Friday, November 29, 2019

The Weekly Twenty Twenty Update

Just a bit more than two months before the Iowa caucuses.  So it's probably too soon for this.


Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com

If you got a better way-too-early prediction, let's hear it in the comments.

No sooner than Hillary Clinton reached her most recent spoiled-milk discard date, we get Obama weighing in on the 2020 primary.



I'm just sorry I bought his lies in 2008.  By 2009 I was off the bus, but the damage, as we all know -- even those who cannot acknowledge it to this day -- was done.


And that's not the half of it: drone-killing American-born teenagers for the alleged sins of their fathers; "we tortured some folks"; signing the NDAA (which ended habeas corpus); letting the protests at Standing Rock "play out for several more weeks", enabling militarized police forces to brutalize protestors; prosecuting low-level government whistleblowers (Chelsea Manning) while letting top advisers skate (David Petraeus).  I could go on, but if you haven't gotten the picture already, you never will.

I have but one fuck left to give about what Barack Obama says or does regarding the 2020 Democratic primary.  If he opposes Bernie Sanders to any degree greater than he already has ... well, as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, revolutions can take place at the ballot box or in the streets.  And the establishment corporacrat centrist neoliberal faction gets to choose where it will be.

It would have been illuminating to have heard from him during the past three years as Trump savaged him, the office of the presidency, and all of the normative behaviors that have been in place for almost two hundred and fifty years of our republican democracy, but I suppose he was just too busy making post-presidency millions to comment on any of that.  It seems that I heard more griping about Trump from George W. Bush than I did from Obama, as a matter of fact.

Be that as it may, BO can take a seat beside HRC and STFU.  Forever.

Now then ... let's review the aspirational jerks bidding to be the next Obama.


-- BootEdgeEdge's post-debate polling bump is, according to 538.com, still just his base.  He got called out for his lying by Michael Harriott at The Root, who then got a phone call from Pete.  Seems to have gone well enough.  One more thing:


That's enough of a reason to strip IA and NH from first-in-the-nation status as far as I am concerned.  I don't think it will ever happen, though.  Let the speculation begin as to the eventual migration of Petey voters, once reality splashes cold in their faces.


-- Elizabeth Warren has had a much tougher week, month, past couple of months.


Her candor issues have crushed her.


-- No, wait; Senile Uncle Joe had a worse week.  His top Latina adviser quitting his campaign underscored his problems with voters who are not conservative, senior whites and blacks.

Biden was criticized for skipping a Latino elected officials forum in June -- at the time, a campaign surrogate held up Cárdenas’ role in the campaign as proof of Biden’s commitment to Latino voters. And in August, his campaign went into damage control after immigration activists grew upset with him over how he spoke about the issue at a debate. He also avoided a California Democratic event where he was aware the immigration issue could haunt him.

At a South Carolina event on Thursday, Biden ended up in a widely publicized clash with Carlos Rojas, an immigration activist with the group Movimiento Cosecha, who wanted the candidate to pledge to halt deportations.

"No. I will not stop all deportations. I will prioritize deportations, only people who have committed a felony or serious crime,” Biden told Rojas.

Rojas then told Biden that he had volunteered for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008 but became disenchanted with the Obama administration because “over those 8 years, there were 3 million people that were deported and separated from their families.”

“You should vote for Trump,” Biden cut in.

Hostility, mild or not-so-much, is a symptom of dementia.  At least he was able to remember to suggest to another person to vote Democrat.


-- So if you were seriously wondering why Mike Bloomberg jumped in, now you know.  See, Bloomer is even more of Republican than Joe, or Liz, or Pete.



But what candidate is it that all of these powerful, influential moderates really want?  I read this and I still can't figure it out.

-- Then again, maybe Kamala had it roughest.  The requiems and obituaries have been written.


Hey, political advisers have to eat too.

-- All roads then lead to one place.


-- MSNBC's debate moderators and the network's coverage of Yang and Tulsi and Bernie -- wrong and misleading where it has been presented at all -- has come under plenty of withering fire.  So here is a rare moment of clarity when Chris Matthews, the fattest of the network's blind hogs found the biggest acorn asked the right question.


