Friday, November 29, 2019

The Weekly Twenty Twenty Update

Just a bit more than two months before the Iowa caucuses.  So it's probably too soon for this.


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

If you got a better way-too-early prediction, let's hear it in the comments.

No sooner than Hillary Clinton reached her most recent spoiled-milk discard date, we get Obama weighing in on the 2020 primary.



I'm just sorry I bought his lies in 2008.  By 2009 I was off the bus, but the damage, as we all know -- even those who cannot acknowledge it to this day -- was done.


And that's not the half of it: drone-killing American-born teenagers for the alleged sins of their fathers; "we tortured some folks"; signing the NDAA (which ended habeas corpus); letting the protests at Standing Rock "play out for several more weeks", enabling militarized police forces to brutalize protestors; prosecuting low-level government whistleblowers (Chelsea Manning) while letting top advisers skate (David Petraeus).  I could go on, but if you haven't gotten the picture already, you never will.

I have but one fuck left to give about what Barack Obama says or does regarding the 2020 Democratic primary.  If he opposes Bernie Sanders to any degree greater than he already has ... well, as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, revolutions can take place at the ballot box or in the streets.  And the establishment corporacrat centrist neoliberal faction gets to choose where it will be.

It would have been illuminating to have heard from him during the past three years as Trump savaged him, the office of the presidency, and all of the normative behaviors that have been in place for almost two hundred and fifty years of our republican democracy, but I suppose he was just too busy making post-presidency millions to comment on any of that.  It seems that I heard more griping about Trump from George W. Bush than I did from Obama, as a matter of fact.

Be that as it may, BO can take a seat beside HRC and STFU.  Forever.

Now then ... let's review the aspirational jerks bidding to be the next Obama.


-- BootEdgeEdge's post-debate polling bump is, according to 538.com, still just his base.  He got called out for his lying by Michael Harriott at The Root, who then got a phone call from Pete.  Seems to have gone well enough.  One more thing:


That's enough of a reason to strip IA and NH from first-in-the-nation status as far as I am concerned.  I don't think it will ever happen, though.  Let the speculation begin as to the eventual migration of Petey voters, once reality splashes cold in their faces.


-- Elizabeth Warren has had a much tougher week, month, past couple of months.


Her candor issues have crushed her.


-- No, wait; Senile Uncle Joe had a worse week.  His top Latina adviser quitting his campaign underscored his problems with voters who are not conservative, senior whites and blacks.

Biden was criticized for skipping a Latino elected officials forum in June -- at the time, a campaign surrogate held up Cárdenas’ role in the campaign as proof of Biden’s commitment to Latino voters. And in August, his campaign went into damage control after immigration activists grew upset with him over how he spoke about the issue at a debate. He also avoided a California Democratic event where he was aware the immigration issue could haunt him.

At a South Carolina event on Thursday, Biden ended up in a widely publicized clash with Carlos Rojas, an immigration activist with the group Movimiento Cosecha, who wanted the candidate to pledge to halt deportations.

"No. I will not stop all deportations. I will prioritize deportations, only people who have committed a felony or serious crime,” Biden told Rojas.

Rojas then told Biden that he had volunteered for the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008 but became disenchanted with the Obama administration because “over those 8 years, there were 3 million people that were deported and separated from their families.”

“You should vote for Trump,” Biden cut in.

Hostility, mild or not-so-much, is a symptom of dementia.  At least he was able to remember to suggest to another person to vote Democrat.


-- So if you were seriously wondering why Mike Bloomberg jumped in, now you know.  See, Bloomer is even more of Republican than Joe, or Liz, or Pete.



But what candidate is it that all of these powerful, influential moderates really want?  I read this and I still can't figure it out.

-- Then again, maybe Kamala had it roughest.  The requiems and obituaries have been written.


Hey, political advisers have to eat too.

-- All roads then lead to one place.


-- MSNBC's debate moderators and the network's coverage of Yang and Tulsi and Bernie -- wrong and misleading where it has been presented at all -- has come under plenty of withering fire.  So here is a rare moment of clarity when Chris Matthews, the fattest of the network's blind hogs found the biggest acorn asked the right question.


Major Gabbard, similarly, gets more wrong than right but this is the crux of her campaign IMHO and the best argument for her bid for the White House.

-- So long, Mayor Messam.  We really never knew ye.

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Thursday, November 28, 2019

Turkey Toons









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Monday, November 25, 2019

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is already downshifting in preparation for the abbreviated holiday week, with a shorter-than usual collection of somewhat less than hard-hitting blog posts and Tweets and news from around and about the Great State from last week.


