Some 2016 light bites

-- Rick Perry's up and running, as of 2 a.m. this morning and, formally later today, live from Addison.  Jeb Bush will be also -- after some pointed legal criticism -- in a couple of weeks.

-- Lincoln Chafee, in his announcement yesterday, wants Edward Snowden to come home, the US to convert its weights and measures to the metric system, and negotiations with the IS to be on the table.  There's bound to be a few people outside Rhode Island, where he was both senator and governor as a Republican, for which that platform represents hope and change.

-- Ted Cruz has been telling a weak joke about Joe Biden for some months now.  This time he told it just after Beau Biden passed, so it came off a little worse than previously.  The audience still laughed heartily.

Afterwards when he was asked about the appropriateness of the timing of the joke, he stalked off from the reporter who questioned him about it.  Crooks and Liars characterized his behavior as 'sociopathic'.  I wouldn't go that far -- his actions haven't resulted in people dying, like those of Rick Perry and Greg Abbott (denying Medicaid expansion) -- but Cruz is a turd and a massive jerk, and just because somebody died doesn't mean he's not going to make a joke about it.  He'll just make sure he does so when there aren't any cameras or microphones present.

-- The Duggars continue to make excuses for their son's child molestations.  Cringe-worthy.  Mike Huckabee wasn't available for comment after the Fox News interview with the family patriarch last night, by all indications.  If he still wants to be president, he should keep doing that.  Making himself unavailable for comment on this matter.

Update: State Rep. Bill Zedler of Arlington chimed in today, saying "The Left hates the Duggars because they have standards".  We were running on stupid fumes until this moment.  Now we have a full tank again.

-- A billionaire Wall Street hedge fund manager named Leon Cooperman didn't like Hillary Clinton's pandering to the Warren crowd and promptly jerked her chain.

"I don't need anybody crapping all over what I do for a living," the founder of $9.2 billion hedge fund firm Omega Advisors said.

[...]

"[She] hangs out with all these people in Martha's Vineyard and in the Hamptons and then the very first thing she has to say is to criticize hedge funds," he said.

It's all crap, Leon.  You should know this.  This crap coming out of her mouth is the full extent of what is being passed off as Hillary's progressivism.  Everybody in the whole wide world knows it except for you, Leon.  (And maybe Ted.)  So stop taking it personally.

Culturemap covers first H-Town mayoral debate

It was a Q&A forum on the arts, affording little opportunity for scrapping among the seven, but Clifford Pugh provides the details anyway for those of us who track these items.

Twenty minutes into the first gathering of all seven candidates for Houston mayor on the same stage, former congressman Chris Bell noted an audience member stifling a yawn.

"It could be a lot worse. This could be a Republican presidential debate," he said, where as many as 20 candidates are expected on stage in a few months.

Bell always demonstrates the best sense of humor.  And why is Bill King so sour all the time?

While much of the evening was taken up with policy wonk questions about a cap on the Houston Hotel Occupancy Tax (aka the HOT tax), which funds arts projects around the city, the best — and most humanizing question — came from an audience member, who asked, "Who is your favorite artist and why?" You could almost see the wheels turning in each candidate's head as he scrambled to come up with an unscripted answer.

First up was former Kemah mayor Bill King, who lamely listed Van Gogh, whom he first learned about from his history teacher many years ago. Businessman Marty McVey picked the 13th century poet Rumi for the "great solace" his work provides, which drew the applause of one audience member.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner was the first to turn the discussion to Houston artists — John Biggers and Michelle Barnes are among his favorites, and the other candidates quickly followed his lead, with Bell listing Lamar Briggs, Houston City Council member Stephen Costello mentioning Mark Foyle, muralist Ashley Wren and Justin Garcia, and former sheriff Adrian Garcia picking his daughter along with Project Row Houses founder Rick Lowe.

Attorney Ben Hall had the most unconventional answer  — he's mad about Surrealists M.C. Esher and Salvatore (sic) Dali. "Read into that what you may," he said cryptically.

The man's name is Salvador, Clifford (or Pastor Hall, as the case may be).  Escher's name is also misspelled, despite the link to it, so we'll put both of those mistakes on Pugh and his editor, unless Hall actually pronounced it "Sal-vah-tore-ay".  Pugh still should have known better; Hall probably not.  (My guess is his disgust for Dali's nudes stopped him from learning the artist's name, if in fact he doesn't know it).  It's so easy to cull the field of prospective mayors by asking them a question that they didn't anticipate, isn't it?