Major Gabbard, similarly, gets more wrong than right but this is the crux of her campaign IMHO and the best argument for her bid for the White House.

-- So long, Mayor Messam.  We really never knew ye.

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Thursday, November 28, 2019

Turkey Toons









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Monday, November 25, 2019

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is already downshifting in preparation for the abbreviated holiday week, with a shorter-than usual collection of somewhat less than hard-hitting blog posts and Tweets and news from around and about the Great State from last week.


Several reporters are looking ahead to the primaries in the spring, publishing news of filings for offices on that ballot.  HPM detailed election security measures being undertaken for 2020 by Harris, Fort Bend, and Brazoria counties.  TXElects linked to a study published by the League of Women Voters that revealed many Texas counties' websites were both improperly secured and not in compliance with state law.

The League graded sites based on a number of criteria including website security, mobile friendliness, ease of use, thoroughness of information, help for special categories of voters and availability of information in Spanish. ... The League determined 74 counties -- 29% of the total -- had “inadequate” election information posted online. Among those, 19 county websites “do not appear to be official,” and Crockett Co. had no web presence whatsoever.

Just ahead of the start of early voting for the runoff elections, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs released his recommendations for the Houston city council alphabet districts.  (Mayor and at-large runoff endorsements are linked there.)

Criminal justice developments included ...



Better Texas Blog tells the untold stories of the state budget.

RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly explains how Texas might turn blue in 2020.  Ross Ramsey of the TexTrib via Progrexas analyzes the reasons for Lone Star Republicans launching trial balloons associated with gun safety legislation.


In impeachment news, Therese Odell at Foolish Watcher was all over the Fiona Hill hearing.


SocraticGadfly, noting November 22 and the anniversary of the death of the president in Dallas in 1963 last Friday, has a twofer; first writing about the irony of Jackie's JFK Camelot legend actually reflecting Kennedy reality beneath the legend, then looking in part at Jack's assassination, noting -- with examples -- how to distinguish conspiracies from conspiracy theories.


The Texas Signal points out Greg Abbott's loss of appetite for Chick-fil-A now that they have pledged to stop giving money to anti-LGBTQ groups.

Texans icons on the way out, gone but not forgotten, and perhaps on the comeback:


Mike McGuff shares the trailer for the documentary about the legendary former Houston rock and roll radio station KLOL.



Closing out this Wrangle ...

Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV's Fixer Upper have force-multiplied their brand in Waco, turning the sleepy Baptist community into a retail shopping destination.


 And the TPA wishes Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora all the best in their new media venture.
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Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sunday 'Lyin' Eyes' Funnies

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Friday, November 22, 2019

Houston's runoffs: The alphabet districts

Parts 1 (mayor, council races with technically ineligible participants) and 2 (at-large positions) are linked where you can find them if you need them.


First ...

Early Voting Dates and Times

November 27th: 7 am - 7 pm

December 2nd -7th: 7 am - 7 pm

December 8th: 1pm - 6 pm

December 9th: 7 am - 7 pm


There will be 25+ early voting poll locations and 300+ locations for election day! Click here to find a location for early voting near you or text VOTE to 1-833-YES-0700.



Once more, Part 1 summarized these:

-- District A's runoff between longtime CoS to incumbent Brenda Stardig (who is challenging Harris Commissioner Steve Radack in the GOP primary) Amy Peck and wig store owner George Zoes, who claims that his business is his residence.

Peck was pushed into this runoff by a gentleman that has no primary voting history, no website, and no social media presence (according to Erik Manning), so all I can surmise is that his wigs must have one hell of a satisfied clientele.

The joke is going to be on a lot of people if Zoes pulls this off.  I will predict that he does not.

-- District B has been high drama for the past two weeks.

The runoff in the District B race for Houston City Council will be left off the Dec. 14 ballot and instead will require a special election after the third-place finisher filed a lawsuit contesting the Nov. 5 results.

