Sunday, January 17, 2010

Bloggateering with the Mayor

A few of us local online pundits celebrated with Mayor Annise Parker at La Griglia last evening.



Attorneys Roland Garcia and Neil Thomas sponsored the event, and several of the mayor's staff joined in paying tribute to the Houston progressive blogging contingent who supported Parker's mayoral victory last month.

More photos here.

Update: Join Charles and Stace and David this Tuesday for a post-mortem on Houston's municipal elections at the Houston Area Table lunchtime meet-up.

Sunday Funnies







Friday, January 15, 2010

An open letter to Pat Robertson, from Lucifer

Dear Pat,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating.

I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welsher.

The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people they first get something here on Earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake.

Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll.

You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best,

Satan

Update: God's presser ...

In the wake of his comments about the earthquake in Haiti, televangelist Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today.

In a rare press conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, the usually reclusive Almighty said that He was taking the unusual step of airing His feelings in public because "enough is enough."

"I pray that his TV show would just go away, but of course, when you're Me there's no one to pray to," God said, to the laughter of the packed room of reporters.

While God held out no hope that Rev. Robertson's "700 Club" would be cancelled any time soon, He did say, somewhat ruefully, "If Pat Robertson were on NBC he'd be replaced by Jay Leno by now."

Some post-debate punditry *updates*

(Hutchison) came out swinging with a smile, repeatedly challenging (Perry's) leadership. He didn't hold back on criticizing her, hard, and defending his record.

As often as they could, the two took the fight directly to each other on issues important to all Texans, including the budget and taxes.

Activist Debra Medina didn't fade into the background, as she well might have, sharing a stage with two powerhouses. She stood her ground and presented her limited-government point of view staunchly, winning kudos from a Hutchison staffer afterward for her command of the facts.

More detail on budget fixes from Perry and Hutchision would have been good. Cut where? How much can you really scrub from the budget without hurting vulnerable Texans.

-- Peggy Fikac of Texas Politics

I agree with Senator Hutchison that Texas future is at risk because we are failing to educate so many Texans. Dropout rates are among the highest in the nation and college tuition has been skyrocketing. ... And yet, in a one hour debate, Governor Perry never accepted accountability for the failures of public education or described how we could improve it and bring down skyrocketing college tuition rates. Our state deserves better than that.

Much of the debate consisted of complaints about the federal government, rather than solutions for Texas.

-- Bill White

(Last night's debate was) a childish squabbling match to see who can be the most far right reactionary candidate. ... Things in Texas are heading in the wrong direction. The cost of health care and health insurance are out of control, the quality of basic public education is falling, and our air, land and water are under constant threat from polluters. We simply can't settle for more business as usual.

It is more important than ever for the other Democratic candidates for Governor to have the opportunity for meaningful dialogue. I hope Bill White will rethink his decision to not debate the other candidates in a public forum.

-- Farouk Shami

Senator Hutchison walks away with a pretty clear win tonight, with a powerful assist by Debra Medina, who now becomes the credible third option in this race in the eyes of everyone watching tonight. And Democrats, of course, walk away from the debate happy -- the incumbent got pounded, the dark horse got a huge boost in credibility, and enough slime got thrown around to make us look forward to the rest of the Republican primary race.

-- George Nasser at The Texas Blue

Governor Perry looked tired and irritated. Senator Hutchison remained calm and collected, while smiling, as she responded to Perry's attacks. Hutchison used a debate style move of posing a question to Medina that was a direct swipe at Perry. Medina made mention several times that the other two would respond as typical politicians to questions. ...

While Hutchison was grilled on her abortion stance, Medina was not asked about her decision to home school her children and only teach creationism to them while ignoring evolution. She believes the age of earth is not settled and that it must only be about 4,000 years old, as biblical teachings direct her. She was asked about her practice of carrying a gun without a conceal carry license, which is legal in Texas. You may be interested in knowing she does not take it into the grocery store.

-- moderate conservative blogger Pondering Penguin

And some non-partisan reporting from Aman Batheja at Poli-Tex. More updates to this post later today.

