I'd like to have that conversation, but...

-- ...what's the point? As long as the RepubliTea Party of Texas keeps calling it a narcotic, it's just a parlor game to speculate on the future date when Texas will make some progress on marijuana decriminalization/legalization.

It turns out that the Houston Chronicle’s Baker Institute blog has put up a range of views on the idea of changing Texas’ marijuana laws. The Statesman has posted two pieces on the subject, one from the ACLU and one from an opponent. The opponent, who heads the Drug Free America Foundation, looked down her nose this way at pot vacationers who head to Colorado: “Colorado experienced an infestation of ‘drug tourism.’ ”

I don’t imagine people consider Napa Valley wine tourism an “infestation”. Napa Valley tourists will spend tons more more money and sport fewer tattoos. They may head to Napa to get a buzz, but it’s a refined, expensive buzz.

Until those people who want to see that progress happen start lining themselves up at polling places across Texas and vote to remove from office those who oppose it, that is.

Yes, it could happen in less than five months... or it could take as long as ten years.  Not even Colorado's swelling tax coffers and a corresponding reduction in crime will sway the religious fundies.  They're the ones who lifted Dan Patrick up and have placed him at the gates of heaven.

If weed is your issue, then you are going to have to vote them out.

-- ... that immigration conversation needs to happen among Republicans.  And apparently it is.

Delegate Maria Espinoza, who has compared the Texas Solution to the Nazi’s Final Solution, told the thousands gathered in the convention hall that granting any kind of legal status to those here illegally would be tantamount to negotiating with terrorists. Instead of laughter, her comparison was greeted with thunderous applause.

Go back and read that graf again.

When it was over, one hardliner proclaimed: “Boom, the Texas Solution is dead.”

“What kind of message is that for Hispanic voters?” said Norman Adams, a Houston insurance agent who was part of the team that got the Texas Solution inserted into the platform in the first place. “As far as I’m concerned we’ve moved the party back 10 years,” he said.

[...]

“While I have tremendous respect for the will of the people and the direction of our Party’s grass roots activists, I am saddened today by the substantive elimination of the Texas Solution from the Party’s platform,” Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, told Quorum Report.

[...]

A young Latina who did not wish to be identified because she has worked on various Republican campaigns in North Texas said she wasn’t giving up on the GOP, but the events that unfolded on Saturday were “breathtaking,” as she put it.

“I’m going to see if my friends want to help Leticia Van de Putte,” she said, referring to the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.

Now we're talking.  That is progress.

GOP plots revenge against Cruz

After his sweet two weeks of high exposure and straw-poll dominance in Fort Worth, it certainly is nice to see that not every conservative in the land is swallowing Poop Cruz's BS.

Ted Cruz has not made himself a popular man in Washington. The Texas Republican would argue that’s the point. But even for a Senator — an elected office with the backing of an entire state — ticking off powerful people can have consequences.

In his first two years in Washington, Cruz has managed to help force a government shutdown, undermine the GOP’s chances of taking over the Senate and force uncomfortable votes for his fellow Republicans — not to mention the verbal bombs he lobs on a regular basis, many aimed at his own party. His colleagues, aware of the threats they face from primary challengers, have mostly held their tongues and their fire so far. But Cruz has already done some damage without much trying. A week after his election to the Senate in 2012, Cruz was named vice chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which works to elect Republicans to the Senate. But he subsequently refused to endorse incumbent Senators, or help them in their races, a fact that many Tea Party insurgents have seized upon. He hasn’t set foot in the NRSC in more than a year, sources say.

“They tried to channel him to be somewhat productive. They tried that with NRSC,” says John Feehery, a former longtime GOP Hill aide. “Lyndon Johnson once said he’d rather have people inside the tent pissing out. But (Cruz) seems to be inside the tent pissing in. (my emphasis)”

That towel-pop from a high-ranking GOP consultant is so revealing.

Cruz hasn’t campaigned or raised money for GOP challengers, but he has forced a series of uncomfortable votes — the most prominent one being a debt-ceiling bill in February — that put imperiled incumbents on the spot. “After already forcing a strategic blunder on the conference, he stood up, looked his Republican colleagues in their eyes and said he wouldn’t work against them in the primaries.” says Kyle Downey, a former GOP Senate leadership aide. “Then he broke his word. Breaking your word, or lying, has consequences in the Senate, both seen and unseen. When it comes to the currency of relationships, he’s running up big debts.”

