Sunday, March 04, 2018
Friday, March 02, 2018
Friday Semi-Automatic Excuses Toons
Lots -- lots -- more coming (but almost a gun-free zone) on Sunday.
Monday, February 26, 2018
The Weekly Wrangle
With early voting in high gear and coming down the home stretch, several bloggers in the Texas Progressive Alliance turned their attention to some of the strange goings-on in the Republican Party. Here's the round-up of news and blog posts from last week ...
A Texas SBOE candidate called the Parkland high school shooting a 'false flag' and the children survivors 'crisis actors'. Texas Freedom Network reveals the unhinged social media posts of District 11 Republican Cheryl Surber.
RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly sees Michael Quinn Sullivan's latest stunt -- mailing a postcard to voters that looked like a legal notice -- as something considerably worse than a dirty political trick.
It's not just Greg Abbott who's working hard (and spending hard) to defeat Rep. Sarah Davis in #HD134. Jessica Glenza at The Guardian writes about infamous anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield's full-court press to help ultraconservative lackey Susanna Dokupil win the Republican primary.
Grits for Breakfast asked two hard questions: what is the point of mainstream media endorsing GOP candidates? And why make excuses for Harris County judges who chose poorly when it came to deciding bail for poor people?
The Dallas Observer also blogged about how the Fifth Circuit's ruling on the Harris County cash bail system is going to affect Dallas County.
Off the Kuff puts the most recent Trump approval numbers for Texas into some context.
SocraticGadfly offers his take on the latest stupidity by former Dallas News columnist Rod Dreher.
In campaign finance reporting that won't bore you to tears, a conservative retiree named Michael Porter gave half a million bucks to something called #ProjectRedTX, and another named Patricia Walker contributed over $100,000 in small donations to Democrats — many $50 or less, in 1,400 transactions — through ActBlue. They were two of the top 27 megadonors in 2017 (23 were GOP), as reported by Open Secrets.
And the TSTA Blog calls out state senators who underfund public education, then deny having done so when it is pointed out to them.
In items more relevant to the blue side ...
Dos Centavos says let the people vote! This, after DC insider/outsiders creep into local races.
The hotly-contested #TX-07 primary exploded onto the national scene after the DCCC launched an unprecedented attack on Laura Moser, presumably because of their belief that she is 'too librul' to defeat the incumbent, Republican John Culberson. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posted that her Twitter supporters responded with corrections to the record and donations to her campaign.
Texas Leftist has a questionnaire from CD-7's Ivan Sanchez, who wound up on his picks for March 2018 Democrats. Transgriot and Ashton P. Woods also give their lists of endorsees.
The Lion Star reports on TX-16 Democrat Norma Chavez's financial problems.
The Lewisville ISD and the Office of the Attorney General of Texas exchanged letters that seemed to escalate the hostilities over the school district's encouraging teachers and supporters of public education to vote, and the OAGTX's threat of prosecution for "electioneering", a violation of Texas election law. The story is in the Texan Journal.
The Beaumont Enterprise reports that thousands of Southeast Texas voters did not confirm their addresses to register to vote this spring and hundreds more requested mail-in ballots. This is an unanticipated and lingering effect of Hurricane Harvey that could impact voter turnout in Jefferson, Orange, and Hardin counties.
And in developments beyond politics ...
More than a thousand Texas teenagers have been ordered to jail -- not juvenile detention, adult jail -- on charges that began with skipping class and escalated to unpaid court fines. The costs to their education are high. As Buzzfeed documents, some kids, like Serena Vela, never go back.
Andrew Reimers at TribTalk relates the background connection of oil and higher education in the Lone Star State, and concludes that the fossil fuel divestment movement, i.e. "keep it in the ground", may dictate that it's time for the Permanent University Fund to consider diversifying its portfolio.
Beyond Bones updates us on the Mexican freetail bat colony that has long resided under a Houston bridge over Buffalo Bayou. Their numbers were decimated by Harvey's flooding, but they perhaps are making a comeback (although with their previous behaviors altered).
