Thursday, June 29, 2006

Judges want redistricting maps in two weeks

The Lone Star Project has it:

The three-judge Federal District Court has issued an order and provided a schedule for determining a remedy in response to the recently released opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court on Texas redistricting.

July 14, 2006 - All parties (plaintiffs and defendants) required to file remedial proposals including briefs and proposed maps.

July 21, 2006 - responses to remedial proposals must be filed.

August 3, 2006 - 9:00 a.m. - Oral arguments on proposals before the three-judge panel in Austin, Texas


That answers the question as to whether the judicial trio or the Lege will approve the maps. Judges Higginbotham, Rosenthal, and Ward aren't fooling around. But with a sixty-day period for DOJ review, new districts will require a special election.

In November?!? Does that mean that those elected in a special will serve a regular two-year term? Does it mean Cuellar or Doggett, with no GOP opponent in the general, can draw additional challengers -- from either the right or left?

My goodness, this gets curiouser and curiouser.

Update: Charles Kuffner seems to think there's plenty of time to pull off an open primary. (Color me skeptical.)

Update II (6/30): The Valley Politico seems to have it all figured out. His scenario posits a politician on the ballot for, say, state legislature in the regularly-scheduled general election on November 7, and the same politician on a special election ballot for Congress. The same person running for two different offices at the same time, a la LBJ and Lloyd Bentsen. At this point I feel as if I must confess to a learning disability regarding this issue.

Update III: Charles K explains it to me. (Thanks, dude.)

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

What the redistricting decision means

Maybe. At this point.

Having qualified my conclusions, it's still subject to lots of legal interpretation, a few more decisions still need to be made, and then a plan will be executed. By someone(s). At some near or not-so-near point in the future.

First, as backstory for those of you not paying close attention, the SCOTUS -- in a decision announced earlier today -- invalidated a portion of the Texas Congressional district maps that the Republicans in Austin redrew in 2003, according to Tom DeLay's edict. There are various interpretations of whether this was a victory for democracy or not.

Blogs and listservs are ablaze with translations. Here's a few of mine. First, the facts:

1. Two* One districts -- CD-23, currently held by Republican Henry Bonilla, and CD-25, held by Democrat Lloyd Doggett* -- were deemed in violation of the Voting Rights Act due to dilution of minority votes. They must be redrawn and submitted for approval by the USDOJ again. You may recall that the political appointees there overruled the career attorneys in approving the current boundaries several months ago. Any redrawn maps for these districts likely also change marginally the composition of CD-21 (Lamar Smith-R) and CD-28 (Henry Cuellar-D, barely).

2. The Texas district court panel of three judges which arbiters this matter now has the responsibility of deciding what to do with the map. The first and most immediate decision is when to rewrite the map -- this election or the next (my guess is the boundaries for 2006 will not change). The second decision is whether they will redraw it themselves -- accepting three maps each from Democrats and Republicans has been customary in the past -- or whether they kick it back to the Texas Legislature to redo the lines during the 80th legislative session, starting in January of 2007.

Speculation and further decisions and accompanying speculation to come. For now, I'll focus on what was won:

This ruling is a substantial victory for the Voting Rights Act, a victory that puts the Republicans in Congress (like the odious John Carter) on the spot, since they delayed VRA renewal to see what the Justices would do with Texas redistricting.

I don't think it was ever likely that the Supreme Court would have tossed out the entire plan simply because of political gerrymandering, which in this decision the Justices have largely approved. Much more interesting is that redistricting can apparently happen any time a state legislature feels like it, which opens a Pandora's Box in the short term for the GOP (in states besides Texas).

Summarizing: we don't know what the relief will be. The three-judge panel could 1) draw its own map; 2) give the Texas Lege a deadline to draw one; 3) let the current districts stand for 2006; 4) move quickly to change them.

As regards the current occupants of the affected districts, Bonilla and Cuellar can be more easily defeated in redrawn districts, but Lamar Smith would be strengthened.

Some good and some not so much, which is probably the best short conclusion of what the SC decided in this case. And there will be much more to dissect in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

*Update: Only CD-23 was declared in violation of VRA. Interestingly, in the opinion issued by the Supremes, they suggest the remedy is redraw CD-25 ...

