Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Trick or treat?



You have the power.

The incredible shrinking senior senator from Texas

Some initial observations:

--If this is what is happening to her body, imagine what's going on with her brain.

-- Do we really need another preening, fawning harridan in Washington?

-- Most Republicans running for Congress are cutting and running from Bush as fast as they can. Not in Sugar Land, though. They eat this up like a dog eating another dog's vomit.

Three suggestions:

-- Turn off your TV so you won't be subjected to any more of the GOP's incessant attempts to control the minds of the poor fools like those gathered around the people you see in the picture above.

-- Ignore the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas News and the urban daily newspapers throughout the state. They have all veered hard to the right -- through the weeds and into the ditch -- trying to get their Republican friends re-elected. Update (11/1): This is what I'm talkin' about. It's so shameless I almost feel sorry for them, except when I note their plummeting circulation figures. I'm sure they're all sitting together in their respective boardrooms wondering why.

-- Vote.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

More postpourri

-- the WaPo has an excellent contest called Midterm Madness utilizing an interactive Flash graphic where you can pick the seats in the Senate and House that you think will flip -- or not -- on November 7. Make your picks and submit for a chance at an AmEx gift certificate.

-- the poor mistreated corporations of America are banding together to fight back against the enormous and unrelenting legal persecution they have endured of late. See also Tom's blog for frequent commentary on this subject, usually focusing on the "harassment" of corporate executives accused of wrongdoing.

This is just about the most miserably obnoxious commentary proffered by conservatives of late (ever since they managed to take immigration nationwide, that is).

-- CNN's 'Broken Government' has been excellent; even the hit piece by Candy "Butterqueen" Crowley on the Democrats wasn't unwatchable, but the other parts of the series were examples of good solid political reporting. And among Houston media, KPRC's political page stands head and shoulders above the Chronicle and the other two broadcast outlets. Their on-demand video and coverage of local and state races is simply the best, by far. I rarely if ever watch their news, but the online resources they have assembled blow away the competition. Yesterday they televised "Straight Talk from the Candidates", where state- and county-wide party representatives were given 2.5 minutes uninterrupted to make their case directly to the voters. (This program will re-air on November 5, and is well worth watching.) Even for a political junkie like me, there are people running for office whom I have not seen nor heard speak, and this was an opportunity to gauge that intangible , emotional response to their face and voice.

Honorable mention goes to the Chronic's opinion and politics pages, and particularly cartoonist Nick Anderson's blog, deserving of special recognition for their interactive ease. The op page regularly links to local blogs, including this one, on topics not necessarily political.

-- the Republican television advertisements here are non-stop and nausea-inducing. Greg Abbott's commercial featuring his misuse of state resources just aired again. According to the Texas Penal Code Section 39.02, the state's top law enforcement officer may have committed at least a second-degree felony.

Who exactly is responsible for arresting, charging, and prosecuting the Attorney General when he commits a crime?

-- and don't miss the double edition of Sunday Funnies: Limbaughtomy and Election Day Countdown.

Postpourri

-- In the "Blind-Hog-Occasionally-Finds-an-Acorn" department, the Houston Chronicle endorsed three of my very favorite people for the Texas Legislature: Chad Khan, Dr. Diane Trautman, and Dot Nelson-Turnier. Still they managed to blow it by endorsing Sherrie Matula's opponent. In fact almost all of the rest of their endorsements were, frankly, ones you should disregard.

-- The following two links are an example of the dichotomy that currently exists in my fair city. While janitors strike for $8.50 an hour and health insurance, the Tony-est restaurants in Houston are packed full of Republicans eating truffles at $300 a plate.

Seventy-dollar-a-barrel oil (even sixty, on its way up and down) and a 12,000 point Dow don't seem to have trickled down very far.

-- Early voting is way up across the state, but e-voting issues in predominantly Democratic Jefferson County remain a source of concern. Update (10/30): Dos Centavos links to this KFDM video detailing the notorious ES&S vote-switching machines, which had problems during the primary earlier this year.

