attend the mock convention on February 26. “The more voters participate in the process the more they’ll support the decision. I haven’t seen interest like this among young people in the last two elections and we want to keep their participation and excitement."

Here's a quick rundown of the details:

WHAT: Lampasas County Democrats "Mock" Precinct Convention

WHEN: Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: 602 South Walnut Street, Lampasas

The Young Democrats will follow the "mock" convention with a brief meeting to discuss plans for the upcoming Texas Young Democrats Convention and our new scholarship program. Complete details are available by clicking on the "Calendar" link on the left side of our homepage. We hope to see you there!

Note: if the casual readers of this blog are asking themselves if the above post reads like a press release, that's because it is a press release. Well, it's actually a modified version of a press release sent out by the Lampasas County Democratic Party. It pretty well says what needs to be said, so why should I reinvent the wheel?

So When Do They Sign Up?

2008-02-07T15:00:00.000-06:00

With Mitt "Better Than Ted" Romney out of the race, it would seem to me that each of his five sons are now free to join up and go fight the war in Iraq that their family and their party claim is so damn important. After all, it was the Romney patriarch who told Iowa voters that working on his failed campaign is just as noble as military service.

"My sons are adults. They've chosen not to serve in the military in active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. ...And one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

Now that "helping [him] get elected" is no longer an option, I have to ask how then play on "showing support for our nation" now. Something tells me it won't be military service. After all, it was 29-year-old Ben Romney who told Mike Wallace that he's "seen a lot and read a lot that has made me say, 'my goodness, I hope I never have to do that.'"

This all proves that the apple often doesn't fall far from the tree. The then draft-eligible Mitt Romney told Mike Wallace (for the same story in which his son Ben rejected military service) that he didn't serve during the Vietnam War because "I was at college. Then I went off and served my church for two and a half years."

As an aside, I should point out that I don't really like having to link to "NewsBusters" (now for the second time) to back up my information, but it's one of the few places where a transcript (albeit a partial one) of the Mike Wallace piece on Romney is available. The CBS News website makes it hard to find.

To be fair, I should disclose my own failure to serve in the military. Before graduating high school in 1999, I made multiple attempts to enlist with the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, and the National Guard. I was rejected each time because I didn't meet the physical requirements. Those rejections came even after I completed diets and exercise plans given to me by various recruiters. Shortly after those rejections, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This permanently bars me from military service. My father served and was wounded in Vietnam. Both my grandfathers served. The difference here is that I tried. I tried hard. My father and grandfathers actually did serve. Mitt and his progeny didn't and apparently won't, but they'll continue to tell you that others should.

Meanwhile, I think the entire Romney family also needs to answer for their history as Mexican immigrants, especially considering their confusing position on the issue.

Best. Sponsor. Ever.

2008-02-04T02:53:00.000-06:00

With the latest episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force just a soon-to-be-fleeting memory, I decided to go for a little drive and to pick up a late night snack while I was out. Shortly after driving through the exit gate at the front of my apartment complex, I noticed that it was 2:30 in the morning. That meant it was time for the bottom of the hour news update on KRLD.

With the green numbers of the half hour mark glowing on the clock in front of me, I turned on the radio. The KRLD anchor read a series of stories. Among those stories was one about the now-needless preparations that law enforcement officials in Boston had made for Super Bowl victory celebrations. Then came the traffic report. Shortly after the toss from the anchor to the traffic reporter, I heard what has got to be the best sponsor announcement I've ever heard. That hour's KRLD traffic report was brought to me by the makers of Kaopectate.

What better sponsor of a traffic report could there possibly be? After all, absolutely no one wants to be stuck in traffic while suffering the ailments that Kaopectate is supposed to relieve. Who knows? In addition to being good for one hell of a laugh, hearing that particular sponsor announcement at that particular time may have also been a bit of serendipity. If I let late night drives to pick up a snack become a habit, I may find myself needing some Kaopectate. Let's hope not.

My Piece Of A Really Big Crow

2008-02-04T01:11:00.000-06:00

A lot of Super Bowl XLII viewers are eating crow today and I'm one of them. Richard Corey, a public servant, a close friend of mine, and an infrequent blogger, called me during the second quarter of last night's big game. A brief transcript of the relevant parts of our conversation follows.

Richard: "Are you watching the Super Bowl?"

Daniel: "I'm flipping around between it and a couple of other things."

Richard: "I think the Giants are going to win this one."

Daniel: "You'd be about the only one in the country who thinks that. The Patriots are going to walk away with a perfect 19-0 record tonight. They haven't lost a game all year."

Oops.

The Giants beat the Patriots with a last-minute touchdown. The final score was 17-14.

If it was a real beer, I'd say that a bottle of Pawtucket Patriot would be a fitting compliment to my Crow platter. Since I can't have a "Pawtucket Pat" to wash it down with, I guess I'll spice it up with some of that picante sauce they make in New York City (but don't tell my friends in San Antonio).

Being that Giants Quarterback Eli Manning was the QB at Ole Miss while I was a student at Mississippi State, I'm prone to saying bad things about him. After this season, I'm learning to get past all that.

Of Gas Bags And Gas Rates

2008-02-03T22:33:00.000-06:00

I had originally planned to make this post one of my semi-regular "Crap Comment of the Day" features, but I still can't find an exact quote. As such, I'll do the best I can with what I've got.

This year's race for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission brings us a multi-candidate contest in the March 4 Democratic Primary. Such an occurrence should be blog worthy enough, but it's the less-than-stellar positions espoused by a couple of those candidates that have kept liberal Texas bloggers like me at our respective keyboards.

The most noteworthy position concerns candidate Art Hall. A former member of the San Antonio City Council, Mr. Hall is running for the Railroad Commission while his wife is an employee of San Antonio-based Valero Energy. Here in Texas, the Railroad Commission has nothing to do with railroads (which you'll need to remember as you keep reading). It does, however, regulate the oil and gas industry. In short, Mr. Hall seeks to regulate the very corporation that employs his wife. Most thinking people would see a conflict of interest here. Mr. Hall says that no such conflict exists.

Mr. Hall was reportedly asked the potential conflict during a candidate forum in Decatur. He reportedly answered the question by saying that he contacted Valero to ask about any conflict and they told him there wasn't one. This is why I'm trying to find an exact quote. I can only imagine how silly his answer must have sounded. Imagine asking the people that employ your wife if your regulating them could create a conflict of interest. Now imagine the answer. I think his answer could prove to be an excellent entry for a "Crap Comment of the Day."

Mr. Hall's self-serving and short-sighted answer first came to my attention with of a post written by "McBlogger" on the Burnt Orange Report. You can read the same post at the blog run by "McBlogger" directly. In his (or her) post, "McBlogger" provides us a link to another blog post on the subject. The Bluedaze blog offers additional reporting and commentary on Art Hall's confusion about what exactly constitutes a conflict of interest. The Wise County Messenger also reported Mr. Hall's denial that a conflict exists.

Unfortunately for Mr. Hall, conflicts of interest aren't the only things that seem to escape his full understanding. It is reported by Bluedaze, after a post on PoliTex (a blog written by political reporters for the Fort-Worth Star Telegram), that Mr. Hall is also confused about what exactly the Texas Railroad Commission (officially known as the Railroad Commission of Texas) does.

If you've been paying attention, you know by now that the Railroad Commission has nothing to do with railroads. With this longstanding matter of law in full effect, Mr. Hall proceeded to, according to PoliTex, "list 'railroad safety' as one of the 'issues important to the Railroad Commission of Texas.'" PoliTex reported Mr. Hall's apparent confusion on January 30. Since then, Mr. Hall has removed any mention of it from his website, but it continues to make its way across the blogosphere.

Not to be outdone by Mr. Hall, another of the Democratic candidates for the Railroad Commission decided that he would use Mr. Hall's apparent ignorance of the Railroad Commission's authority to trumpet his own lack of understanding. We turn again to the Bluedaze blog and to the PoliTex blog. It was to PoliTex that candidate Mark Thompson, only two days after Mr. Hall's latest gaffe was exposed, chose to reveal his own insufficient knowledge of the job he wants us to elect him for.

According to PoliTex, Thompson told them "that the Texas Railroad Commission has no control over home heating rates charged inside cities. 'When you think about it, they don’t control rates in the cities' said Thompson." PoliTex corrected Thompson's failed thinking by reporting that "although cities have so-called 'original jurisdiction' over cost-of-service gas rates charged within their boundaries, utilities like Atmos can appeal city decisions to the Texas Railroad Commission. The Railroad Commission conducts hearings, considers evidence and then makes rulings." They've done it before.

To be completely fair, both Mr. Hall and Mr. Thompson seem to be impressive people with impressive credentials and experience. Where they fail to impress me is in asking me to elect them to a position of which they obviously don't have a complete understanding. This only leaves Democratic primary goers with one choice on March 4. That choice is Dale Henry. Mr. Henry has the knowledge and experience necessary to do the job.

According to Vince Leibowitz, a supporter of Mr. Henry who defends him at the Bluedaze blog, "Dale Henry, as a petroleum engineer, worked in oilfield services and in research and development. It is a little different than the association which Mr. Hall's wife has with the oil companies. Also, Dale was an independent subcontractor for the Texas Railroad Commission (working for the Commission and not the oil companies) plugging abandoned wells. It was in this capacity that he got first-hand exposure to many of the failures of the [Railroad Commission]."

I'll be casting my Railroad Commission vote for Dale Henry on March 4. I encourage my fellow Democrats to do the same.

Quote Of The Day

2008-02-03T21:43:00.001-06:00

Our anything-but-daily "Quote of the Day" feature returns today with a dispatch from the latest front in the ongoing culture war.

Here's the quote:

"Is this bill contrary to God, contrary to marriage? And the answer is no. Not a single married couple in this state will get divorced because of this bill. Not a single couple that is engaged ... will cancel that wedding as a result of this bill. Not a single straight person will become gay as a result of this bill.''

Those words belong to New Mexico State Rep. Antonio "Moe'' Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat, and were published in a report by the Albuquerque Journal. Maestas was talking about a Domestic Partnerships bill passed by the New Mexico House of Representatives on Thursday. According to the Journal report, "the House approved the measure on a mostly party-line 33-31 vote. Two Republicans supported the bill and seven Democrats opposed it."

Whether or not the bill was contrary to God is a question I'll leave to theologians and Bible thumpers. Speaking as someone increasingly disinterested in religion, I'm starting to get really tired of arguing about the opinion of someone we can't see or hear. I think the larger point here was made by the rest of the quote.

Opponents of gay marriage and domestic partnerships continue to cry that such arrangements will upend the "sanctity" of "traditional" marriage, yet they can't explain how. If gay marriage is going to cause your husband or wife to leave you and marry somebody else, you probably shouldn't have married that person in the first place. Otherwise, I fail to see how gay people getting equal legal recognition of what they're already doing will affect anybody else's marriage in any way.

A Huckabee In The Hoosegow

2008-01-13T01:29:00.000-06:00

In more late-to-be-reported Republican scandal, the son of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was arrested back in April for having a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage at a Little Rock airport.

According to a report by the Associated Press and KTHV-TV, David Huckabee claims to have forgotten that he was carrying the Glock pistol. He "was arrested for carrying a weapon in a prohibited place..." and "...later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Little Rock District Court. District Judge Lee Munson sentenced him to a one-year suspended jail sentence and ordered him to 10 days of community service."

I could attempt to make some pithy commentary here or even a Chuck Norris joke, but it's late and I'm tired. Make your own joke and post it in the comments. If it's good enough, I'll build another blog post around it.

Maybe He's Larry Craig's Muse

2008-01-13T00:49:00.000-06:00

I need to make tally marks on the sidebar of this blog. Yet another conservative Republican has been arrested for trying to have gay sex in a public restroom. I'll let the first paragraph of a report by The Times-Picayune give you the facts.

"St. Bernard Parish Councilman Joey DiFatta, who on Thursday withdrew from the 1st Senate District campaign, has been stopped twice since 1996 for suspicion of engaging in lewd behavior in public restrooms in Jefferson Parish, records obtained by The Times-Picayune show."

Two words are key here. Those words are "stopped twice." I encourage you to read the entire article. In one arrest, you'll note some striking similarities with the routine that got the now infamous Larry Craig in trouble.

"The report said DiFatta slid his foot into the deputy's stall and tapped the deputy's foot. In the report, Conley noted that such activity is common among men to indicate a willingness to participate in sex.

The deputy inside the stall, Detective Wayne Couvillion, responded by tapping his foot, and DiFatta reached under the partition and began to rub the deputy's leg, the report states."

