(Corrupt) business as usual

Yesterday Rep. Mike Conaway, of the 11th Congressional district of Texas, hosted a fundraiser for Tom DeLay at the Petroleum Club in Midland, Texas.

I don't have any report on how it went, but I do know a little about the Petroleum Club, as I went there a few times when I lived in Midland and in Beaumont as well. As you might imagine, it's the dining room for the captains of industry, and not just oil barons but cattle barons too, and also bank presidents and newspaper publishers and corporate executives and independent businessmen. Emphasis on 'men'. Extra emphasis on 'white'. The waiters in both cities where I attended functions were all black, but that was it. Don't know if any of that has changed; this was in the mid-'80's to early '90's.

The Houston Business Journal describes the Petroleum Club as one of the "most prestigious and influential organizations," with "a roster of members who are on the forefront of the Texas and global oil and gas industry." (A history on the club's website says the original conception was for "an exclusive, handsome club of and for men of the oil industry.")

"This is a very secure, comfortable place where our members can do their business without having anyone in their business," said Anna Schmidt, the Houston club's director of membership development.

DeLay certainly feels comfortable there. In fact, according to the Washington Post, it was at the Petroleum Club that DeLay received the corporate contributions at the center of his (alleged) money-laundering scheme:

Some corporations were careful to specify that their contributions were solely meant to defray legally permissible administrative expenses. TRMPAC solicitations being investigated did not mention the restrictions. For example, DeLay was the featured “special guest” at a fundraising luncheon for TRMPAC at the Houston Petroleum Club, where donors were asked to contribute $15,000 to be considered a co-chair and $25,000 to be listed as an underwriter.

“Corporate checks are acceptable,” the invitation stated, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

That event took place on August 19, 2002. A few weeks later, TRMPAC official John Colyandro wrote this check, (allegedly) funneling corporate cash to the Republican National Committee, which is now at the heart of the indictment against DeLay.

Is there anyone who would like to hold accountable the Republicans who represent them in the US Congress for this in-your-face corruption?

Karl Rove before the grand jury this morning

Do you think he's still keeping this promise to the President?

A couple of memories of New Orleans

Borrowed and brought over:

Cafe au lait and Beignets at two in the morning; a great way to top off an evening in the French Quarter. Powdery sugar all over your face while the pigeons peck for scraps on Decatur Street; chicory-laced coffee piping hot slurped down while viewing an other worldy scene of Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral. Another day of trolling the Big Easy just hours away.

Goodnight my friends; I will never let you forget New Orleans.

And in response to that, this was written:

I hate cafe au lait.

My memories of New Orleans aren't so typical. I remember standing in line with my first girlfriend to see the King Tut exhibit at City Park. I remember being terrified of watching my grandfather placed in his tomb, and wandering around the graveyard instead. My sister and I found a section of the graveyard that was being repaired, and there were a couple of tombs broken open, and some bones scattered around.

A cousin of mine had a neighbor that had a black bear as a pet. Somewhere there was an old corner store with a wooden floor that echoed like a warehouse where my parents took us to eat po-boys. I remember my Aunt Valerie's house, and circling the block because her old house smelled of cigarettes too much for me to bear.

I remember my great-great aunts Maddie and Evelyn, and their old shotgun duplex, and the little brick courtyard that was always dank and in shadows. I remember when Evelyn died, and my father searched their house and found a sock full of Kennedy silver dollars on top of a newspaper from the Sunday after Kennedy was shot. I still have that newspaper, I think. There is an article about Oswald, and it gives his address on Magazine Street, about two blocks from where my mother grew up. That surprised my mother. The article ended with a sentence that Oswald was going to be moved from the Dallas courthouse that morning.

I remember my father's shock when he found a picture of Aunt Maddie with an old boyfriend who was black. We all thought it was cool, but my father was surprised. Aunt Maddie always looked more Creole than Cajun anyway.

I remember riding to New Orleans on Highway 90 as a little kid, lying on the back dash of the car and watching the city lights flick by over my head. I remember when the I-10 bridge from Slidell was built, and I was so scared to cross it that I hid on the floorboard and prayed that the bridge wouldn't collapse.

I remember meeting a cousin at a funeral parlor and never seeing her again. Weddings, funerals, suburban streets, canals, antebellum mansions under oak trees, memorials to the War of 1812, soccer fields along the levy, the river roads out of the city...