-- Crime in Houston has not increased as much as conservatives would like you to believe. And it is not due to Katrina evacuees, either.

-- Karl Rove is apparently marshaling the goonbats in order to save the GOP from certain defeat. The last mystery left for this cycle -- besides, of course, whether our votes have been counted accurately or not -- is whether he will be successful. Fear just doesn't seem to be as effective a motivation this time.

-- The Saint Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series, and the nation yawned. I didn't even see much gloating by Cards fans in the places I usually look.

-- The Houston Rockets could win the NBA champeenship this season. No, really.

-- Vaya con Dios, Joe Niekro and Red Auerbach.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Abbott spends taxpayer dollars on his TV ads

Which is a big fat violation of the law.

WFAA in Dallas reports, and pulls no punches.

For those of you unable to view the video, here's the summary:

Three years ago and shortly after he was elected attorney general, Greg Abbott ordered the OAG to purchase video equipment worth $66,000, and hired a videographer at a salary of $70,000 -- all at taxpayer expense -- to record, among other things, arrests of alleged child predators (the tapes show armed agents invading a home and subduing a suspect) . These videos have been seen in his recent barrage of television commercials.

They are also available for viewing at his campaign website.

Tom Smith of Public Citizen is quoted in the WFAA report saying that the law is clear in these cases, and that what the Attorney General has done is illegal. Abbott refused comment, but his campaign chairman responded with an e-mail statement indicating the videos were "obtained" through the FOI act.

David Van Os had this to say:

"I'm not surprised. It is representative of how Abbott has used his office for four years, and that is to promote himself."


I can't really add any outrage to this except to ask, "Have you had enough?"

Update: The Associated Press picks up on the story, and the Fort Worth Startle-Gram runs with it.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

"These frivolous affidavits"


Last Wednesday afternoon Robb Zipp and I met David and Rachel Van Os as they were completing a round of radio interviews at KPFT. Art Browning of Greenwatch decided to join us for the train trip in (since this was a Whistlestop Tour we thought it apropos to take the Metro light rail) and so we caravaned down to the Fannin South Park and Ride, met Richard Morrison and boarded the Preston Street Limited for the Old County Courthouse at 301 Franklin.

Richard and David fanned out to each end of the train and spoke to commuters all the way into downtown. At least a couple of hundred voters got to personally meet the next Attorney General of Texas and appeared thrilled at the prospect.

We met John Behrman and some of the early arrivals for the Whistlestop speech and then we all walked over to 201 Caroline and Beverly Kaufman's office so that David could file his affidavit. Robb and I were carrying so much gear that we chose not to run the gauntlet of security at the courthouse, including the airport-style metal detector and baggage screening.

Well, we missed one of the highlights of David's visit to the belly of the Texas Republican beast, because after he completed the paperwork and prepared to pay the fee, a clerk's office employee named Gregory Bousse' (this name is spelled phonetically and thus may not be accurate) indicated that the clerk would not be filing his affidavit, and further added the following editorial comment: "You people come around here every two years and file these frivolous affidavits ..." When David demanded to see the clerk, he was told she was not in the department, and a supervisory person named Ms. Contreras greeted him with the same caustic contempt. When he asked to speak to the person who had made the decision not to enter his affidavit into the public records of the county, Ms. Contreras indicated that it had been the county attorney who had done so. That of course was a lie, as the county attorney could not have been consulted on such a decision given the time frame, and in any event was not present to meet with David either.

So while 253 Texas counties will have these words on file as a public record, Harris County has chosen to deny them. How impressive is that?

About sixty supporters from Houston, Galveston, Wharton and even Angelina counties greeted David back at the old courthouse, and among the dignitaries were Judge Bill Moody and family, Melissa Taylor of the HCDP, and CD-02 challenger Gary Binderim and Stace Medellin. The humidity that day was stifling -- this must have been what kept the Chronicle away -- so we quickly adjourned to Chatters in the Heights and met about a hundred or so supporters, including Gerry Birnberg and Hank Gilbert and Jim Sharp and Mary Kay Green and Bill Connolly and Mark McDavid. As the evening grew late much of the group adjourned to one of the other fundraisers (James Pierre, Scott Hochberg, and Richard Garcia all had events going on).