Several reporters are looking ahead to the primaries in the spring, publishing news of filings for offices on that ballot.  HPM detailed election security measures being undertaken for 2020 by Harris, Fort Bend, and Brazoria counties.  TXElects linked to a study published by the League of Women Voters that revealed many Texas counties' websites were both improperly secured and not in compliance with state law.

The League graded sites based on a number of criteria including website security, mobile friendliness, ease of use, thoroughness of information, help for special categories of voters and availability of information in Spanish. ... The League determined 74 counties -- 29% of the total -- had “inadequate” election information posted online. Among those, 19 county websites “do not appear to be official,” and Crockett Co. had no web presence whatsoever.

Just ahead of the start of early voting for the runoff elections, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs released his recommendations for the Houston city council alphabet districts.  (Mayor and at-large runoff endorsements are linked there.)

Criminal justice developments included ...



Better Texas Blog tells the untold stories of the state budget.

RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly explains how Texas might turn blue in 2020.  Ross Ramsey of the TexTrib via Progrexas analyzes the reasons for Lone Star Republicans launching trial balloons associated with gun safety legislation.


In impeachment news, Therese Odell at Foolish Watcher was all over the Fiona Hill hearing.


SocraticGadfly, noting November 22 and the anniversary of the death of the president in Dallas in 1963 last Friday, has a twofer; first writing about the irony of Jackie's JFK Camelot legend actually reflecting Kennedy reality beneath the legend, then looking in part at Jack's assassination, noting -- with examples -- how to distinguish conspiracies from conspiracy theories.


The Texas Signal points out Greg Abbott's loss of appetite for Chick-fil-A now that they have pledged to stop giving money to anti-LGBTQ groups.

Texans icons on the way out, gone but not forgotten, and perhaps on the comeback:


Mike McGuff shares the trailer for the documentary about the legendary former Houston rock and roll radio station KLOL.



Closing out this Wrangle ...

Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV's Fixer Upper have force-multiplied their brand in Waco, turning the sleepy Baptist community into a retail shopping destination.


 And the TPA wishes Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora all the best in their new media venture.
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Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sunday 'Lyin' Eyes' Funnies

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Friday, November 22, 2019

Houston's runoffs: The alphabet districts

Parts 1 (mayor, council races with technically ineligible participants) and 2 (at-large positions) are linked where you can find them if you need them.


First ...

Early Voting Dates and Times

November 27th: 7 am - 7 pm

December 2nd -7th: 7 am - 7 pm

December 8th: 1pm - 6 pm

December 9th: 7 am - 7 pm


There will be 25+ early voting poll locations and 300+ locations for election day! Click here to find a location for early voting near you or text VOTE to 1-833-YES-0700.



Once more, Part 1 summarized these:

-- District A's runoff between longtime CoS to incumbent Brenda Stardig (who is challenging Harris Commissioner Steve Radack in the GOP primary) Amy Peck and wig store owner George Zoes, who claims that his business is his residence.

Peck was pushed into this runoff by a gentleman that has no primary voting history, no website, and no social media presence (according to Erik Manning), so all I can surmise is that his wigs must have one hell of a satisfied clientele.

The joke is going to be on a lot of people if Zoes pulls this off.  I will predict that he does not.

-- District B has been high drama for the past two weeks.

The runoff in the District B race for Houston City Council will be left off the Dec. 14 ballot and instead will require a special election after the third-place finisher filed a lawsuit contesting the Nov. 5 results.

Renee Jefferson-Smith, who missed the runoff by 168 votes, filed the suit contesting the election in state district court last Friday, forcing officials to delay the runoff, according to Assistant County Attorney Douglas Ray.

Jefferson-Smith’s attorneys filed the contest in a different court after a judge dismissed her earlier request for a ruling declaring candidate Cynthia Bailey ineligible to run for office because she has a felony conviction.

This runoff is likely to be held at the same time as the one for the statehouse.

Both Ray and Nicole Bates, an attorney for Jefferson-Smith, said it is possible the special election could be held Jan. 28, when a runoff for the open House District 148 seat is scheduled to take place, if the lawsuit is resolved by then.

And for clarity, Jefferson-Smith finished third, Bailey second, and Tarsha Jackson first with 21% of the vote, a fairly wide margin considering a 14-person field.  She just wants to get this over with.

Jackson ... has said voters knew about Bailey’s criminal past and said she should be able to continue in the race. Jackson said Wednesday she was disappointed in the delay.

“What’s happening right now is just a prime example of what’s been happening to District B forever. We’re a marginalized and disenfranchised community,” Jackson said. “We have been left behind in this election. The people should be able to go out and vote on the 14th.”

