An ego as big as Texas. "I'll retire by the end of the year, but I'll stick around for another year after that, meanwhile I'll keep tweeting 'must-read' like a fiend and serve the Lone Star State as its foremost oligarch" 😉 https://t.co/zC8V1lvsYp
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 12, 2022
My one and only conversation with the demigod came shortly after his baby's birth in 2008, or maybe '09. I don't remember the details, but his call to me was regarding my criticism here of the TexTrib's polling at the time (they then, and still do, use YouGov, but I can't recall if the wizards at UT were partnering with him at that early stage or not. I could go digging in my archives for the post, or I could start tagging posts so I don't have this problem, but ... you know.)
The only thing I clearly recollect was his terse responses that sounded like they were coming through gritted teeth, and an odd banging of pots and pans in the background. It sounded, literally, as if someone was throwing them around.
The Trib used to run a blog ticker on the front page in those days, and this one was part of it. That eventually disappeared, along with whatever clout political blogs ever had. That wasn't Smith's fault. Shit happens.
As my tweets infer, I won't miss the guy. He's not just the Texas version of Roger Ailes (minus 250 lbs. or so and the freak right bit) but also a confirmed duopolist. The establishment POV comes no more based. He's taken a lot of oil and gas money to raise his child, as everybody in Deep-in-the-Hearta thinks you must to get anywhere. Like so many other New Democrats, he'd probably be more comfortable voting Republican if they just hadn't lost their cotton-picking minds. It's been a tough year -- a rough couple of years -- for everybody, even the wealthy and well-connected apparently, and a two-year retirement plan is ... well, what you get to do when you own the shop. He's not fading away. He's got too many sycophants to just let go.
Just read all the fawning quote tweets. Rarely do you see such an assembly of sucking up.
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 12, 2022
Media elitism is real. https://t.co/mpC1mSic5Z
Let me move on and blog about more significant news; some of the developments regarding state policy that are affecting our lives.
In which @cltomlinson delivers a swift kick in the nuts to Texas' natural gas companies, the Railroad Commissioner, Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature https://t.co/4ErRJONxTR via @houstonchron #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) January 7, 2022
A panel of experts tasked with recommending fixes to Texas’ troubled foster care system denounced the state’s mental health services as “woefully inadequate” and urged Texas officials to get children out of unlicensed facilities #txlege #fostercare https://t.co/gecrJaQXvS
— Texas 2036 (@Texas2036) January 11, 2022
Texas GLO’s plan led by George P. Bush strongly discriminates against #Houston bc it uses formulas that disadvantage large urban areas & favor more rural places.
— Anna Núñez (@nunez_anna) January 13, 2022
That’s how GLO’s plan ended up including ZERO dollars in funding for Houston#TXlege #HUD https://t.co/s4glAFUk6a
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen said 42 of 80 applications for mail-in ballots received Monday violated one of the new rules. https://t.co/0tqwSlo1QX
— San Antonio Report (@SAReport) January 12, 2022
Texas redistricting court fight continues to widen - court today granted request by @RepEBJ, @JacksonLeeTX18, @RepAlGreen & @JasmineForUS to join case, which they requested "to protect their interests & that of all African-American voters in Texas" https://t.co/cuyFhXPmmC #txlege
— Alexa Ura (@alexazura) January 12, 2022
Can Texas build high speed rail? We are about to find out as the Texas Supreme Court takes up a key eminent domain case. #txlege #SCOTX #highspeedrail #transportation #bullettrain #rail #eminentdomain #propertyrights https://t.co/SweV6XXkeR
— John Gravois (@Grav1) January 12, 2022
More on that legal case, Miles v. Texas Central, here.
Here's a few jobs and workforce updates.
nObOdY wAnTz tO wOrK aNymOrE https://t.co/iyRhh1YjRi #GeneralStrike #GeneralStrikeRevolution
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) January 12, 2022
"We've got about 80% of restaurants across Texas reporting that they do not have enough staff to even maintain their current published hours," Emily Williams Knight, CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, tells @TexasStandard. https://t.co/euwvMz0JKZ
— KUT Austin (@KUT) January 12, 2022
And some media notes collected over the past few days.
New: Starting in March, the Austin American-Statesman will no longer publish a print edition of the Saturday paper.@Gannett is scaling back print production at 136 of its properties across the country in a similar fashion.https://t.co/eJN1eIBvS3
— Madlin Mekelburg (@madlinbmek) January 12, 2022
Ousted Texas oil regulator sues blogger over affair allegations https://t.co/Qq3Hi2yYJf #hounews
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) January 12, 2022
Here is my #10yearchallenge, book edition.
— Keri Blakinger (@keribla) January 12, 2022
Left: Me and my book in 2012, when I was a prisoner and it was a prison journal.
Right: Me and my book in 2022, when I am free and it is a real book.https://t.co/tW9JqQFMqr pic.twitter.com/rJmM5pebcV
Former @AP/@StarTelegram reporter Mike Cochran (1936-2022), gone today at 85, is believed to be the last survivor of the reporters who became Lee Harvey Oswald's pallbearers at @FortWorthPD request. Two remain unidentified https://t.co/WIPG3c0g2i pic.twitter.com/XqTWbVkKMD
— Bud Kennedy / #ReadLocal (@BudKennedy) January 12, 2022
And the calm-me-downs to close.
Three Women in Marshall, Texas, 1899
— Black Americans (@BLKAmericans_) January 10, 2022
Photographed by Gabrielle Munter pic.twitter.com/S7YSiGslXh
According to the US Patent Office, the beverage known as Dr. Pepper, which was born in Waco, was sold for the very first time 137 years ago today, on January 12, 1885. It is the oldest major soft-drink brand in the United States. pic.twitter.com/CCfz4og1HP
— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) January 12, 2022
A member of the "Triggerettes" at Houston's Colt Stadium, circa 1964. #Colt45s @astros pic.twitter.com/N4K7GH66Oc
— Vintage Jerseys & Hats (@PolyesterUnis) January 13, 2022
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