Renee Jefferson-Smith, who missed the runoff by 168 votes, filed the suit contesting the election in state district court last Friday, forcing officials to delay the runoff, according to Assistant County Attorney Douglas Ray.

Jefferson-Smith’s attorneys filed the contest in a different court after a judge dismissed her earlier request for a ruling declaring candidate Cynthia Bailey ineligible to run for office because she has a felony conviction.

This runoff is likely to be held at the same time as the one for the statehouse.

Both Ray and Nicole Bates, an attorney for Jefferson-Smith, said it is possible the special election could be held Jan. 28, when a runoff for the open House District 148 seat is scheduled to take place, if the lawsuit is resolved by then.

And for clarity, Jefferson-Smith finished third, Bailey second, and Tarsha Jackson first with 21% of the vote, a fairly wide margin considering a 14-person field.  She just wants to get this over with.

Jackson ... has said voters knew about Bailey’s criminal past and said she should be able to continue in the race. Jackson said Wednesday she was disappointed in the delay.

“What’s happening right now is just a prime example of what’s been happening to District B forever. We’re a marginalized and disenfranchised community,” Jackson said. “We have been left behind in this election. The people should be able to go out and vote on the 14th.”

[...]

Jackson (also) said District B voters also will have a diminished voice in the mayoral and at-large races, since fewer people could turn out to vote in the runoffs.

Jefferson-Smith rejected that claim, saying the true disenfranchisement was letting people vote for a candidate that she said would not be able to assume the office.

Lots more at the link above and at HPM if you enjoy reading about the legal ins-and-outs.  Nobody should feel safe making any predictions about judicial decisions, but Jackson surely ought to be favored to take this seat at the horseshoe whenever this election date gets settled.

Update: The latest.


-- District F's runoff is going to be lively.


Huynh also boasts questionable residency qualifications for an area he has served for a lengthy period, as CoS to CM Steve Le.  "I have plans to improve the district" claims for incumbent regimes, especially conservative ones, can be laughable.  Let's hope the far west voters of this district send Ms. Thomas downtown.

Now then, we'll proceed in alpha-order with fresh news.

-- District C defied my early prediction and left the Harris County pachyderms on the sidelines.  This matchup between Abbie Kamin and Shelley Kennedy features big money and establishment connections versus community organizing.  You ought to know by now which of those I favor.  But to illustrate the difference:

One issue that draws a clear contrast between the pair is Prop B, the ballot referendum voters passed last year which requires firefighter pay to be brought in line with police of corresponding rank and seniority.

Kamin said she believes firefighters deserve higher pay, but that outcome should be achieved through negotiations between the city and fire union.

Kennedy supported the ballot initiative. Since a judge has since ruled Prop B unconstitutional, Kennedy said the labor dispute should be resolved by binding arbitration.

Ms. Kennedy is the best choice here.

-- The Chron's Robert Downen says that the D face-off between Carolyn Evans-Shabazz and Brad Jordan is an amicable one.  It does seem so.


Standing beneath a papier-mâché toucan earlier this month, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz told a handful of potential voters about her aspirations to be a bus.

Both she and her Houston City Council District D opponent, Brad “Scarface” Jordan, want to be vessels for change, but understand that doing so requires getting as many perspectives as possible -- hence, Evans-Shabazz’s talk of being a bus.

“A vehicle has more than one passenger,” Evans-Shabazz said. “And I wanna be a bus. I. Want. To. Be. A. Bus.”

Just outside the wood-paneled room, hip-hop icon Jordan sipped soda and munched on finger foods. He had not expected to be there, and was still “stunned” to have made the runoff days earlier.

His stump speech, delivered a few minutes later, reflected that shock. “These are good cookies,” he said before telling the group of mostly senior citizens about the 30 million-plus records he has sold and his desire to better his childhood neighborhood.

“I want to give back to a city that has given so much to me and allowed me to do what I do,” he continued.

Read on and note that departing CM Dwight Boykins has not endorsed his replacement.

