Saturday, September 12, 2020

Week-ending Lone Star Lefty Wrangle

The most distressing news of the week:

Luby’s, the beloved Texas cafeteria that had spent years trying to rebuild its niche in a crowded marketplace for fast-casual dining, announced in June that the company was up for sale. Then, today, the 73-year-old company announced that -- as no buyer has yet been found -- Luby’s will be liquidating its assets and dissolving.

Raise a farewell iced-tea toast to fried fish on a LuAnn Platter, with fried okra and mac and cheese on the side, jalapeno cornbread, and a slice of chocolate creme pie.

In election news being battled in the courts:


Bradblog helps explain.

The voting news out of Texas this week is only slightly better. First, the good news: A federal judge there has ordered state election officials to notify voters within one day after a "perceived signature mismatch" is determined on absentee ballots, and to allow voters a "meaningful opportunity" to correct the issue. Previously, after officials who are not handwriting experts decided a signature was not a match to the voter's registration application (often years old), the ballot was simply rejected without notifying voters until 10 days after the election. In other voting news from the Lone Star State, a state judge has determined that the Clerk in Harris County is in fact allowed to send out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in the nation's 4th largest city (and surrounding suburbs). The state's Republican attorney general had sued to block the effort. I suspect he'll appeal, but we'll see.

But the war on voting in Texas doesn't stop with those two victories for democracy, unfortunately. The mayor of Houston wants to know why more than a dozen local U.S. post offices have refused to allow volunteers from the non-partisan League of Women Voters to make multilingual voter registration materials available at those facilities.


TXElects has more on the Fifth Circuit's order and state district Judge R.K. Sandill's ruling also.  And here's more from The Hill:

Texas was of particular concern to the (Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis), with the state one of the six that has refused to expand mail-in voting to allow coronavirus concerns to count as a reason to vote absentee. The panel noted that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had taken steps to sue counties trying to circumvent this. 

In addition, the subcommittee revealed that, according to documents obtained by the panel, previous poll workers in 127 out of 254 Texas counties do not plan to work elections this year, and that election officials have concerns around ensuring the safety of polling places and the ability to prevent long lines. 

“In effect, the state is forcing most voters to show up in person if they want to exercise their right to vote, which could lead to longer lines and more crowded polling sites on Election Day,” the subcommittee wrote.



With less litigious election developments ...


In the Valley today -- and the two Saturdays after -- Senator Lucio is helping a get-out-the-census drive with free barbecue.


The never-ending skirmish between the state Board of Education's right-wing freaks and the actvists who desire a sane, sensible public education for their children was renewed this week.


Sanity was defeated.


Sanity -- and sensibility -- are primed for another defeat in next year's legislative session.


Our two Senators tried to outdo each other this week. Both lost.


Why Mayor Turner tried to out-jackass Cruz and Cornyn is ... inexplicable.


He's not this stupid, so he must be a jerk. Maybe he's been conferencing with Dallas mayor Eric Johnson, with whom he served in the Lege.

That, I suppose, brings me to "Cops Behaving Less Badly Than Usual".


"Less badly than usual" is relative, especially if you have been reading Grits for Breakfast regularly.


Here's a variety of unrelated social justice Tweets.


And I'll finish with the human interest stories.

The Rio Grande Guardian marks Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15) with a well-deserved salute to the early Tejas history. The San Antonio Report has Episode 22 of 'Cabeza de Vaca: Crossing the Divide'. And Jesse Sendejas Jr. of the Houston Press wrote a fitting tribute to the legendary Heights music venue, Rockefeller's.
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Friday, September 11, 2020

White House Update: Widespread Non-Panic


In (a tape-recorded) interview with (author Bob) Woodward on March 19, the president conceded that he was downplaying the threat of the virus in public. 

 "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic," Trump told Woodward.

"Do you think there is systematic or institutional racism in this country?" Woodward is heard on tape asking the president.
  
"Well, I think there is everywhere," Mr. Trump responded, "I think probably less here than most places, or less here than many places."
  
"Okay, but is it here, in a way that it has an impact on people's lives?" Woodward asked.
  
"I think it is and it's unfortunate," Mr. Trump said. "But I think it is."
  
Woodward then asked Mr. Trump if a privileged life left him out of touch. 
  
"...And do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave, to a certain extent, as it put me – and I think lots of White, privileged people – in a cave and that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly, Black people feel in this country? Do you see?" Woodward asked. 
  
"No," the president said. "You, you really drank the Kool-Aid, didn't you? Just listen to you, wow. No, I don't feel that at all."

(Investigative journalist David) Sirota charged (as we long have) that Trump's actions constitute "a horrific crime against humanity," but he adds, "it was aided and abetted by the popular face of investigative journalism: Mr. All The President's Men himself."