It's no surprise that DiFatta withdrew from the now finished Senate race. It's also no surprise that he blamed his health, and not his arrests, for his decision to withdraw. It's all so typical of those closet-dwelling, hypocritical Republicans.

With DiFatta's toe-tapping arrest having been made in March 2000, and his frequent trips to Washington since 2005, it's worth asking if he ever ran into Craig. It's also worth asking if he taught Craig some of that fancy footwork.

So...It's Like An Election Year

2008-01-04T21:39:00.000-06:00

After Sen. Barack Obama's impressive win in last night's Iowa caucuses, there's absolutely no denying that we're rushing headlong toward another election. With that in mind, you may have noticed that I've finally updated the "Candidates" portion of my sidebar.

For those of you without the benefit of a handy scrolling wheel or button on your mouse, I'll save you some trouble by reprinting my partial list of linked candidates here.

Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate

Dale Henry for Railroad Commissioner

Jude Susan Criss for Texas Supreme Court (Place 8)

Edra Bogle for State Board of Education (District 14)

Lupe Valdez for Dallas County Sheriff

Keep in mind that this is only a partial list. As we work our way toward the March 4 Primary, I'll be adding the names of Democrats I support. Once we're through the Primary, I'll provide a complete list of the party's General Election candidates.

Quote Of The Day

2008-01-04T21:24:00.001-06:00

Our anything-but-daily "Quote of the Day" feature returns today and breaks another blogging dry spell with a great line from a friend of mine.

Here's the quote:

“After they lose all the countywide races again this year, after they lose the sheriff’s election, there’s going to be very little that Republicans in Dallas County can run for, except the county line.”

The credit for one of the most memorable lines I've heard so far this campaign season goes to R. Kirk McPike, Campaign Manager for Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez. I found it in an article about the Sheriff's race in today's Dallas Voice.

It's Election Day

2007-11-06T02:06:00.001-06:00

To me, today is like Christmas and a Birthday rolled into one. In my opinion, it should be a national holiday. In Mississippi, the state in which I spent my college years, major state and county offices are up for grabs. In my home state of Texas, voters are being asked to consider a number of Constitutional amendments and local bonds. My recommendations on those amendments and one local bond follow shortly.

First, I must report that someone is playing dirty pool with the elections in Fort Worth, Texas. Naturally, I suspect Republicans. After all, it's not the first time they've done it. It's not even the second.

With that ugliness now a little more exposed, my recommendations follow.

* * * * * * * * * *

Recommendations for the November 6, 2007, Constitutional Amendment and Bond Election

Proposition 1: For

Angelo State University has already been made a part of the Texas Tech University System by statute. This amendment reflects that change in the Constitution and prevents any potential funding delivery issues that might come with the university having an unclear system affiliation.

Proposition 2: For

Student loans are necessary in these days of unregulated college tuition in Texas. Unlike the other spending proposed in this election, this money will be mostly repaid by those who directly borrow it. The few defaults that may occur are worth the risk. Educated people tend to have better paying jobs. This means those people will likely pay more in the sales and property taxes that run our state. More importantly, a functional and healthy democracy requires an educated population.

Proposition 3: Against

This proposition gives the legislature broad powers to set caps on homestead property taxes. While such caps are often good, this proposition is not specific in how the legislature would arrive at the amount of the caps or what those amounts might be. The phrase “…or a greater percentage as determined by the legislature…” just isn’t clear enough for my liking.

Proposition 4: Against

This proposition would allow the state to issue up to $1 billion in bonds to pay for various pieces of infrastructure, including buildings and equipment for a number of state agencies. The agencies include the Parks and Wildlife Department; Department of the Adjutant General; Department of State Health Services; Department of Aging and Disability Services; Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Texas Youth Commission; Texas Historical Commission; Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Texas School for the Deaf; and the Texas Department of Public Safety. All of these are deserving agencies that could greatly benefit from the funds. Unfortunately, this proposition does not include any specific language on how the money should be spent. In other words, the recipient agencies could spend your tax dollars on almost anything. Additionally, the 2007 legislative session concluded with a state budget surplus. The expenditures covered by this proposition could have been paid for with that surplus money.

Proposition 5: Against

This would give small towns (those with a population less than 10,000, of which Lampasas is one) the power to grant property tax freezes for downtown business owners. In many small towns, the people running the local government are often also downtown business owners. The opportunity for favoritism and cronyism runs rampant with this proposal.

Proposition 6: For

This proposal allows for the legislature to exempt from the ad valorem tax one motor vehicle owned by an individual that he or she uses for both business and personal use. I see a lot of potential for abuse here, but I think that small business owners will likely benefit from this proposition. They are the backbone of our economy. Let’s hope this is used to give them a break.

Proposition 7: For

This proposal would allow landowners whose property is taken by the government through eminent domain to purchase that property back from the government at the same price the landowners were given when it was seized should the government decide to sell that property because it is not longer needed for public purposes. Currently, government can seize land and then sell it later on the open market at a higher price.

Proposition 8: For

This proposal makes several changes to the process by which home equity loans are made in Texas. Among the various changes proposed in the amendment are three I support. First, borrowers could take out a second loan on their home following the declaration of an emergency. This could allow borrowers to receive loans to rebuild their homes following a natural disaster. This might lead some borrowers to take on more loans than they can afford, but some degree of personal responsibility must be expected of people looking for such loans. Second, this proposal would also require that all fees and costs be disclosed at the closing of a loan. I believe such discretion is a good thing. Third, this proposal would also prohibit the use of preprinted checks for the use of unsolicited loan advances. I believe this offers borrowers some protection from more unscrupulous lenders.

Proposition 9: For

This amendment would allow for the legislature to exempt all or part of the market value of the homesteads of certain veterans from property taxes. Specifically, this exemption would apply to veterans who are certified to have a total (100%) service-connected disability. I believe that someone who has sacrificed their complete capabilities in the service of his or her country deserves this and so much more in return from their government.

Proposition 10: For

None of the 254 counties in Texas still employs an “Inspector of Hides and Animals” among their various county officers. This amendment would remove references to this obsolete office from the Constitution.

Proposition 11: For

This amendment would require the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate to make a recorded vote on the final passage of any bill not considered “local” or “ceremonial” in nature. This means that there would be a clear listing of how our elected officials voted on major pieces of legislation. The more opportunity we have to hold politicians’ feet to the fire, the better.

Proposition 12: Against

This would allow for up to $5 billion in bonds to be issued for highway projects. Unfortunately, there is no language that states specifically which projects would be funded. Also, there is no guarantee this money won’t be used on toll road projects. The Texas Department of Transportation is already spending tax dollars on political consultants and commercial advertising while telling the public that it doesn’t have money for new roads. Perhaps they should adjust their current spending before we allow them any more.

Proposition 13: For

This proposal would allow the legislature to grant judges the authority to deny bail to people accused of violating conditions of release and certain protective orders in family violence cases. Obviously, anyone involved in a family violence case has already been accused of causing serious harm to a member of his or her own family. If that person has been further accused of violating the conditions already imposed by a court, the situation in that family is even more serious. I believe this amendment has the potential to protect people from those within their own household who seek to harm them.

Proposition 14: For

This proposal would allow judges who reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 years in the middle of a term to serve out the remainder of that term. Allowing such a judge to fill out the term ensures that the will of the voters who elected the judge is fulfilled. It also avoids the delays in justice caused by unnecessary judicial vacancies.

Proposition 15: For

This amendment would authorize $3 billion in bonds for the funding of the “Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas” and establish the institute’s management, duties, and powers. The potential to cure cancer is increasing every day. There is no reason that Texas shouldn’t be part of the effort, especially considering that the number of cancer deaths in Texas is one of the reasons we rank as low as 37 on the most recent list that evaluates the overall health of state populations.

Proposition 16: For

In the year 2007, is should be a source of great shame to Texans that some heavily populated parts of this state still don’t have sanitary sewer and water supply services. This amendment would allow for $250 million in spending to help alleviate this embarrassment.

Lampasas County Bond Proposition: For

As a high school student, I served on the committee that worked to restore our historic courthouse. Part of that effort was the construction of the county office building on the east side of the courthouse square. Back then, I strongly encouraged that we build a larger building than what we now have. Less than a decade later, we’re being asked to support bonds that would pay for the expansion of that building. I told you so.

This bond package will also pay for the construction of a new county jail. Almost no one disputes the necessity of a new jail. Anyone who does simply isn’t credible. The county has not gone about this process in the most desirable way, but we do seem to have a plan that allows for future growth, and that’s something Lampasas County has always been shortsighted on (as the need to expand our new county office building clearly illustrates). The proposal doesn’t make everybody happy, and it may not be the most efficient use of tax dollars, but it will eliminate the need for our sheriff’s deputies to be used as glorified transport workers and put those deputies back on the vital task of actually protecting the public.

Crap Comment Of The Day

2007-10-01T18:37:00.001-05:00

Today's "Crap Comment of the Day" comes from Republican Senator and presidential candidate John McCain.

"I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, that’s a decision the American people would have to make, but personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith."

McCain made that comment in an interview with the Uberchristian website beliefnet.com. He was discussing the possibility that a Muslim could someday be elected president.

I decided to make this my "Crap Comment of the Day" because John McCain, while searching for candidates that have a "solid grounding in [his] faith," apparently has yet to find that solid grounding for himself. This is the same man who after years of proclaiming himself an Episcopalian now calls himself a Baptist (without the benefit of Baptism, I might add).

This is the same man who, while running for president in 2000, called the late Jerry Falwell one of a number of "agents of intolerance" while complaining about the "corrupting influences" those "agents" have in the American political system and "the evil influence that they exercise over the Republican Party." In 2006, McCain made nice with Falwell and delivered the commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University.

This is just one more example of Republicans saying whatever they need to say whenever they need to say it to get votes. Needless to say, McCain's latest "Crap Comment of the Day" has upset a number of religious folks. They just don't practice the right religion for McCain or the rest of the GOP to care.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on substantive proof that McCain's claim that "this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles." Here's a little proof that isn't true.

Double Entendre Of The Day

2007-10-01T03:32:00.001-05:00

For starters, let me say that I don't really anticipate posting a new "Double Entendre of the Day" every day. After all, I haven't lived up to the billing of my "Crap Comment of the Day" since it started. That said, this "Double Entendre of the Day" was too good to pass up.

"I think it's kind of like if you let the camel put his head in the tent, next thing you know, the camel's going to be inside the tent."

That possible, but hopefully unintentional, double entendre came from Principal Dave Hadley of Fossil Hill Middle School in Keller, Texas. Hadley was attempting to explain to WFAA-TV why his school prohibits students from holding hands or hugging each other. Hadley is apparently worried that letting students get away with such gestures of affection could lead to more serious displays of affection. He's also worried that they could lead to sexual harassment. Seriously. Sexual harassment. Wow.

Students are reportedly circulating a petition to overturn the rule.

Calling On Cornyn

2007-09-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

Here's a letter I penned to one of my Senators today. Based on the response, this blog may see some related updates.

* * * * * * * * *

September 27, 2007

Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Cornyn:

You recently proposed an amendment, which both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed, that sought to “strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; and to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org.” You are now using that amendment to solicit campaign donations. I have enclosed a copy of the Congressional Record documenting that amendment and a copy of your fundraising solicitation for your reference.

Fresh on the heels of that amendment, nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called members of the armed services who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq “phony soldiers.” He made that remark while responding to a caller during the September 26, 2007 edition of his show. His most recent “phony soldiers” attack follows his January 25, 2007, declaration that we “got a new name for Senator Hagel in Nebraska, we got General Petraeus and we got Senator Betrayus, new name for Senator Hagel.”

By calling members of the armed services “phony soldiers” and by calling your colleague “Senator Betrayus,” Mr. Limbaugh has done the very thing you claim to “condemn” in your amendment and in your fundraising solicitation. As you should well be aware, Senator Hagel, according to his official Senate biography, “served in the U.S. Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant E-5, 1967-1968, and [served] in Vietnam in 1968.”

This means that Mr. Limbaugh has, in the words of your amendment, made an “effort to attack the honor and integrity of…all the members of the United States Armed Forces.” He attacked active duty members of the armed services by calling them “phony soldiers.” He attacked a veteran of the armed forces by calling him “Senator Betrayus.” He made those attacks using language strikingly similar to the “unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus” that your amendment and fundraising solicitation seek to “repudiate.”

As you have gone on the record to “condemn…the liberal activist group Moveon.org” and used that condemnation as fundraising fodder, I must demand that you hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard. I call on you to propose whatever additional legislation is required to equally “condemn” the attacks on members of the armed services, both active duty and veteran, made by Mr. Limbaugh.

