I suddenly feel the need for some humor.

How about you? Thanks to the clever Bill in Portland Maine for assembling the late-night comics' comments:

"President Bush announced that the federal deficit is actually $296 billion less than originally forecast. The president credits low unemployment, high job growth, and the fact that he did the math himself."
-- Conan O'Brien

"Any online gamblers here? Well, Congress is looking in shutting that down. There's going to be a massive congressional investigation of online gambling and they're going to shut it down. And when they get done with that, they're going to look into this North Korean thing."
-- David Letterman

"Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was in Afghanistan today where he promised to defeat the Taliban. Didn't we do that already? He's also sworn we will soon capture Saddam Hussein."
-- Jimmy Kimmel

"President Bush told People magazine this week that he's working on a solution for global warming. He says it will be ready in less than six months. It's called winter."
-- Jay Leno

"Of the over 100,000 wildfires that happen in the U.S. each year, not a single one would get started without the fire triangle: oxygen, heat and fuel. Fire needs all three to exist. It's like the three branches of our government: Legislative, Judicial and Executive. The fewer there are, the safer we are."
-- Stephen Colbert

"The security of the world is threatened by Kim Jong-Il, a nerdy pompadour, platform shoe wearer who looks like something you would put on the end of your child's pencil."
-- Jon Stewart

And this segment would not be complete without Bill's NYT Bestseller List of the Future ...

1. THE BIBLE, by God with The Holy Spirit. (United States Government Printing Office, free; mandatory). The Word of God, quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. With a new foreword by Jim Belushi.

2. A MILLION AND ONE LITTLE PIECES, by James Frey. (Random House, $43.95.) A memoir by the Viceroy of Iraq about his hardscrabble childhood that made him tough enough to quell the civil war in Iraq and divide it into a million and one self-governing "cantons."

3. THE DARK LITTLE BOY AND THE IPOD, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, $47.95.) A columnist for the New York Times explains the connection between solving world conflict and a third-world boy by owning an iPod Shuffle.

6. HARRY POTTER AND THE CROSS OF NAZARETH, by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, Inc., $34.95.) A young wizard realizes sorcery is evil, accepts Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior, and marries a young woman named Hermione, who wisely chose to abstain from sexual intercourse until marriage.

9. MY TOP STORY---AND MY BOTTOM STORY, by James D. Guckert (Random House, $39.95.) A memoir by Jeff Gannon, the 20-year veteran anchor of the CBS Evening News.

13. HAMMER TIME!, by Tom DeLay (Putnam, $48.95.) A former House majority leader of the Republican party recounts his time in prison, his conversion to Islam, and his later success on the PGA senior tour.

... and the explanation for Senator Ted Stevens of how the Internet really works:

The Internets is a series of gerbils, one gerbil for each "user." When you "send" a "message" (or, in Stevens-speak, "an internet"), the gerbil takes it down shorthand and scurries through a series of tubes to its destination. The gerbil uploads the message to the inbox (short for "Internets Box") and then presses the velvet-covered doorbell button. The receiver---say, Senator Stevens---may then safely peruse the porn ad. (Tomorrow we'll explain "SpamGuard"-- we don't want to overwhelm him.)

Sometimes gerbils will stop to have wild gangbang gerbil sex along the way, which can result in delayed internet delivery. Twice a year the telecom companies clean the tubes by flushing them with water and a mild detergent, which also results in slight delays. But mostly the Internets operate smoothly, allowing for an uninterrupted flow of bogus information from the likes of Senator Stevens and Mike McCurry on net neutrality.

Is abortion murder? Texas AG asked for legal opinion

Here comes our right-wing battle cry for November, folks. The bold emphasis is mine:

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been asked to rule whether laws passed in 2003 and 2005 could subject doctors to capital murder charges for performing late-term abortions or abortions on minors without their parents' consent.

State Affairs Chairman David Swinford, R-Amarillo, asked for the opinion, citing an analysis by a state prosecutors group that said murder prosecutions of doctors could be an "unintended consequence" of the law changes it made.

Swinford said he disagrees with the interpretation by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association because there is no evidence that the Legislature intended such a result from changes it made to the law governing doctors' conduct last year. ...

Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental relations for the prosecutors' group, believes a doctor could be charged with capital murder for performing a restricted abortion. He said, however, that he has heard of no such prosecutions.

Edmonds discovered the problem when he was looking at new criminal offenses enacted during the 2005 regular session.

"We started connecting the dots and that's where we ended up," said Edmonds.

Go read the entire thing. And get ready for battle, because Greg Abbott is just as beholden to the religious fundamentalists as he is to the corporations, and he desperately needs the Jesus Freaks and John Birchers to turn out and vote for him in order to save his job.

This BS has national implications for women's reproductive freedoms as well. Let's nip this in the bud, right quick.

Update: Charles Kuffner and Vince Leibowitz -- as always -- have more, and better. The Dallas News has a better explanation of the laws passed in 2003 and 2005. And Charles, via Vince, has background on the TCDAA's confusion over the issue.

