A smattering of local events (and some scuttlebutt)

There's a slew of activities going on in Houston this week in opposition to Prop. 2, the amendment to the Texas Constitution defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, set for the November 8 ballot. Note in particular the debates, one probably concluding at the University of Houston as I post this.

(It seems to me that the GLBT community locally has not yet mobilized for a strong GOTV to defeat this proposition. I hope I'm wrong.)

Houston City Council candidates are rushing to the finish line with thirty days to go until the municipal elections. Jay Aiyer and Sue Lovell make a joint appearance tomorrow at the Harris County Democratic Party's brown bag luncheon; Peter Brown is Celebrating the Arts downtown, John Parras and Mayor pro-tem Carol Alvarado are holding fundraising soirees this week.

The calendar is full for the state house candidates as well -- Rep. Alma Allen, Ana Hernandez, and Borris Miles all have meet-and-greets going on this week.

Barbara Radnofsky speaks at the IH-10 Democrats meeting in Baytown on Wednesday the 12th, and next Monday U.S. Rep. Gene Green has his birthday party/BBQ and David Van Os appears at an open house in his honor at The Woodlands.

The Chicano-Latino Leadership and Unity Conference is this Saturday.

Greg's got a wrap with more local political goings-on...

And there's lots of rumors swirling around about candidates seeking to challenge HCDP chair Gerry Birnberg, but if he chooses not to run for re-election, then my money and support will go to John Cobarruvias, whom I am fortunate to count among my friends.

Bring on the Redbirds!

Another truly bad week for Republicans

Deputy Attorney General nominee Timothy Flanagan's name is withdrawn after his connections to Jack Abramoff are revealed.

The anti-torture bill is passed by the Senate 90-9 (Texas' John Cornyn is one of the nine voting in favor of torture). The president, stubborn as ever, will veto it anyway.

Hurricane-relief contracts awarded with little or no competitive bidding will be done over.

Bush finally gives up on Social Security reform and additional tax cuts. For the time being.

Tom DeLay fielded a second indictment, and Karl Rove is about to catch his first.

Did I forget to mention that the GOP is tearing itself in two over the nomination of Harriet Miers? Or that two polls now show Bush's support has eroded into the 30's?

It's hard to believe that things could get worse for the ruling party in the days and weeks to come. But they could, if gas prices don't recede, if more of our soldiers continue to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, if someone in addition to Rove gets indicted, if we suffer another terror event ...

There's about a year for the Republicans to regain their footing, along with some semblance of credibility with the electorate, of course. Several people who know more about this sort of thing than me sense a shift in the political landscape of historic proportions.

I come down on the side of history (and my confidence in that outcome will naturally depend on the minority party's candidates doing their part in the next twelve months to present a viable alternative).

Miers gets borked

... and by none other than Bork himself.

A wonderful headline, written by my friend Prairie Weather (whose weather turned a bit more even than ours here in H-Town) and containing the excerpt from ABCNews.com:

Among conservatives, William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue called for Bush to withdraw the Miers nomination. Former federal judge Robert Bork whose nomination to the Supreme Court the Senate rejected in 1987 described the choice of Miers as "a disaster on every level."

"It's a little late to develop a constitutional philosophy or begin to work it out when you're on the court already," Bork said on "The Situation" on MSNBC. "It's kind of a slap in the face to the conservatives who've been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years."

Assembling to talk about preventing the next cluster

That's the traffic jam I was in a couple of weeks ago -- I-45 northbound, from Houston to Dallas. Apparently there's going to be task forces and committees and meetings to talk about improving the process of evacuating millions of people the next time it becomes necessary to do so.

I certainly hope they get something accomplished.

Update (10/11): Charles Kuffner and Stace Medellin follow up with good thoughts on the subject.

More indictment rumors swirling -- this time in D.C.

There are two different sources posting scuttlebutt this afternoon regarding indictments, Karl Rove, and the Plame case.

That's right; blog postings about the fact that there are rumors that there will be indictments. Perhaps, after the last few weeks, it's just too good to be true.

Then again, a man can dream ...