Your failure to hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard you have held Moveon.org to would be nothing short of hypocrisy. Should you indeed prove yourself to be such a hypocrite, I will have no choice but to see that I inform as many of my fellow Texans as possible of your two-faced behavior. I hope I can count on you, as my elected Senator, to do the right thing and hold anyone who attacks our soldiers to the same standard.

I eagerly await your action on this matter.

Sincerely,

Daniel Melder

/s
Enclosures

Crap Comment Of The Day

2007-02-21T11:19:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since this blogger last posted a "Crap Comment of the Day," but today's edition makes a swell comeback.

Today's Crap Comment comes from Robert Morrow. Morrow is described by the Fort Bend Herald as "a small government activist from Austin" who "said he's offended that Perry would want to spend taxpayer money to interfere with parents' rights."

Here's what he said:

‘‘I do not think the state of Texas should be in the business of preventative health care for teenage sluts."

Morrow made his comment as part of testimony before a Texas House committee considering legislation that would overturn Gov. Rick Perry's executive order mandating 11 and 12-year-old girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that causes almost all cases of cervical cancer and genital warts.

I almost can't believe I'm writing this, but anyone who doesn't support these vaccinations is just plain dumb. Gov. Perry has my full support on this issue (which is something he's never had before).

Republicans and their rapture right cohorts are running around the state screaming that these shots will make "sluts" out of young girls. I've never heard such a ridiculous public policy argument in all my life. It also completely ignores the possibility that girls could be infected by rape, incest, or by saving themselves for partners who are less than truthful about their own sexual histories.

In reality, this is nothing more than ignorant grandstanding on the part of the rapture righties. Their children already receive state-mandated vaccinations against hepatitis B, another sexually transmitted disease, and no one complains.

My personal frustration with these zealots has reached a new peak. If they hate medical advances so much, then perhaps they should be restricted by law from taking advantage of them. Let them live (and die) without the vaccines, stem cell treatments, and other medical miracles they rail against. Let them try to heal everything with prayer and nothing with medicine. Let every right-wing nutjob put his health where his mouth is and we'll see how long both last.

With all of that said, there is one point of legitimate debate on this issue. Simply put, I'm not sure if the Texas Constitution grants any Governor the power to make such a sweeping executive order. I welcome any legislative inquiry and all public discussion on that question. Otherwise, I say it's time to get this done.

WWJDA?

2007-02-07T22:57:00.000-06:00

Pat Robertson is trying to make inroads with desperate Asian housewives.

The title of this post is a mockery of those once-popular "WWJD?" bracelets. Instead of asking "What would Jesus do?," I'm asking "Who would Jesus discriminate against?"

If right-wing reverend Pat Robertson (a man who claims to conversate regularly with the almighty) is any indication, then it would be Asian people.

In his latest assault on intelligence and taste, Robertson said that people who have received too much plastic surgery "got the eyes like they're Oriental". He made the statement on today's edition of The 700 Club. As he spoke, he put his fingers up to the side of his face (which you can see above).

I presume that you've already picked up on the bad taste part of Robertson's latest crackpot rambling, so I'll spare you that explanation here. For those of you still missing the bad intelligence part, it's this: a rug is Oriental; people are Asian. Once again, the nexus of bigotry and stupidity is painfully clear.

Jeffersonian Justice

2007-01-04T23:42:00.000-06:00

This blog commented yesterday on the molehill-turned-mountain regarding Rep. Keith Ellison's decision to use the Koran during his ceremonial swearing-in. Today, this blog intends to follow up on that story.

Ellison did indeed use the Koran today, but it wasn't just any copy of the Koran. Reportedly, Ellison borrowed a copy of that ancient scripture once owned by Thomas Jefferson. The book is on loan from the Library of Congress.

To make this story that much better, The Detroit Free Press reports that Ellison went out of his way to exchange pleasantries with the hateful Rep. Virgil Goode whose ignorance-fueled bigotry started all of this. In a further example of sweet irony, Goode represents the county in which Jefferson was born.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

2007-01-03T12:30:00.000-06:00

A pair of angry rednecks are confirming every negative stereotype of southerners today.

The first is Republican Congressman Virgil Goode. You may remember the recent controversy about a letter he sent to constituents criticizing an incoming Democratic congressman for wanting to use the Koran during his ceremonial oath.

He wrote that "the Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."

He went on to write that "in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

After an understandable outcry, Goode is still at it. He's making similar outlandish statements in a USA Today op-ed.

The biggest problem with Goode's letter and op-ed are his ignorance of the facts. That "Muslim Representative" is not an immigrant. He was born in the United States and is just as much a citizen as Goode or any of the brown skin-hating people he wrote that letter to.

Furthermore, the use of the Koran, Bible, or Betty Crocker Cook Book is entirely symbolic. The actual oath of office is administered to the entire House at the same time. Everybody stands in front of the speaker's podium and no book is used. Individual members can then use any book they want during a second oath. That second oath is nothing more than a photo-op.

Goode's bigotry is matched by an angry homeowner in Katy, Texas.

Craig Barker is unhappy with hew new neighbors. Land near his home has been legally purchased by a local Islamic association. The association plans to build a school, athletic facilities, community center, and a mosque on that land. They have asked Barker to remove his livestock from their new property.

Barker says the Muslims are trying to run him off of land his family has used for a century. How he justifies such a claim is beyond me. He's protesting the new construction by hosting weekly pig races on his property.

As a Little Rock TV station reports, "pigs are forbidden from the Muslim diet, but officials of the Islamic group are indifferent to Barker's protest. The group's president says Muslims don't hate pigs; they just don't eat them."

I have long thought that bigoted people are somehow lacking in knowledge, and maybe even in intelligence. Goode and Barker have confirmed both for me.

GOP Sex Suit

2007-01-02T22:32:00.000-06:00

This blog has previously chronicled the steamy writings of horny Republicans. Since most of the people discussed in that post are pretty old, it follows that they would turn the old medium of book publishing to...um...expose their fantasies.

That same group of dirty old men (and women) did all of this while piously claiming to be the defenders of virtue and purity. They then tried to hang Democrat Jim Webb for similarly steaming up his own prose. In addition to the painfully obvious hypocrisy, the GOPers were comparing apples to oranges. They were spilling the contents of their oh so virtuous minds on paper while Webb was reporting what he saw on the battlefield, but as John Kerry can attest, that wouldn't be the first time Republicans have criticized what Democrats have actually done in actual battle while they watched from the sidelines.

All of that is not the point of this post, however. This post concerns the latest bit of naughty Republican writing. As reported by the Associated Press, two GOP staffers find themselves on opposite sides of a break-up and a lawsuit.

"When Robert Steinbuch discovered his girlfriend had discussed intimate details about their sex life in her online diary, the Capitol Hill staffer didn't just get mad. He got a lawyer.

"...a former aide to Sen. Mike DeWine, an Ohio Republican, says she created the blog in 2004 to keep a few friends up to date on her social life. Like a digital version of the sex-themed banter from a 'Sex and the City' episode, Cutler described the thrill and tribulations of juggling sexual relationships with six men.

"One of those men was Steinbuch, a counsel to DeWine on the Judiciary Committee. Cutler called him the 'current favorite' and said he resembled George Clooney, liked spanking and disliked condoms."

So, the new generation of racy Republicans is turning to "The Inernets" and "The Google" to publish their smut. I wonder what the GOP-loving tort reform crowd thinks of the lawsuit.

Romney's Running

2006-12-02T00:28:00.000-06:00

Mitt Romney, the Republican Governor of Massachusetts, wants to be elected President in 2008. Mitt Romney also hates illegal immigrants. Do a quick search of “the Google” for his name and you’ll read that in a lot of places. Thanks to a report in Friday’s Boston Globe, we see that Romney is guilty of that most frequent of GOP blunders; he got caught red handed (and red faced) in hypocrisy.

Romney is well known as an anti-immigrant. Some of his most printed quotes prove it. In the interest of full disclosure, you should note that these came from his speech to the Heritage Foundation.

“I would like to see us, as a nation, bringing in fewer illegal immigrants.”

“In my state I’ve said that I will veto any legislation which calls for a drivers license for illegal immigrants.”

“I didn’t want to create any incentives to have people move to our country illegally.”

So, as a matter of public policy, Romney would have us believe that illegal immigration should be discouraged and punished. As a matter of personal policy, however, Romney seems to march to a different beat.

As the Boston Globe reports, “for a decade, the governor has used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink Colonial house on Marsh Street in Belmont.”

In fact, Globe reporters travelled all the way to Suchitepequez, Gautemala, to interview some of the workers. ”Outside his aqua-colored concrete house here, Rene Alvarez Rosales paused under an almond tree to answer questions about a subject with which he has surprising familiarity: Governor Mitt Romney’s Belmont lawn.”

“For about eight years, Rosales said, he worked on and off landscaping the grounds at Romney’s home, occasionally getting a ‘buenos dias’ from Romney or a drink of water from his wife, Ann.”

Naturally, Romney’s handlers are denying he knew that the workers were illegal. The Democratic National Committee has rightly called him on his double standard. When asked about his hypocricy by television reporters, Romney reportedly said "oh, geez" and walked away.

In the long and short of it, the man that “would like to see us, as a nation, bringing in fewer illegal immigrants,” is more than happy to give them a “buenos dias” if they’re working on his lawn. Somehow, all this reminds me of a certain movie.

It’s a long way until November 2008. It’ll be fun to watch Romney keep squirming.

The Shining Light of Christianity (#6)

2006-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

The Christian Coalition of America (CCA) is not happy. Someone proposed that they actually do the work of Christ (you know, their namesake) and they showed him the door.

That someone is Rev. Joel C. Hunter. He's the senior pastor at Northland Church in Longwood, Florida, which is one of those megachurches that CCA types love so much. He's also (or was until Monday) the president-elect of the CCA. Rev. Hunter was set to take the CCA helm in January, but then the group's board got wind of his "different way of doing things."

As reported by CNN, the New York Times and other media outlets, Hunter resigned his leadership position-in-waiting after a disagreement on the CCA's future efforts. According to the Times report, Hunter stepped down after "saying the group resisted his efforts to broaden its agenda to include reducing poverty and fighting global warming."

"I wanted to expand the issues from only moral ones -- such as opposing abortion and redefining marriage -- to include compassion issues such as poverty, justice, and creation care," Hunter said. "We need to care as much for the vulnerable outside the womb as inside the womb."

So, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and exercising careful dominion over God's creation are not biblical enough tasks for the CCA. I'm not surprised. This is, after all, the same group that gave us Ralph Reed.

Hands On Haggard

2006-11-22T10:53:00.000-06:00

It's been a couple of weeks since the story broke, but it continues to be one to watch. Ted Haggard, the gay-hating minister who got caught being gay, is about to enter a period of what his handlers (or manhandlers) are calling "restoration."

As reported by the Denver Post, Haggard is about to enter a "long journey." According to the Post, "Haggard, a leader rather than a follower, now must put himself under complete authority of the men counseling him, said Larry Magnuson, chief executive of SonScape Ministries, a Woodland Park retreat for pastors."

The Associated Press reports that Haggard's "rehabilitation...will look a lot like parole."

"It might not include urine tests or ankle bracelets, but he'll be tracked all the same. He'll have to keep appointments, work on issues and constantly answer to other people."

So, in the long and short of it, Haggard must submit to men who will likely use the laying on of their hands to insert themselves into his deepest personal areas. That should be fun.

Meanwhile, his former flock is looking for a new shepherd. Also meanwhile, gay spiritual leaders are actually following the words of Jesus and turning the other cheek.

Happy Holidays From The GOP

2006-11-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

This is the day before Thanksgiving, and many Americans are making final preparations for what will be their largest meal of the year. It’s a meal that often makes it easy to forget the struggles of those without food, and your Republican government wants to make that even easier.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says they have eliminated hunger in the United States…at least on paper.

It’s not that the USDA has actually solved the problem of people who can’t afford food, it’s that the USDA is changing the language. In a move that comes right out of Orwell’s “Ministry of Plenty,” the USDA will now label formerly hungry people as having “low food security.”

As reported by the Washington Post, all of this comes as part of the USDA’s annual review.

“Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans’ access to food, and it has consistently used the word ‘hunger’ to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.”

“Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said ‘hungry’ is ‘not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food security survey.’ Nord, a USDA sociologist, said, ‘We don’t have a measure of that condition.’”