And on a lighter note:
Rice University Magazine honors the "crazy uncle" of the MOB, John "Grungy" Gladu.
Neil at All People Have Value took note of a citizen-improved sign in a Houston neighborhood.
And to answer his question: Harry Hamid isn't superstitious, but is surrounded by too many people who are.
A Texas SBOE candidate called the Parkland high school shooting a 'false flag' and the children survivors 'crisis actors'. Texas Freedom Network reveals the unhinged social media posts of District 11 Republican Cheryl Surber.
RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly sees Michael Quinn Sullivan's latest stunt -- mailing a postcard to voters that looked like a legal notice -- as something considerably worse than a dirty political trick.
It's not just Greg Abbott who's working hard (and spending hard) to defeat Rep. Sarah Davis in #HD134. Jessica Glenza at The Guardian writes about infamous anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield's full-court press to help ultraconservative lackey Susanna Dokupil win the Republican primary.
Grits for Breakfast asked two hard questions: what is the point of mainstream media endorsing GOP candidates? And why make excuses for Harris County judges who chose poorly when it came to deciding bail for poor people?
The Dallas Observer also blogged about how the Fifth Circuit's ruling on the Harris County cash bail system is going to affect Dallas County.
Off the Kuff puts the most recent Trump approval numbers for Texas into some context.
SocraticGadfly offers his take on the latest stupidity by former Dallas News columnist Rod Dreher.
In campaign finance reporting that won't bore you to tears, a conservative retiree named Michael Porter gave half a million bucks to something called #ProjectRedTX, and another named Patricia Walker contributed over $100,000 in small donations to Democrats — many $50 or less, in 1,400 transactions — through ActBlue. They were two of the top 27 megadonors in 2017 (23 were GOP), as reported by Open Secrets.
And the TSTA Blog calls out state senators who underfund public education, then deny having done so when it is pointed out to them.
In items more relevant to the blue side ...
Dos Centavos says let the people vote! This, after DC insider/outsiders creep into local races.
The hotly-contested #TX-07 primary exploded onto the national scene after the DCCC launched an unprecedented attack on Laura Moser, presumably because of their belief that she is 'too librul' to defeat the incumbent, Republican John Culberson. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posted that her Twitter supporters responded with corrections to the record and donations to her campaign.
Texas Leftist has a questionnaire from CD-7's Ivan Sanchez, who wound up on his picks for March 2018 Democrats. Transgriot and Ashton P. Woods also give their lists of endorsees.
The Lion Star reports on TX-16 Democrat Norma Chavez's financial problems.
The Lewisville ISD and the Office of the Attorney General of Texas exchanged letters that seemed to escalate the hostilities over the school district's encouraging teachers and supporters of public education to vote, and the OAGTX's threat of prosecution for "electioneering", a violation of Texas election law. The story is in the Texan Journal.
The Beaumont Enterprise reports that thousands of Southeast Texas voters did not confirm their addresses to register to vote this spring and hundreds more requested mail-in ballots. This is an unanticipated and lingering effect of Hurricane Harvey that could impact voter turnout in Jefferson, Orange, and Hardin counties.
And in developments beyond politics ...
More than a thousand Texas teenagers have been ordered to jail -- not juvenile detention, adult jail -- on charges that began with skipping class and escalated to unpaid court fines. The costs to their education are high. As Buzzfeed documents, some kids, like Serena Vela, never go back.
Andrew Reimers at TribTalk relates the background connection of oil and higher education in the Lone Star State, and concludes that the fossil fuel divestment movement, i.e. "keep it in the ground", may dictate that it's time for the Permanent University Fund to consider diversifying its portfolio.
Beyond Bones updates us on the Mexican freetail bat colony that has long resided under a Houston bridge over Buffalo Bayou. Their numbers were decimated by Harvey's flooding, but they perhaps are making a comeback (although with their previous behaviors altered).