Update: Burka, excerpted in easy-to-digest small bites.

Maybe the question is: Was there a winner? Well, the format was a winner. ...

... But televised debates are as much about images as about words, and I thought (Perry) looked terrible, even creepy at times. He really looked uncomfortable. Sometimes he wore a frozen grin, sometimes it was a smirk; whatever it was, it transmitted, “I don’t want to be here.” He was constantly on the defensive. When he said how well Texas is doing (in job creation) Medina shot back, You’re using 07 figures. Perry is not very good when he is on the defensive. He is very good when he is on the attack....

Hutchison had one terrible moment. It came when David Montgomery asked about her support for Roe v. Wade. She sidestepped the issue. Other panelists tried to get her to give a straight answer. She handled it so badly that the audience laughed. That is never good. ... If it had not been for the abortion question, I would have said that Hutchison won the debate, but that was a disaster for Hutchison. ...

I was hoping for more from Debra Medina, but I don’t think she made a case for herself as a major candidate for governor. Medina marginalized herself by concentrating on fringe issues, such as open carry (guns), legalization of drugs, and other libertarian positions. ... It seemed evident that she and Perry are fighting over the same constituency on the right.

The campaign will now move to the airwaves. Perry so far has had a huge advantage. His TV is so much better than Hutchison’s, his messages so much clearer. Thirty-three days to go before the start of early voting.

Wayne Slater at the DMN, also noticing the pointlessness of KBH's nuanced position on abortion among GOP primary lunatics voters:

Kay Bailey Hutchison had to convince Republican primary voters of two things in Thursday's debate: why they should boot Rick Perry out of the governor's office and why they should put her in.

The veteran senator offered plenty of ammunition for the first: toll roads, new taxes, school dropouts under Perry's tenure and the dark warning of creeping cronyism in Austin.

But for the voters she needs – the conservative, small-government, anti-abortion party activists who will dominate turnout in March – the reason to pick her seemed a less convincing case.

No issue animates social conservatives like abortion. And for anti-abortion forces in the GOP, Hutchison's views on that always have been a problem.

When a panelist asked Hutchison about her vote against overturning the Roe vs. Wade court decision legalizing abortion, Hutchison rolled out her conservative credentials. ...

The answer – nuanced and reasoned – probably isn't what many in the GOP primary electorate wanted to hear. And those are the voters she, Perry and Debra Medina will be vying for in the primary.

Also check out the "heat index" veracity-checking of some of the claims made by last night's participants at TrailBlazers (Ryan Rusak gets the credit). Lastly, Jason Embry from the Statesman, followed by satirist Ken Herman with the zombie video.

The debate was notable for the themes it didn't hit. There was hardly any discussion of public education or state transportation policies, and the candidates laid out few specific ideas about what they want to do in office. ...

There were no major gaffes, although each candidate mangled a line or two. And no candidate was particularly specific when asked how to solve the state's looming budget shortfall, which the state is facing in large part because Perry and lawmakers have committed billions of dollars every year to hold down property taxes.

===================

Well, now you've heard it straight from the GOP gubernatorial candidates. The decision is in: Texas, our Texas, is the greatest state in the land.

And if you tuned into Thursday night's GOP gubernatorial debate, you'd have reason to believe that Gov. Rick Perry and challenger Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison each are individually responsible for our wonderfulness.

Both were certain in praising Texas' near-perfection. Neither, somehow, had much to say about any current problems, much less offering a solution to any current problems.

The short version: no runs, no hits, no errors and nary a word about solutions.



Update II: More on those zombies -- the ones outside the hall, not inside -- from Aman Batheja.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Perry, Hutchison, Medina debate tonight

The first contested Republican primary debate for Texas governor in 20 years is scheduled to occur on statewide television tonight as Gov. Rick Perry tries to fend off challenges from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and activist Debra Medina.

