Corruption Chronicles: The Week That Was

Here's a boatload of good blogging going on in some of my favorite places:

Fred at Truth Serum points out the hypocrisy inherent in the local Republican blogosphere as they desperately fail to explain away Tom DeLay's slumping polls.

Anna at annatopia met Smoky Joe Barton's Gravy Train at the station today. It made the Traditional Media. A platoon of Texas progressive blogs piled on: BOR, Peoples' Republic of Seabrook, Kuff, Common Sense, Eye on Williamson County, In the Pink Texas, The Agonist, By the Bayou and Wyld Card all had something to say about it, as did Barton's Democratic opponent, David Harris, at his Dkos diary.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Charles Soechting called out Rick Perry for his blatant cronyism regarding the state contracts awarded two of Jack Abramoff's best buddies, which I posted about here and also at HouDems. You can contact Governor Adios MoFo at that last link and tell him yourself what you think.

Remember my post earlier about the Houston Democrats being disinvited from Monday's MLK Day Parade through downtown Houston? Well, here's the backstory.

OK, my mouse finger needs a break. There's a lot of candidate happenings this weekend, and I'll drop them in above this.

One less candidate on the ballot: Alvarado's check bounces

This is kind of sad:

A Fort Worth man, the only Hispanic person to declare for governor, was bounced from the ballot late Thursday after his check to the Texas Democratic Party for the $3,750 filing fee bounced.

The name of Felix Alvarado, a middle school administrator, will not appear on the March 7 party primary ballot, said Charles Soechting, the party's state chairman.

"The position I would have to take is, the filing fee wasn't paid," Soechting said. "It's sad. I hate to see that happen to anybody."

Thursday evening, Alvarado, 63, confirmed submitting his check for the filing fee without sufficient funds available.

"I take full responsibility for that. That's my mea culpa. I overplayed my hand," he said. "I'm disappointed."

In his campaign's contribution and expenditure report covering July through December, Alvarado reported no money in his treasury as of Dec. 31. The report shows that he's taken two campaign loans: $1,000 from a brother and $300 on a credit card.

The ramifications are that the eventual Democratic nominee for governor should be able to escape the primary on March 7 without a runoff, which will make it easier on Kinky Friedman and Carole Strayhorn to secure the 45,000-ish unduplicated signatures from non-primary voters needed to appear on November's ballot.

A four-handed free-for-all for eight months, spring to fall, will make for one hell of an interesting political season this year.