There is so much more to New Orleans than the French Quarter, and there is no way it won't all come back. Too many people have too many memories.

I'll drink to all that.

Christmas in October this year?

From of all sources, the Wall Street Journal (page 3A today, and temporarily free online):

Mr. Fitzgerald's pursuit now suggests he might be investigating not a narrow case on the leaking of the agent's name, but perhaps a broader conspiracy.

* * *
Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the White House Iraq Group. Formed in August 2002, the group, which included Messrs. Rove and Libby, worked on setting strategy for selling the war in Iraq to the public in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion. The group likely would have played a significant role in responding to Mr. Wilson's claims.

Given that the grand jury is set to expire on Oct. 28, it is possible charges in this case could come as early as next week. Former federal prosecutors say it is traditional not to wait for the last minute and run the risk of not having enough jurors to reach a quorum. There are 23 members of a grand jury, and 16 are needed for a quorum before any indictments could be voted on. This grand jury has traditionally met on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Dear Santa:

For Christmas, could I please have a Johnny Jump-o-Leen and some Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and a Red Ryder BB Gun and Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in handcuffs and leg irons, with Dick Cheney (at least) as unindicted co-conspirator?

Please?

Your friend, PDiddie

Hurry up and RIP, Tom...

Go here for a clearer image.

DeGuerin subpoenas Earle

Yeah, right.

Kuff, Josh Marshall, and Talk Left elaborate. ITPT gives good snark.

This will be a non-starter, but as Kuffner quotes from the subscription-only Roll Call piece:

"Everything will be in play," said one high-ranking House Republican (cockroach, from safely behind the baseboard). "We will throw everything we can at Ronnie Earle."

You know what this reminds me of?

Sometimes even when you spray, and stomp, and stomp again, that nasty little bastard's antenna keeps twitching.

But he will die soon enough (as the cartoon above demonstrates).

Kevin Brady's having a really bad week

The Republican Congressman representing many of the eastern Texas counties devastated by Hurricane Rita is in a world of hurt lately. Let's summarize his woes; first from the Houston Chronicle (all emphasis mine):

Rural East Texans cried and vented frustration today over the lack of relief aid they've received and their belief that federal and Red Cross aid is being unfairly concentrated on urban areas where the suffering is not as great.

Dozens of residents gathered under tight security at First Baptist Church in Deweyville, which sits on the Texas-Louisiana border, to talk with Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives. Many said their homes are uninhabitable and the only power they have comes from generators.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who wore a bulletproof vest under his dress shirt, attended meetings in Jasper, Newton, Deweyville and Buna today with plans to visit Orange, Vidor, Kountze and Woodville on Tuesday.

Brady spokeswoman Sarah Stephens said she couldn't offer specifics about the extra security, but said, "It's certainly not a fashion accessory and something we don't normally do when we're in the district."

As Brady stepped up to the church altar, four Texas Department of Public Safety troopers lined up in front of the lectern, separating the congressman and other federal officials from the rural residents who say their needs have been neglected.

East Texas is where I grew up, and where my parents still call home. In fact, my 79-year-old mother just made it back to her home in Orange County last Friday after evacuating ahead of the hurricane; she still doesn't have electricity after two weeks.

But back to Brady. He was jailed just last Friday night when he returned for his university's homecoming festivities:

U.S. Rep Kevin Brady was arrested and charged with driving under the influence while in South Dakota, according to a published report.

The Texas Republican was pulled over by a state trooper Friday night for a problem with the tail lights of his vehicle, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Authorities were waiting for results of a blood test to determine Brady's blood-alcohol level at the time of the arrest. The legal limit in South Dakota is 0.08. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Brady faces up to $1,000 fine and a year in jail, Clay County Sheriff Andy Howe said. Brady was in East Texas on Monday and could not be reached for comment, spokeswoman Sarah Stephens told the newspaper.

Poor Ms. Stephens is really having to earn her salary, isn't she? At least she didn't have to front for the Congressman regarding the dirty DeLay money he refuses to return:

While U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, did not receive money from TRMPAC, he did receive $10,000 from ARMPAC in 2003.