"The President of the United States said something to the nation's most famous reporter, and the most famous reporter sat on that information for seven months while tens of thousands of people died," Sirota says today. "Donald Trump committed a crime against humanity and Bob Woodward drove the getaway car."



So why did Woodward sit on these lies of Trump's for seven months? Al Tompkins at the Poynter Institute explains that Woodward has done this before.

Woodward’s long practice of mixing his association with The Washington Post while writing books has arisen as a point of friction before. In 2005, Woodward apologized to Post editors for withholding for two years information that a senior official with the George W. Bush administration told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame.

[...]

“There is no ethical or moral defense of Woodward’s decision to not publish these tapes as soon as they were made,” tweeted John Stanton, the former Washington bureau chief for BuzzFeed. “If there was any chance it could save a single life, he was obligated to do so. Bob Woodward put making money over his moral and professional duty. Even if you don’t believe in service journalism or that we have an ethical duty to speak truth to power and expose wrongdoing, even if all you care about is scoops, this is an abject failure. It’s just gross profiteering off death and misery on the part of Woodward.”


The only conclusion I keep reaching -- whether it is Big Pharma and the hospitals bankrupting people to death while paying Democrats to stand with Republicans in opposing Medicare for All ...


... to Nancy Pelosi, representing San Francisco, CA, cracking wise about the "new green whatever" as the skies over her city turn blood red from wildfires promulgated by climate change ...


...to the once-upon-a-time-noble journalist Woodward, who made his bones forcing a corrupt president out of office for a "third-rate burglary" and some money-laundering, now holding back a reveal that might have saved peoples' lives so he could sell another book just before an election -- democracy in this country has been irreparably shattered by capitalism.

-- It's crine ass shame that all this still isn't enough to get me to vote for Joe Biden. I'm sick of this performative bullshit.


-- So the Donks want to bray some more about Russia, Russia, Russia.


-- They're also spending more time, money, and effort trying to kick Howie Hawkins off the ballot than they are trying to help their feeble candidate get elected.


(Shortly after this Tweet by Sarandon, the Biden camp updated the page.)


-- I'm also undecided; I cannot choose between Howie and Mark Charles.


Not certain I could vote for Amy McGrath if I lived in Kentucky. I already can't vote for MJ Hegar, and they're basically the same thing. It's Charles' thought that counts here, and not mine.

Will have a week-ending Lone Star Roundup before the Funnies on Sunday.
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Tuesday, September 08, 2020

The Weekly TexProgBlog Wrangle


With the best blog posts, Tweets, and leftist news from around the Great State, the Texas Progressive Alliance is really hoping that cool front makes it all the way down here.

The biggest political fight at the moment isn't Trump versus Biden or Cornyn versus Hegar ...


... it's whether Texans will be able to cast their November ballots in a manner of their choosing, and not Ken Paxton's.


Kuff is trying to follow the back and forth of the Republican attempts to prevent Harris County from sending vote by mail applications to all its voters.

Voting isn't the only thing Texas Republicans are suppressing.


With so much demonstrable incompetence you would think that prominent Republicans funding the campaigns of Republican elected officials might be complaining. And you would be right. Just not in the way you think.


“Furthermore, as we learn more about COVID-19, we now know that elementary and middle school-aged children are practically impervious to it; even high schoolers, who bear a slightly higher risk than younger students, are relatively safe when compared to adult cohorts,” the letter states. “The scores of daycares and summer camps that have been operating in Texas are further evidence of this fact.

“We will harm children far worse, therefore, by keeping schools closed than by reopening.”

Although the tone throughout the letter remains respectful, the names listed at the bottom may be sending a louder message.

In all, more than 100 Texans are named, a list that includes a wide-range of influential individuals, such as mega donor Farris Wilks to iconic ballplayer Lance Berkman.

[...]

A name that really stands out, however, is Ray Washburne, a member of President Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

To curb the spread of COVID-19, Abbott shutdown bars and cut restaurant occupancy -- a decision that has drastically impacted thousands of Texas business owners, including Washburne.

Washburne, a restaurant owner in Dallas, recently appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

“Running a restaurant at 50 percent is absolutely ridiculous,” Washburne said during the show. “If you go to a restaurant and every other table is seated and you need to go to the bathroom, you’re walking by every table in the restaurant. It makes zero sense.”

Washburne adamantly stated that: “We have to open up the economy.”

When Carlson asked Washburne what message he would give his governor, Washburne said: “Open up.”

“People need jobs,” he said. “They need to support their families.”

Carlson went on to say Republicans are intimidated, “maybe even your governor,” to which Washburne replied: “They are very intimidated, and they need to understand that they don’t need to cower to the liberal left.”

And the Texas Signal reported on state Republicans putting a quiet end to public redistricting hearings.