Meanwhile, and as the folks at the USDA tinker with words, they are failing in their mission to actually eliminate hunger. As the Post reports, “the USDA said that 12 percent of Americans — 35 million people — could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the USDA has determined ‘very low food security’ to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.”

“The United States has set a goal of reducing the proportion of food-insecure households to 6 percent or less by 2010, or half the 1995 level, but it is proving difficult. The number of hungriest Americans has risen over the past five years. Last year, the total share of food-insecure households stood at 11 percent.”

Unfortunately, this comes as no surprise when we consider who’s running Washington (at least until January). This is the same Republican Congress that slashed food assistance programs last year. According to KDFW-TV in Dallas, they’re looking to do it again this year on their way out of town. Even the USDA report that has brought all of this to light was conveniently released last week — after the midterm elections. It’s normally released in October.

Republicans just don’t get it. If they do get it, then they just don’t care. This is the same party, after all, led by the same George W. Bush who said he thought the USDA report was fabricated. That thinking may have something to do with the report’s finding that his home state is one of the hungriest in the nation.

“I’m sure there are some people in my state who are hungry,” Bush said. “I don’t believe 5 percent are hungry.”

Bush’s callous attitude toward this issue is matched by the crass public face put on it by Senator John Cornyn. The junior senator from Texas spent a few minutes in front of TV cameras yesterday packing boxes at a north Texas food bank. That way, when Texans sat down to watch their local news last night, they saw pictures of him helping feed people while an anchor read about Republican efforts to further starve them.

In spite of GOP efforts to manage the message, however, a new survey shows that most Americans still understand the problem.

“A majority of Americans believe that the hunger problem in the United States is increasing and that it already is as bad or worse than in other developed countries, according to The Hormel Hunger Survey: A National Perspective, which was conducted by Hormel Foods Corporation in conjunction with America’s Second Harvest –- The Nation’s Food Bank Network.”

So, as you sit down to your massive meal tomorrow, try and remember those with “low food security.” As you enter the voting booth in future Novembers, remember those who work to keep it that way.

"...And The Touching Leads To Sex"

2006-11-03T15:13:00.000-06:00

That's a line from the song "Portions for Foxes" by Rilo Kiley. Given the current (and everchanging) situation of evangelical "leader" Ted Haggard, it's a good one.

After denying yesterday that he even knew his prostitute accuser, Haggard is today admitting to a least a couple of indiscretions. According to the Associated Press (via the Houston Chronicle), "Haggard admitted Friday that he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a gay prostitute."

This is how it starts in these situations. He'll admit to a few things today. By the end of next week, he'll be wrapping himself in a rainbow flag and calling for compassion. What a damn hypocrite. I agree with the sentiment just expressed by Tucker Carlson on MSNBC. By having press conferences surrounded by his family, Haggad also earns himself the title of pig.

Antagonizing Anita

2006-11-02T19:51:00.000-06:00

Texas First Lady Anita Perry was greeted by a crowd of Democrats in Lampasas Tuesday.

Texas First Lady Anita Perry got some face time with Democratic activist T.J. Mabrey Tuesday.

Texas First Lady Anita Perry has been travelling the state lately, trying to convince people they need to vote. She's going from town to town, talking up the value of voting. Allegedly nonpartisan in her approach, she is making these trips while her husband is fighting for re-election. It's a campaign that finds Mr. Perry with about 35% support. That's a number that would scare most incumbents, but in a four-way race it's probably enough to win.

Mrs. Perry's stop in Lampasas (my hometown) this week, did not go as she expected. Upon arriving at the bandstand in the city's historic courtyard squire, she was greeted by a large group of Democratic activists. According to my sources on the ground, the Democrats far outnumbered the handful of local GOPers there.

The Democrats there share Mrs. Perry's belief that everyone needs to fulfill their civic duty and cast a ballot. Obviously, they do not share a choice of candidate. When faced by that many people carrying signs for her husband's opponent, Mrs. Perry decided not to carry through with her planned speech. My sources report that Mrs. Perry got off her tour bus long enough to shake hands with a few people in the crown (mainly the Republicans), then got right back on the bus and left town. Her podium and the signs and decorations that surrounded it were quickly taken down.

I think Mrs. Perry's decision to curtail her time in Lampasas says a lot. Apparently, if you're not a Republican, she doesn't want anything to do with you, and she doesn't want you to vote.

Justice, Thy Name Is Gay Sex

2006-11-02T19:31:00.000-06:00

Republicans are caught in moral hypocrisy so often anymore, it's almost laughable. Here today, we've learned of another GOP hypocrite.

As reported by the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle, another gay-hating evangelical "leader" is himself gay...or at least has sex with other men. I'll let the article speak for itself.

"The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of the drive for same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years.
The Rev. Ted Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could 'not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations.'

The investigation came after a 49-year-old man told a Denver radio station that Haggard paid him to have sex.
Mike Jones, 49, of Denver told The Associated Press he decided to go public with his allegations because of the political fight. Jones, who said he is gay, said he was upset when he discovered Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

'It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex,' said Jones, who added that he isn't working for any political group.

Jones, whose allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM radio in Denver, claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over three years."

It should be fun to watch this one play out. I guess we'll soon see one more (albeit reluctant) supporter of gay marriage, especially with his existing marriage seemingly about to dissolve.

Memo To Mr. Brokaw

2006-11-02T18:55:00.001-06:00

To: Tom Brokaw

From: Daniel Melder

Subject: Resuming Your Retirement

Mr. Brokaw:

I watch a lot of MSNBC these days. Between Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson, and Don Imus, I sense there are a few people at that network who actually think for themselves. Meanwhile, their competitors on Fox are...well...on Fox; and the folks at CNN desperately want to be on Fox.

That said, MSNBC is not without their problems. Dusting you off may have just become one of them. You recently put together a piece (and I use that word in two ways) comparing the people supposedly in charge of the partisan efforts to win the midterm elections. That piece ran last night during "Countdown" and again during "Hardball" a few minutes ago. While any such piece might have some journalistic value, it would have a lot more if you compared the right people.

Your piece, Mr. Brokaw, compared Ken Mehlman and Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Mehlman is chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), while Rep. Emanuel is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). These are two entirely different organizations. An accurate comparison would put Mr. Mehlman up against Gov. Howard Dean, his counterpart at the Democratic National Committee. It could have also compared Rep. Emanuel to Rep. Tom Reynolds, his counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

You, sir, have been a TV journalist for decades. With that in mind, I suspect you are already keenly aware of the differences in title and responsibility between the people you compared in your piece. Therefore, we must examine why you chose to do what you did.

First, let's look at what Rep. Emanuel and Mr. Mehlman have in common. They are similar in age, similar in background, and similar in public persona. In other words, they look alike and they sound alike. They make for a much easier comparison, especially for today's jaded TV audiences.

Now, let's look at why you didn't do what you should have done. Mr. Mehlman and Gov. Dean are counterparts in their respective parties, yet you did not compare them. Why? I suspect it's because Gov. Dean regularly makes a fool out of Mehlman on TV. Mehlman is rather unimpressive when put up against Gov. Dean. Additionally, Gov. Dean regularly calls Mehlman out on his bullshit, especially his connections to Jack Abramoff and his involvement in the still-unraveling telephone jamming scandal.

Meanwhile, it is a similar pairing between Rep. Emanuel and Rep. Reynolds. While Rep. Emanuel is a credible person and a hard worker for his party, Rep. Reynolds has become a GOP embarrassment. In addition to having to justify his lack of action in the Mark Foley mess, he's also in serious danger of losing his own seat (and probably because of that whole Foley thing).

So, in future, I ask you to make honest comparisons between people at the same level. Too often these days, journalists think their job is to put things on en even footing, even when they are not. In truth, your job is to tell the truth. The fact that Democratic Party leaders are much better people (and certainly more ethical) is no reason to try and make the Republicans look better. The truth isn't always pretty, but it's your job to tell the truth.

I hope you'll do better in the future.

Paging Mr. Orwell

2006-09-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

"WAR IS PEACE."

"IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."

Those were two of the mantras of "The Party" in George Orwell's 1984. Perhaps Newsweek magazine is trying to make bedfellows with the GOP, thinking they'll be the favorite of that party in the future (you know, if it ever completely destroys the Democrats). Perhaps they just think that Americans really are stronger in their ignorance. I don't know, but their latest cover selections have to make you ask the question.

While Newsweek readers across the globe were pitched a story about the latest U.S. failures in Afghanistan, news that could be very bad for Republicans desperately trying to scare up votes, Americans were served a profile of Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz is the famous photographer who scored the first pictures of Suri Cruise.

To be fair, the article in question did run in the American editions of Newsweek, but you'd have never known that by passing the newsstand.

Vanity Fair: eat your heart out. Americans concerned with real news: eat shit.

"Ann Richards Will Take Your Ass Out"

2006-09-14T14:41:00.000-05:00

As memories of the late Ann Richards continue to flood the Internet, I'm particularly fond of remembrances of her incredible sense of humor. The clip above is from the Alamo Drafthouse Theatre in Austin. The only thing that would make this post better is a copy of the Doritos commercial she did with former New York Governor Mario Quomo.

“She Opened Government to Everyone”

2006-09-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

Austin American-Statesman Photo

Ann Richards, the 45th Governor of Texas, is dead. As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, she "died Wednesday night at her home surrounded by her family after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73."

"Richards was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments."

"Her four adult children spent the day with her, said Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend and family spokeswoman."

Speaking personally, this blogger is absolutely heartbroken. I cannot even begin to express the loss that Texans have suffered tonight. Any such attempt would be an exercise in futility. Instead, I'll close this post with a quote from an interview that Richards gave shortly after leaving the Governor's mansion.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone.' "

I'm Planning A Vacation

2006-08-17T17:22:00.000-05:00

Any caption I might write for this picture wouldn't be worth the effort. (Wikipedia photo)

I've long thought about touring Europe. I now know exactly where I'll start my tour.

I'm not making this up. Read about Fucking for yourself. Perhaps you'll want to buy a souvenir.

I'll bet that George Allen doesn't know the meaning of that word, either.

Blame His Mama

2006-08-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

Let's be glad George Allen doesn't make umbrellas. They'd be full of holes, just like his explanations for the racist slur he used to describe one of his opponent's staffers. As this blog and other outlets reported yesterday, Allen called an Indian-American man "Macaca," a word used to describe monkeys and, in some quarters, people from northern Africa.

Allen has offered two justifications for his racism. First, he claimed to have made up the word and not known its meaning. Unfortunately for Allen, his mother is from Tunisia, a former French colony in North Africa. Mother Allen often taught her children her native tongue, as Allen himself has repeatedly noted in the past. It's easy to conclude that Allen knew exactly what "Macaca" meant when he said it.

Second, Allen has also claimed to be referring to his victim's haircut. He says the man had a Mohawk, and that's what he meant to say. Unfortunately (again) for Allen, his victim was wearing a mullet at the time. That would leave a lot more hair on his head than a Mohawk.

On a related note, some in the GOP have expressed anger that Allen's Democratic opponent would even have a staffer videotaping Allen's speeches. In this situation, however, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Allen has had his own staffers taping the opposition's speeches.

To make matters worse, when Dick Wadhams, Allen's campaign manager, was asked about the incident by the Washington Post, he dismissed the matter with some foul language of his own and said the senator has "nothing to apologize for." Perhaps Dick Wadhams was upset by humor regarding his own name.

Somehow, I'm Not Surprised

2006-08-15T23:37:00.000-05:00

There's shocking news from the campaign trail today. A white Republican senator from a southern state used a racial slur to address a brown-skinned person.

My attempt at sarcasm aside, Virginia Senator George Allen used the word "Macaca" to address S.R. Sidarth. Sidarth is a staffer for Jim Webb, Allen's Democratic challenger in the Senate race. Allen, a GOP hopeful for President in 2008, used the word twice toward Sidarth and finished his racist tirade by saying "welcome to America."

While Sidarth is of Indian descent, he was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. That means he needs no "welcome to America" from anybody.

The word "Macaca" has a couple of known meanings. One refers to a species of monkey. Another is a slur for people from northern Africa...people that look like Sidarth. Allen has claimed that he didn't know what the word means and that he made it up. Allen has also claimed that he meant to comment on Sidarth's Mohawk haircut. Both excuses seem dubious to me.

As the Washington Post reports, Allen has offered a shallow apology. He's also trying to control the fallout. Fortunately for Allen, most of the people who would vote for him probably aren't bothered by racial slurs. The people who are would probably vote for his Democratic opponent anyway.

