Friday, April 24, 2020

Race for the White House Update: Governor Body says he isn't running as a Green *updates



Elaborating, Ventura stated the Green Party aligns with his views more than other parties and that it has “earned his vote.”  He expresses concerns about climate change.

Ventura, who was elected governor as a member of the Minnesota affiliate of the Reform Party in 1998 and encouraged Donald Trump’s 2000 run for the Reform Party presidential nomination, holds a general disdain for political parties overall ...

Voting for Ventura on any line would be -- personally -- a hard no.  Since primaries are well under way, Jesse has some ground to make up if he's being coy here (and I don't think he is).  File this under "non-sensical", along with stories you may have previously read about presumptive Green nominee Howie Hawkins handing the emerald standard to Bernie Sanders.  That's not his to give even if/when he accrues enough delegates; and whether the GP -- at their Detroit* meeting this summer -- would do so is doubtful, and Bernie is disinclined to accept it anyway.

Bernie Sanders is an establishment Democrat.  Pretty much always has been, no matter what anybody has ever said about him.  (Judge people by their actions and all that.)

*Update:


-- Libertarian front-runner Jacob Hornberger has trashed Congressman Justin Amash several times of late.  Amash, as reported in the last WH Update, may get in the scrum for the Lib nom.  And could likely win it.

The Kentucky Libertarian Party held a debate for presidential candidates Hornberger, Jim Gray, Jo Jorgensen, Mark Whitney*, and Adam Kokesh this week, and the whole thing is here.

Update*:

Comedian Mark Whitney withdrew yesterday from the 2020 Libertarian Party presidential race, via Facebook, and endorsed the ticket of Judge Jim Gray for president and Larry Sharpe for vice president.  This comes after Whitney finished in fifth place in a straw poll after Wednesday’s Libertarian presidential debate in Kentucky.

This is the second time Whitney, a convicted felon and podcaster, has suspended his campaign.  He withdrew briefly in January after claiming to have received death threats following a Libertarian presidential debate.  According to IPR commenter Jim, Whitney “made an ass of himself” during the debate.

In addition, Whitney says he will start an exploratory committee to prepare for a run for U.S. Senate in California in 2022.

Whitney’s withdrawal leaves Gray, Future of Freedom Foundation president Jacob Hornberger, 1996 vice presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen, antiwar activist Adam Kokesh, former Libertarian National Committee vice chair Arvin Vohra, performance artist Vermin Supreme, software engineer Dan Behrman, former Coast Guard officer Ken Armstrong, and former Grady County (Georgia) NAACP president John Monds as the remaining candidates. Independent Congressman Justin Amash is reportedly close to announcing a run.

A quick word about my interest in the Libs: I've applied for a media credential to their convention.  I find them endlessly entertaining.  They need some encouragement as an opposition party to the Republicans, and an easier path to defeating people like Trump, Cornyn, Mitch McConnell, etc., is to enable -- in whatever fashion you choose -- the Libertarians to peel away disenchanted conservative votes.  To that end, you'll read some here about their eventual nominee as well as people like Brad Barron in KY and Texas Lib Senate candidates Wes Benedict and Kerry McKinnon.

Remember that the Libs are convening in Austin in less than a month, and given the recent protests among the Spit Cloud Caucus of the GOP, probably won't show great concern for doing so in person.  Although they're taking it day by day.

-- So the last time I did an Electoral College map was when it looked like Bernie Sanders was going to run away with the Dem nom.  My, how things change.  Let's get a little goofy with this one.


Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com

I put New York into the "Tossup" category.  Between Sanders leading the last poll taken in February, the chance that the state commission removes him from the ballot on Monday, that Cuomo and de Blasio have been at loggerheads over the coronavirus response, that only people outside of New York who watch MSNBC think the governor is doing a good job, and that there are a lot of sick and dead people in the Big Apple, the base of Democratic support in the Empire State ... maybe there's a chance Howie Hawkins, who's been on the NY ballot a few times in recent years, breaks through and denies Biden the electors.

