Texas Greens release full 2014 candidate list

The statewide top-of-the-ballot was previously revealed; this latest list contains statewide judicials and downballot Congressional and local races.  A press release is forthcoming, but for now the spreadsheet has the names, offices, and contact data.  Some of the highlights...

-- As surmised, the Greens filed for three statewide judicial slots left unfilled by the Texas Democratic Party. Those are...

• Jim Chisholm of Houston, for Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Place 8.
• Judith Sanders-Castro of San Antonio, for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4.
• George Joseph Altgelt of Laredo, for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9.

In addition, Charles E. Waterbury of Dallas is running for Place 7 on the Texas Supreme Court.  Waterbury and Chisholm stood for office in 2012; I wrote about them both, and those SCOTX races, in this post.

-- The Congressional Greens include -- as I was tipped -- Remington Alessi, who is challenging Sheila Jackson Lee in CD-18.  (Jackson-Lee has also drawn a repeat Democratic  primary foe.  Update: He's not actually a Democrat, which you can verify if you click that link and listen to him being interviewed by Michael Berry.)  Mark Roberts will again run against Ted Poe in CD-2.  George Reiter, the co-chair of the Harris County Green Party and a UH professor (he also has a radio show on KPFT) will take on Congressman Al Green.  Don Cook, fresh off his bid for Houston mayor, submits his name in CD-13, where the incumbent Mac Thornberry has two Republican primary challengers, and then a Democrat and a Libertarian in the fall of 2014.  And kat swift of San Antonio, the GPTX's matriarch, filed against Lloyd Doggett in CD-35.  The Greens will also have a candidate in the race to replace Steve Stockman in CD-36; he is Hal J. Ridley Jr. of Bridge City.

-- Austin legislative candidates include, for District 10 of the Texas state Senate (the one being vacated by Wendy Davis), John Tunmire of Fort Worth.  David Courtney, the husband of the Green Party's lieutenant governor nominee, will run once more against Joan Huffman in SD-17.

State representative challengers are eight in number across the state and include Art Browning, again challenging Republican Allen Fletcher  in HD-130, and Morgan Bradford, the only opponent to Rep. Borris Miles in HD-146.

-- There are four Green candidates for County Judge across the state: David Collins in Harris (Ed Emmett, incumbent), Paul Pipkin in Bexar (Nelson Wolff, inc.); Jeff Questad in Travis (Samuel Biscoe, inc., retiring) and Frank Cortez in Webb (Danny Valdez, inc.).

There are also four Greens running for County Clerk: Earl Lyons in Bexar (Gerry Rickhoff, incumbent); Bill Stout in Travis (Dana DeBeauvoir, inc.); Matthew Hanson in Comal (Joy Streater, inc.); and Schyler Butler in Denton (Cynthia Mitchell, inc.).

-- Houston attorney Clint Davidson is a candidate for for Harris County Court of Criminal Law #13.  He has a blog titled "Trouble is My Business".

-- All of the 51 Texas Green Party candidates on the 2014 ballot can be found here.

What the Duck?

-- As far as Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty goes... well, God has spoken.

The Duck Dynasty guy who likened homosexuality to bestiality makes a living helping people trick ducks into thinking they want to fuck them.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) December 19, 2013

Robertson is a run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen Southern fried bigot and Bible thumper, but he also has a master's degree in education.  If you don't think he is manipulating the gulliblemics who watch his show in order to get more money from whichever broadcast outfit picks it up when they all quit A&E... then you might not have all the facts.

Republicans slobber all over themselves when these culture "wars" break out.  It's yet another opportunity to distract their base from the screwing they're being given by the likes of Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, and all the rest.  The best thing that can be said about this latest eruption is that there will be fewer Fox News "exposayz" on the "War on Christmas".

The best thing the rest of us can do is to stop responding with anything but ridicule to these obvious distractions.  If it's not handshakes, it's selfies.  Last week it was Megyn Kelly, this week it's Robertson.  There will be something and someone new next week too, because stubborn ignorance never takes a holiday.

Republicans won't have a chance of winning any contested elections next year unless they can sustain the Tea Party outrage for the next twelve months.  Let's stop letting the morons and bigots set the ground rules for 'discussion'.  And the best way to do that is to just laugh at them.

Really.

When some conservative brags about how strong Fox News' ratings are, remind them that a great deal of that audience is liberals tuning in for the comedic value.  When they post pictures of Obama bowing, remind them that it was W who kissed the Saudi leader, King Abdullah, on the mouth and held his hand.  (Sure, W is gay, everybody knows it except him, but the King isn't.  You can bank that.)

And when they scream that suspending Robertson is a violation of his First Amendment rights, just remind them that A&E -- and parent companies Hearst and Disney -- are not the federal government. Tell them to pull out their pocket copy of the US Constitution and read it, for God's sake.

And last, when they call Robertson a God-fearing Christian, show them this.