Haste Makes Waste

2006-08-15T23:23:00.000-05:00

This blog posted a link to an NBC report yesterday. That report says that Bush Administration officials pushed British authorities to arrest the folks behind last week's alleged airplane terror plot sooner than British investigators wanted to.

NBC is reporting today that as a result of the early arrests, British authorities are saying they don't have the evidence to successfully prosecute the suspects. The British had wanted to delay their arrests long enough to gather that evidence.

So, the Bushies eagerness to toss another political football has led to a criminal justice fumble. Let's hear it for the home team!

Meanwhile, the TSA is using the logic of bait-and-switch to defend their ability to protect us. As NBC is also reporting, "a Homeland Security report on aviation screening obtained by The Associated Press [said] the machines don't help screeners find a specific liquid or gel that can be used as a bomb."

Rather than address those concerns, the TSA is stuffing balloons in sneakers, taking X-ray pictures of those sneakers, and presenting those pictures as proof of their bomb-detecting proficiency.

Don't you just feel so much safer?

Handicapping November

2006-08-14T22:27:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post is attempting to hadicap the November Congressional elections. If it's nothing else, it's certainly an interesting read.

Another Post article suggests that Democrats may regain some ground in the South by using one of our historically strong selling points: economic populism.

Give them a look. You might learn something.

Our Safety Is A GOP Game

2006-08-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

This comes as no surprise to those of us paying attention, but the GOP continues to play games with our safety. Last week's foiled terror plot in London only reveals another round of the game.

First, it seems that the attack we were told was imminent Thursday really wasn't. NBC News is reporting the new revelations. In the report, British authorities say that some of the suspects had no passports and none has purchased plane tickets. In other words, it was going to be a while before this thing went down. The Brits wanted to continue to build a case against the suspects, but the Bush administration, most likely looking for a bounce and a political football after the Lieberman loss, pushed for Thursday's action.

Second, a columnist for the New York Times is offering further evidence of how important our safety really is to the Bushies. According to Paul Krugman, "we learn that terrorism experts have known about the threat of liquid explosives for years, but that the Bush administration did nothing about that threat until now, and tried to divert funds from programs that might have helped protect us.'As the British terror plot was unfolding,' reports The Associated Press, 'the Bush administration quietly tried to take away $6 million that was supposed to be spent this year developing new explosives detection technology.'"

Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney has been all over the media comparing Democratic voters in Connecticut to "Al Qaeda types," while White House Spokesman Tony Snow has blamed those same voters for causing future terrorist attacks. All of this smacks of desperation, if not outright hysteria, especially in the wake of polls showing more Americans trust Democrats to handle terrorism than in years past.

Let me boil this down for you. If you're willing to vote for anyone who sees your safety as a game, then you deserve what you get.

The View from Fox

2006-08-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

Speaking of conservative idiots, the folks over at Fox News are in a real rough patch.

First, a Catholic priest-turned-pundit for Fox News lied his way into a mosque following last week's revelations about a terrorist plot in London. When confronted about his trickery, he bolted. Now he's denying that he did anything wrong.

Second, another Bush lackey is on the payroll at Fox News and several other media outlets. As the Washington Post reports, "Labor Department deputy assistant secretary Karen Czarnecki [is] appearing on Fox News as a 'conservative strategist.' She's also a regular 'conservative analyst' on the PBS show 'To the Contrary' and, according to her department biography, has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Canadian Public Broadcasting and C-SPAN."

According to the Post, "laws restrict income that certain political appointees can earn on the side, and the Hatch Act bars political activity while on duty or in a federal building, or using your official title or position," but the ethics watchdogs at the Labor Department have cleared her activities. It poses a problem for me, but I guess political hacks will protect each other.

Finally, and on a far more serious note, two Fox News staffers have been kidnapped in Gaza. Regardless of their ideology and bias, I'm hoping for their safe and speedy return.

Who's Counting?

2006-08-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

So...another month with no blogging. That just plain sucks. Oh well, it's Monday, so it's a good day to kick start this thing again.

I can attribute this latest absence to the usual suspects. The first is work. The second is my ever increasing political activity, including new responsibilities to the Texas Young Democrats Blue Star State Blog.

Since I'm back in the saddle, let's bring back one of our semi-regular features. Let's have a look at this week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots.

The folks at Democratic Underground spend some time poking fun at Joe Lieberman this week. I'm not sure I agree with all of it, and I was on the fence before the primary, but the votes are in and it's time to rally around Ned Lamont.

Enjoy!

Quote of the Day

2006-07-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

Our "Quote of the Day" feature returns today with some blatant Republican racism.

Here's the quote:

"As much as the politically correct crowd would like to talk around it, the market for alternative schools is the direct result of government-forced integration of the public schools. The demise of the public schools has followed on the heels of federal courts mandating integration about as directly as any example of cause-and-effect in social policy in American history."

Here's who said it:

Texas State Rep. Bill Keffer of Dallas, in a Lakewood Advocate column.

Dumbass

2006-07-13T18:31:00.000-05:00

Normally, I like Tucker Carlson. I hardly ever agree with him, but I find him entertaining and can usually see how he arrives at his opinions (something I can't do with most conservatives).

That said, there is simply no excuse for his most recent blunder.

In a discussion on immigration Monday with Jesse Diaz, Dallas chapter president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Carlson suggested that some illegal immigrants to the United States come from Puerto Rico.

"...you may be counting Hispanic immigrants from Puerto Rico or Cuba, but those two countries make up less than 1 percent of the Hispanic immigrants in Dallas, Texas."

Unfortunately for Carlson, people from Puerto Rico are already legal citizens of the United States. Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory, often considered for statehood, and the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 grants Puerto Ricans full American citizenship. Additionally, federal law says that Cuban immigrants who reach American shores receive immediate asylum.

In other words, there aren't many illegal immigrants from Puerto Rico or Cuba...period.

His Mysterious Ways

2006-07-13T18:12:00.000-05:00

Former Houston mayor Bob Lanier is aided by firefighters after collapsing at Ken Lay's funeral yesterday. (Houston Chronicle photo)

Shortly after learning of Ken Lay's sudden death, I wrote the following words in an e-mail discussion about the then-breaking news:

I think this is a very interesting development when one considers how often, especially during his trial and after his conviction, that Ken Lay referenced his faith in God and a belief that God would make everything work out.

Indeed, I believe God did make things work out...at least to some degree. Ken Lay destroyed the financial lives of thousands of Enron employees, thousands of Enron investors, and thousands of state employees (especially teachers) who were unwitting Enron investors because some fund manager put their retirement money there. That ripple effect probably touches more people than we can count. Arguably, he caused more pain and left more victims in his wake then even the worst serial murderer. How many people committed suicide because of Ken Lay's scheming? We'll probably never know, but I'm sure the number would stagger us.

So, as Ken Lay sat enjoying his ill-gotten Aspen hideaway, plotting how to protect it from the federal courts, and continuing to proclaim his faith, God Almighty exacted divine justice. In one presumably painful instant, it was all over and gone.

I still stand by those words. Yesterday, while Houston's upper crust gathered to mourn the lost of one of their own, I think the hand of God may have descended again.

Former Houston mayor Bob Lanier, who testified as a defense character witness during Lay's trial, collapsed on his way into Lay's funeral yesterday. Lanier was taken by ambulance to a Houston hospital. Doctors there say a pacemaker saved his life.

Could it be the hand of God? I cannot say for sure, but I think it could be.

Expensive Dog Food

2006-07-13T17:59:00.000-05:00

NBC's Brian Williams just called him "a heroic figure."

The nation, or at least our media, is holding a collective breath as they watch every change in his condition.

A new war is brewing in the Middle East, yet precious broadcast time is devoted to his medical plight.

We have heard about the medical miracles that are keeping him alive.

We have seen the intimate and sometimes gory details of his treatment.

No one has batted an eye at the tens of thousands of dollars spent to save him from once certain death.

Who is this "heroic figure" that's "fighting tough odds?"

Is it a major political figure?

Is it a major entertainment figure?

No.

It's a Goddamn racehorse named Barbaro.

Our values in this country have reached a new level of crazy. While people only blocks away from where I currently sit will sleep tonight on the sidewalk, hungry and unable to get medical care for their chronic injuries, America is supposed to be worried about an animal. A friend of mine can't afford $100 worth of insulin, but a horse can get upwards of $30,000 of surgery. Elderly people living blocks from where I currently sit can't afford life saving air conditioning, but a damn animal lives in climate-controlled comfort. Countless Americans will not eat a single morsel, but that animal will have only the best food that science has determined he should have.

Could this be a sign of the apocalypse?

Let's just shoot the damn thing and get it over with.

More Trouble for Abramoff and Reed

2006-07-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

With Jack Abramoff's criminal cases being all but resolved, he now faces a new round of civil court trouble. As the Austin-American Statesman reports, "an East Texas American Indian tribe denied the right to run its own casino filed a lawsuit today against disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates, including Ralph Reed, formerly of the Christian Coalition and now a candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor."

The lawsuit alleges that Abramoff, Reed, and the other defendants (including an aide to former Congressman Tom DeLay) pitted competing tribes against each other and appealed to religious conservatives on moral grounds to keep casinos from being built in Texas.

This is the latest round of trouble for Reed. Questions about his association with Abramoff continue to hound his campaign for Lieutenant Governor in Georgia. Meanwhile, Reed continues to deny any wrongdoing while claiming to have "stronger values" than his
GOP primary opponent.

All of this makes great fodder for a column by Garrison Keillor.

Novak Notes

2006-07-12T13:04:00.000-05:00

Robert Novak has finally revealed a couple of his sources in the Valerie Plame leak. As the Washington Post reports, "in a column to be published today, Novak said he told [Special Prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald in early 2004 that White House senior adviser Karl Rove and then-CIA spokesman Bill Harlow had confirmed for him, at his request, information about CIA operative Valerie Plame."

Novak still refuses to reveal the identity of his primary source, because as he says, "my primary source has not come forward to identify himself."

None of this is any great surprise to those who have been following the case, and with the announcement that Karl Rove will not be prosecuted, it's rather anticlimactic.

Meanwhile, Novak has put some fuel in the Democrats' electoral fire. In his Monday column, Novak writes that "a six-seat takeover capturing the Senate is possible."

Calling Your Senator

2006-07-11T16:16:00.000-05:00

Anyone who's ever tried to call Kay Bailey Hutchison about anything knows that you'll never actually get to talk to the Senior Senator from Texas. To be fair, the same is probably true of most Senators.

With her Democratic opponent, Barbara Ann Radnofsky, however, the opposite is true. As reported by the Agonist, "those that called Radnofsky actually talked to her, as the [e-mail] had accidentally included her personal cell number (oops). But Radnofsky was ecstatic about it. She took over 200 calls from people concerned about net neutrality and how the telco cartel was fighting this in Congress."

The Agonist asks a very good question. "Would Kay Bailey do the same thing? More importantly, will she do the right thing?"

Meanwhile, and as calls to have an exchange mount, Hutchison still refuses to debate Radnofsky.

Bell Turns Up Heat On Perry

2006-07-11T15:56:00.000-05:00

Today brings news from Democrat Chris Bell's Texas Gubernatorial Campaign.

"Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell today formally joined a bi-partisan group of consumer advocates in asking the Public Utility Commission to impose an emergency moratorium on utility disconnections for the summer. He also accused Rick Perry and the legislative leadership of blatant cruelty and dishonesty for raiding $427 million from the System Benefit Fund, which was created to subsidize the utility bills for senior citizens and poor Texans...especially galling since the taxpayers subsidize 100% of the electric bill at the Governor's Mansion that was $5,522.86 in May 2006."

Bell "also called on Rick Perry to either cease collecting the System Benefit Fund fee from ratepayers or to start using it for its intended purpose, which is subsidizing the utility bills for low-income or senior Texans. In 2005, Rick Perry and the Legislature raided $427 million from the System Benefit Fund and transferred it into General Revenue to spend on whatever it wanted. This can only be described as fraud and eliminates the very tool designed to prevent the need for the moratorium we are calling for today."

For those not paying attention, let me condense this.

Rick Perry and the Republican legislature scrapped the state program that helps poor folks and old folks pay their electric bills.

All electric consumers in Texas still pay a monthly surcharge for the program, even though it's been scrapped.

Texas summers are hot (it's 100 degrees outside my window), long, and often require electricity for survival. Old people that can't pay their bills could die.

Rick Perry, a very wealthy man, has his electric bill paid by the state.

The Governor's Mansion, which gets it's power from the City of Austin (and in Texas, municipal utilities are always cheaper), spent over $5,000 on utilities in May. I can only imagine what June and July will cost.