[...]

Jackson (also) said District B voters also will have a diminished voice in the mayoral and at-large races, since fewer people could turn out to vote in the runoffs.

Jefferson-Smith rejected that claim, saying the true disenfranchisement was letting people vote for a candidate that she said would not be able to assume the office.

Lots more at the link above and at HPM if you enjoy reading about the legal ins-and-outs.  Nobody should feel safe making any predictions about judicial decisions, but Jackson surely ought to be favored to take this seat at the horseshoe whenever this election date gets settled.

Update: The latest.


-- District F's runoff is going to be lively.


Huynh also boasts questionable residency qualifications for an area he has served for a lengthy period, as CoS to CM Steve Le.  "I have plans to improve the district" claims for incumbent regimes, especially conservative ones, can be laughable.  Let's hope the far west voters of this district send Ms. Thomas downtown.

Now then, we'll proceed in alpha-order with fresh news.

-- District C defied my early prediction and left the Harris County pachyderms on the sidelines.  This matchup between Abbie Kamin and Shelley Kennedy features big money and establishment connections versus community organizing.  You ought to know by now which of those I favor.  But to illustrate the difference:

One issue that draws a clear contrast between the pair is Prop B, the ballot referendum voters passed last year which requires firefighter pay to be brought in line with police of corresponding rank and seniority.

Kamin said she believes firefighters deserve higher pay, but that outcome should be achieved through negotiations between the city and fire union.

Kennedy supported the ballot initiative. Since a judge has since ruled Prop B unconstitutional, Kennedy said the labor dispute should be resolved by binding arbitration.

Ms. Kennedy is the best choice here.

-- The Chron's Robert Downen says that the D face-off between Carolyn Evans-Shabazz and Brad Jordan is an amicable one.  It does seem so.


Standing beneath a papier-mâché toucan earlier this month, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz told a handful of potential voters about her aspirations to be a bus.

Both she and her Houston City Council District D opponent, Brad “Scarface” Jordan, want to be vessels for change, but understand that doing so requires getting as many perspectives as possible -- hence, Evans-Shabazz’s talk of being a bus.

“A vehicle has more than one passenger,” Evans-Shabazz said. “And I wanna be a bus. I. Want. To. Be. A. Bus.”

Just outside the wood-paneled room, hip-hop icon Jordan sipped soda and munched on finger foods. He had not expected to be there, and was still “stunned” to have made the runoff days earlier.

His stump speech, delivered a few minutes later, reflected that shock. “These are good cookies,” he said before telling the group of mostly senior citizens about the 30 million-plus records he has sold and his desire to better his childhood neighborhood.

“I want to give back to a city that has given so much to me and allowed me to do what I do,” he continued.

Read on and note that departing CM Dwight Boykins has not endorsed his replacement.

“You have to build a coalition of people who are opposite of you,” he said.

Whichever candidate does that will win.  The consensus is that it will be Evans-Shabazz, but I would favor Jordan.

-- District H incumbent Karla Cisneros -- and her consultant Marc Campos -- aren't having the best month.  HD-148 leader Anna Eastman has proved herself worthy of his (still obnoxious) bragging, but not his/our Astros and certainly not Cisneros, who's facing a challenge from Isabel Longoria.


This runoff features the titanic Houston Latinx opposing forces: Congresista Sylvia Garcia versus state Sen. Carol Alvarado and their respective coalitions.  It's the Spanish-speaking Democratic progressives and centrists colliding again.

With early voting days away, Longoria is touting a handful of endorsements from elected officials, including Councilman Robert Gallegos and her former bosses, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, and former state Rep. Jessica Farrar. And Longoria, who is Latina and openly lesbian, also is backed by several influential Hispanic and LGBTQ-focused groups, including the GLBT Political Caucus.

Cisneros, meanwhile, is backed by Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado and state Rep. Christina Morales.

I hope Longoria pulls this out.

-- But in District J, Las Dos Reinas are working together to get Sandra Rodriguez to City Hall over Edward Pollard.  Campos:

There is a fundraiser (November 19) in downtown Houston for H-Town City Council District J candidate Sandra Rodriguez. The fundraiser is co-hosted by Cong. Sylvia Garcia, State Sen. Carol Alvarado, State Reps. Armando Walle and Gene Wu, H-Town Council Member Robert Gallegos and other prominent folks.

Oddly enough, the best analysis of the J race remains this piece from Greg Degeyter at Big Jolly's from September, which calls Pollard the top choice followed by Rodriguez.  That's how I would vote if I lived in the district.

Get ready to do that ballot thing you do starting next week.
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