Redrawing that district (CD-23) will force nearby District 25, the Austin-to-Mexico district held by Democrat Lloyd Doggett of Austin, to be redrawn, according to the court opinion. The court's majority noted that the Doggett district, which joins two distinct Latino communities 300 miles apart, is not compact enough.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Gallery of the Absurd

I've added some really interesting things in the blogroll lately, but none more so than Gallery of the Absurd. Go look around, and don't miss Celebrity Endorsement Idea No. 645.

Rush Limbaugh-Viagra humor

While we wait for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, here's some bad jokes by Grant Miller ...

What's the difference between a meeting with Republican lobbyists and a Dominican Republic sex vacation? When you meet with Republican lobbyists, you don't have to take your Viagra through customs.

I hear Daryn Kagan broke up with Rush -- apparently she only does hard news.

Limbaugh takes Viagra so he can be an even bigger dick.

I heard he was supplying Viagra to President Bush. Even the President gets tired of screwing the country all the time.

This confirms that the vast right-wing conspiracy isn't quite so vast.

He puts the "social" in "social conservative."

Limbaugh declined to comment on the drug seizure. I guess he likes to keep his privates private.

*badaboom * badabing*



Monday, June 26, 2006

Moneyshot Quotes of the Week

Greg has already expounded, so let me just repeat what these two idiots said:

"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons ..."
-- Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)


"I don't think we have racial bias in Texas any more."
-- Rep. John Carter (R-TX)


Update (6/27): Think Progress administers another smack to Carter's head with this:

Texas leads the nation in several categories of voting discrimination, including recent Section 5 violations and Section 2 challenges. … Section 5 of the VRA, the preclearance requirement, was extended to Texas in 1975 due to the State’s history of excluding Mexican Americans from the political process. … Texas is home to the second largest Latino population in the U.S.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Pride Parade photos



These are from last year and were originally posted at Todd's, but they're representative of last night's atmosphere. More -- and more current -- shortly.

Update: Lyn has posted some good ones from yesterday.

Update II: And Robb Zipp has some from this year's Pride Parade, including some interesting ones of Taylor Dane (let's just say that they don't call them backup singers for nothing). Thanks, RZ; by that time I was sound asleep from the day's sweat.

Too far behind to catch up

This time last Sunday we were preparing for the Juneteenth Filibuster, which began just as the rain stopped and ended as the sky opened again. A brief account was posted here and a few pictures here.

I drove back to Houston Monday morning in the middle of the worst of the downpour, but experienced only minor traffic delays on I-45 and the South Loop. The white-knuckle, windshield-wipers-on-fast-and-still-can't-see, slightly-hydroplaning-once-in-awhile ride took 2 1/2 hours instead of one, but really the worst of it was on the other side of the highway, where the Loop was flooded -- not just the access roads -- and the cars were stopped, their drivers out walking around. A scene reminiscent of the Rita evacuation. *shudder*

On Tuesday the 21st I met the Van Oses -- David, Rachel, Maya, and Leya -- at the Galveston County Courthouse and began our odyssey. Well, their odyssey. Fifteen courthouse stops in three days, of which I managed six in two. After Galveston came Chambers (Anahuac) where we met mayor Guy Robert and Judge Jimmy Sylvia and others for lunch at the Wooden Spoon. The Baytown Sun covered this visit. Then to Liberty, where about twenty supporters greeted us, among them CD-02 challenger Gary Binderim and and mi bloghermano Stace Medellin, who posted a lengthy account of this part of the trip at his place. We got in a radio interview with KSHN-99.9 FM before we left for Kountze, the seat of Hardin County, where David spoke to about thirty activists including chair Willa Coe, mayor Fred Williams, superintendent of schools Gus Holloman, and others. (It's important here to note that Hardin County has no Republicans on the local ballot. This is true of several of the counties we visited -- Southeast Texas remains Yellow Dog Democrat country.)

From Kountze to Beaumont and the Jefferson County courthouse, a radio interview with Jack Pieper of KLVI, and then a dinner reception with the Progressive Democrats of Southeast Texas, headed up by DVO supporters John and Suzanne Stafford. (David was kind enough to acknowledge my mother Jean's upcoming birthday in his remarks.)

