DeLay is gearing up for 2006

but it's how he's doing it that's creating the interesting questions -- even from his supporters.

Charles, via Jesse, has the skinny. "Inside baseball" warning: it'll take a while to read and click through all of the links and comments, but I encourage you do so if you're interested in getting to the mindset not only of DeLay and his campaign staff but Republicans nationally (the RCCC) and locally (two local conservative bloggers, one of whom claims to be close to the ground in Sugar Land).

Especially revealing are the on-the-scene viewpoints of perennial DeLay opponent Michael Fjetland at his blog. No sour grapes on his part; just intriguing observations.

It's just too early to tell what this all means. But I'm certainly enjoying watching it.

Howard Dean wins the Moneyshot Quote of the Week

for this:

Dean's comment came as he recalled conditions at crowded Ohio polling stations last fall. He wondered who could expect voters to work all day and then stand in line for eight hours to vote. "Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives," he said, drawing some surprised "oohs" from his audience.

I only have one thing to add:

YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

Update: The People's Republic of Seabrook nails it, again.

Today's media doesn't get "Deep Throat"

After watching G. Gordon Liddy turn up on EVERY SINGLE TALK SHOW ON TELEVISION to provide his opinion of the revealing of "Deep Throat", W. Mark Felt, I am left to wonder if the MSM is even worth saving.

Watergate would have never happened if it hadn't been for thugs like Liddy. Yet we were forced to hear over and over again his sneering judgment of the man who helped save our democracy (just so Bush Incorporated could pillage it thirty years later). Go here to get to the "Daily Show" video where GOP moral titans Pat Buchanan and Bob Novak join Liddy in condemning DT for not keeping his mouth shut about the felonies committed by the Nixon administration.

My friend Prairie Weather has it exactly right:

Does anyone else believe that Mark Felt's "coming out" needs to be greeted in a way which encourages and gives additional attention, legitimacy and support, when necessary, to whistleblowers?

We were as scared about the possible demise of democracy in 1974 as we are in 2005. Are we prepared to honor government officials and reporters who speak truth to power?

Do we dare hope there are reporters out there right now who are putting together the information needed to restore our national self-respect?

How about that separation between church and sanity?!?

I just cross-posted at Hou Dems and Come and Take It! on the news that Rick Perry will sign some legislation in church this Sunday.

It's simply appalling that we now live in a theocracy and no one really seems too upset about it.

This is exactly the reason

why I couldn't finish the Da Vinci Code.

And also the reason why I never posted why I could not. Everybody who wrote something there is pretty much spot on.

Would-be Goobers and Senators will come together by July...or thereabouts

I've blogged about this before: what happens relative to all the high-profile Texas political tilts in 2006 depends on the proclivities of the Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, as Texas Monthly details in an article from the May issue titled "Kay Sera Sera" (behind registration and a password found only in the print edition).

Here's a sample:

... All those ambitious pols down in Texas are twiddling their thumbs while you make up your mind. Not that you owe them anything; most of the statewide officials—except Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who may run for governor herself—have already endorsed Rick Perry. It’s a toss-up who’s more craven: Perry for asking them this early or them for doing it. Now you’re holding up their game of musical chairs, especially in the case of David Dewhurst, the lieutenant governor. He wants to succeed Perry in 2010, but if you beat Perry, he’s stuck in his current job for eight more years. So he might opt to run for your Senate seat, leaving his job open and touching off another mad scramble. Congressman Henry Bonilla, of San Antonio, has already said he’ll run for the Senate if you don’t. Strayhorn and Attorney General Greg Abbott would look at the lite gov’s office Dewhurst would be vacating, and railroad commissioner Michael Williams and Texas Supreme Court justice Harriet O’Neill are said to be interested in the AG’s job. Yes, all eyes are on you right now.

And apparently she's going to make a decision shortly, though there's some risk in continuing to shilly-shally:

Your waiting until summer to announce your plans runs the risk that Strayhorn might throw her hat in the ring first. In a three-way race, the likelihood is that you and Perry would end up in a runoff, but then the danger would be that those November Republicans and crossover Democrats might not return for the runoff, while the party faithful will. Advantage Perry.

So there's some interesting bits in there, but there's also some bullshit:

Let’s talk numbers. The Republican primary is the only race that matters. No Democrat can win, and Kinky Friedman isn’t Jesse Ventura.

Even though Paul Burka is by his own admission writing this article in the voice of a Hutchison political consultant, that's wrong on both counts. The only scenario in which the Democrats have no chance is if John Sharp decides to run for anything (this is assuming that Tony Sanchez isn't so stupid as to waste more of his personal fortune; an admittedly tenuous assumption). Kinky Friedman is going to be able to gather something like 15% of the votes in a general election -- give or take 5% -- with most of that peeling away from the Republican candidate (the 'pubs have more votes to lose, after all). While that won't be an impact like Jesse "The Body", it will be Ross Perot-like electoral influence. And Chris Bell is the man who stands to capitalize on GOP fatigue statewide, as evidenced by the following, which Burka wrote right before he wrote that above:

... there are pockets of the state where Perry has angered Republican voters: places like Abilene, which lost its congressman in redistricting; the Dallas suburbs and Austin, where toll roads are unpopular; South Texas, which has not benefited from the largesse Perry has showered on companies to entice them to Texas; and the medical community generally, which didn’t like his health care cuts. You can make inroads into these constituencies, although you’ll have to “me too” the ideological stuff.