Update II: And don't miss the new blog detailing the malaprops of our ridiculous state Attorney General, Greg Abbott = Big Hypocrite.

A Perfectly Cromulent Beer Bust

Pete the Cromulent One is hosting his third annual Beerfest this Saturday night at Rudyard's (all details at the link). If you haven't attended one of these in the past, well, it's a decidedly snark-riddled affair -- sorta like Pete's blog -- and not so much political. Also a younger crowd than we usually run with. We now know to wheel in with oxygen tanks in tow so we can keep up with the fast-talkers.

Those of you around Houston are powerfully encouraged to attend. You will get to meet the Diddies at the very least, and that could turn out to be the high point of your weekend.

If your life is truly pathetic, that is.

Which one said it?

"You did it. You know you did it. You're a big fat bald-ass liar saying you didn't. And I know you did it, too, and I'm going to tell everybody.

"But of course neither one of us will ever go to jail. Hell, we won't even lose our jobs over it. Schweet, huh?"

Second Enron figure dead

Even as Houstonians prepare for today's memorial service for Ken Lay, British media reports the death of another man implicated in the scandal that won't leave the headlines (emphasis mine):

The body of a man believed to be linked to a US probe into a financial scandal involving NatWest has been found close to his home.

Neil Coulbeck had gone missing from his home in Woodford Green, east London, on Thursday.

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The man had been interviewed by the FBI. We don't know how important to the investigtion he was but FBI sources suggest he was a pivotal character in the case."

Mr Coulbeck's body was discovered in Waltham Forest, east London. He was Head of Group Treasury at the Royal Bank of Scotland and is thought to have been a possible witness in the NatWest Three case.

The discovery comes as MPs debate the controversial decision to extradite three British bankers - dubbed the NatWest Three - to the US to face charges over the scandal.

The men, who previously worked for NatWest, are accused of taking part in a multi-million pound fraud connected to the collapse of Enron.

All three - David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby - have denied any wrongdoing. They could spend up to two years in a high-security US prison awaiting trial unless they are granted bail.

The move to send them to Houston, Texas, is at the centre of a row over Britain's extradition agreement with the United States.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Perhaps Coulbeck was embarrassed over the shame brought to him by his fiduciary misdeeds and took his own life, as did J. Clifford Baxter and Charles Rice of the El Paso Corporation and James Watkins of Arthur Andersen.

There are, of course, many corporate executives who bear the tremendous weight of their crimes on their conscience.

When they get caught.

Two new planets in the Texblogosphere

Previously reported by many others, Paul Burka of Texas Monthly has come over to the Dark Side (an inside joke, referring to this column by Burka about the badness of blogs).

But my new favorite is probably going to be HouStoned, the maiden voyage to Bloglandia by the eminent snarkers at the Houston Press.

Mark Warner will help change the map in Texas, too

Dembones writes the summary so I don't have to:

Former Virginia governor Mark Warner formed the Forward Together PAC as a likely first step to mounting a Presidential campaign in 2008. While that race remains well over the horizon, Warner has already earned praise for aggressively helping Democrats across the country with this year’s campaigns.

According to The Hill, Forward Together has “raked in $8.2 million and contributed $860,500 to 108 candidates and political committees“. On March 28, Forward Together PAC wrote $5,000 checks for Chet Edwards (CD-17) and Nick Lampson (CD-22).

Over the past month, Forward Together also hosted a three-stage interactive poll on the Internet. Advertisements for the “Map Changers” contest have appeared on this blog and we have featured multiple articles. Fifty candidates were presented in round one. Five from Texas made it into the field of twenty who progressed to round two, more than any other state. That list included Mary Beth Harrell (CD-31), Barbara Ann Radnofsky (US Senate), Ted Ankrum (CD-10), Chris Bell (Governor) and John Courage (CD-21).

Courage and Bell made it into the list of 10 finalists and earned $5,000 each from Forward Together. In round three, visitors to the MapChangers site selected the winner. At stake was a fundraising visit with Mark Warner that would attract publicity and campaign contributions. The field included two Texans, the only state with more than one finalist. Fearing that a split of the Texas vote would cost the state the grand prize, Bell and Courage coordinated their campaigns. The word went out. Bell encouraged the Texroots to support John Courage in the MapChanger finals.

The strategy was effective. As the final days of voting passed, two finalists rose to the top of the standings. Bill Winter (Colorado CD-06) and Courage exchanged leads, leaving the rest of the field behind.

On the final weekend of the contest, Winter and Courage appealed directly to Warner. They requested that Warner visit both states, regardless of the MapChangers outcome. Voting continued with no official response from Warner. The netroots in Colorado and in Texas kicked into overdrive. Nationwide, more than 9,000 visited the site to register and vote.

Today, Forward Together released the results. Bill Winter was victorious. Congratulations to Winter and the entire Colorado netroots organization! It was a spirited campaign that promoted online activism and people-powered politics.

Buried in the seventeenth paragraph of the previously cited Hill article is the first authoritative response to last weekend’s appeal from Winter and Courage:

Warner will host fundraisers for the top two finalists, Bill Winter (Colo.) and John Courage (Texas).