And on a lighter note:
Rice University Magazine honors the "crazy uncle" of the MOB, John "Grungy" Gladu.
Neil at All People Have Value took note of a citizen-improved sign in a Houston neighborhood.
And to answer his question: Harry Hamid isn't superstitious, but is surrounded by too many people who are.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Friday, February 23, 2018
Thanks, DCCC!
Your smearing of Laura Moser last evening may have just pushed her into the runoff.
For those still not operating in the Twitterverse, the #TX07 hashtag trended briefly nationwide as reactions to this (first, I believe) from the TexTrib's Abby Livingston:
Livingston's report posted shortly thereafter led with the details:
And it was on like Donkey Kong from there. Go read a sampling of top Tweets here. The geek fighting kept going for a few hours after dinnertime. Samples:
That's probably enough for you to get the gist. Scroll down in my own Tweetfeed, top right column, for some of my responses.
I have my doubts as to whether a lack of desire to live in Paris, TX can be extrapolated to the entire state, just for openers in rebutting the DCCC's projecting "outright disgust" onto Moser's reticence to live in one of her ancestors' homes. I'm just supposin' here, but maybe somebody at the DCCC doesn't really know that Paris is a kind of a long way from the Seventh. And if they think not wanting to live there is bad, then perhaps the good folks who are responsible for getting Blue Dogs elected to Congress might relocate -- just for a few months -- to Vidor, or Jasper, or one of East Texas' other garden spots.
This move was telegraphed earlier in the day in Tilove's 'First Reading' blog at the Statesman by none other than the keynote speaker for the Harris County Democratic Party's big fundraising dinner (just last week). It was quickly followed up by this account in The Intercept about Emily's List, endorser of union-busting law firm attorney Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, launching their own broadside against Moser. The reveal:
Moser is hosting actress and Democratic activist Alyssa Milano this weekend for what will now be a much larger and more engaged rally than it would have been just 24 hours ago.
So with Harris County turnout already surging and media attention to the CD-07 race going national, we're headed for a rip-roaring finish to the wildest Democratic Congressional primary I can recall.
I'll be onboard for the full ride.
For those still not operating in the Twitterverse, the #TX07 hashtag trended briefly nationwide as reactions to this (first, I believe) from the TexTrib's Abby Livingston:
The DCCC is going nuclear on a Democratic Congressional candidate in Texas. In three cycles of covering these races, I ain't seen anything like this. Story to come soon. https://t.co/UxXgn5nsT5 #TX07— Abby Livingston (@TexasTribAbby) February 22, 2018
Livingston's report posted shortly thereafter led with the details:
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted negative research on Moser, a Houston journalist vying among six other Democrats in the March 6 primary to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson. Democrats locally and nationally have worried that Moser is too liberal to carry a race that has emerged in recent months as one of the most competitive races in the country.
The DCCC posting, which features the kind of research that is often reserved for Republicans, notes that Moser only recently moved back to her hometown of Houston and that much of her campaign fundraising money has gone to her husband's political consulting firm. It also calls her a "Washington insider."
But DCCC spokeswoman Meredith Kelly went even further in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
"Voters in Houston have organized for over a year to hold Rep. Culberson accountable and win this Clinton district," Kelly said.
Then, referring to a 2014 Washingtonian magazine piece in which Moser wrote that she would rather have a tooth pulled without anesthesia than move to Paris, Texas, Kelly added:"Unfortunately, Laura Moser’s outright disgust for life in Texas disqualifies her as a general election candidate, and would rob voters of their opportunity to flip Texas’ 7th in November.”