Chris Bell says Texas electric consumers should get what they pay for, or stop paying for it.

All of this follows a recent examination of electric deregulation here in Texas. Several years into the deregulation, and as the Texas Observer reports, rates continue to skyrocket.

Activist What?

2006-07-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

It seems the Judge-Hater-in-Chief has decided to listen to another branch of the government for a change.

Following the recent Supreme Court decision that smacked El Jefe's hands and forced him (God forbid) to follow either established civilian or military criminal procedure (mind you...he still has his pick), and thus the Constitution, the President's Chief Cheerleader announced today that detainees at Guantanamo Bay will now be subject to the Geneva Conventions.

While Tony Snow denies it, this is a direct reversal from earlier White House practice and policy. Republicans have long claimed that the nature of terrorist operatives makes them exempt from such provisions. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales even went so far as to call the Geneva Conventions "quaint."

This comes on the heels of news that El Jefe is scrapping his failed and embarrassing approach to foreign policy.

Let me make my opinion clear here. Allegedly, the so-called "War on Terror" is aimed at protecting our American way of life. That, in my mind, includes our criminal justice system. By subverting it the way "the Decider" has attempted to until today, we are doing exactly what the terrorists want: eliminating the American way of life.

If these men have committed crimes against America, put them on trial. If you can't find the evidence to do it, let them go. Any one of us would expect the same treatment.

Camera Carrying Conservatives

2006-07-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

Okay. I abandon any claims to re-establish regular attempts at blogging. That said, let's get back to the blog...at least for now...with a couple of videos.

Let me preface the following items. I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but crap is crap, and Republican lies are still Republican lies.

Today's first item (the crap) comes to us from the good folks at PinkDome. They've found a very patriotic music video that's sure to be the new bump on the Fox News Channel. After all, FNC Boss Roger Ailes is looking to shake things up there.

Our second item (the lies) comes from a U.S. House race in North Carolina, courtesy of YouTube. It's a commercial produced by the campaign of Vernon Robinson, a Republican running for in North Carolina's 13th district. Giving even further proof of how far over the edge he is, MSNBC's Chris Matthews praised the ad during yesterday's edition of Hardball.

Enjoy!

Big Highways and the Immigrants Building Them

2006-06-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

The conservative...let's call it a publication...Human Events is sounding an alarm that could be a tipping point for the GOP here in Texas.

President Bush and (his replacement) Texas Governor Rick Perry have been quietly working to build the Trans-Texas Corridor, (TTC) a massive highway that would be the first leg in a major expansion of certain highways key to trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

While seemingly happy that this project would not involve a number of unions (like the Longshoremen, for example), Human Events seems concerned that this is some sort of sinister plan to put the U.S. into a situation similar to that of the European Union. They're also up-in-arms (as usual of late) about the idea that anything...but especially brown-skinned people...might come north of the Rio Grande.

"The details of the NAFTA Super Highway are hidden in plan view. Still, Bush has not given speeches to bring the NAFTA Super Highway plans to the full attention of the American public. Missing in the move toward creating a North American Union is the robust public debate that preceded the decision to form the European Union. All this may be for calculated political reasons on the part of the Bush Administration."

"A good reason Bush does not want to secure the border with Mexico may be that the administration is trying to create express lanes for Mexican trucks to bring containers with cheap Far East goods into the heart of the U.S., all without the involvement of any U.S. union workers on the docks or in the trucks."

Now, I have my own issues with the TTC, but I don't fear the same things the herd at Human Events does. Furthermore, the author of the article cited above collaborated with the "swift boat" group and G. Gordon Liddy, crooks and liars all. Still, I do love watching conservatives bicker...especially when their hatred of government projects mixes with their hatred of Mexicans.

Let Them Fly Delta!

2006-06-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

In the latest Marie Antoinette moment to come from the Bush White House, ABC News is reporting that Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has been abusing a taxpayer-funded private jet.

"Leavitt was not supposed to use the jet for normal business travel, but according to Health and Human Services records, he used it to travel to 91 cities this year for meetings on health policy and to sell the administration's controversial Medicare drug prescription plan."

That's right, kids. Mikey's been pimping on your dime. Meanwhile, the medical folks trying to handle medical emergencies have had to make other arrangements.

"Twice this year, the CDC has needed the plane for medical emergencies, but Leavitt was using it. So the CDC had to hire another jet at additional expense. Republicans have generally defended Leavitt, but Democrats are demanding an explanation."

Leavitt has also been using the plane to scare up visions of a bird flu pandemic. If it comes, will the folks at the CDC in Atlanta be able to get Tamiflu to the west coast? Not if Mikey's out pimping again.

Pass The Aspirin

2006-06-18T15:18:00.000-05:00

My poor little blog. So neglected. I skipped the entire month of May.

The Texas Democratic Party Convention is now a week behind me. The too-much-politics hangover is finally wearing off.

It's time to try (again) and make a regular go at this thing, so I've done some house cleaning. You'll see some changes to the links in the sidebar. I've added a couple of blog links and updated the candidate links.

Look for some post-convention blogging soon. I learned some things about our candidates. We have a good slate, but no money to promote them. A couple of our candidates actually have the qualifications to do the job (gasp!), so maybe we can make some purple headway in this very red state. I'll be blogging on that soon.

My goal is one post...at least one...every day. We'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, I want to pick a fight with another blogger. Edward Sanders, in declaring his newfound appreciation for Johnny Cash, says that he can detect no particular political leaning in Cash's songs. See if you can spot the doublespeak.

"I did realize by listening to Cash's word that he was neither conservative nor liberal, populist nor progressive hero [sic]. He was his own man who wore black for the 'man in jail who has longed served his time' and the poor and beaten down."

As I responded, "the last time I checked, the only people advocating for prisoners and the poor were liberals, progressives and populists."

Silly conservatives.

Is A Diabetes Vaccine Possible?

2006-04-29T18:22:00.000-05:00

As this is my blog, I'm going to turn away from politics briefly to post information that brings more joy to my life than any Republican scandal. As many of you reading this know, I am a type 1 diabetic. As such, the information I'm about to post is a source of hope in what often seems a hopeless pursuit--a cure for type 1 diabetes.

As reported by Diabetes Focus magazine, "British researchers are working on a vaccine to prevent type 1 diabetes. If successful, the vaccine would stop the immune systems of people with diabetes from destroying their own insulin-making cells."

For those that don't know, type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes. It is usually diagnosed before the age of 20 and most of its victims remain insulin dependent for their entire lives. Insulin, by the way, is basic life support. Much as an accident victim requires a feeding tube or respirator machine to live, most type 1 diabetics require insulin to live. Insulin is not a treatment or a cure.

With that said, I eagerly await the latest developments on this front and will continue to post them as they become available.

Legal Issues Mount Against White House

2006-04-29T18:11:00.000-05:00

This post will deal with two legal developments.

First, three state legislatures, Illinois, California, and Vermont, have now introduced resolutions to send petitions to the U.S. House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Bush (and, in the case of California, Cheney too).

Second, several members of the House are joining a number of watchdog groups in filing a lawsuit against the administration. It seems that President Bush and Congressional Republicans have forgotten that we have a system that requires both houses of Congress to pass a bill (in this case, the budget) before the President signs it. If they didn't forget it, then they simply ignored it.

As Congressman John Conyers of Michigan said, "the House and Senate passed different versions of [the budget]. House Republicans did not want to make Republicans in marginal districts vote on the bill again, so they simply certified that the Senate bill was the same as the House bill and sent it to the President. The President, despite warnings that the bill did not represent the consensus of the House and Senate, simply shrugged and signed the bill anyway. Now, the Administration is implementing it as though it was the law of the land.

Conyers goes on to say that by doing what they did, the Republican leadership deprived House members of their constitutional right and duty to vote on a revised version of the budget. That gives House members grounds for the lawsuit.

Stay tuned.

Do You Feel Any Safer?

2006-04-29T18:02:00.000-05:00

The Los Angeles times is reporting that the FBI is using it's powers under the Patriot Act to spy on thousands of Americans. I hate to say I told you so.

As the Times reports, "the FBI issued thousands of subpoenas to banks, phone companies and Internet providers last year, aggressively using a power enhanced under the Patriot Act to monitor the activities of U.S. citizens, Justice Department data released late Friday showed. According to the new report, the FBI issued 9,254 national security letters in 2005, covering 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal foreign residents."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer also reports the troubling news. As the Plain Dealer tells us, we may never know how many people the FBI has watched, as Friday "was the first time the Bush administration has publicly disclosed how often it uses the administrative subpoena known as a National Security Letter, which allows the executive branch of government to obtain records about people in terrorism and espionage investigations without a judge's approval or a grand jury subpoena."

So the FBI knows that I bought a Diet Pepsi at the Texaco on Highway 7 last week. Awesome. Meanwhile, does anybody know what's in the 80% of cargo containers not inspected at the Port of Houston? No? I didn't think so.

Rove Indictment Could Come Next Week

2006-04-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

To continue my list of Republican scandal du hour, there could be new developments in the Valerie Plame case. To be fair, I will call this post nothing more than speculation. That said, it's speculation worth repeating.

Journalist Jason Leopold spent two years covering California's electricity crisis as Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires. Leopold has spent the last year cultivating sources close to the CIA leak investigation that led to the indictment of Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff "Scooter" Libby.

Yesterday, Leopold reported that an indictment of Karl Rove could come as early as next week. Leopold wrote that "the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week."

Stay tuned.

Dirty Money?

2006-04-29T17:31:00.000-05:00

He's also doing a "heckuva" job. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour gets some face time with President Bush. Were they discussing impending scandal investigations? (White House photo)

I used to think the Republicans could be tied to a scandal du jour. Now it seems they can be tied to a scandal du hour.

Having recently survived a storm of nature, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour finds himself on the verge of a storm of controversy. The former RNC Chairman gave the start-up money to a telemarketing firm that is the center of at least two criminal investigations into dirty tricks during the 2002 elections.

As ABC News reports, the firm received over $250,000 thanks to Barbour and the money made him part owner of the company. The dirty tricks involved phone jamming that sidelined the Democratic Party's GOTV efforts. In other words, phone lines that elderly and disabled people would call to arrange rides to the polls were clogged with fake, GOP-generated telephone calls. ABC's Biloxi, Mississippi, affiliate, WLOX-TV has this report.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean, to no one's surprise, is not silent on this matter. He continues to urge current RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman to divulge his role in the illegal phone jamming. Phone records show that calls made by the companies in question were made to Mehlman's former White House office on Election Day.

Knowing Barbour, he'll probably brush this off as the investigation continues. He is, after all, the candidate who wouldn't have his picture removed from the Council of Conservative Citizens website. Lest their name fool you, the CCC proudly proclaim their opposition to "all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races." In other words, they're racists. They're racists that Barbour doesn't mind being associated with. Why would he let a little election fraud bring him down?

Watergate II

2006-04-29T17:14:00.000-05:00

Call him the "Top Gun" of scandal. Former Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham is already facing prison time for bribery. Now he's wrapped up in a prostitution investigation. (AP photo)

The Republican scandals just get better...and dirtier. Where is that moral majority now?

Disgraced former "Top Gun," Randy "Duke" Cunningham, former Republican Congressman from California, is already facing an 8-year prison sentence for taking more than $2 million in bribes from defense contractors. Many of the lavish furnishings he bought and received as part of the bribery have recently been sold at auction.

As if that wasn't embarrassing enough for Cunningham and the rest of the GOP, the case is taking a sexy new twist--prostitutes. As the Washington Post reports, "Federal authorities are investigating allegations that a California defense contractor arranged for a Washington area limousine company to provide prostitutes to convicted former congressman Randy 'Duke' Cunningham (R-Calif.) and possibly other lawmakers, sources familiar with the probe said yesterday."

To add to the novel-like feel of this story, it's all going down at that infamous den of other Republican scandal--the Watergate Hotel. As the Post reports, "The Cunningham investigation's latest twist came after Mitchell J. Wade, a defense contractor who has admitted bribing the former congressman, told prosecutors that Wilkes had an arrangement with Shirlington Limousine, which in turn had an arrangement with at least one escort service, one source said. Wade said limos would pick up Cunningham and a prostitute and bring them to suites Wilkes maintained at the Watergate Hotel...the source said."

Other media, including CBS and MSNBC are also reporting the story.

Meanwhile, Editor and Publisher awaits a new Woodward and Bernstein.