His critics see him as a do-nothing governor, but he’s really more of a do-the-wrong-things governor. The first priority of Texas governors has always been education; Perry imposed budget cuts on both public and higher education in 2003, notwithstanding that education was one of his original areas of emphasis (along with the border, which he has likewise given short shrift). Instead, he has thrown his efforts into the aforementioned economic development and toll roads. And yet the long-standing view in Texas, under Republican and Democratic governors alike, is that improving education is the best economic development program there is.

The Abilene congressman mentioned is Charlie Stenholm, who in my humble O would be the Democrats' best candidate for US Senator, considering that Ron Kirk will apparently not be running. But Stenholm evidences no particular interest in returning to Washington; his websites are currently blank and he allegedly turned down President Bush's offer of Agriculture Secretary following his defeat in November. Martin Frost, Max Sandlin, and Jim Turner, all of whom were likewise displaced by the GOP gerrymander, strike me as weaker candidates for statewide office (Frost managed to also look bad losing the contest for DNC chair). Those men would be better served running for down-ballot slots like attorney general or treasurer or railroad commissioner -- strengthening the bench and laying the groundwork for a top-ticket run in the future. The Democrats are in a lot more trouble trying to win back a Senate seat than they are in removing Tom DeLay's bitch from the statehouse, especially if they wind up with a candidate with scant name recognition and no previous experience having been elected to something.

Texas will continue to be a one-party state for only as long as Texas Democrats continue to concede it as such.

Whatever happens, put the popcorn in the microwave and stay tuned, because it's going to be entertaining.

I think we should send Tom DeLay a sympathy card

I'm a little late on this -- having spent the long weekend in a gloriously cool blue state -- but an anonymous comment in the previous post has graciously reminded me that there's bound to be a little good in everyone, even the slimiest, most corrupt politician ever to walk the halls of Congress.

We all are aware that Tom DeLay has been so unmercifully tormented by demons -- those within himself as well as those external to him -- that perhaps it really would be a nice idea to acknowledge the inordinate stress we sometimes place on our Dear Leaders to, you know, do the right thing.

Julia at Sisyphus Shrugged (with a hat tip to Kuff) has it all ready for you to sign and print.

Go.

About our gastronomic adventures (so far)

A quick jump on-and-off to talk a bit about what we're going to be consuming while we're in the great Northeast.

Last night we went to Bella's in Rockland and had a 1 1/2"center cut, bone-in, pork chop (sorry, vegan friends; you may start scrolling now) with vinegar-sauteed peppers, new potatoes mashed with rosemary, broccoli and toasted baguets.

Tonight we're proceeding to this establishment for some German food and ale. Tomorrow, a lobster roll from B&G Oyster Co.

For those of you 'Deadwood' fans, this next line falls under "having a digestive crisis and focusing on suppressing its expression": I noticed Tom DeLay couldn't stay out of the news. I'm sure he was just doing his part to contribute to the Republicans' worst week in a long, long, time.

Cheers!

(We'll be going there, too...)

Off to Beantown

Posting will be sporadic to non-existent through the holiday weekend as the lovely Mrs. Diddie and I take some vacation time in Bahstin.

Try to get by without me.

No nukes (for now)

And Bill Frist is toast.

GOP moderates in the Senate -- an admittedly endangered species -- yesterday emasculated their majority leader and refused to go along with the "nuclear option", which would have revised centuries-old rules of order to prevent "tyranny of the majority".

God, speaking through Dr. James Dobson, is allegedly unhappy:

"This Senate agreement represents a complete bailout and betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats..."

More of that can be found here.

Frist looked stricken to say the least. He stressed that he was not a party to the agreement and that he hoped it would end a "miserable chapter in the history of the Senate," but he also stated what he keeps calling the "constitutional option" was still on the table. He also said he "will monitor this agreement closely."

Harry Reid, in contrast, seemed pleased. He said he was willing to work with Bush on his agenda, "but he should have a little more humility."

For the record, the nominations of Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and Priscilla Owen will proceed to a floor vote. The rest get no guarantees. The fact that the Republicans needed only 50 votes (with Dick Cheney breaking the tie) in a caucus of 55 means they had six Senators --or more -- who passed on pushing the "nuk-ya-ler" button.

Frist's presidential aspirations (that's the only reason he was doing this, for 2006 and the evangelical bloc) exploded on the launchpad. And John McCain's got stronger. But that's kaffe klatsch for another day.

What the GOP really failed to get was carte blanche on the next Supreme Court nominee.

That wonderful smell isn't just your morning coffee; it's victory.

Savor it, and stay girded for the next battle.