“You have to build a coalition of people who are opposite of you,” he said.

Whichever candidate does that will win.  The consensus is that it will be Evans-Shabazz, but I would favor Jordan.

-- District H incumbent Karla Cisneros -- and her consultant Marc Campos -- aren't having the best month.  HD-148 leader Anna Eastman has proved herself worthy of his (still obnoxious) bragging, but not his/our Astros and certainly not Cisneros, who's facing a challenge from Isabel Longoria.


This runoff features the titanic Houston Latinx opposing forces: Congresista Sylvia Garcia versus state Sen. Carol Alvarado and their respective coalitions.  It's the Spanish-speaking Democratic progressives and centrists colliding again.

With early voting days away, Longoria is touting a handful of endorsements from elected officials, including Councilman Robert Gallegos and her former bosses, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, and former state Rep. Jessica Farrar. And Longoria, who is Latina and openly lesbian, also is backed by several influential Hispanic and LGBTQ-focused groups, including the GLBT Political Caucus.

Cisneros, meanwhile, is backed by Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado and state Rep. Christina Morales.

I hope Longoria pulls this out.

-- But in District J, Las Dos Reinas are working together to get Sandra Rodriguez to City Hall over Edward Pollard.  Campos:

There is a fundraiser (November 19) in downtown Houston for H-Town City Council District J candidate Sandra Rodriguez. The fundraiser is co-hosted by Cong. Sylvia Garcia, State Sen. Carol Alvarado, State Reps. Armando Walle and Gene Wu, H-Town Council Member Robert Gallegos and other prominent folks.

Oddly enough, the best analysis of the J race remains this piece from Greg Degeyter at Big Jolly's from September, which calls Pollard the top choice followed by Rodriguez.  That's how I would vote if I lived in the district.

Get ready to do that ballot thing you do starting next week.
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Thursday, November 21, 2019

#DemDebate: The Aftermath


We're covering only the most important topics in this analysis.

-- Yangbangers waking up still mad about their bro not getting to talk.


-- Sure hope CloudButcher put on a sweater ... or took her Inderall.



Okay, seriously.

BobbleHeads Consensus: BootEdgeEdge won, Biden lost again.

At one point in the second hour, the moderators teed up Harris to hit Buttigieg on his lack of appeal with black voters. But she said she agreed with him! Buttigieg came across a bit too rote and programmatic for me -- at times it felt as though he was reciting a speech he memorized -- but his campaign will be thrilled that he walks away from this debate without a scratch on him. Plus, you will hear this line from Buttigieg a whole lot in the analysis of the debate: "I know that from the perspective of Washington, what goes on in my city might look small, but frankly, where we live, the infighting on Capitol Hill is what looks small."

The donor class is over the moon with the guy, but black voters aren't buying his con.  They're still willing to be swindled by Goofy Uncle Joe.

One awkward moment came when Booker called Biden out for his opposition to marijuana legalization -- a position that makes Biden more conservative than the median Republican on this issue, based on recent polls. In explaining his political appeal, Biden responded, “I’m part of that Obama coalition. I come out of a black community in terms of my support” -- a weird claim for a white candidate. He then suggested that the “only” black woman elected to the US Senate endorsed him, ignoring that one of the black women elected to the Senate, Harris, was right there on stage literally debating him. The whole moment drew laughter from the crowd and candidates.

The awkwardness came through even when Biden should have had good moments. He was asked in the debate about what he will do about the Me Too movement, and started talking about domestic violence — an obvious pivot for someone who helped pass the original Violence Against Women Act in the 1990s. Biden at first gave a solid answer on his record. Then he went with an unfortunate metaphor: “So we have to just change the culture, period, and keep punching at it and punching at it.” That was ... not the best choice of words for this issue.

Why do we have to keep reminding the Boomer African Americans propping up this zombie of his psychological infirmities?  Because once they get the message, his support scatters and we have a true picture of where this race is.

And it ain't with Pete Buttigieg as a contender.

