The last-week-of-summer-vacation Wrangle

Despite the oppressive heat, the Texas Progressive Alliance is enjoying the final week before school begins as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is amazed at how much Republicans like John Cornyn hate our Constitution and the freedoms it accords us.

Off the Kuff continued the 2010 interview series with conversations with state representatives Scott Hochberg, Sylvester Turner, and Jessica Farrar.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted that you can register to vote in three languages in Harris County. No matter what the Republicans and the Tea Party folks hope for, we live in a diverse city, county, state, nation and world.

Bad news for Barnett Shale residents: methane + sunlight + oxygen = formaldehyde. Considering the constant, massive fugitive emissions, it's no wonder we have "astounding" high levels of formaldehyde. Brought to you by TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

The latest broadside from the Back to Basics PAC, "Hands OFF our land!" is a wedge issue for Bill White. It's effectively separating Rick Perry from rural (mostly Caucasian) Texans. Read it -- and watch it -- at PDiddie's Brains and Eggs.

Over at TexasKaos, libby shaw chronicles the latest embarrassment from Louie Gohmert in Gohmert Has Meltdown on CNN. With no evidence to support him, Louie did what he does best -- spew and sputters. Check it out....

This week at McBlogger, we start our long-awaited transfer to WordPress and a new design. Come by, check it out and see what Sleazy Todd Staples is up to now.

Hot Damn! More Funnies

John Cornyn: Mosque-eteer

Add Senator Box Turtle to the ever-growing pile of TeaBaggers for Freedom*.

"With emotions so high on the issue do you think this becomes an election issue 79 days to go before the mid terms?" asked (FOX News' Bret) Baier. "Will you be telling your candidates to make sure what the Democratic opponents how they stand on the particular issue?"

"I think it does speak to the lack of connection between the administration and Washington and folks inside the Beltway and mainstream America, and I think this is what aggravates people so much," answered Cornyn. "I agree with [Sen. Jack Reed], this is going to be a local decision. I would like to hear what the elected officials in New York, the two United States senators and other local officials think about this and the American people will render their verdict."

"So yes, it becomes an election issue?" prompted Baier.

"Whether you are connected to people or listening or lecturing to them, this is sort of the dichotomy that people sense that they are being lectured to and not listened to and that is why people are upset about Washington and to that extent, yes," said Cornyn.

The Republicans have opened a new front in the War on the Parts of the Constitution We Don't Like, adding the First Amendment to the Fourteenth and the Tenth.

Remember: the terrorists -- like John Cornyn and his ilk -- hate us for our freedoms. America can only truly be free if we curtail our constitutional rights.

*does not apply to women, brown people, non-Christians, forriners, and libruls

South Texas Chisme has a similar take, and Hal at Half Empty examines the repeal of the Bill of Rights.

Saturday Funnies

Riddle and Gohmert

Once more, Texas Republicans represent themselves as complete fools.

Texas Republican state legislator Rep. Debbie Riddle was not prepared for Anderson Cooper Tuesday night.

Riddle appeared on "Anderson Cooper 360" to discuss the threat of "terror babies" — a supposed threat in which terrorist organizations send pregnant women to the United States to have their children, who would be US citizens but trained and raised abroad to be terrorists and could enter and leave the US without raising suspicion.

Riddle based her claims on her conversations with "former FBI officials" but Cooper demanded evidence.

"What former FBI officials?" he asked. "What evidence is there of some sort of long-term plot to have American babies born here and then become terrorists?

"Well, at this point, I don't have the hard evidence right here in front of me," Riddle responded. She would not reveal her ex-FBI sources or the basis for their claims, and then tried to change the subject to porous borders and the threat of dirty bombs.

"Border security is certainly an issue, and it's a good topic," Cooper said. "It's not the topic, though...I'm just asking for proof. You say you're still gathering it from unnamed former FBI people."

"When your folks called me in the preliminary, that was part of the conversation," Riddle responded. "They did not tell me that you were going to grill me for this specific information that I was not ready to give to you tonight. They did not tell me that, sir. "

Former FBI assistant director Thomas Fuentes then appeared on Anderson Cooper's program the next evening to describe Riddle's claims as "ludicrous" and "absurd". Elise Hu at the Texas Tribune also followed up.

I made an open-records request for any records related to communication between Riddle's office and former FBI agents. Her chief of staff, Jon English, replied this afternoon, saying no such records exist. "Unfortunately we don't have any records or emails that could be reproduced for your inquiry," English wrote in an email. "Everything Rep. Riddle was referring to has been in the form of private conversations she has had, although she shares those with myself and our district director."

Then last evening, Cooper had Congressman Louie Gohmert of the 2nd 1st Congressional District of Texas, on presumably to save Riddle's bacon. Watch this:



One excerpt:

COOPER: What research? Can you tell us about the research?

GOHMERT: You are attacking the messenger, Anderson, you are better than this. You used to be good. You used to find that there was a problem and you would go after it.

COOPER: Sir, I am asking you for evidence of something that you said on the floor of the House.

GOHMERT: I did, and you listen, this is a problem. If you would spend as much time looking into the problem as you would have been trying to come after me and belittle me this week --

COOPER: Sir, do you want to offer any evidence? I'm giving you an opportunity to say what research and evidence you have. You've offered none, other than yelling.

These two clowns are among the worst of the Texas Republican contingent. Riddle's general election opponent is Brad Neal. Gohmert -- his district is adjacent to the infamous Winnebago precincts -- has no Democratic challenger. And that may be the saddest fact of all.

Wayne Slater at TrailBlazers has more, and Kuffner collects the snark.