Not that Cruz needs much help. He remains enormously popular with a small but vocal part of the base. That has given him a powerful grassroots-fundraising platform. Even though he’s not up for re-election for another four years, Cruz has raised $1.8 million so far this cycle, $1.5 million of it coming from individual donations. He’ll need this kind of support and much more if he decides to run for President in 2016. By all accounts, Cruz’s push to shut down the government did not play well with business and corporate donors. “He’s the last person Wall Street would give money to,” says a big Republican donor. “They’re more interested in a Chris Christie or Jeb Bush. Even Rand Paul would be a preferable alternative to Cruz. How [Cruz] is going to run for President without big donors is beyond me.”

Ted will just 'trust the grassroots' to sign over their life savings, AND take out a reverse mortgage and donate it all to him.  He's a populist, you see.

At home in Texas, Cruz has little to worry about, given the Tea Party’s dominance of Texas primaries. He’s much more secure than fellow Senate Tea Party Caucus member Mike Lee, a Utah Republican Senator who’s up for re-election in 2016 and is likely to be facing a tough primary at home. That said, Texas is a state with changing demographics. “If he’s not careful the changing demographics in Texas is going to make it harder for him to get re-elected,” Feehery says.

Yeah, sooner or later the Latinos -- and women and young voters of all creeds and the 50%+ of Texans in general who would rather watch the Emmys or soccer or the NBA Finals or whatever else was on TV this weekend, and every weekend -- will show up at the polls and turn the tide from rabid red to some nice shade of purple.  Hope it happens in my lifetime.

While we wait, there'll be another TexTrib poll released any day now.  They were polling at the end of May (as a YouGov panelist, I was polled nine days ago), all statewide executive races and all four ballot-accessible parties (D, R, G, L) on the November slate.  Maybe those results will give everyone who's not drinking the tea-flavored Kool Aid a whiff of encouragement.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is glad that the Republican Party of Texas has made the choices clear for November, 2014  as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff wants to know who stands with Harris County Republican Party Chair Jared Woodfill as he whips up opposition to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Letters from Texas pens a moving obituary to Annie's List Executive Director Grace Garcia, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident last week.

Bay Area Houston highlights the Texas Tea Party platform concerning divorce.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos, upon returning from an overseas vacation, is not in the least surprised to learn the Texas GOP has gotten even crazier. Desperate times must call for desperate measures. Texas GOP: Welcome to the Funny Farm. The time for change is long overdue.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees Texas Republicans go full on hate for gays and Latinos. We see who you really are.

Appalled by the attacks on POW Bowe Bergdahl's father, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs barely noticed there was a Republican state convention going on. Has anyone asked Chris Busby about the "cure the gays" platform plank?

WCNews at Eye on Williamson demonstrates that with any tax discussion in Texas, as usual the main issue is not being discussed: Hegar And The "Cumbersome" Property Tax.

Neil at All People Have Value posted a history of the United States on his blog. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

Horwitz at Texpatriate is frightened by the new Texas GOP platform.

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

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

The Inanity of Sanity talks back to the Texas Tribune about their first installment of "TribTalk".

Socratic Gadfly asks: if Greg Abbott is such a big fan of public education, why is he so opposed to paying for it?

Grits for Breakfast responds to a Baker Institute op-ed on the timeline for marijuana legalization in Texas.

Fascist Dyke Motors has part one of a multi-post on her experience at City Hall as the Houston equal rights ordinance vote finally went down.

Texas Election Law Blog connects the woes of the Postal Service to the ever increasing barriers to voting in Texas.

Keep Austin Wonky wants to focus on transit productivity over political prizes.

Texas Vox analyzes the impact of the new EPA regulations on Texas.

Red Headed Wolf salutes the leaders that worked to get the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed.

Burkablog catches the Texas Public Policy Foundation quietly backing away from a shameless lie they made about the budget last year.

Offcite eulogizes Father Rivers Patout, founding chaplain of the Houston International Seafarer’s Center.

Beyond Bones concludes its retrospective on the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Sunday Funnies

Bergdahl's father appears to have been a lifelong Republican

As said before, there may not be a bigger disgrace to suffer by those conservatives that have called this man and his son every nasty name in the book.

In June 2010, Robert Bergdahl, the father of released American POW Bowe Bergdahl, gave a speech at an Idaho Republican Party fundraiser. In one of his first public appearances during his son's five-year captivity, he asked the conservative audience to show compassion for his son's captors—and, in a twist that foretold the plot of Homeland—he alleged that the United States had killed one of those captor's children with a drone strike.

In the past week, Bowe Bergdahl’s case has grown into a full-blown political firestorm. The 2010 speech was not televised, but it was one of the first sparks. It was Robert Bergdahl's first turn as either a tool or technician of national politics in his family's struggle.