And it was on like Donkey Kong from there. Go read a sampling of top Tweets here. The geek fighting kept going for a few hours after dinnertime. Samples:
The slime-buckets at the DCCC are on the warpath against progressive candidates everywhere in the country. You think I'm exaggerating? Look what they're doing to destroy Laura Moser in Houston's #TX07 right in the middle of early voting:— Howie Klein (@downwithtyranny) February 23, 2018
I’m confused why the @dccc likes me enough to call on a regular basis asking for money but doesn’t trust me enough to cast my #TX07 ballot, trust me, I’m looking for a Democratic progressive, and found one in @lcmoser, this move makes me think less of the dccc, back off.— Greg Fleischaker (@GregFleischaker) February 23, 2018
@DCCC, how is this okay? You have NO business telling people how to vote! I have no dog in this fight and don't care who the folks in #TX07 support, but you're wrong a lot so just let voters decide. In this article, you sound like tyrants, not Democrats. https://t.co/ihappAmazP— Victoria L. Nadel (@2dSentence) February 23, 2018
@dccc Your intrusion into the #TX07 is awful. What you are doing to Laura Moser and the people of that region of Texas is awful. I'm a lifelong Democratic voter and I am disgusted by this. I will not donate a penny to the DCCC and I will dissuade my friends from donating as well.— Miles Howard (@MilesPerHoward) February 23, 2018
"Her grandfather arrived in Houston in 1942 as a refugee from Nazi Germany" #TX07 😠 DCCC is OUT OF BOUNDS https://t.co/NKd4igimYI— The Third Summers Brother🍕 (@hugetinymistake) February 23, 2018
By openly trying to destroy a well-known candidate in their primary field in #TX07 , the @DCCC is saying very clearly to all of her supporters, “none of you are welcome in the Democratic Party.” 🙄 bravo.— patrick dillard (@pcdillard) February 23, 2018
.@dccc got caught red handed trying to destroy @lcmoser a progressive candidate for #TX07 Texas go early vote get rid the DCCC preferred candidates vote for Progressives instead. #BlueWave— 🐦Victor.C.Rocco🌹 (@V1ct0rCR0cc0) February 23, 2018
Keep your hands of off the #TX07 race, you centrist hacks. Telling Democratic voters which Democrat they should support in a primary is not democratic. #Truth— Mike M (@MicMej231997) February 23, 2018
@dccc needs to get out of the way. If they don’t like progressive then that’s their dam problem. The Revolution is here whether you like it or not... @lcmoser #MoserMob #TX07 https://t.co/FcPC2mcRpd— Bryan Madrigal (@b_mad_) February 23, 2018
That's probably enough for you to get the gist. Scroll down in my own Tweetfeed, top right column, for some of my responses.
I have my doubts as to whether a lack of desire to live in Paris, TX can be extrapolated to the entire state, just for openers in rebutting the DCCC's projecting "outright disgust" onto Moser's reticence to live in one of her ancestors' homes. I'm just supposin' here, but maybe somebody at the DCCC doesn't really know that Paris is a kind of a long way from the Seventh. And if they think not wanting to live there is bad, then perhaps the good folks who are responsible for getting Blue Dogs elected to Congress might relocate -- just for a few months -- to Vidor, or Jasper, or one of East Texas' other garden spots.
This move was telegraphed earlier in the day in Tilove's 'First Reading' blog at the Statesman by none other than the keynote speaker for the Harris County Democratic Party's big fundraising dinner (just last week). It was quickly followed up by this account in The Intercept about Emily's List, endorser of union-busting law firm attorney Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, launching their own broadside against Moser. The reveal:
“Alex T(riantaphyllis) has been open about being the chosen candidate of the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee],” said Daniel Cohen, president of Indivisible Houston, who is not endorsing any particular candidate. (The DCCC has not officially endorsed a candidate in the primary, though its support can come in less public ways.)
Moser is hosting actress and Democratic activist Alyssa Milano this weekend for what will now be a much larger and more engaged rally than it would have been just 24 hours ago.
So with Harris County turnout already surging and media attention to the CD-07 race going national, we're headed for a rip-roaring finish to the wildest Democratic Congressional primary I can recall.
I'll be onboard for the full ride.
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