The debate will be broadcast live locally in Houston at 7 p.m. on KUHT Channel 8, KTRK-DT Channel 13.2 and at 10 a.m. Saturday on KXLN Channel 45 (Univision in Spanish), as well as airing on radio on KSEV, 700 AM; KTRH, 740 AM; and KUHF, 88.7 FM.

An Internet live stream of the debate can be obtained from www.TexasDebates.org.

That Medina won the right to be in tonight's debate means she can already claim probably as much victory as she will see in this primary. She is popular with the TeaBaggers and Libertarians but so far that translates into 5% in the polling. She should do much better than this; Larry Kilgore managed 7.58% four years ago (he dropped out of this contest last month and endorsed Medina) and further, the sum of the "not-Rick-Perry" faction earned almost 16%. If that happens again this March -- and Kay can pull 35% -- then you're looking at a run-off. One that Perry likely still wins, but ...

Update: Peggy Fikac ...

GOP consultant Mark Sanders (who managed Carole Strayhorn's 2006 gubernatorial campaign) said the candidate to watch is Medina.

“She is the wild card. If she performs well, she could throw the gubernatorial election into a runoff ... It'll take more than just the debate, but she could be the anti-Washington, anti-incumbent candidate that many voters are looking for.”

Suggested reading:

The Pre-Game Show (the Texas Tribune's advance story)

Medina at the Ramparts (about her border policy)

Perry rakes in the money (but Kay actually has more)

Perry won't let Texas bid for federal education dollars (expect this to be a topic in tonight's debate)

Right Place, Right Time (Texas Monthly's Paul Burka on the governor's secret 2012 bid for the White House)

Perry for President: Conjuring the Apocalypse (a response to Burka from the Texas Observer's Bob Moser)

Charles Kuffner's summary (which includes the two links above)

Perry lacks trust in Texas voters (the Chron's Rick Casey)

SD-22: Kip Averitt, Darren Yancy, and perhaps some others

State Sen. Kip Averitt of Waco suddenly discontinued his bid for re-election yesterday, citing health concerns.

The decision comes a week and a half after the closing of the filing period to run for state elected office as a Democrat or Republican and leaves Burleson insurance agent Darren Yancy as the sole candidate left to campaign in the GOP primary.

No Democrats have filed to run for Averitt’s seat, which covers McLennan, Coryell, Falls, Bosque, Hill, Navarro, Somervell, Hood, Johnson and Ellis counties.

Averitt, 55, a certified public accountant, has represented Waco since 1992, when he was elected to the state House. He issued a statement to the Tribune-Herald that said in recent years he has struggled to balance health and the interests of his family with his role as a public servant.

“I have been advised that I must now put my health above all else — for me and my family — and it is with deep regret that I announce today the cessation of my Senate campaign,” the release states.

Averitt, a moderate Republican with tenure and respect from colleagues across the aisle, was in line for more power in the upcoming session.


In 2005, Averitt pushed to restore funding and loosen eligibility rules for Texas’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, which had been cut in the previous legislative session. He’s also been involved in crafting the state’s budget.

And as chairman of the influential Natural Resources Committee, he has been a strong voice for the creation of local groundwater-conservation districts and long-term planning of the state’s water.

On Dec. 10, Averitt and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst attended a Tribune-Herald editorial board meeting together. Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, said at the time that Averitt’s name was in the mix to head the powerful Senate Finance Committee in the upcoming legislative session. On Dec. 23, Averitt filed for re-election.

So ... three weeks after filing, and ten days after the deadline, the candidates remaining are Averitt's primary challenger, TeaBaggin' Darren Yancey (disregard the ECO's bragging) and one of two Libertarians that gets chosen at their March 13 convention (Tim Ballard of Cleburne or Ben Faulkner of Red Oak). Harvey Kronberg at Quorum Report has video from Yancey's aborted run at Cong. Chet Edwards:



Harvey also provides this, in a 11:47 p.m. update:

"If Averitt withdraws after winning the primary, then the Republican District Executive Committee (comprised of the County Chairmen from each of the counties SD 22, Sec 171.054) selects his replacement (not the SREC/SDEC); and the Democratic District Executive Committee also gets to nominate an opponent (Sec. 145.036). No litigation necessary."