Booker maybe did himself some good, and not just when he cracked jokes at the sundowning polling leader's expense.  Klobuchar's supporters think she did okay despite her onset of Parkinson's.  Liz Warren was rated both winner and loser on official scorecards; her foreign policy was the loser compared to Bernie's.  But the biggest losers were the debate moderators, who were heavily promoted despite their employers ignoring the sexual abuse elephant in the room.


As for the other gotchas, Gabbard wasn't owned by Pete and Booty didn't get punked by Gabby; that was a draw.  Harris didn't score on the major, either despite what the K-Hive is spinning.

This "debate" started late because of the impeachment hearings (nobody who has the time could possibly watch this much teevee about politics in one day without losing their mind), was frighteningly boring, and is already being drowned by today's hearings.  As a result it won't move anybody's needle.  There was a lot of pining for Julian Castro, which -- besides Bernie being right about everything -- was the most correct thing said or Tweeted about the evening.

No 2020 Update tomorrow but I will have the final installment of Houston city council district races previewed for the runoff now that the B lawsuit has settled that matter for the time being.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Fight Night Five preview


No longer is there a clear front-runner. The fight for African American voters is raging. And there are growing concerns that impeachment may become a distraction from the primary. Those issues and more will play out Wednesday night when the Democratic Party’s top 10 face off in Atlanta just 75 days before primary voting begins.

I'll narrow the seven questions that the AP poses down to these four that I'll be listening for the answers to:

-- Who gets bashed besides Mayo Pete for lying about his non-existent black support, the billionaires in the race (and not), and Medicare for All by the shitty centrists?  Barack Obama perhaps?

(Obama), the most popular Democrat in America, inserted himself into the 2020 primary in recent days by warning candidates against moving too far to the left.  His comments create a challenge for Warren and Sanders and an opening for moderates Buttigieg, Biden and Amy Klobuchar to attack.  At the same time, Obama’s involvement offers a powerful reminder of the massive role African Americans will play in the presidential nomination process.  As we know, all candidates not named Biden have serious work to do when it comes to winning over the black vote.  Race and Obama’s legacy could play a major role in shaping the action.

-- Impeachment, baby?

(I)t’s noteworthy that five of the 10 Democrats onstage will serve as jurors in the Senate impeachment trial should the House vote to impeach President Donald Trump.  It’s a complicated topic for Democrats.  Some senators worry that a prospective impeachment trial will interfere with their ability to court voters early next year.  Others fear that impeachment could hurt their party’s more vulnerable candidates in down-ballot elections next year.  Either way, what the prospective jurors do or don’t say on the debate stage could be relevant if and when the Senate holds an impeachment trial, which is increasingly likely.

Bet heavily on Mitch McConnell fucking with the impeachment trial once he gets his hands on it.  It's what he does.  That's a concern for next year, though.

-- Does Warren have a better plan for avoiding the scalding she got on funding her (Bernie's) healthcare plan, aka M4A, than she did in the fourth debate?

No single issue has dominated the initial Democratic primary debates more than health care, and it’s safe to assume that will be the case again Wednesday night.  And no one has more riding on that specific debate than Warren, who hurt herself last month by stumbling through questions about the cost of her single-payer health care plan.  Given that policy specifics make up the backbone of her candidacy, she can’t afford another underwhelming performance on the defining policy debate of the primary season.  Expect the policy-minded senator to have a new strategy this time around.

-- Can one of the trailers bust out?

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and businessmen Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer are under enormous pressure to break out given their status as the only candidates onstage who haven’t yet qualified for the December debate.  They likely won’t have the same number of opportunities to speak as their higher-polling rivals, but these are dire times for the underdogs.  They need to do something if they expect to stay relevant in the 2020 conversation.

I am counting on a killshot from Major Gabbard at one or more of the crappy neoliberals.  It's a target-rich environment.

Tweeting tonight during, and a post tomorrow with as little spinning as can be found.
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Monday, November 18, 2019

The Weekly Wrangle

With the weekly round-up of blog posts, Tweets, and news from around and about our Great State, the Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you not to use your official letterhead envelopes to hold your cocaine.  Just in case you lose one at the airport.