If he doesn't, then Joementia is still one EC vote short, and needs to win PA (or FL or NC or urban NE) to be the 46th POTUS.  After all, it's possible that the pandemic keeps the Greens and the Libs from qualifying for the ballot in some important states.

Update: Trump and Biden are deadlocked in six key 2020 election states, CNBC/Change Research poll finds (the states are Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.)

-- Tara Reade's allegations are finally beginning to see daylight in the corporate media.


This case represents the worst double standard by Democratic activists and their media sycophants that I can ever recall witnessing.

Update:

Well, that escalated quickly.



-- Is it possible that Donald Trump can tell his voters to drink bleach, gather together at rallies, and do everything that doctors and scientists say don't do at this time, and still have enough support -- living or otherwise -- to be re-elected in November?

Apparently so.  Thanks Obama!

Update: New shooter coming out.

Kingwood resident Jade Simmons has carved out a career as a pianist -- with performances at Chicago’s Symphony Hall, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the White House -- and a motivational speaker for companies, such as Royal Bank of Canada, Pfizer and Nationwide.

But now she has her sights on an even loftier goal: Simmons kicked off a campaign to run for president on Feb. 28. She will run as an independent, a theme that is central to her campaign.

-- And the very centrist Alliance Party held its national convention online on April 25 and nominated Rocky de la Fuente.  The party is ballot-qualified in two states and a third is pending.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

TexProgBlog Wrangle, Tuesday Edition

With many updates and developments since yesterday.

The Fifth Circuit blocking women's right to choose was not shocking.


The future price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil falling to a negative value was.


After the story broke that Houston and Harris County officials pooh-poohed concerns about the coronavirus in February, allowing RodeoHouston to go on ...


... both County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Mayor Sylvester Turner announced their czars for restarting the local economy.  State Representative Armando Walle was selected by the judge:


While the mayor picked ... wait for it ...


Turner and Hidalgo are under tremendous pressure to reopen Houston for business.


And the Texas Railroad Commission -- the state's oil and gas regulatory body -- is scheduled to convene again after yesterday's steep drop in the commodity's future price contracts.


Lots of Texans still need lots of help as the COVID-19 fallout ripples outward.




There are some very easy steps that could be taken, but we're not waiting solely on Texas Republicans to lead ...



Lone Star Blue Dogs are sitting around at home with little to do and not doing it as well.


With accurate stats still lacking, we know that minority communities are being impacted greatly, mostly due to poverty.  San Antonio is working to increase awareness.


But Governor Abbott still doesn't get it.


There's always time for another conspiracy theory, though.


A number of anniversaries this week:




The Austin Police Department still has tremendous issues, but some of the local reporting has been a whitewash.


And this Wrangle can wrap up with some softer news.

Pam LeBlanc at Texas Monthly has some great ideas about getting your social distancing on outdoors.  Darian Mendez at the San Antonio Current links to The Alamo's livestreaming event this afternoon, marking San Jacinto Day.  Bob Ruggerio for the Houston Press reviews a book detailing the long-awaited justice for the US Army's First Battalion, 25th Infantry, aka the Black Battalion stationed at Brownsville in 1906.


And Major League Baseball is discussing a plan to start their season where teams would be stationed in one of three hubs, with Texas being one.

On Monday, multiple league sources informed CBS Sports about a different idea that has been discussed in recent days. In this arrangement, the league would have teams stationed in one of three hubs: Florida, Arizona or Texas. The clubs would then make use of the local major- and minor-league (or spring training) facilities.

One source even expressed guarded optimism about the idea's chances of coming to fruition.

Ballparks in St. Petersburg (Florida), Phoenix (Arizona), and Arlington (Texas) each have roofs, retractable or otherwise, that would safeguard against rainouts and other extreme weather, allowing for multiple games to be hosted at those sites per day. Theoretically, MLB could also ask teams stationed in Florida and Texas to drive three-plus hours to other MLB parks (Houston's Minute Maid Park and Miami's Marlins Park).

It's unclear if MLB would assign 10 teams to each metropolitan area, or if it would opt for an unbalanced approach that would see 12 teams in one area and eight in another.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has tweeted about his attempts to get professional sports back in the state amid the pandemic, including NASCAR.
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