So apparently there were more important things for the TXGOP to be doing, such as rallying the base with bus tours and boat parades.


Therese Odell, daughter of a military family, cannot hold back her fury at Donald Trump's words about people who serve in the armed forces.

Not to be outdone by Trump in the "Republicans Behaving Badly" category ...


Meanwhile John Coby at Bay Area Houston was glad to see a racist assistant Attorney General get fired for his bigotry.

That's just a small sample of the Pachys' woes from the past week or two. Like the Donks, their younger voters are trying to tell their older voters something, but the senior set isn't listening.


No place is this generational dynamic better illustrated than the (mostly unspoken, certainly under-reported) tension between Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.


Hidalgo is collecting huzzahs as the D's rising star.


No error, Judge.

The latest COVID numbers in the state:


Dr. Peter Hotez gives a dozen reasons why he's worried about releasing a COVID-19 vaccine through an emergency use authorization (EUA).

Here's the latest environmental updates:


And the recent developments in police reform and criminal justice.


Grits for Breakfast gives the backstory on how Austin's budget cuts for police came about. Dallas Mayor Erik Johnson is resisting his police department's overtime hours reductions but presses ahead with reducing the bureaucracy at City Hall.

In noteworthy requiems:

D Magazine eulogizes its founder, Wick Allison.

Socratic Gadfly had three "critical" RIPs of people in political, cultural and social news recently, most recently with Green Party activist Kevin Zeese, then before that with heterodox anthropologist and economics critic David Graeber and first with secular humanist leader Ed Brayton.

And let's close out with some human interest stories.

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Sunday, September 06, 2020

Sunday "Garbage In, Garbage Out" Funnies

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Thursday, September 03, 2020

White House Update: Tiz the Law should win

It's nearly Labor Day, the time when talking heads on teevee tell us "everybody starts paying attention"; the debates are scheduled and the mods selected.  It's also Kentucky Derby weekend, but there will be no crowd, no big hats.  Find your irony in the name of the morning line's heavy favorite.

Let's see what the two old demented white dudes are up to.

-- Trump keeps moving his rhetoric; past conspiracy-theory territory now, straight to vote fraud.

(Trump) told voters in North Carolina they should vote twice, once by mail and once in person, even though doing so would be illegal. Trump was asked whether he has confidence in the mail-in voting system before suggesting voters break the law as he cast further confusion over the process ahead of November's election. "Let them send it (their mail-in ballot])in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote," he said."So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do".


If the GOP base is dumb enough to drink bleach to cure COVID, I'm sure they're dumb enough to follow these instructions.  It's not as if Greg Abbott or Ken Paxton, to use our local examples, would prosecute them for it, after all.  They're much too busy jailing people for not being aware they were ineligible, or collecting seniors' mail ballots at nursing homes and taking them to the post office.

Update: “Bipartisan” Washington Insiders Reveal Their Plan for Chaos if Trump Wins the Election

Top Democrats fear that protests could help Trump win

-- While there are considerable conflicting reports about whether or not Trump (or Joe Biden, for that matter) got a polling bump following their nominating conventions, the race appears to be right back where it started before the RNC and the DNC did their thing.  There have been several excuses for why Texas Democrats and Republicans didn't get prominent face time.


So as it seems the contest will once again turn not on the significant policy statements of either man -- Trump's cannot be believed, and Biden's aren't going to break any new ground -- the only thing remaining will be the performative artistry of the debate spin, and whatever gaffes Biden is certain to make ... because Trump's don't move the needle.

That puts Old Joe in a tight box.



Oh yeah; Putin's Army of Trolls again.


Not unexpected.  I do believe that Nate's Liver -- I mean Nate Silver -- has found his excuse for when the polling is wrong again and Biden loses to Trump: the Electoral College.


Much better than blaming Russian bots.  Or the Green Party's presidential nominee.  But what if someone proposed meaningful systemic changes?


Following Ms. Savage's advice would also make all of this polling that shows the race tightening more legitimate, as it querys likely and/or registered voters scattered across the country.  That would be as opposed to state surveys consolidated into an EC projection ... which is the only legitimate poll you should be considering.  Those show Biden still with a comfortable lead.

Can he still choke?  Like Michael Moore, I expect that he will.  I'll lay that out in a future post.

Update:

Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election

Biden Has What It Takes to Lose

-- Howie Hawkins soldiers on, but the corporate media -- and the polling outfits -- are studiously ignoring him and the Libertarian Jo Jorgensen.


They will likely have to host their own debate, as in years past.

-- And Mark Charles' campaign is creeping up into the public eye.


-- Gonna have to mention Kanye a bit.  His presidential campaign is being described as 'unraveling' in two separate reports, but his vice-presidential campaign seems to be flourishing.