A collective “YEEEEEE-HAW!” emerged from across the Texroots. Congratulations to everyone who voted. You did it. Thank you.

The Texas Progressive Alliance (of which Brains and Eggs is a member) led this blogswarm, and kudos to every one of us who made it a success.

Web surf's up

A few things I found clicking around that will engage your attention:

**E.O.W.C. has details on the Trans-Texas Corridor --that would be the Toll Road on 'Roids -- public hearings scheduled across the state. McBlogger will file a full report, but his preliminary flash indicates that last night's meeting in Ennis drew 350 people, and there were 700 in Gainesville. Hank Gilbert was given a standing O for his remarks by the roughly 80% Republican audience in Ennis.

**Vince at Capitol Annex has been doing the yeoman's work again, this time giving us the story on Ralph Hall's attempts to deregulate the processing of chickenshit. He's also gathered up some posts on Dr. No -- that would be Libertarian-in-Republican-clothing Ron Paul -- and the polluted water in East Texas that the Texas Railroad Commission first neglected and then obfuscated. And his best work -- including the masthead photo of LBJ and MLK -- is your action alert on the Republicans who are trying to kill the Voting Rights Act.

** Both Muse and John Coby have posted photos of the shuttle Discovery's belly tiles.

** The billboards alerting Big Oil that David Van Os is going after them are now going up; the first one can already be seen in Dallas, at the intersection of Harry Hines and Market Center Boulevards. Three more in East Texas will be visible soon. They are generating significant reaction in the blogosphere already. (Disclosure: I serve the campaign as a volunteer statewide coordinator.)

** the Texas Progressive Alliance -- a confederation of blogs throughout the state which post from the same political perspective as this one -- has an aggregator. I also use the Texas BlogWire, which appears in the column on the right, as my personal RSS feed for what's going on in Deep-In-The-Hearta.

** and Lyn recaps the week that was, most of which you already know if you've been reading along here.

Chris Bell and the blogosphere

The Houston part of the galaxy, at least. Since I have struggled with online accessibility and work-related projects since yesterday, I'm too far behind to do much more than point you to Kuffner, Muse, and Stace.

Prog Tex live-blogged it, and in attendance also were Lyn, Matt H., Rob, and Lara Cottingham from the campaign along with Sally and Karen from Nick Lampson's campaign.

Some snips -- not directly quoted but as close as I could -- follow. (If there are errors in the transcription, in either numbers or the interpretation, they are mine.) Regarding Kinky and Gra- err, Carole:

"Kinky's negatives by all measures are extraordinarily high; on the order of 70% or so. Somebody is going to break out of that second-place pack (in the polling) and it's either going to be me or her."

Fundraising "has gotten a lot easier" lately. About $1.2 million will be reported in the quarter just ended, and about $2 million overall.

On immigration: "Why do their issues have to be our issues? (Talking about) building a wall is simply absurd."

How do we address/counter the undercurrent of defeatism among Democrats, liberals and other of our would-be support group? "Win. Winning salves many wounds. A 'Democrats-can't-win' attitude is simply the latest negative reaction for us to overcome. I have overcome the fundraising concerns, I am overcoming the no-name-recognition issue, and I will overcome this."

Bell is confident, assured, has a great sense of humor, is traveling extensively throughout the state and working hard without appearing to be frantic or even tired. He really seems to have the blog-relations thing down pat, also.

Update (7/11): Eye on Williamson County fleshes out the points on immigration, name-recognition, and "Kinky-gets-votes-from -Republicans".

"Kinky", but not "Grandma"

Hotline has it:

Kinky Friedman gets to keep the raunchy nickname of his on the Texas gubernatorial ballot.

A judge ruled that his name will appear as: Richard "Kinky" Friedman.

The other independent, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, will appear as "Carole Keeton Strayhorn." She had wanted "Grandma."

Per Harvey Kronberg: "Secretary of State Roger Williams today notified independent candidates, Richard "Kinky" Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, on his final determination of how their names will appear on the November ballot. Secretary Williams ruled that both candidates' names will appear in accordance with the election code as it pertains to the form of name on the ballot".

"Your letter does not articulate any facts that would counter my interpretation that the use of 'Grandma,' in the context of Carole Keeton Strayhorn's name appearing on the ballot, is a slogan and as such is prohibited by the Texas Election Code," Williams stated in a letter to Ms. Strayhorn's attorney Roy Minton. "In compliance with Section 52.031 of the Texas Election Code, Carole Keeton Strayhorn's name will be certified for the November 2006 General Election Ballot as Carole Keeton Strayhorn."

Alas, "slogans" mean slogans, Grandmaw.

"PDiddie and the Rev"

From the Year of the Yellow Dog last night:



(Tip o' the cap to Sandra Puente for the sitcom suggestion/ headline.)

Rev. Jackson is in town to call attention to the obnoxious behavior of a certain BP refinery in Texas City, which blows up frequently and poisons the adjoining neighborhoods and produces a significant quantity of the nation's $3.00 a gallon gasoline that working people can barely afford to buy in order to go to work.