"I'm certainly not going to return it," Brady said Thursday. "Tom DeLay has been fighting for everything important: less taxes, stronger national security and to protect our families. He has helped us restore sales tax deductions to Texans, and he played a key role in getting federal road dollars."

You really think highly of Mr. DeLay, don't you sir?

"As for me, the Tom DeLay I know is principled and respects the law. I just don't believe he would break the law, and this (the matter of his indictments) is going to give us a chance to see all the facts."

I expect that the good people of Southeast Texas are about ready for a new Congressman. And there's lots of good Democrats over there who should delight in taking on this challenge.

Expect to see announcements about this race here frequently in the coming election season.

A smattering of local events (and some scuttlebutt)

There's a slew of activities going on in Houston this week in opposition to Prop. 2, the amendment to the Texas Constitution defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, set for the November 8 ballot. Note in particular the debates, one probably concluding at the University of Houston as I post this.

(It seems to me that the GLBT community locally has not yet mobilized for a strong GOTV to defeat this proposition. I hope I'm wrong.)

Houston City Council candidates are rushing to the finish line with thirty days to go until the municipal elections. Jay Aiyer and Sue Lovell make a joint appearance tomorrow at the Harris County Democratic Party's brown bag luncheon; Peter Brown is Celebrating the Arts downtown, John Parras and Mayor pro-tem Carol Alvarado are holding fundraising soirees this week.

The calendar is full for the state house candidates as well -- Rep. Alma Allen, Ana Hernandez, and Borris Miles all have meet-and-greets going on this week.

Barbara Radnofsky speaks at the IH-10 Democrats meeting in Baytown on Wednesday the 12th, and next Monday U.S. Rep. Gene Green has his birthday party/BBQ and David Van Os appears at an open house in his honor at The Woodlands.

The Chicano-Latino Leadership and Unity Conference is this Saturday.

Greg's got a wrap with more local political goings-on...

And there's lots of rumors swirling around about candidates seeking to challenge HCDP chair Gerry Birnberg, but if he chooses not to run for re-election, then my money and support will go to John Cobarruvias, whom I am fortunate to count among my friends.

Bring on the Redbirds!

Another truly bad week for Republicans

Deputy Attorney General nominee Timothy Flanagan's name is withdrawn after his connections to Jack Abramoff are revealed.

The anti-torture bill is passed by the Senate 90-9 (Texas' John Cornyn is one of the nine voting in favor of torture). The president, stubborn as ever, will veto it anyway.

Hurricane-relief contracts awarded with little or no competitive bidding will be done over.

Bush finally gives up on Social Security reform and additional tax cuts. For the time being.

Tom DeLay fielded a second indictment, and Karl Rove is about to catch his first.

Did I forget to mention that the GOP is tearing itself in two over the nomination of Harriet Miers? Or that two polls now show Bush's support has eroded into the 30's?

It's hard to believe that things could get worse for the ruling party in the days and weeks to come. But they could, if gas prices don't recede, if more of our soldiers continue to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, if someone in addition to Rove gets indicted, if we suffer another terror event ...

There's about a year for the Republicans to regain their footing, along with some semblance of credibility with the electorate, of course. Several people who know more about this sort of thing than me sense a shift in the political landscape of historic proportions.

I come down on the side of history (and my confidence in that outcome will naturally depend on the minority party's candidates doing their part in the next twelve months to present a viable alternative).

Miers gets borked

... and by none other than Bork himself.

A wonderful headline, written by my friend Prairie Weather (whose weather turned a bit more even than ours here in H-Town) and containing the excerpt from ABCNews.com:

Among conservatives, William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue called for Bush to withdraw the Miers nomination. Former federal judge Robert Bork whose nomination to the Supreme Court the Senate rejected in 1987 described the choice of Miers as "a disaster on every level."

"It's a little late to develop a constitutional philosophy or begin to work it out when you're on the court already," Bork said on "The Situation" on MSNBC. "It's kind of a slap in the face to the conservatives who've been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years."

Assembling to talk about preventing the next cluster

That's the traffic jam I was in a couple of weeks ago -- I-45 northbound, from Houston to Dallas. Apparently there's going to be task forces and committees and meetings to talk about improving the process of evacuating millions of people the next time it becomes necessary to do so.

I certainly hope they get something accomplished.

Update (10/11): Charles Kuffner and Stace Medellin follow up with good thoughts on the subject.