That's also verified in this update from Michael Shapiro at the Waco Trib:

If GOP voters pick Averitt in the primary and he then withdraws, both parties would have the opportunity to name replacement candidates. Those candidates would be picked by the two parties’ District Executive Committees, which consist of party chairmen from the 10 counties in the district.

This district is pretty solidly red, but Averitt's withdrawal gives Democrats and independents a shot at an unexpected open Texas Senate. More developing.

Update: More inside baseball from the TexTrib.

Haiti



-- Two aggregates, one from Neil at Texas Liberal and one from conservative Blue Dot Blues have links you should follow.  You can simply text HAITI to 90999 and a $10 donation will be forwarded to the American Red Cross and billed to your cell by your provider. As BDB notes, the Red Cross is reporting that they have already extinguished their inventory of medical supplies.

Update: Katie Shellnutt at Believe It or Not posts ...

Apparently all those ten-buck and five-buck donations add up, with the Red Cross earning $1.2 million from texts alone by the end of Tuesday.

-- Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson quickly spewed their hate, and Keith Olbermann just as quickly shut them down.



Text:

"Even the worst of us in this political mosh pit of the early 21st Century can stop on occasion in grief and human sympathy, in mourning, or just in self-preservation. Not Rush Limbaugh, and not Pat Robertson. We'll explore this at length later, but Mr. Robertson, it is laughable now to try to call him Reverend, explained today that this earthquake was the result of a quote "Deal with the Devil" that he claims the nation made in the 19th Century to gain its freedom from France. "True story", Robertson says. Sir, because of your tone deafness and your delight in human misery, and your dripping, self-satisfied holier-than-thou senile crap, I am now likelier to believe that *you* are the Devil."

"Limbaugh, meantime, did not know when to just shut up. Today he blamed "Communism" for the poverty of Haiti, blamed President Obama for holding a news conference the day after this cataclysm, when he did not hold one after the failed, half-assed terror attempt in Detroit, and said Mr. Obama would quote "Use Haiti" to quote "Burnish their shall we say, credibility with the Black community in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned Black community in this country."

"Mr Robertson, Mr. Limbaugh. Your lives are not worth those of the lowest, meanest, poorest of those victims still lying under that rubble in Haiti tonight. You serve no good, you serve no God. You inspire only stupidity and hatred, and I would wish you to Hell. But knowing how empty your souls must be for you to be able to say such things in a time of such pain, I suspect the vacant, purposeless lives you both live now, are Hell enough already."

As did Raymond Joseph, the Haitian ambassador to the United States:

"I would like the whole world to know -- America especially -- that the independence of Haiti, when the slaves rose up against the French and defeated the French army -- powerful army -- the U.S. was able to gain the Louisiana territory for $15 million. That's 3 cents an acre. That's 13 states west of the Mississippi that the Haitian slave revolt in Haiti provided ..."

"So, what pact the Haitian made with the devil has helped the United States become what it is."

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Late Night spat

The drama consuming NBC's late night programming has been hard to keep up with ever since rumors spread that Leno was losing his prime time show and returning to late night. The fate, not only of Jay's show, but Conan O'Brien's and Jimmy Fallon's hang in the balance as negotiations continue between the network and its comedy stars.

I'll let you do the clicking and the watching of the videos at the links, but some are do-not-miss; these ...

CBS' late night king David Letterman put his two cents in Tuesday night, saying the entire shuffle is and will cost NBC "Hundreds and hundreds of millions and millions of dollars" and that between Leno and O'Brien it all boils down to money. He also suggested a replacement for NBC's soon-to-be-vacant 10:00 p.m. time slot: "Law And Order: Leno Victims Unit."

... and this one:

Jimmy Kimmel has also come out in support of Conan, going as far as doing his entire show last night dressed as Jay Leno.  With prosthetic chin and all, Kimmel mocked Leno's lack of scruples over the switch: "Conan O'Brien today announced that he is leaving NBC. He released a statement today that said, 'I won't participate in the destruction of the Tonight Show.' Fortunately though - I will!", he mocked.