Update: The Washington Post reports that yes, rumors are certainly swirling.

Update II (10/6, a.m.): Think Progress lists the 21 administration officials involved in Leakgate, and details their whereabouts, actions, grand jury appearances, etc.

Update III (10/6, p.m.): NYT ...

Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor, said it was unusual for a witness to be called back to the grand jury four times and that the prosecutor's legally required warning to Rove before this next appearance is ''an ominous sign'' for the presidential adviser.

''It suggest Fitzgerald has learned new information that is tightening the noose,'' Gillers said. ''It shows Fitzgerald now, perhaps after Miller's testimony, suspects Rove may be in some way implicated in the revelation of Plame's identity or that Fitzgerald is investigating various people for obstruction of justice, false statements or perjury. That is the menu of risk for Rove.''

Executive privileges

From the NYT's report on the President's press conference today:

Bush also sent a clear signal that he would resist, on grounds of executive privilege, providing senators documents related to Ms. Miers's work in the White House. At least some Democrats are likely to seek such records, especially since Miers, who has never been a judge, has no "paper trail" of opinions.

"I just can't tell you how important it is for us to guard executive privilege in order for there to be crisp decision-making in the White House," Bush said.

The Constitution does not specifically mention executive privilege, but the Supreme Court has recognized the need for confidentiality between high government officials and their advisers. The court has concluded, however, that executive privilege is not absolute.

How about that; there's no right to 'executive privilege' in the Constitution. Now is that the same thing as 'privacy'?

Sauce for the goose ...

Just when you thought the news couldn't get any worse for the GOP...

Tom DeLay gets a second indictment.

And I was all set to write about how Harriet Miers was involved in the coverup of George Bush's TANG records, when it was revealed that, while she was the boss of one of Dallas' largest law firms, she was either involved in a Ponzi scheme or was too stupid to know it was going on.

And the hits just keep on comin' ...

Harriet Miers

Who?

No judicial experience? A 60-year-old unmarried woman who zealously guards her privacy, who donated to Al Gore's campaign, who once said Bush "was the most brilliant man she ever met"?

I want lots of questions asked of, and answered by, this nominee.

And I expect the Senate, including my two GOP toadies, and especially the 22 Democrats who voted for John Roberts, to zealously act in that regard.

Update: David Frum has already removed his quotation of Miers listed above. Thanks to the wonders of technology, we have his original paragraph saved here.

Astros gOing to the playoffs

The first team since the 1914 Boston Braves to come from 15 games under .500 to advance to the postseason.

Moneyshot Quote of the Week

"He's been gut-shot politically," said A. R. ('Babe') Schwartz, who served 25 years as a Democrat in the Texas Legislature and is now a lobbyist in Austin. "You can take a glancing blow sometimes, you can be accused of many things and still get elected to public office. But an indictment for a felony, no matter how much yelling you do about how false and how flimsy and how fake it is, the public says the guy got indicted, and where there's smoke there's probably fire."

You can help nail The Hammer to a billboard by clicking here.

Johnson-Rayburn Dinner last night

The annual Johnson-Rayburn Dinner at the Westin Galleria last evening was a smash, clustering the beautiful and the powerful in a schmooze-athon of galactic proportions.

So what were you doing there, PDid (you're thinking)?

Well, I got an invitation from some of the inside playaz, and I didn't have to pay...

Kristi Sliwa-Thibaut, working for the Borris Miles campaign before she begins working for her own, dropped the news on me early in the week, and I managed to wedge myself in to sit next to the candidate himself. But he barely sat down the whole night, as he was the room's hardest worker. So we visited a little with Jolanda Jones (yes, that JJ).

Greg Wythe has the comprehensive wrap, so I'll just break my little bulletin: Barbara Radnofsky, as we chatted at the entrance, was floating about six inches off the ground with the news that she will be feted at a fundraiser next month with Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Debbie Stabenow, among others.

Oh, and the next Attorney General of Texas and his wife were our unexpected houseguests last night (they had so much fun that they decided to skip their flight back to San Antonio).

My, it's grand being connected ... *burp* *scratch*

Update: Stace Medellin has some takes also.