Didn't know he was running for veep? Neither did he.

Update: Just screamingly funny.

A couple days ago, Ballot Access News reported that the American Shopping Party (ASP), which has ballot access in Hawaii, is considering nominating a presidential ticket of businessman Rocky De La Fuente for president and entertainer Kanye West for vice president.  This is the same ticket the American Independent Party (AIP) nominated for the California ballot last month.  However, according to the ASP Facebook page, the party wants actor Jason Momoa to be its presidential nominee.  The only catch is that the party cannot contact him.

There's more but I'm choking on my laughter too hard to post it.

-- If you thought that was weird, the Alaska Green Party nominated Jesse Ventura for president and Cynthia McKinney for VP.  Alaska Greens succeeded in petitioning for 'limited political party' status, meaning they can put forth only a top-ticket pair of candidates.  They promptly blew it, big time (read the comments at the link for some hilarity).

-- Gonna wrap this with some Tweets about the Movement for a Peoples' Party, which held their organizing convention last weekend.


David Collins did an outstanding job live-blogging their virtual convention.  He's enthusiastic about its prospects; more so than me.

Update: The Two Parties Have Failed Us, But The People Can Succeed

If the Greens can't get to 5% this year, it's time for them to fold their tent and throw in with somebody else, be it the PP or the SWP or some combination of united left parties, movements, etc. that can get ballot access and challenge the Democrats -- more strongly than the GP has ever been able to -- from their portside.  They need labor to really get this done, which ought to be easier than it sounds considering how badly working people have been left behind by the Donkeys.  And they need some big money backers.

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Monday, August 31, 2020

The Once-Again Weekly Wrangle


Back after a week's break!  Let's open with a lame joke.


Ha. Ha. Ha. But seriously ...


Our fellow Texans in Beaumont and Port Arthur, mostly spared the worst of Laura, evacuated to Austin but still found a reason to fight about something.


And our neighbors in Orange and Lake Charles probably aren't feeling the joke or the lessening, so if you're feeling charitable ...


There's still 42 days remaining before the start of early voting for the November elections, but Greg Abbott is giving SD-30 a head start on replacing Pat Fallon, who replaced John Ratcliffe in TX4 when he joined the Trump administration as DNI. (You may have heard Ratcliffe's name taken in vain over the weekend.)


Luther is the beauty shop owner who defied Greg Abbott and re-opened her salon while the COVID ban was still in effect, drawing headlines, armed supporters, and a brief stint in the pokey.  Springer is the Texas House representative for HD68, and the establishment choice to thwart Luther's bid to join the anti-Abbott Caucus in the Texas Senate.  The other Republicans -- Carter, Hopper, and Watts -- and Democrat Minter are mentioned in this TexTrib piece.

Expect a runoff, with the D and one of the Rs advancing.  The game to watch is whether Dan Patrick -- or acolytes of his that may want to cause trouble for Abbott -- come out publicly for Luther, work behind the scenes, or stay on the sidelines.  Activity like this signals the intensity of GOP primary scuffling in 2022, which the Govnuh is keen to avoid but won't shy away from.

If Springer wins the primary or the runoff, there'll be yet another special election to fill his Texas House seat at some point, in December or January.

Socratic Gadfly also blogged about Abbott, Fallon, and Springer and had some prognostications on the SD-30 race.

TXElects has analyzed Central Texas and Harris County statehouse races.


Who do the newly homeless plan on voting for? Do you think there will be poll watchers challenging their registrations, who've been keeping an eye on the public eviction records?


We know that they -- and everybody else who gets to vote -- won't be able to vote for many Green candidates, thanks to Texas Democrats.


But it's not like the TXGOP is making sure that everyone who wants to vote can do so.


This must be that "lesser evil" stuff I keep hearing about. Remind me again which is which? Oh yeah; I remember now.


There's cruel, and then there's just plain stupid.


Glenn Melancon at Living Blue in Texas points out that some have wasted their entire summer chasing conservative conspiracy theories. (Not this blogger.)

"Cops Behaving Badly" is still news in Texas.


Perhaps there's going to be some room made for improvement.


Here's some environmental headlines over the past week.


With a couple of educational updates:

Dos Centavos points you to a post by researcher Angela Gutierrez regarding a Latino Decisions survey of Latino parents and the challenges they face as schools reopen.


Should I wrap this Wrangle here? Yes, I should. Let's rock (in remembrance).

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Sunday, August 30, 2020

Sunday "Right to Remain Silent" Funnies


(Ed. note: My, what a relaxing week off.  Regular posting to resume in course.  If you missed anything over the past week, Matthew Dessem at Salon has a nice summary.  I must admit that finding humor in this environment is more than the usual challenge.)


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Sunday, August 23, 2020

Sunday "The Choice" Funnies

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