Chief Joseph Medicine Crow

A 95-year-old Crow Indian who went into battle wearing war paint under his World War II uniform has been awarded the nation's highest civilian honor.

Wearing a traditional headdress, Joe Medicine Crow on Wednesday received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. The award was clasped around his neck by President Barack Obama.

"Dr. Medicine Crow's life reflects not only the warrior spirit of the Crow people, but America's highest ideals," Obama said as he introduced him and called him "a good man" in the Crow language.

Medicine Crow broke tradition and briefly spoke after Obama gave him the medal, telling the president he was "highly honored" to receive it. ...

The president met Medicine Crow during a campaign stop last year when Obama, then a U.S. senator, was adopted as an honorary member of the Crow tribe.

In 1939, Medicine Crow became the first of his tribe to receive a master's degree, in anthropology. He is the oldest member of the Crow and the tribe's sole surviving war chief — an honor bestowed for a series of accomplishments during World War II, including hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier whose life Medicine Crow spared.

After the war, he became tribal historian for the Crow and lectured extensively on the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Medicine Crow's grandfather served as a scout for the doomed forces of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.

Sunday Funnies (Obamanation edition)

Rachel Maddow vs. Dick Armey (even Joe Scarborough thinks he's a scumbag)

On shortly here in H-Town will be a Press the Meat edition featuring Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and Dick Armey, former House majority leader and also formerly of the law firm DLA Piper. Maddow exposed the "grassroot" efforts of the conservative group FreedomWorks and their connections to DLA Piper, Armey's employer until a few days ago. But HuffPo has another side of the story ...

It was one of those ugly Washington stories that everybody knows about but almost nobody talks about. Joe Scarborough, to his credit, went on the record. In his 2004 Washington memoir, Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day, Scarborough provides a chilling portrait of the man who leads FreedomWorks, the organization now promoting brownshirt disruptions at town halls across America.

Before he headed Freedomworks, Dick Armey was House Majority Leader. According to Scarborough, Armey was bereft of common decency, a shameless liar who betrayed his colleagues. Armey worked hard to destroy the career of a young reporter. After that reporter's suicide, Armey helped spread rumors about a gay affair between the reporter and Bill Paxon, a congressman who angled to replace Armey as House Leader. Paxon immediately retired from politics, while Armey stayed on. It seemed a life-imitates-art reenactment of the 1959 potboiler, Advice and Consent.

If Scarborough was disgusted by Armey, his Republican colleagues seemed unfazed. They kept Armey in his leadership post until 2003. Character is destiny, and Scarborough's portrait of Armey may foreshadow the ugly tactics of the teabagging crowd that attempts to shout down the healthcare debate.

In the book, Scarborough outs himself as the confidential source for Sandy Hume's blockbuster article for The Hill, which recounted the behind-the-scenes drama of an aborted Republican coup. In July 1997, G.O.P House members, including Scarborough, were fed up with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who proved to be incompetent when it came to working with people or getting things done. The planned putsch by some twenty-odd renegade members failed because of a last-minute betrayal by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who turned on his colleagues after learning that Bill Paxon, not Armey, was designated to succeed Gingrich.

More on the suicide of Brit Hume's son, Sandy, the gay slur against he and Armey rival Bill Paxon which allegedly resulted in the self-inflicted death of the younger Hume, and the backstory of all this occurring during l'affaire Clinton-Lewinsky.

Meet the Press this morning might get really interesting, don't you think?

Update:

Rachel Maddow appeared on "Meet the Press" for the first time on Sunday, August 16th. On a panel with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the MSNBC host more than held her own.

When Armey said he took no responsibility "whatsoever" for the virulent protests against President Obama and compared it to MoveOn.org running an ad comparing President Bush to Hitler, Maddow pointed out that that never actually happened. Later she elaborated, pointing out that major conservative groups had speakers going around the country comparing Obama to Hitler, Pol Pot and Stalin and asking supporters to put the fear of God in their congresspeople. When Armey said that he denounced violence, Maddow pointed out that his organization, FreedomWorks, was in a coalition whose website was promoting the violent fight at a Tampa town hall as a good thing.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Weekly Wrangle

The Congress may be in recess, but the Texas Progressive Alliance is always in session. Here's the weekly roundup of blog highlights.

Off the Kuff takes a closer look at the crimefighting plan of Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker.

Citizen Sarah at Texas Vox dances with glee as new San Antonio nuclear group Energia Mia rains on CPS' nuclear parade.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson encourages everyone to get involved in lobbying their elected officials and engaging in the political process in You get out of it what you put into it.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme says John Cornyn is full of sh*t!

Neil at Texas Liberal is in Chicago. He has no notion of how to insert a link in an e-mail with the Wordpress iPhone application. Neil hopes you and yours are having a nice summer. Neil will be visiting the Indiana State Fair this week. He'll be the guy in a Houston Astros hat. (Note: link to Neil's site inserted by link roundup editor.)

The Texas Cloverleaf looks at why whitey in Denton County is scared of ACORN.

Over at McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze is having some issues with churches that closely resemble Vegas casinos.

Following his return from North Korea with two American journalists, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs came to the realization that Bill Clinton is The Most Interesting Man in the World.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw gives us chapter and verse on the "Obstructionist Politicians on the Take and Corporate Teabaggers who are attempting to sabotage health care reform. Well worth the read and viewing.....

WhosPlayin reports on an eventful week in North Texas: Drafted Congressional candidate Jennifer Giles attended a town hall meeting for Rep. Michael Burgess and asked a question that earned her some air time on CNN.