Update: Those in attendance -- see comments -- report that Hall is a fan of Dali, with the phrase "mad about" in the article meaning good and not bad.  I got the wrong impression (pun intended).

The other two debates -- err, forums -- this week will be more policy-substantive, I predict.  I plan on being present for both of them.  No telling what unscripted moment may occur and reveal.

Waiting for the decision on marriage equality

One of the most immediate and impactful decisions affecting the lives of Americans -- besides the ruling on Obamacare subsidies, of course --  will be the SCOTUS's call on gay marriage, due before the end of this month.  (The Fifth Circuit is also deliberating the question and may announce its decision prior to the Supreme Court's.  It won't have the final say, of course.)  Gatherings are planned around Texas to celebrate anticipated good news; Katie Couric recently interviewed one of the lead plaintiffs, Jeff Obergefell.

His case, Obergefell v. Hodges, rests on two questions. One is whether  the Constitution requires a state where same-sex marriage is not legal to recognize a marriage licensed in a state where it is legal. The other question is whether the Constitution requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex — in other words, whether same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide.

The case will likely stand in the history of legal annals alongside iconic civil rights cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.

SCOTUSblog’s Kevin Russell says if the court rules in favor of the legality of same-sex marriages on both of the questions that Obergefell v. Hodges asks, the implications could extend far beyond marriage. 

 “This could be a decision that says that it is generally unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in every sphere,” says Russell. “And if the Supreme Court holds that, then this will be a huge case. It'll be the ‘Brown v. Board of Education’ for sexual orientation. It will mean that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, at least by states and by the federal government, is unconstitutional across the board.”

Obergefell’s case, however, also poses an unlikely danger to proponents of same-sex marriage. Currently, 37 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage. However, in 21 of those states, it is only legal because courts ruled state bans unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court rules against him, and additionally goes so far as to say that the Constitution does not protect marriage at all, those rulings could be in jeopardy.

Experts say that outcome is largely unexpected, but they concede that this scenario could be a major setback for gay couples. Same-sex couples who are now legally married in 21 states could suddenly lose their legal status. As Russell says, “It would be a huge mess.”  

That fear is not lost on Obergefell, who says he “absolutely” shares that concern. “I think there would be a certain level of pandemonium in the country. I mean, how could there not be, because suddenly, again, you're creating this second class of citizens.”

And so we wait (hopefully to celebrate).  Update: Charles has more on the preparations being made at various Texas county courthouses.

Green Party of Texas holds state meeting this weekend

From the press release:

http://gptx.nationbuilder.com

Texas Greens hold state meeting in Tarrant County June 6-7, 2015

By-laws, amendments, election of state officers, and and 2016 ballot access
retention on agenda for delegates' consensus approval

The Green Party of Texas will hold its annual state meeting this Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, at the United Bethlehem Center, 970 E. Humbolt St., Fort Worth.  Regular party business including the consensus on various by-laws and amendments and the election of state party officers will be conducted, along with party-building workshops and seminars.

Given that 2016 will be a better-than-average year for Democratic candidates for a number of reasons, as well as the state legislature’s continued assault on non-primary parties, discussion on ballot retention will be a primary focus. 

According to outgoing GPTX CoChair kat swift, “Getting and maintaining ballot access is always a problem in Texas.  Once ballot access is attained, state law requires active political parties in Texas to achieve a minimum 5% of the total of votes for any one statewide office in order to maintain ballot status, but with straight-ticket voting this is only possible when one primary party fails to run a candidate.”

In recent years the GPTX has been able to keep its future ballot line by running in at least one statewide race where there was no Democrat entered.  In this last legislative session, a bill to end straight-ticket voting was opposed by both primary party lobbyists, as well as a bill to make non-primary parties pay to get on the general election ballot.

“The state legislature continues to work toward more restrictive access to an already restricted ballot line.  We must be diligent if we wish to continue to provide voters a populist alternative to the corporate-run, two-party duopoly,” swift said.

For more information, including a phone number to call, please contact media committee chair Aaron Renaud at aaron.renaud@gmail.com.

There's a fairly interesting development under way for the 2016 ballot, which I can't blog about until after the vote is taken on Saturday. Stay tuned for that.