My man David, whose billboards warning Big Oil start going up this week, has also addressed the subjects of gasoline prices and refinery pollution in Texas cities. Quite a bit of common ground exists between these two men's concerns, which the next Attorney General of Texas is uniquely qualified to address.

Fort Bend County is no longer the beast's belly

Not when several dozen show up to socialize and counter-protest the "Tribute to Tom DeLay" across town ('town' in this case being the glorious incorporated suburban mecca of Sugar Land).



The next Congressman from CD-22. I understand he may have an opponent.



Mrs. Diddie and DVO. Her shirt reads: "Democrats are sexy. Whoever heard of a great piece of elephant?"



Besides visiting with some of my more esteemed blog brethren and sisteren (Kuff and progeny, Juanita, Lyn, the Muse, and even EOWC) several local candidates came out also: Sherrie Matula, whom I just wrote about yesterday, my man David of course, FB judicial stalwart Albert Hollan, FB treasurer Neeta Sane, district clerk Veronica Torres, and JP Farhan Shamsi.

That was last night; we get to do this again tonight in Houston with about 400 activists and maybe a hundred Democratic candidates from around the city, county, and state at The Year of the Yellow Dog celebration.

Don't tell the red asses, and by all means do not alert the corporate media, but we're on a roll.

Child prostitution

When her father the Giant Cockroach was forced back into the race for the 22nd Congressional District seat this week, Tom DeLay's daughter rapidly spun around in circles and then vomited:

"Tom DeLay looks forward to the correct decision being rendered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. As a resident of Virginia, he cannot lawfully be on the ballot in November. It is unfortunate that the voters of the 22nd District of Texas are the ones who bear the brunt of Judge Sparks' ill-advised decision, but it is highly likely that it will be overturned and the voters will have a Texas 22 Republican on the ballot who will defeat Nick Lampson."

It might be enlightening now to remind ourselves of little Mrs. Ferro's recent history. She's not just a daughter bravely defending the honor *lmao* of her father.

Dani DeLay Ferro had lobbyists pour champagne on her while in the hot tub in Las Vegas in 2000. (Admittedly, they had a lot to celebrate.)

Dani DeLay Ferro has had her little snout buried in the TRMPAC trough right alongside Mommy and Daddy, right from the jump.

Dani DeLay Ferro recently had to explain away her dad's shaved beaver jokes.

It's probably past time she lost the last shreds of her tattered credibility.

And I think an entirely appropriate question to be asked of Tom DeLay, especially given his forced re-entry into a Congressional race he has withdrawn from (and will continue to litigate to do so), goes something like this:

"Is prostituting his own daughter something Jesus would have done?"

Matula, Trautman, Khan, and Cohen

Tonight's blog-call featured four of the rising Democratic stars running for the Texas Legislature in the Houston/Harris County area:

• Sherrie Matula, a retired teacher, SH-129 - .pdf link (incumbent R Davis)
• Diane Trautman, also a former educator, SH-127, (incumbent R Crabb)
• Chad Khan, a small businessman, SH-126, (incumbent R Hamric)
• Ellen Cohen, CEO of Houston Area Women's Center, SH-134, (incumbent R Wong)

Much of this call focused on public education and specifically CSHB 1, the abominable tax cut/tax increase bill passed in the last special session.

I visited with Matula over breakfast at the TDP convention last month. She has an extraordinary grasp of the issues, in particular of course the vital need for a a thriving public school system in the state. Trautman is also experienced and knowledgeable, having previously been a principal of Tomball JHS and an assistant professor at Stephen F. Austin University.

An excerpt, courtesy of Muse via email:

What is the effect of the special session on local control by both superintendents and school boards? Both in the area of taxes/budget and in the area of policy, this HB stripped more powers away from local school boards than any piece of legislation in memory. Page after page of HB 1 says “the commissioner may adopt rules to implement this section”. Added note: 99% of all school districts have standard policy written by TASB. So….what do local school boards control? Almost nothing.

More there.

Matula and Trautman's expertise as educators, and Kahn and Cohen's business acumen serves as testament to their future success as state representatives. All four would be outstanding legislators, even if they weren't compared to the clowns sitting in office at the moment. What's more, they are indicative of the kind of Texas Democrat nominated for election up and down the ballot and across the state -- people driven to offer themselves for public service because of the distress they have felt at the current climate in the state Capitol. People who come from all walks of life -- immigrant, teacher, non-profit executive -- people who aren't lawyers, weren't selected by the party machine, who aren't indebted to lobbyists or corporate PACS for their existence.

All Texans, and especially those living in these districts simply deserve people of great distinction like these four representing them in Austin.

So we WILL have Tom DeLay to kick around some more.

Judge Sparks says so.

I commented elsewhere earlier today that having a bruised and flat-broke Cockroach on the ballot after all is a best-case scenario for Nick Lampson.

Appeals and certainly a potential reversal of fortune could still occur -- and my favored outcome remains Bible Bob displacing Hot Tub Tom on the November ballot -- but today's end result is a GOP in CD-22 in chaos.