Picture Of The Week

2006-04-28T19:06:00.000-05:00

In absence of a caption, I'll say that this picture pretty well speaks for itself. This person is obviously participating in one of the numerous protests against President Bush and the war in Iraq. Perhaps she's right. If lying to Congress to start a war, leaking the name of a covert CIA agent, and abandoning the population of a major city after a natural disaster won't get a president impeached, there's always that other option.

BREAKING NEWS: Rush Limbaugh Arrested

2006-04-28T17:29:00.000-05:00

The Associated Press is just now breaking the news that Rush Limbaugh is under arrest. Limbaugh has reportedly turned himself in to the Florida Attorney General's office.

Some media speculation says that this arrest is part of a plea deal worked out with the Attorney General following a lengthy investigation into drug charges against Limbaugh.

More news will be posted here as it becomes available.

Democrats Announce College Funding Plan

2006-04-27T18:21:00.000-05:00

We've heard it many times before. Democrats have no plan. All we can do is criticize the GOP. I will devote more of my blogging efforts to show that to be untrue. Democrats do have plans. Granted, we can't shrink them down to 30-second soundbytes as well as the Republicans, but we've got them.

One plan I'm glad to be passing on is our plan for higher education funding. In spite of a massive lobbying effort by student groups, the Republican House pushed through a $12 billion cut in federal student aid, the largest cut in history.

By 2020, the U.S. is expected to experience a shortage of up to 12 million college-educated workers, yet that didn't stop the Republicans from making their $12 billion cut in federal student aid programs. The cuts will help finance tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. As I said earlier, this was the single largest cut in the history of financial aid programs. Democratic leaders have now introduced legislation to "Reverse the Raid on Student Aid."

Congressman George Miller and Senator Dick Durbin have stepped up to the plate and introduced the 'Reverse the Raid on Student Aid' bill that would:

Cut interest rates in half for the borrowers in most need--on subsidized student loans--from a fixed rate of 6.8% to a fixed rate of 3.4%; and,
Cut rates on parent loans for undergraduate students from a fixed rate of 8.5% to a fixed rate of 4.25%.

Under this bill the typical undergraduate student borrower, with $17,500 in debt, would save $5,600 over the life of his or her loans.

I encourage you to read the bill. You can also read the report by the Democratic Caucus of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

If you want to take action on this issue, consider the following:

sign an online petition endorsing the Durbin-Miller bill.
submit written or video testimonies to the E-forum. Current college students and parents should send written or video testimonies sharing their experiences in financing a college education and their thoughts about what Congress can do to improve college access and affordability for all Americans. Testimony can also be sent by e-mail.
add your personal student debt to the total to the State PIRG's Student Debt Clock.

So there is is. A Democratic plan for education.

2006-04-27T17:55:00.000-05:00

"Larry the Cable Guy" is Rick Perry's new Education Adviser. (Publicity photo)

Texas Governor Rick Perry watches too much television. As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, Perry chose to answer questions about the current special legislative session on education funding with a familiar one-liner.

Perry was expressing his optimism that the Senate would pass his proposed business tax plan recently passed by the House. "There is a renewed spirit of optimism in this building as this plan gathers momentum. I am confident the Senate will seize the opportunity before us and pass this bipartisan plan. As ol' Larry the Cable Guy says on a regular basis, it's time to 'get 'er done.'"

I'm not sure what this actually tells us about Perry. Knowing the Governor, it could be a vain attempt to appeal to certain Texas voters. After all, he will probably face Kindy Friedman on the November ballot.

The Senate is expected to hold hearings on Perry's business tax plan this weekend. Perry said the plan could allow $15 billion in cuts in local school property taxes by replacing the corporate franchise tax with a broader business tax tied to gross receipts.

This isn't Perry's first time to quote a fictional character. Last week, Perry copied hamburconnoisseurseur "Wimpy" (of Popeye fame) by saying he'd pay Tuesday for a hamburger delivered today.

O'Reilly Fails His Own Civics Test

2006-04-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

Bill O'Reilly thinks high school students should be given a basic civics test. If they fail that test, he thinks they should be sent to Canada.

On Tuesday's edition of his radio show, O'Reilly said that "most high school kids in this country couldn't pass a civics test. They don't know what's going on. They don't know what the House of Representatives is; they don't know what the judicial branch is. They don't know anything."

"So, I have a bill that would throw all those kids out. All right? Let's do that. Let's get rid of all these dopey kids. OK? Y'all with me on that one? Can't pass the civics test, Seymour? Say hello to Canada."

Unfortunately for O'Reilly, this was the same show in which he showed his own ignorance of American Civics. O'Reilly, in a tirade about the U.S. Department of Energy, incorrectly identified the Secretary of Energy.

"Spencer Abraham doesn't understand it. He is -- in case you didn't know, because nobody does -- he is the secretary of energy. Spencer Abraham. And he's the invisible man. Only his hat shows up for work. He sits at a desk and all you see is the pen. You can't see him, he's invisible. But he did make a statement."

O'Reilly then played an audio clip of Samuel Bodman, the actual Secretary of Energy. Even after playing the clip, O'Reilly continued to incorrectly identify the Secretary of Energy as Spencer Abraham.

"But Spencer Abraham is not a leader. He doesn't know what he's doing. You know, he has no agenda here. Yeah, OK, refinery capacity is tight. What have you done about it for five years, Bush administration? Nothing."

Sometime later in the show, after realizing his error, O'Reilly attempted to correct himself, but also suggested (hopefully in jest) that the two are actually the same man.

"I am a pinhead. There's no question about it today. Spencer Abraham is the former secretary of energy. Samuel Bodman is the current. Now, I made the mistake because they're the same person. They are. People don't know that, but they are. Have you ever seen them together?"

"Spencer Abraham and Samuel Bodman -- really, the same guy. It's just they changed -- they had a name change when -- because they -- now, nobody on earth knows that the energy secretary is Samuel Bodman. Why? Because Samuel Bodman is the invisible man. That was the riff I was doing. Who is he? Nobody knows, and he doesn't know he's energy secretary and that's the tragedy."

This is not O'Reilly's first display of ignorance this week. On Monday's radio show, he blasted the New York Times for it's reporting on Mary McCarthy. McCarthy is the CIA agent fired for leaking information to the press. O'Reilly suggested that the Times was biased toward McCarthy because she leaked information to them.

"You may have heard this CIA officer, Mary McCarthy, is fired because she was leaking stuff to the press about the CIA. And, of course, on Sunday, The New York Times had a glowing article about Mary McCarthy, what a great patriot she is, because she was leaking stuff to them."

In fact, McCarthy gave information to the Washington Post.

Also on Monday, O'Reilly told radio listeners that the Federal and State Governments make more money as gas prices rise, suggesting that federal and state taxes are a percentage of retail prices.

"Now there is a legitimate argument about the government, both state and federal, taxing gasoline, which they do all over the place. So, of course, they're making more money, the government's making more money now that the uh, gasoline prices are higher, because their tax goes up. Percentage of money they get goes up. So maybe that's factoring into it. I don't know."

In fact, the tax levied by the federal government remains constant. Currently, the federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, and the federal tax on diesel is 24.4 cents per gallon.

According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), 38 states have no percentage-based gasoline tax, opting instead for set taxes automatically factored into the retail price of gas. So, for the federal government and the majority of states, gasoline-tax revenue will remain constant, regardless of the retail price of gasoline.

The week did not begin well for O'Reilly. Monday brought him another "Worst Person in the World" award from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Olbermann awarded O'Reilly the dubious honor for O'Reilly's declaration that he only trusts war information from military analysts that work exclusively for Fox News. Olbermann reminded viewers of some of the gross mistakes made by those analysts.

"Like the guy, [retired] Colonel [David] Hunt, who mocked the idea that there weren't enough armored vehicles in Iraq, or [retired Lieutenant Colonel] Oliver North, who said Saddam Hussein would be killed within three days of any invasion by his own people? Or [retired Lieutenant] Colonel [Robert] Maginnis, who said that the reality is we're not going to see thousands of American deaths? Those guys? Those geniuses?"

Tuesday's show brought more outright Hypocrisy from O'Reilly. O'Reilly was complaining about the way former Fox News Commentator-turned White House Press Secretary Tony Snow can have his words used against him. After announcing that "the smear stops here" on his Monday radio show, O'Reilly called Democrats and the rest of the media "Nazis."

"So, you got these smear merchants on the Internet and they operate through some newspaper people and a couple of television people who just parrot what they give them. They're despicable human beings, these smear merchants on the -- on the net. And the press is even worse. It just spits out their propaganda. I mean, these are Nazis. These are Joseph Goebbels people."

O'Reilly doesn't like to have his own words repeated to him. Perhaps this will land me in his new "Hall of Shame," also announced on Monday's radio show. I'm sure he's already reserved a special place for the folks at Media Matters for America, the same folks to whom I must credit most of the information contained in this post.

Report From The Capitol

2006-04-18T01:06:00.000-05:00

David VanOs speaks with other Democratic Party leaders at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

The Texas Legislature began its fifth special session on school finance Monday, and the hardest working man there isn't even a member.

David VanOs, Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General, is conducting his second "Citizens' Filibuster" from the Capitol grounds, speaking for 24 hours on what's wrong with the current Attorney General, what's wrong with our state's education system, and other serious issues facing the people of Texas.

In David's own words, the filibuster will demand "a just and Constitutional system of free public education for all Texas children, like our forebears demanded when they declared independence from despotism in 1836, and like every generation of Texans has demanded ever since. Like every fight I take on, I'll fight this one 'till hell freezes over, then I'll fight it on the ice."

The filibuster got underway at noon Monday, and Rachel VanOs (David's lovely wife) provided supporters with a report on her attempt to exchange greetings with Republican Governor Rick Perry. As you might expect, our Governor was less than friendly.

"Unfortunately...not much got done today in the Capitol...but we met lots of Texans who are fed up with this current administration and who want to fight back."

"We even had the pleasure of seeing the great Governor...but he paid us no attention...I must say he's quite rude. I tried to get his attention to merely say hello, but he refused to look at me or acknowledge me and I got no smile, no eye contact, nothing!"

"I even called his name. First I said 'Governor,' and then 'Governor Perry,' then 'Rick,' next 'Hey Richard' and then...'Dick'...but still no response!"

"I then said to the Governor, 'don't you acknowledge your constituents, the citizens of Texas,' and before I knew it he slid off to the opposite side of his [Chevrolet] Suburban just to avoid me."

"I found out later that he was in a hurry because he was hosting a lavish [barbecue] on the lawn of the Governor's mansion...I also was very amused when I realized that his residence is so close to the Capitol. I thought he might have walked home or walked to and from work just to save a little gas, but I was wrong."

"Can you imagine living two or three doors down from your office and having someone drive you to your office door? Just imagine getting into your car for about 29 seconds and then parking your vehicle at work!"

"The actual first day of session, as reported by citizens who came in and out, said that all they saw today was a lot of awards and ceremony...for all that they think that they do...another wasted day in Texas. I pray our children will get a fair and decent education."

"Today we had Kathy Thomas stop by. She is running against State Senator Wentworth (R-San Antonio) and our newly elected Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, Maria Luisa Alvarado...two great women with vision, hope and passion."

You can read the latest from the campaign trail as it happens on David's blog. You can also watch what goes on during the special session in the House or the Senate.

Another Stop On The Hypocrisy Express

2006-04-18T00:48:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've noticed that familiar whistle, but probably because we just haven't been paying that much attention. Anything you see all the time is less likely to stand out.

That said, Texas Democrats have a damn fine candidate in the race to oust Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Houston Attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky will give Hutchison a race for her money, mainly because Hutchison has such a shoddy record to run her race on. Between now and November, I plan to devote a lot of space on this blog to Hutchison's history in the Senate. It won't be pretty. Let's start our look at that history now.

It seems that the Senator has a different outlook on a particular crime, depending, of course, on who's committing it. I take the following from an e-mail exchange I was part of earlier today.

Republicans ran on ad nauseum about truth, integrity and morals when it came to Bill Clinton. They asserted that telling the truth during investigations is such a serious concern that it is necessary to impeach a sitting president in order to protect the rule of law. Even though the investigation was really about an affair with an intern, Republicans insisted it was necessary to establish morals and pursue any possible infraction of law in order to retain equal protection.

How things have changed! Now that it is the ethics of Republicans are being examined, we find them singing a very different tune. On February 12, 1999, Hutchinson was specific in her condemnation of Clinton, speaking quite forcefully about perjury, honesty and truth. Ascribing to herself the importance of morals and consistency, Kay Bailey Hutchison said the following about perjury and obstruction of justice.