Monday, January 11, 2010

The (coldest) Weekly Wrangle

With blue lips and chattering teeth, the Texas Progressive Alliance brings you a hot steaming mug of blog highlights for the week.

This week on Left of College Station: the filling deadline has ended and the primaries in the Brazos Valley are crowded with candidates. Also take a look at who tweets among the primary candidates for Texas Congressional District 17 and which does not want Left of College Station to follow their tweets. Teddy also posts about the modern day slavery of human trafficking, and how Houston has become one of the biggest hubs for the modern day slave trade. L o C S also covers the week in headlines.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the Texas GOP's inability to govern and the opportunities that provides for Democrats: GOP divisions can bring Democratic gains in Texas.

The Denton County candidates are ready to go at the Texas Cloverleaf.

How does Texas compare with other states? A statistical analysis with graphs reveals the truth at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Off the Kuff has a modest suggestion for how to handle Harris County's current budget shortfall.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme agrees it's time to put our money in community banks.

Thinking and acting both locally and globally, Neil at Texas Liberal sent membership donations to both Greenpeace and the Democratic Women of Denton County.

After a noted anti-gay and Republican activist filed to run as a Democrat against an unchallenged incumbent GOP county commissioner, investigation determined that the man used the wrong address and was disqualified from the ballot. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has more on the story.

Bay Area Houston nominates Dave Wilson for the "Dripping with Hypocrisy" award with One Man. No Woman.

WhosPlayin has the story of a public servant who manages a $13 million facility, where he works for the taxpayer by day, and for the private club that rents the facility at night.

McBlogger sees some problems with Sen. Hutchison's ad taking on Gov. 39% and some of the people making excuses for 39%.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A big bag of postpourri

-- Harry Reid was racially insensitive.   Trent Lott was racist.  Not at all surprised that conservatives don't know the difference.

There is a BIG difference between praising a segregationist in public like Lott did, and Reid's making, in private, a racially insensitive comment while praising and welcoming the candidacy of the man who would go on to become the first African American President of the United States.

Reid's choice of words shows that when it comes to race and discussing African Americans, he is very unenlighted. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE IS RACIST, it just means this guy, who it should be pointed out enthusiastically campaigned for Obama, has a long way to go when it comes to learning how to discuss race. His heart is most likely in the right place, his mouth and vocabulary? Not so much.

Lott on the other hand made a point to say that if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948 "we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years." Thurmond ran a presidential campaign on a segrationist platform in 1948 and on the campaign's plank remarked "all the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches."

When Michael Steele -- who recently came under criticism himself for using the phrase "honest injun" -- OR ANYONE ELSE advances the notion that there is any comparision between Reid's and Lott's comments, they show themselves either to be ignorant or worse; they show themselves as folks who will seek to exploit discussions of race as a launching pad to provoke racial division.

Update: Hal at Half Empty has more.

-- Visit my friend Michele's (yes, he's French) excellent blog Miss Welby.

-- If the Supreme Court rules in favor of corporations' political spending as free speech, then we will be one more giant leap down the road to American fascism.

If this vision becomes reality, businesses and other big-money players will spend billions either hyping their preferred candidates or running attack ads against elected officials who don't support their preferred agenda. Voters will be forced into a couch-potato role, mere viewers of the electoral spectacle bought and paid for by wealthy companies.

The Supreme Court's decision in the hotly anticipated campaign finance reform case Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission -- which may be announced as early as Tuesday -- will show whether a majority of the Roberts court is buying their argument.

-- Dennis Hopper is dying of prostate cancer.

-- Kelly Fero's memorial service yesterday included this reading of Che Guevara's last letter to his children:

If one day you must read this letter, it will be because I am no longer with you. You practically will not remember me, and the smaller ones will not remember me at all.

Your father has been a man who acted on his beliefs and certainly has been faithful to his convictions.

Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. Remember that the Revolution is what is important, and that each of us, alone, is nothing.