How unfortunate. *roflmao*

Making a killing

In weird news:

Mario Williams, the Houston Texans' much-debated No. 1 draft pick, has purchased a home with its own share of controversy.

The newly rich National Football League rookie bought the spacious, Mediterranean-style house from ousted Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade for about $1.5 million, according to records filed last week.

Clcik on the names above for some backstory if you haven't been following either person's latest travails.

I once knew a couple when we lived in Midland during the Eighties who had bought a very nice home from someone who had recently been prosecuted as the neighborhood child molester. His name -- by the children whom he had invited to swim in his backyard pool -- was "Tickle Man".

Now it appears as if Williams got a $300,000 discount on his new home, and though I never got them to talk much about it, I'm sure my west Texas friends got an even better deal on theirs (not quite as expensive an abode, but the discount in terms of percentages was huuuuuge).

There's a point here...

At what point does this sort of thing traverse the boundary from predatory purchasing to just plain old creepiness? Does the line get crossed with the two situations I related? Certainly I understand that a significant enough price reduction can overcome nearly any queasiness, but still ...

If a real estate bargain is your primary --- indeed, your solitary interest, then be advised: there's a nice little high-rise condo going on the market in River Oaks very soon that you might want to look into. A recent assessment put it at $6.5 mil, down from $7.9 in 2002, by all appearances.

Its celebrity markup has recently been mitigated. Somewhat.

God didn't want to wait until Oct. 23

And apparently wasn't going to be happy with Kenny Boy spending the rest of his life behind bars. Though Judge Sim Lake is well-known for conducting the business in his courtroom quickly, nothing beats Divine Retribution.

Perhaps Pat Robertson will inform us in the next few days if God told him that Ken Lay died for his many sins against man. That would be one of the only things I would take His (not Pat's) word for.

Indoctrinating the children

The foul stench of conservative fundamentalism is now going to be force-fed to Texas schoolchildren, thanks to the packing of the state school board by the Talibaptists:

The State Board of Education, an elected body with a history of fierce ideological debates about textbook content, now wants to put its stamp on the curriculum that guides the instruction of 4.4 million Texas schoolchildren.

At its meeting Thursday, the 15-member board is expected to scrap a curriculum revision process dominated by teachers and the Texas Education Agency and discuss a new timetable for revising the English reading and writing standards.

Many on the board want to replace a student-centered curriculum that calls on students to use their own attitudes and ethics to interpret texts with teacher-centered instruction that emphasizes the basics of spelling, grammar and punctuation.

It was a fight social conservatives on the board lost in 1997, when moderates and liberals adopted the curriculum for all subjects. Now, with social conservatives expected to have a majority on the board for the first time after the November elections, the plan to rewrite the English standards is viewed by some as the opening shot in an effort to put a conservative imprint on the state's curriculum.

"This is really going to be the big battle in public education over the next few years — what is it our students are going to learn," said Dan Quinn, a spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the state board for influence by the religious right. "We could see a lot of textbooks that are based on personal and political beliefs of a majority of the state board rather than on facts that students need to learn."

And as Stephen Colbert has pointed out, the facts have a well-known liberal bias.

There's a lot more to the article linked above, much of the rest presented as mitigating the dangers of allowing the John Birch Society to write public school curricula, but the truth is this process has been well under way for over a decade.

The Republicans will continue to claim, as they did when they gerrymandered Congressional districts into the shape of fajita strips to ensure a GOP takeover, that this is 'the will of the people' -- or at least of those in Texas who can be bothered to vote.

I think there is a different will of the people, ready and impatiently waiting to be expressed at the polls, that may change their thinking.

Or not...

We know a million bucks ain't enough

How much is? How much money would it take for the current Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott, to say: "My moral values preclude me from making a ruling in this case":

One thing you have to like about Texas politicians is their resistance to embarrassment.

Take the case of Attorney General Greg Abbott. Last Dec. 15 he received $100,000 in campaign contributions from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and his wife. The next day, he received a letter from Rep. David Swinford of Dumas, chairman of the House Committee on State Affairs.

Swinford wanted Abbott to issue a formal opinion on whether Grandma, a.k.a. state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, had the authority to conduct a review of the performance of the newly created and controversial Texas Residential Construction Commission.

...

But the notion that the attorney general can take $100,000 from someone with a direct interest in his ruling is outrageous. And it's actually worse. Since 2001, Abbott has received $1.1 million from Mr. and Mrs. Perry.

Memo to Rep. Swinford: Don't bother asking the attorney general for an opinion on that. I phoned and e-mailed his press office Friday to discuss the issue but received no response.

Since the Attorney General and his staff likely started their holiday weekend early last Friday and couldn't get back to Casey with a response, we'll just have to answer for him:

"There IS no limit, according to my well-documented Christian principles. There is NO MAXIMUM amount of money I will accept that would prevent me from passing legal judgment in favor of my largest campaign contributors.

"After all, billion-dollar corporations are people, too."