Wednesday started in Orange, Texas and a press conference including Glenn Earle of KOGT and county judge Paul Thibodeaux, who told David that the steps from which he spoke were the same ones where Lyndon Johnson addressed Orange County citizens in his 1947 Senate run.

I lef the tour after Orange and returned to Houston; David and family continued on to nine more county seats, wrapping up the trip in Conroe on Thursday the 22nd, with Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert and 70 supporters. Sharon posted an excellent DKos diary here with photos, links to coverage by the Montgomery County Courier and the Jasper Newsboy, and podcasts by David of the tourstops. Thursday night concluded the week's events with a spaghetti dinner fundraiser held at the Woodlands home of Nahla Williamson. Mrs. Diddie and I tried to get up there for it, but once again the weather (and 5 o'clock rush hour traffic on I-45 North) was uncooperative; we were forced to turn back after getting caught in the gridlock.

Friday morning the 23rd I returned to Galveston County and represented the campaign at the Mainland Ecumenical Alliance luncheon, and spoke for a few minutes for David along with Chris Bell, Barbara Radnofsky, Hank Gilbert, county judge Jim Yarbrough, and district court judge Susan Criss. In attendance were many of the area's Baptist ministers, parishioners, Democratic activists, organized labor leaders Lee Medley, Sam Munn, Daryl Stewart and more.

Saturday at the Pride Parade we filled in at the DFA booth registering voters and signing up supporters. The heat and humidity did not deter the revelers.

I'll try to manage a few photos of some or all of the week's events later.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

With Van Os for the next week

at the Filibuster for Freedom in Galveston today through Monday, Juneteenth, and then traveling through Southeast Texas on the Courthouse Tour. Light posting likely due to rare access to the broadband connection.

Consider this an open thread to discuss anything you like in the comments until I get back.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Paul McCartney turns 64 on Sunday.

He wrote the song as a goof on his dad shortly after the elder McCartney had reached the age his son will be day after tomorrow.

Paul's mother had died of breast cancer five years earlier, as did his wife Linda seven years ago.

... About 2.7 million other Americans observe their 64th birthdays in 2006, including Muhammad Ali, Erica Jong, Larry Flynt, Garrison Keillor, Michael Bloomberg, Harrison Ford, Ted Kaczynski and Barbra Streisand. (Ringo Starr, the only other surviving member of the Fab Four, will be 66 next month; John Lennon was murdered at 40 in 1980; George Harrison died of cancer at 58 in 2001.)

"The slogan back then was 'Never trust anyone over 30,' " recalled Jeff Greenfield, the CNN commentator, who is 63. "We thought people would be dead or in a home by their 60's."

Today, on average, 64-year-olds can expect to live more than 16 years, about 4 years longer than 64-year-olds could expect in 1967, according to government statisticians (and, hey, an editor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Jude Rutledge, was named for another of Mr. McCartney's songs).


Here's hoping my favorite Beatle exceeds the life expectancy.

Time to start Acting Blue

ActBlue is the federal clearinghouse for donations to Democratic candidates, having channeled over $5.5 million to Dem contenders so far. With your help, we can activate it for Texas... for statewide, state house, and state senate candidates.


Together, Texas bloggers have agreed to help activate ActBlue for our state's non-federal candidates by asking our readers to put us over the top. Normally, ActBlue asks each state to raise $10,000 before moving forward (Texas being at $4,625 so far). But we've got some good news for you from the people at ActBlue:


However, in doing some more preliminary research Texas turns out to be similar to some other states we've already done -- so if we could break $5000 we'd be ready to move ahead with it. Would the Texroots be able to help us out with the remaining $1000 by the end of the month?


As far as timeline, my aim would be to have everything ready to go as early in July as we can.


So will you -- the TexRoots, that's you -- get us over the $5,000 mark and activate ActBlue for all our state non-federal candidates? Do it here.


This is the most important thing you can do for the David Van Oses, the Hank Gilberts, the Maria Luisa Alvarados, and the VaLinda Hathcoxes of Texas as we move forward to support all of the TexRoots candidates, to be announced in the coming months here and elsewhere around the Texas liberal blogosphere.

Update (7 p.m.): $5000.02. Thanks everyone who pushed us over the top, including SH-126 candidate Chad Khan.