Sunday Funnies

Make your very own Kenyan birth certificate!

Look, here's Glen Beck's ...


Make your own.

Bill Clinton is The Most Interesting Man in the World.

He makes Chuck Norris cry simply by biting his lower lip.

His blood is carbonated. He has no 'off' switch.

He lives vicariously through himself. He had an awkward moment once ... just to see what it felt like.

He can speak French ... in Russian.

He doesn't always drink beer. But when he does ... it's Billy Beer.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

The Weekly Wrangle

Here we are in August, there has yet to be a named disturbance in the tropics (knock on wood) and it's time for another Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup.

TXsharon at BlueDaze needs your help to expose this dirty video.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme calls out KBH and the GOP for using racism and the NRA to get out the vote in 2010. Having a competent, experienced Latina judge? Not important.

Off the Kuff reminds us that Governor Perry's consistently wrong decisions regarding unemployment insurance will cost the state two billion dollars, maybe more.

McBlogger takes a look at a lawsuit against TRS and discovers losses, possible corruption and a nightmarish problem for the Republicans in 2010.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston says you better think before you trust a Republican with your family's health care.

Mean Rachel decides that Democratic gubernatorial candidate is still too Bush League for her tastes.

Our governor is living the life of the rich and famous. He does so on our dime and on the "dimes" of his fat cat contributors. Libby Shaw gives us the ugly details over at TexasKaos: Our Kept Governor to the Unemployed: Eat Cake.

Why did Ciro Rodriguez vote against the Waxman-Markey climate change bill and then suddenly flee the House? And why is he taking grip-and-grin meetings with David Dewhurst? PDiddie at Brains and Eggs would really like to know.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells why he believes that the smart money is on Rick Perry picking David Dewhurst to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison if she resigns before the end of the year.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted a video he made that will take only 39 seconds your life to watch. He also made a post marking the third anniversary of his blog. Texas Liberal has run 1500 page views a day so far this year and had racked-up over 725,000 views since it began. Thank you blog reading public!

WhosPlayin notes that the city of Lewisville is cancelling its Cinco de Mayo celebration for 2010 due to budgetary concerns.

Dembones at Eye On Williamson points out Congressman John Carter's latest nuttiness: Franking Commission draws the line on Rep. Carter.

Mike Thomas at Rhetoric & Rhythm reviews Debra Medina's campaign video and deems her the Sarah Palin of South Texas.

Teddy of Left of College Station was forced to evacuate his home in Bryan due to a warehouse fire that was burning toxic materials, but was able to return the next day. Before the evacuation Teddy was able to write about Michael Vick’s return to the NFL, and whether or not he deserves a second chance. LoCS also covers the local and progressive events in the Bryan-College Station area this month.

If nuclear power companies are already having trouble with their credit ratings, why are Texans rushing to throw them billions for plants that even the builders can't finance themselves? Good question, says Citizen Sarah at Texas Vox.

Sunday Funnies

What DID make Ciro run?

Fear? Shame? This guy needs to be broomed in a Democratic primary (again).

On the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives, the tension was palpable.

After weeks of intense negotiations over the climate-change bill, during which the energy lobbies had exerted tremendous pressure on individual representatives, who were also feeling the heat from their engaged constituents, the final vote on the Waxman-Markey bill occurred on Friday, June 26.

The Democratic leadership knew that the final vote would be very close, and knew they must have a victory, leading Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be a constant force on the floor, tallying votes, confirming commitments, twisting arms; President Obama was also on The Hill speaking to as many undecided or recalcitrant representatives as would meet with him.

A Democratic legislator the leadership did not think they needed to worry about was Ciro Rodriguez of the Texas 23rd District. When Speaker Pelosi had polled him prior to the vote, he indicated he would vote “yes” on the measure, supporting his party’s longstanding commitment to enact much-needed legislation to begin to combat the effects of global warming.

He did not tell her the truth. When the time came to vote, instead he opposed the legislation, and then hustled off the crowded floor. Bedlam erupted. After Rodriguez sprinted out of the chamber, frustrated floor managers shouted after him and dispatched a search party. Politico blogger Glenn Thrush captured the high drama:

At one point, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner bounced from a huddle of leadership members and began calling the rep's name, like a wayward toddler, as he scanned the Speaker's Lobby and the adjacent balcony. “[Rodriguez] cast his 'no' and then ran the hell out of there," said a member of the whipping team, still steaming after the vote. "We tried him at his office and they said he was gone."

Why did Rodriguez say one thing and do another? Why did the former social worker not own up to his negative opinion about the legislation as a host of other Democrats had done? And why, like a child caught in the act, did he bolt from the floor - thereby compounding his guilt?

At one time Ciro was one of the best progressives in the House. That was during his first stint in Congress, from '97 to '05, when he represented CD 28. After Tom DeLay's redistricting, Ciro was defeated in a Democratic primary by fellow Blue Dog (and Bush lapdog) Henry Cuellar by a whopping 58 votes.

It was a tremendous victory in a run-off over incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla in December, 2006 that sent Ciro back to Congress. Barbara Radnofsky hosted a fundraiser at her home here in Houston that was attended by David Van Os, Glen Maxey, and perhaps fifty others. One of the proudest Democratic moments of that year was watching two Texas Dems defeated by redistricting -- Nick Lampson was the other -- return to the House of Representatives.

In my humble O, Rodriguez has done almost nothing since to merit that renewal.

Let's hope a real Democrat challenges this Blue Dog turncoat in 2010.