Update: John Cobarruvias of Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings is personally offended. And muse adds more.

A pause in the political action

... to once more tip the cap to the Astros' one certain Hall-of-Famer, who has the Babe in his rearview mirror after yesterday:

Only big names remain. Craig Biggio passed Babe Ruth for 37th on the all-time hit list Sunday with his 2,874th. Next is Mel Ott, a Hall of Famer, and after that Frankie Frisch, a Hall of Famer, too, and following him a list of luminaries leading up to one of the few numbers in baseball with any gravitas.

Health permitting, Biggio, a spindly kid from Long Island whose uniform has seen more dirt than Pigpen, will reach 3,000 hits early next season. He is, remember, 40 years old, and though he has not taken to pounding prune juice, his days no longer resemble June 29, 1988, the one on which Biggio singled off Orel Hershiser, in the midst of a Cy Young season, for his first big-league hit.

"Now," Biggio said, "you wake up and you go to the bathroom more – and you hurt more when you walk to the bathroom."

Brother Biggio, I can relate to that last part. I hope you keep pounding 'em out all the way to Cooperstown.

"If our enemies know what we're doing, why can't we?"

The buzz about the New York Times revealing the Bush administration's spying on financial transactions reached entirely new levels of preposterousness in the week since the story was published.

Glenn Greenwald discloses the many conservatives who have gone beyond being offended to summoning Nazi-style thuggery against the people who wrote and published the story. His post reveals details that are simply appalling to everyone who values democracy. If someone gets injured as a result of these lunatics inciting violence, God help them.

But the reaction from the MSM has been more than pushback; they are hitting back -- hard.

Richard Orr, a blast from my personal past, is responsible for the headline above. He continues:

Correct me, but in all the stories I've seen and read on the Times' "exposure" that the government has been dogging al-Qaida's financial network, I have yet to see one concrete example of who or what is being harmed by it.

What's more, the 9-11 commission has publicly said such surveillance is necessary to choke off the money that feeds their terrorist operations.

So if al-Qaida wasn't aware their financial transactions are being tracked, we have nothing to fear from them. They're too stupid to worry about.

What we do have to fear are the mindless calls for prosecuting the news media for informing us of what the most secretive administration in memory is doing in the apparent belief they're running a private corporation instead of a democratic republic that requires an informed electorate.

They're the same cries that went up with publication of the Pentagon Papers during the Nixon era - the exposure of which led to the revelation that Nixon operatives had broken into a psychiatrist's office to find damaging personal information on Daniel Elsberg, the man who exposed what the administration was up to in Vietnam and elsewhere.

In Watergate, Nixon argued that the Pentagon Papers and the tapes from the Oval Office, if made public, would compromise national security when, in fact, it was national embarrassment and the fear of prosecution that really concerned them.

If our enemies know what we're doing, why can't we?

And this morning on Meet the Press, Dana Priest crushed Bill Bennett like a peanut -- with the Moral Gambler sitting right next to her. If you want to see it, McBlogger has it.

Update (7/3): Greenwald follows up. The right-wingers have disgraced temselves once again -- not that this atrocious display will stem their bile.

Chris Bell has Courage

In the Mapchangers contest (click also on the link at the top right) Bell has endorsed the man challenging Lamar Smith in CD-21, John Courage:

Now as we start the final round, there are ten candidates from across the country vying to win a fundraiser with Governor Warner. Voting runs through July 10th, and you can only vote for one candidate. It's a testament to the strength of the Texas netroots that we have two Texans into final ten, and we'll need every bit of that strength to bring Mark Warner to Texas. That's why we need to work together to make sure we do not split our votes.

I've talked with John Courage and we've decided that, in the spirit of Texas unity, and on behalf of all Democratic candidates and activists across Texas, we will ask all of our supporters to join together:

Please vote for John Courage in this contest.

http://www.forwardtogetherpac.com/mapchangers

Our new field director, Glen Maxey, is working with activists and campaigns all across the state to build a website at TrueBlueAction.com that will offer netroots organizing tools that will help Democrats win in November and beyond. If we can put John Courage over the top, he has agreed to use the first $15,000 raised at the Mark Warner fundraiser to underwrite the development of these tools and this website. These tools will help us across the state for years to come, and they will only get better as we build and improve on them.

The TrueBlueAction.com web site is under construction and is being developed as a open access site with lots of organizing tools for candidates and activists to use to register and turn out Democratic votes. It will be open for the use of local, state and federal candidates. It will be open for the use on any individual wanting to help the Democratic ticket or a candidate.

That's why winning this contest is bigger than John Courage or me. It's about what all Texas Democrats can accomplish if we work together. By voting for John Courage in the Map Changer contest, you will be helping all Democratic candidates in Texas.

Unity is a wonderful thing. You'll see much more of this kind of synergy among candidates and campaigns in the coming days. Oh yeah, the Texas Progressive Alliance is the official online endorser of this blogswarm.

So many Funnies this Sunday

I had to put up three editions:

Cut and Run

So much to laugh at

Not quite so funny

Happy Independence Day weekend. Try not to shoot anyone in the face.