The execution of Rodney Reed was stayed by court order.


As Democratic presidential candidates prepare to debate on Wednesday in Atlanta, neither of the two Texans will be on stage.  Beto O'Rourke's exit and Julián Castro's inability to meet the polling qualification leaves the Latinx vote in flux, both nationally and in the Lone Star State.


More immediate election news is also occupying Texas writers' interest.



Kuff did a series on who's filing to run in 2020: for Congress, statewide, and SBOE, Senate, and the Lege.  The filing deadline is December 10.

With the impeachment hearings taking center stage, a handful of Texas bloggers focused on the president.  G. Elliott Morris found some data that caught the cultural wave flipping Obama supporters to Trump (hint: for those about to rock, we don't salute you).  Paradise in Hell is trying to learn the lessons of the Trump regime.  Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer noted the local connection to Trump minion Mina Chang.  And the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding Trump's ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy.



In other state capital news, the Texas Signal reminds us that redistricting technology does not have to be used for evil purposes, and the TSTA Blog explores the myth of the Texas Lottery.



Egberto Willies blogged about the National Organization for Women's rally in Houston, "Unlock the Future for Women and Girls", and has some video of the fireside chat ahead of it: "Organizing in the Face of Resistance".  The Rivard Report covers the Texas Mobility Summit in San Antonio.

Kanye West's appearance at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church created something of a frenzy.





SocraticGadfly looks at the growing number of "Nones" and ponders the possible First Amendment implications, along with offering his own hopes.

Time to wrap up another Wrangle with some lighter news from last week.




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Sunday, November 17, 2019

Sunday Funnies








White has long been a key spiritual adviser to Trump who believes that she makes the White House “holy ground” simply by her presence.





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Friday, November 15, 2019

The Weekly Twenty Twenty Non-Impeachment Update

All you could ever want right over there. --->>>

Here, it's The Billionaires Strike Back Week.  First things first, though.


Candidates who met the polling and fundraising requirements set by the Democratic National Committee are former Vice President Joe Biden; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; California Sen. Kamala Harris; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; billionaire businessman and activist Tom Steyer; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Regrettably, IMO, no Julián Castro.

Last week the Democratic former San Antonio mayor’s team slashed staff in two early states. Last month he threatened to end his White House bid if he didn’t raise $800,000 in the final 10 days of October -- a goal he narrowly hit.

His campaign insists he’s not exiting the race now, but staying afloat with months to go before February’s Iowa caucus will be a tall task. The debates, in a sense, have been one of the few places for Castro to make his mark on the national stage in an attempt to boost his campaign’s poll numbers and fundraising.

Now with that no longer an option, his campaign is suggesting that it no longer sees having a national platform as a must. Instead, it’s staking its hopes on a strong finish in Iowa, Nevada, and his home state of Texas.

His voice -- and notably his debate points scored against rivals -- will be sorely missed.

While Castro has targeted Nevada and Texas in large part because he hopes he can appeal to their diverse populations, Iowa’s Democratic electorate is overwhelmingly white. And if Castro were to finish in a strong position in Iowa, he’d need to quickly pivot to New Hampshire, the second primary state, which is also disproportionately white and where he recently shuttered his campaign.

[...]

Perhaps in a nod to the challenges he has faced as a candidate of color in the first two primary states, Castro said over the weekend that the order of the primaries should change.


This was in stark contrast to his good friend Liz Warren's "I'm just a player in the game" retort to Amy Goodman, at the Environmental Justice forum last week.  Plenty of people were quick to play the race card; Castro, in pointing out the hypocrisy of the Democrats' primary schedule, just exposed the party's unawakened bias.  That's too much to unpack there for this blog post, however, so I'll leave it to further rumination on your part, reader,  and that of others.