"The concept of equal justice under law and the importance of absolute truth in legal proceedings is the foundation of our justice system in the courts. To say otherwise would be to severely lower the moral and legal standards of accountability that are imposed on ordinary citizens every day. The same standard should be imposed on our leaders. If only the President had followed the simple, high moral principle handed to us by our Nation's first leader as a child and had said early in this episode 'I cannot tell a lie,' we would not be here today."

When asked about the possibility of perjury and obstruction indictments against Republican Scooter Libby, Hutchinson said the following on NBC's "Meet The Press" on October 23, 2005.

"And secondly, I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars. So they go to something that trips someone up because they said something in the first grand jury and then maybe they found new information or they forgot something and they tried to correct that in a second grand jury."

When it was Clinton, Hutchinson piously insisted it was necessary to protect the rule of law and impeach Clinton for the offenses of perjury and obstruction of justice. When it comes to Republicans like Libby and Karl Rove, Hutchinson suddenly "thinks" perjury and obstruction of justice are "technicalities".

Let's recap. Lying about blowjobs is bad. It deserves impeachment. Lying about national security is cool. It was probably a "technicality."

Once again, all of this begs the question: do you feel safer? I don't.

This Week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots

2006-04-18T00:31:00.000-05:00

It's Monday...well...actually Tuesday morning as this is written, so that means it's time to begin another week of irregular-at-best blogging.

What better way to start then the usual? That's right, kids, another edition of the Top Ten Conservative Idiots.

This week's edition is one of the best I've read in a while. It does an excellent job of laying out the latest GOP lies (and this week, they're outright lies) while also laying out how the Pentagon has been busy spying on gays while Afghan warlords buy Defense Department harddrives on the black market (complete with American intelligence).

As you'll read, the President is not down with White House leaks...unless they're his own doing.

You'll also read that the "Intelligence Community" knew well before the war that those trailers Saddam was supposedly cooking up WMDs in were...completely harmless. Meth trailers in Mississippi (or Crawford, Texas, for that matter) are far more dangerous.

All of this begs the following question: with the President continuing to lie, and with the military spying on gays, and with terrorists buying American military secrets for $50, do you feel safer? I sure don't. Well-informed warlords commanding suicide bombers are a far greater threat than any gay agenda (which, by the way, I've yet to see a copy of).

If It's Not One Law, It's Another

2006-04-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

Political operatives at the Bush White House continue to rack up flagrant violations of the law.

As if there aren't enough current and former White House staffers under indictment or investigation, the number of Bush campaign surrogates is just as striking.

The latest news in the growing swirl of Bush scandals involves illegal telephone jamming and election fraud (which is nothing new for the Bushies). As reported by the Associated Press via Yahoo! News, "key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show."

"The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 Â as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down."

The Fighting Dems

2006-04-10T19:06:00.000-05:00

If you're still not convinced that military folk will actually vote for Democrats, consider the following.

As part of the Democratic National Committee's commitment to reaching out to and supporting America's veterans and military families, DNC Chairman Howard Dean today announced the appointment of regional members of the Democratic National Veterans and Military Families Council and unveiled the Council's new website highlighting the campaigns of more than two dozen Democratic veterans running for Congress.

Dean announced the new Council members during a conference call with retired Army General Wesley Clark, former DNC chairman and decorated Army Reserve veteran Don Fowler, and retired Marine Lt. Colonel Andrew Horne, an Iraq war veteran who is running for Congress in Louisville, Kentucky.

"America's veterans and military families share many of the core values of the Democratic Party—including a commitment to service and a profound belief that every American who works hard should have the opportunity to succeed," said Dean. "We want to send a clear message to our troops—we stand with you while you are serving, and we'll stand with you when your service is done by making sure you and your families get the benefits you earned. This Council will help us communicate that message to our troops, our veterans and their families."

The Council—co-chaired by retired Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, the highest ranking woman in Army history, and Fowler, a thirty-year veteran of the active and Reserve components of the Army—will seek ways to support a strong national defense, help Democratic veterans running for office, and serve America's veterans and military families. The Council will also help mobilize veterans in communities across the country to help elect strong Democratic leaders at all levels of government.

Dean also unveiled the Council's new website, which includes a section on the more than two dozen Democrats who have served their country in the armed forces and are now seeking to continue their service by running for public office, including Lt. Colonel Horne. Almost every Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran running for Congress this year is running as a Democrat because they share the Democratic Party's bold vision for ensuring homeland and economic security for every American.

Among those appointed to serve as regional members of the Democratic National Veterans and Military Families Council is a Texan. Larry Romo is a USAF Reserves Lieutenant Colonel and USAF Academy Admissions Liaison member.

Beating Up Old Ladies

2006-04-10T18:50:00.000-05:00

Old ladies that don't like Tom DeLay could get beat up for their discontent, and at least one did.

More on that is coming soon. I'll also recap the race to replace him.

It Is What It Is

2006-04-10T18:35:00.000-05:00

Another retired member of the military brass is now calling the Iraq war a mistake.

As reported by the New York Times, "the three-star Marine Corps general who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion," expressed his frustration and regret over the war in a Sunday essay.

I think the Times article, and the General's words, speak for themselves.

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, who retired in late 2002, also called for replacing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and "many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach." He is the third retired senior officer in recent weeks to demand that Mr. Rumsfeld step down.

In the essay, in this week's issue of Time magazine, General Newbold wrote, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat -- Al Qaeda."

The decision to invade Iraq, he wrote, "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions -- or bury the results."

Does Balance Equal Ignorance?

2006-04-10T18:03:00.000-05:00

If you work for the Faux News Channel, the answer to that question would appear to be a resounding "yes!"

The network that parades as being "Fair and Balanced" and being "America's Newsroom" (as if to suggest all others are part of some foreign government conspiracy), seems to believe that the American people ought not hear from the man representing America's-Plumber-in-Chief.

After official court documents revealed that President Bush may be the source of the leak that resulted in the indictment of Scooter Libby (Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff), White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan took some heat about the apparent hypocrisy in the President's actions.

Normally, FNC carries McClellan's press briefings live as they happen, especially if he's pimping the Iraq war. The particularly heated briefing about the leak, however, got no live coverage. Other networks, meanwhile, carried the briefing live as usual. It's one of those things that makes a viewer go "hmmm...".

In addition to ignoring the press briefing, FNC went out of its way to play down the story. FNC's DC guy, Brit Hume, got mad at a member of the technical crew. FNC's justice gal, Greta Van Susteren, said she decided to let other media outlets cover the story.

To borrow an old phrase, let's roll the film.

The fishbowlDC blog has insight on FNC's lapse.
The TV Newser blog has more on Hume and Susteren.
The Crooks and Liars blog has footage of Hume and the sheep in his audience.
The Media Matters for America website has a complete rundown. In an example of actually being "Fair and Balanced," Media Matters also goes after CNN's David Ensor.

To sum it up, I'm going to make another play on an FNC slogan. They didn't report, because they've already decided.

This Week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots

2006-04-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's how I usually reintroduce myself to regular blogging, so why not do it again?

It's Monday, so let's take a look at this week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots.

This week's edition features a number of GOPers on the run...more so than usual. As always, my thanks go to the folks at Democratic Underground for putting the list together.

DeLay's Wake

2006-04-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

The news is flowing hard and fast in the wake of Tom DeLay's stunning announcement. Most is coming to me from the Associated Press and KTRK-TV. Time magazine is said to have broken the story.

Here is the latest:

DeLay is not just exiting the campaign. He's resigning his seat in Congress. This could be effective as soon as May.
He is moving his official residence to Virginia. This allows the Governor and the Texas GOP to replace him in Congress and on the ballot.
The Governor will appoint someone to fill his seat until a special election.
The Governor will call that special election for someone to fill the remainder of DeLay's current term.
This election will not have a primary and is open to anyone, regardless of their residence within the district. Legally, I could run.
The mayor of Sugarland, Texas, will run in the special election.
Former Congressman Nick Lampson, who would have faced DeLay in the general election, will likely run in the special election. A victory would make him the incumbent in November.
The latest polling done by DeLay's campaign puts him in a 50/50 race against Lampson.

More details will be posted as they become available.

BREAKING: DeLay Drops Out!

2006-04-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

As was apparently broken by CNN, Congressman Tom DeLay is dropping out of his re-election race. This story is being confirmed by KRIV-TV, the Fox-owned station in Houston. The other Houston stations are only minutes away from their 10:00 p.m. newscasts.

DeLay is reported to have told his Capitol Hill staff this afternoon.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is that DeLay is less than a month past a resounding victory in the Republican primary. The party's options to nominate a replacement remain unclear.

Stay tuned.

Red State Fatigue?

2006-03-09T15:24:00.000-06:00

Two entertainers almost never associated with those who make their liberal views known are likely to be lumped in with that group today.

Faith Hill and her husband Tim McGraw are fed up with the Bush Administration's response (or more accurately, lack of response) to Hurricane Katrina. As reported by ABC News, the couple have some rather unfriendly words for the President.

These two stars represent a lot about what makes the so-called red states red. Their frustration, I believe, is a sample of what many others in the red states (or at least those affected by Katrina) are also feeling.

I reprint the interview in it's entirety below. You can also read it at the source by clicking on the link in the headline.

Faith Hill, Tim McGraw Blast 'Humiliating' Katrina Cleanup

Country Stars Lash Out in Anger Over Conditions in Storm-Ravaged States

March 8, 2006 —- Faith Hill and Tim McGraw -- two stars who usually stay out of politics -- blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort, with Hill calling the slow progress in Louisiana and Mississippi "embarrassing" and "humiliating."

The country music artists -- who are natives of the storm-ravaged states -- were at times close to tears, and clearly angry when the subject of Katrina came up during a news conference today. They had met with reporters in Nashville to promote their upcoming Soul2Soul II Tour, but when asked about the hurricane cleanup, the stars pulled no punches.

"To me, there's a lot of politics being played and a lot of people trying to put people in bad positions in order to further their agendas," McGraw, a 38-year-old native of Delhi, La., told ABC News Radio.

"When you have people dying because they're poor and black or poor and white, or because of whatever they are -- if that's a number on a political scale -- then that is the most wrong thing. That erases everything that's great about our country."

McGraw specifically criticized President Bush. "There's no reason why someone can't go down there who's supposed to be the leader of the free world … and say, 'I'm giving you a job to do and I'm not leaving here until it's done. And you're held accountable, and you're held accountable, and you're held accountable.

"'This is what I've given you to do, and if it's not done by the time I get back on my plane, then you're fired and someone else will be in your place. '"

Hill: 'I Fear for Our Country'

The president had actually spent the day in New Orleans, getting a close-up look at boarded-up buildings and mountains of debris, noting that the city still suffers "pain and agony."

Along the president's route, some frustrated residents held up signs in protest, one asking "Where's my government?" and another telling the president to "cut the red tape and help us."

Hill, who grew up in Jackson, Miss., echoed those sentiments. So overwhelmed, she uncharacteristically unleashed an epithet, calling the situation, "Bull- - - -"

"It is a huge, huge problem and it's embarrassing," she said.

"I fear for our country if we can't handle our people [during] a natural disaster. And I can't stand to see it. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out point A to point B. . . . And they can't even skip from point A to point B.

"It's just screwed up."

Earlier in the day, McGraw and Hill had reason to celebrate. Their duet, "WLike We Never Loved At All," was nominated by the Country Music Association as the Vocal Event of the Year.

The couple rarely voice political opinions, though they've been active in raising money for Katrina victims.

McGraw is a member of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet, and in the days after the hurricane, he and Hill joined a mission to take supplies to Gulfport, Miss. At the Sept. 2 "Concert for Hurricane Relief," he appealed to fans to reach out with donations.

But under most circumstances, McGraw relies on easy charm when dealing with the media. In 2004, he actually told Time magazine, however lightheartedly, that he was thinking of going into politics. "I want to run for the Senate from Tennessee … Not now, but when I'm 50, when the music dies down."

"Wouldn't Faith make a great senator's wife?" he joked.

Then again, maybe he wasn't joking.

Reported by ABC News Radio's Dan Gordon in Nashville, and written by ABCNEWS.com's Buck Wolf in New York.

Too Good To Pass Up

2006-03-09T15:15:00.000-06:00

There have been numerous parodies of anything related to Brokeback Mountain. A number of those parodies have shown up as knock-offs of the movie's trailer and it's poster.

I have seen a lot of those parodies. Some are funny, others not so much. I do not intend this post to be the impetus of some great debate on the movie or the parodies. I will let them all stand on their merits (whatever they may be). My only purpose here is to repost one of the few parodies I consider worth the time to do so.

Enjoy it, but don't forget that it's only humor.