Republicans making chicken salad

And they're using chickenshit again to make it:

Republicans yesterday looked to wrest a political victory from a legal defeat in the Supreme Court, serving notice to Democrats that they must back President Bush on how to try suspects at Guantanamo Bay or risk being branded as weak on terrorism.

In striking down the military commissions Bush sought for trials of suspected members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the high court Thursday invited Congress to establish new rules and put the issue prominently before the public four months before the midterm elections. As the White House and lawmakers weighed next steps, House GOP leaders signaled they are ready to use this week's turn of events as a political weapon.

House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's comment Thursday that the court decision "affirms the American ideal that all are entitled to the basic guarantees of our justice system." That statement, Boehner said, amounted to Pelosi's advocating "special privileges for terrorists."

Similar views ricocheted around conservative talk radio -- Rush Limbaugh called Pelosi's comments "deranged" on his show Thursday -- and Republican strategists said they believed that the decision presented Bush a chance to put Democrats on the spot while uniting a Republican coalition that lately has been splintered on immigration, spending and other issues.

As usual, there's so much that's so ridiculous that's it's difficult to know where to begin, but let's start with their own words:

The right to a fair trial as guaranteed in the Constitution, described by the House Majority Leader as "special privileges for terrorists".

Rush Limbaugh calling someone -- anyone besides himself -- "deranged".

You know, it's just beyond even their standard-issue bullshit. The sad thing is that there are actually people -- some in the media -- who will swallow this. Tom Tommorrow's cartoon about the shit sandwich describes this mental deficiency perfectly.

And their supporters, who have been crying for months as the GOP's political futures have swirled the drain, can now latch onto this as a brave stand for America. 'Bold', they will say.

Fascists, I say. Xenophobic to the point of paranoia.

Of course there is some benefit to the nation in this course of action by the Republicans, and that is that they will be marginalized once more as a political party. Removed permanently to the minority, where they belong.

There are already too many of their former majority who refuse to be terrorized by them any longer.

Judges want redistricting maps in two weeks

The Lone Star Project has it:

The three-judge Federal District Court has issued an order and provided a schedule for determining a remedy in response to the recently released opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court on Texas redistricting.

July 14, 2006 - All parties (plaintiffs and defendants) required to file remedial proposals including briefs and proposed maps.

July 21, 2006 - responses to remedial proposals must be filed.

August 3, 2006 - 9:00 a.m. - Oral arguments on proposals before the three-judge panel in Austin, Texas

That answers the question as to whether the judicial trio or the Lege will approve the maps. Judges Higginbotham, Rosenthal, and Ward aren't fooling around. But with a sixty-day period for DOJ review, new districts will require a special election.

In November?!? Does that mean that those elected in a special will serve a regular two-year term? Does it mean Cuellar or Doggett, with no GOP opponent in the general, can draw additional challengers -- from either the right or left?

My goodness, this gets curiouser and curiouser.

Update: Charles Kuffner seems to think there's plenty of time to pull off an open primary. (Color me skeptical.)

Update II (6/30): The Valley Politico seems to have it all figured out. His scenario posits a politician on the ballot for, say, state legislature in the regularly-scheduled general election on November 7, and the same politician on a special election ballot for Congress. The same person running for two different offices at the same time, a la LBJ and Lloyd Bentsen. At this point I feel as if I must confess to a learning disability regarding this issue.

Update III: Charles K explains it to me. (Thanks, dude.)

What the redistricting decision means

Maybe. At this point.

Having qualified my conclusions, it's still subject to lots of legal interpretation, a few more decisions still need to be made, and then a plan will be executed. By someone(s). At some near or not-so-near point in the future.

First, as backstory for those of you not paying close attention, the SCOTUS -- in a decision announced earlier today -- invalidated a portion of the Texas Congressional district maps that the Republicans in Austin redrew in 2003, according to Tom DeLay's edict. There are various interpretations of whether this was a victory for democracy or not.

Blogs and listservs are ablaze with translations. Here's a few of mine. First, the facts:

1. Two* One districts -- CD-23, currently held by Republican Henry Bonilla, and CD-25, held by Democrat Lloyd Doggett* -- were deemed in violation of the Voting Rights Act due to dilution of minority votes. They must be redrawn and submitted for approval by the USDOJ again. You may recall that the political appointees there overruled the career attorneys in approving the current boundaries several months ago. Any redrawn maps for these districts likely also change marginally the composition of CD-21 (Lamar Smith-R) and CD-28 (Henry Cuellar-D, barely).

2. The Texas district court panel of three judges which arbiters this matter now has the responsibility of deciding what to do with the map. The first and most immediate decision is when to rewrite the map -- this election or the next (my guess is the boundaries for 2006 will not change). The second decision is whether they will redraw it themselves -- accepting three maps each from Democrats and Republicans has been customary in the past -- or whether they kick it back to the Texas Legislature to redo the lines during the 80th legislative session, starting in January of 2007.