The Idaho fundraiser was an election year event, and the day's other speakers—Idaho Senator Jim Risch, then-national-party-chairman Michael Steele, radio host Dennis Prager, and a belligerent stand-up comic named Eric Golub—took the usual shots at President Obama and rallied partisans to donate money to November's cause. (I covered the event as a reporter for AOL News.)

"There are many things that can hurt America," Senator Risch said. "Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, the Taliban—they can all hurt us. But they can't destroy us. This [Obama] Administration can destroy us."

I expect the criticisms of Bergdahl's father to quickly go mute.  You'll be able to measure the silencing of the fauxtrage by how soon (or late) they get the news.

"I grew up in a conservative family in Los Angeles," he said with a smile. "My father was for Goldwater. He wore a Nixon button in our liberal Jewish neighborhood. I was the lone U.C. Santa Barbara surfer who voted for Ronald Reagan." Many in the audience nodded in approval, and then Bergdahl talked about the work of retrieving his son.

Keep reading if you want a profound lesson in the nuances of war, supporting the troops, and all that.

The only thing I have left to wonder about is if this episode is enough humiliation for conservatives to simply STFU.  And the saddest part is that I doubt that it is.

A Triple Crown at last?

Heart says yes, head says no.  The guru, Steve Beyer, from DRF.com.

Over the past three decades, as the public has cheered for horses to win the Belmont Stakes and complete a sweep of the Triple Crown, some racing purists have been reluctant to lend their voices to the chorus.

Those of us who remember the last three colts to accomplish the feat – Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), and Affirmed (1978) – know that they were giants in the greatest era of Thoroughbred racing in America. It would have been almost sacrilegious to put the names of runners such as Charismatic, Real Quiet, War Emblem, and Funny Cide on a short list along with the sport’s immortals.

But as California Chrome tries to become the first horse since Affirmed to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont, the old worries about blemishing the list of Triple Crown winners hardly seem relevant. After 11 horses since 1979 have lost bids for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes, any horse who accomplishes the sweep will deserve praise and respect – and a place in history.

If this happens Saturday, it couldn’t happen at a better time. The sport has been beset with so many problems that it needs a positive story. What better story could there be than one with a rags-to-riches hero like the ill-bred California Chrome?

The colt has generated excitement, superlatives, and high expectations, and it is hard for many fans to assess his Triple Crown bid dispassionately. But handicappers should not be swayed by sentiment. They are supposed to look at horses and races with cold-eyed objectivity. And an objective analysis would conclude that California Chrome is not the standout that the public thinks he is.

He's not.  In fact this crop of three-year-olds may be the weakest in all of horse racing's long history in terms of speed.  Chrome has still been good enough to beat all comers, but today's finale is longer by a furlong than the Derby.  And in both Derby and Preakness, he was losing ground to a hard-charging second place finisher.  Ominous.

...California Chrome’s edge is almost certain to shrink – or disappear – at the longer distance of the Belmont. California Chrome was tiring at the end of the 1 1/4-mile Derby and was hard-pressed to maintain his margin over Ride On Curlin in the Preakness. It is hard to imagine that he will be as good at 1 1/2 miles.

The four principal challengers Saturday all appear better suited to the distance than the favorite.

Those four are Commanding Curve (who came out of nowhere and blew up everybody's exacta picks in the Derby), Ride on Curlin (third and closing in Kentucky, second and closing in Maryland), Wicked Strong, and Tonalist.

History suggests that California Chrome will face another disadvantage besides the Belmont’s distance. Not only is winning the Triple Crown difficult, but merely running in all three races is tough for modern-day horses. In the last 12 years, only a single horse has won the Belmont after competing in both the Derby and the Preakness. During that period, six horses ran in the Derby, skipped the Preakness, and won the Belmont. The extra rest is clearly an important edge.

Wicked Strong has that extra rest, plus solid credentials. He was considered California Chrome’s main rival in the Derby, but he couldn’t overcome the outside post in the field of 19. Hung wide at the first turn, he never got into striking position and found himself in heavy traffic throughout the stretch run. Even so, he lost by less than six lengths. The Belmont figures to be very different race.

My Belmont Stakes picks: 1. Wicked Strong. 2. Tonalist. 3. Commanding Curve.

I think that order of finish is as crazy as a Texas Republican convention delegate, but we'll see.

I would be happy to be wrong. But in view of the difficulty of the Belmont’s distance, the possibility that he won’t have another easy trip as he did in his prior races, and the relative freshness of his challengers, California Chrome has too many obstacles to overcome. If he does surmount them, the sport will rightly hail a worthy champion.

Truly.  I cannot discount the favorite, so he'll be in my exotic mix.  I'll throw on the three Beyer likes above, and try to work in General A-Rod, who'll be going off at a long price and will pop if he hits the board.

A day at the races is better than any day at the office, win or lose.