Above all, try always to be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.

Until forever, my children. I still hope to see you.

A big kiss and a big hug from Papa.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre.


-- Read this excerpt of John Heilemann's book about John and Elizabeth Edwards and the collapse of his 2008 presidential campaign, replete with the tales of Rielle Hunter, Elizabeth's cancer, and more behind the scenes. I didn't think I was capable of being shocked by this sordid episode any more, but this certainly did the trick.

-- The bra-color Facebook meme is tiresome already.

-- The most powerful man in American media and politics simultaneously is Roger Ailes.  No one disputes this. The question -- even among scions of Rupert Murdoch -- is whether, despite the enormous profits, this is a good thing.

-- The inventor of Gumby passed away. Art Clokey originally fashioned Gumby's crooked head after his deceased father's Conan O'Brien-styled hair swoop. Clokey was placed in an orphanage shortly after his father's death when his stepfather forced his mother to choose between them. He was adopted at age 11 and encouraged by his adoptive father to expand his artistic horizons.  As an adult he managed a little controversy as well.

-- When Mary Matalin and Dana Perino and Rudy Giuliani all claim that there were no terrorist attacks during George Bush's terms, that's not stupidity or even a mistake; that's premeditated.

Not only does the statement suggest Giuliani does not remember the devastating attack in his own city, it also omits the anthrax attacks and the attempted shoe bomber attack.

A day earlier, Giuliani falsely claimed that the shoe bomber attack occurred before September 11th.

Curiously, the Associated Press did a long write-up of Giuliani's Obama criticisms but omitted the startling mistake. George Stephanopoulos, who conducted the ABC interview, included the quote in a blog post but did not question it.

 This demonstrates again that Republicans are repeating lies as often as they can get away with in order that they become the "truth".

And when the media refuses to challenge them, then our democracy is failed.

Update: Harold Cook at Letters from Texas ...

In political messaging, one person misspeaking is a mistake. Two misspeaking is a concerted coordinated trend, and thinking, patriotic Americans should call them on their lies every time they attempt them. Those who seek to re-write this history only serve to so utterly mask the roots of our life-threatening challenges that they themselves put Americans at further grave risk.

And what of the so-called "reporters" interviewing these liars? Best I can tell from the video clips, neither Perino's or Guliani's false claims were at all challenged by their interviewers. Of course, Perino's interview was on FoxNews, which is to political news coverage what pro wrestling is to sports - it's not real, they just want you to think it is.

Sunday Funnies




Friday, January 08, 2010

Homophobe Wilson's ballot bid rejected *updates*

As regards this post. He listed his business address as his residence address, a violation of the mandatory provision of the Texas Election code. The letter to Wilson from HCDP chair Gerry Birnberg outlining the violation and the ineligibility is here. More responses as they are posted.

Updates:

Texas Election Code requires that a candidate's application for a place on the ballot include his or her residence address. Birnberg said that when he met with Wilson on Thursday, the candidate mentioned that he actually lives in a home on Lake Lane. Property tax records list the owner as Connie J. Wilson.

Wilson said he is separated from his wife and lives in an apartment at his business address. Wilson's voter registration lists his address on W. 34th.

Wilson said he will ask Birnberg to reverse his decision, and if Birnberg does not, he will contest it in court.


Birnberg insisted that election law gives him no discretion to make a judgment call. The language of the statute states that if the application does not meet requirements, the party must reject it. Had Wilson filed with a day or two to spare, Birnberg said, the party may have caught the error with time for Wilson to correct it before the deadline.

“It's his decision to file at the last minute that's the (cause) of the problem,” Birnberg said.

===============
But at least he gets his filing fee back. Don't spend it all in one race.
===============
Assuming Wilson does not file a suit to contest this, it means County Commissioner Jerry Eversole gets a much-undeserved free pass in this year’s election. It also means the Democratic slate isn’t polluted by Wilson’s rancid presence, which is the greater good. May this be the last time I ever have to type the name “Dave Wilson” into a blog post.