I personally collapsed from exhaustion.

Robb and Stace have their accounts up with pictures, which you may have already read, since I'm a week late in posting this.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Images from 254 Counties

I still owe a posting on Harris last Wednesday, but Snarko (David's webmistress) has been busy with the slideshows you see above and below, so I will let those do for now and deliver the tardy post later still.

Friday, October 20, 2006

A rapid update

... as I prepare to leave for a long business day in Beaumont:

-- pictures from the 252nd Courthouse Whistlestop are waiting in the inbox. A full report, including the details of the affidavit's rejection by the Harris County clerk's office will appear in this space tomorrow. Simply too much offline to do after taking Wednesday afternoon off.

-- my friend John Behrman, who has an excellent blog (that I wish he would update more frequently), is quoted in today's Chronic regarding his oversight of the voting technology we will use locally in the coming elections.

John was also on the scene at Beverly Kaufman's office, and when I commented that it was modern-day fascism running not only our country but also the county government, he was quick to point out that the fascists had better fashion sense than these people. I nearly passed out from laughing so hard.

-- a merciless whipping by Barbara Radnofsky of the senior Senator from Texas (and by 'senior' I mean 'dotty') last night. About eighty of us gathered in Bellaire to watch it live. Even the Libertarian made sense more often than Kay Bailey. She actually said "cut and run" six times. I believe Karl Rove must have been her personal debate coach.

-- Denny Hastert takes credit on behalf of the GOP for lower gasoline prices. Heckuva job as always, Mr. Nearly-Former Speaker.

That's all I have time for today. More coming over the weekend.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Austin Chronicle:"Strongly spined"

Now this is how a candidate gets endorsed:

The race for attorney general's office hasn't garnered one-umpteenth the attention of the tragi-comic governor's draw, despite the Texas-sized personality fighting for the public interest. With an omnipresent Stetson and bolo tie, Van Os is a striking figure, even before he opens his mouth. A specialist in constitutional and labor law, Van Os has targeted Texas oil barons and insurance and pharmaceutical giants, in his populist, anti-corporate, whistlestop campaign. The implicit contrast is that incumbent Greg Abbott has let such corporate wrongdoers run roughshod over the state – as indeed he has. Despite several splashy "cyber crime" initiatives (remember getting tough on MySpace?), Abbott has done little to make Texans safer, especially from the pollutant-spewing, scofflaw conglomerations drawing Van Os' ire. Abbott has also been a complicit servant to Tom Delay and Gov. Perry in the disastrous redistricting saga, never hesitant to defend another gerrymandered map on behalf of his bosses. Partisanship and hoary headline-hogging have defined Abbott's tenure, and we'd be happy to see him go; we're even happier his challenger is as strongly spined as David Van Os.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Surely it's just a coincidence

Once again from the Houston Chronicle, unintended irony.

This story:

Information on builders getting tough to nail down

Used to be, diligent consumers would check out complaints against builders at the attorney general's office, look for major lawsuits at the courthouse, and investigate credentials.

But now that's getting harder to do because the Texas Attorney General's Office stopped processing all consumer complaints three years ago, and there are fewer homeowner lawsuits at the courthouse because of binding arbitration clauses in contracts.

And, a new state-mandated credential — a registration with the Texas Residential Construction Commission — doesn't carry as much weight as some consumers may think, consumer advocates say.


And this story:

Builder's $8 million tops GOP donor list

Which -- despite the misdirection in the Chronicle's reporting suggesting that he isn't involved in Texas races -- reminds us that Bob Perry has contributed over a million dollars each to both Greg Abbott and Rick Perry, the two fellows who have been slightly involved regarding the creation and oversight of the Texas Residential Construction Commission, a payola sham if ever there was one.

Johncoby has written extensively about the TRCC (pronounced "trick").

Had enough of this kind of government?