W/r/t to Castro: if Michael Bloomberg or Deval Patrick or, for that matter, any of Bennet or Bullock or Delaney or Messam or Sestak or Williamson actually believe they have a path to -- or even a perceivable mathematical chance at reaching -- the White House, then round those percentages up to the nearest whole number, add them together, give them all to Julián, and he'd have a rightful, righteous shot at being the first Latino president.  Ifs and buts, candy and nuts, Merry Xmas.

I still say he's Warren's veep if she wins the nom.  Biden or Sanders will tap a woman of color.

-- Nowhere is the pale alabaster blandness of the Hawkeye State more evident than in the 'surge' of BootEdgeEdge.  "The strong vanilla flavor of his political porridge".  I just threw up, and not a little, and not just in my mouth.

-- Since we're taking our Zofran, let's check in with Hillary Clinton at the funny farm.

“I will certainly tell you, I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about (running for president in 2020)”.

"Doctor, I recommend increasing her dosage of tiapride."




-- Jokes aside, let's get Hillary in the hot tub with Bloomberg and Patrick.  It's not as if they're taking any votes away from Bernie, after all.


Now with all of these new shitlibs crowding in to replace the ones that are dropping out, there are some Berners fretting about super delegates and second ballots at the convention and Bernie getting robbed again.  I can all but guarantee if that happens, then what is happening in Hong Kong right now -- and for that matter Bolivia, and France, and Chile, and a few other places  -- will look like a Gay Pride parade compared to the streets of Milwaukee next summer.

-- I really do like North Korea's way with words.  A 'rabid dog' that needs to be 'beaten to death with a stick'.  I wouldn't go that far -- I like dogs -- but Biden is surely a 'doddering old mummy with a skull full of dumpster juice'.


--Once again wrapping a snarky Update with good news from the best candidate.

Bernie's immigration plan: Abolish ICE, make DACA recipients legal

Bernie's Green New public housing plan:

Dubbed the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, the proposal aims to transform the entire stock of public housing in the US, 1.2 million units, into energy-efficient homes powered by onsite renewable energy. Authors say the bill would create about 240,000 jobs per year and reduce greenhouse emissions equivalent to taking 1.2 million cars off the road.

Corporate media can black him out all they like.  His message is getting through anyway, and it is resonating with people.

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Monday, November 11, 2019

The 'Winter is Coming' Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up of the best lefty blog posts, news, and Tweets about and around the Great State is woefully late -- and abbreviated -- today due to doctors' appointments and preparations for the incoming cold front.  (Will be adding to this post tomorrow.)


The battle between the state of Texas and the parents of Luna Younger, first reported in last week's Wrangle, has become a national story.

Amber Briggle, writing for TIME, excoriates Ken Paxton for being a hypocrite and violating the "privacy and safety" of a trans child.


In another case that has received nationwide attention, the fate of Rodney Reed still lies in the hands of a mute Greg Abbott.  Reed's growing support network has been anything but silent. 



Houston's muni elections shift into runoff overdrive, and Kuff gave his initial thoughts.  PDiddie at Brains and Eggs made predictions in the races in three separate posts, with a fourth on the alphabet districts still to come.

With some 2020 presidential developments, SocraticGadfly offers a trifecta of Green Party stories. First, he talks about the big hot mess the nomination process has become and why.  Second, he says Jill Stein is slouching further toward Gomorrah with her apparent support for one ticket.  Third, he looks at the financial and ballot difficulties in running as a Green.  And PDiddie also had his weekly update, with Beto out and Bloomberg in, a new Libertarian declaring, and an early preview of the next Democratic debate on November 20.




In the wake of the state's takeover of HISD, the TEA has scheduled community hearings this week to explain what's happened, and what happens next.

Dan Solomon at Texas Monthly adds some context to that Atlantic story about Texas secessionists.


Therese Odell at Foolish Watcher takes a break from documenting all things impeachment to highlight the appearance of Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-Fox News girlfriend on The View.

Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer reminds us that our old pal Rick Perry is now a key figure in the whole Ukraine debacle.



TransGriot looks forward to the 20th anniversary of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

And the TPA is saddened by news of the death of transgender activist Nikki Araguz Loyd.


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