Speculation and further decisions and accompanying speculation to come. For now, I'll focus on what was won:

This ruling is a substantial victory for the Voting Rights Act, a victory that puts the Republicans in Congress (like the odious John Carter) on the spot, since they delayed VRA renewal to see what the Justices would do with Texas redistricting.

I don't think it was ever likely that the Supreme Court would have tossed out the entire plan simply because of political gerrymandering, which in this decision the Justices have largely approved. Much more interesting is that redistricting can apparently happen any time a state legislature feels like it, which opens a Pandora's Box in the short term for the GOP (in states besides Texas).

Summarizing: we don't know what the relief will be. The three-judge panel could 1) draw its own map; 2) give the Texas Lege a deadline to draw one; 3) let the current districts stand for 2006; 4) move quickly to change them.

As regards the current occupants of the affected districts, Bonilla and Cuellar can be more easily defeated in redrawn districts, but Lamar Smith would be strengthened.

Some good and some not so much, which is probably the best short conclusion of what the SC decided in this case. And there will be much more to dissect in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

*Update: Only CD-23 was declared in violation of VRA. Interestingly, in the opinion issued by the Supremes, they suggest the remedy is redraw CD-25 ...

Redrawing that district (CD-23) will force nearby District 25, the Austin-to-Mexico district held by Democrat Lloyd Doggett of Austin, to be redrawn, according to the court opinion. The court's majority noted that the Doggett district, which joins two distinct Latino communities 300 miles apart, is not compact enough.

Gallery of the Absurd

I've added some really interesting things in the blogroll lately, but none more so than Gallery of the Absurd. Go look around, and don't miss Celebrity Endorsement Idea No. 645.

Rush Limbaugh-Viagra humor

While we wait for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, here's some bad jokes by Grant Miller ...

What's the difference between a meeting with Republican lobbyists and a Dominican Republic sex vacation? When you meet with Republican lobbyists, you don't have to take your Viagra through customs.

I hear Daryn Kagan broke up with Rush -- apparently she only does hard news.

Limbaugh takes Viagra so he can be an even bigger dick.

I heard he was supplying Viagra to President Bush. Even the President gets tired of screwing the country all the time.

This confirms that the vast right-wing conspiracy isn't quite so vast.

He puts the "social" in "social conservative."

Limbaugh declined to comment on the drug seizure. I guess he likes to keep his privates private.

*badaboom * badabing*

Moneyshot Quotes of the Week

Greg has already expounded, so let me just repeat what these two idiots said:

"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons ..."

-- Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"I don't think we have racial bias in Texas any more."

-- Rep. John Carter (R-TX)


Update (6/27): Think Progress administers another smack to Carter's head with this:

Texas leads the nation in several categories of voting discrimination, including recent Section 5 violations and Section 2 challenges. … Section 5 of the VRA, the preclearance requirement, was extended to Texas in 1975 due to the State’s history of excluding Mexican Americans from the political process. … Texas is home to the second largest Latino population in the U.S.

Pride Parade photos

These are from last year and were originally posted at Todd's, but they're representative of last night's atmosphere. More -- and more current -- shortly.

Update: Lyn has posted some good ones from yesterday.

Update II: And Robb Zipp has some from this year's Pride Parade, including some interesting ones of Taylor Dane (let's just say that they don't call them backup singers for nothing). Thanks, RZ; by that time I was sound asleep from the day's sweat.

Too far behind to catch up

This time last Sunday we were preparing for the Juneteenth Filibuster, which began just as the rain stopped and ended as the sky opened again. A brief account was posted here and a few pictures here.

I drove back to Houston Monday morning in the middle of the worst of the downpour, but experienced only minor traffic delays on I-45 and the South Loop. The white-knuckle, windshield-wipers-on-fast-and-still-can't-see, slightly-hydroplaning-once-in-awhile ride took 2 1/2 hours instead of one, but really the worst of it was on the other side of the highway, where the Loop was flooded -- not just the access roads -- and the cars were stopped, their drivers out walking around. A scene reminiscent of the Rita evacuation. *shudder*

On Tuesday the 21st I met the Van Oses -- David, Rachel, Maya, and Leya -- at the Galveston County Courthouse and began our odyssey. Well, their odyssey. Fifteen courthouse stops in three days, of which I managed six in two. After Galveston came Chambers (Anahuac) where we met mayor Guy Robert and Judge Jimmy Sylvia and others for lunch at the Wooden Spoon. The Baytown Sun covered this visit. Then to Liberty, where about twenty supporters greeted us, among them CD-02 challenger Gary Binderim and and mi bloghermano Stace Medellin, who posted a lengthy account of this part of the trip at his place. We got in a radio interview with KSHN-99.9 FM before we left for Kountze, the seat of Hardin County, where David spoke to about thirty activists including chair Willa Coe, mayor Fred Williams, superintendent of schools Gus Holloman, and others. (It's important here to note that Hardin County has no Republicans on the local ballot. This is true of several of the counties we visited -- Southeast Texas remains Yellow Dog Democrat country.)

From Kountze to Beaumont and the Jefferson County courthouse, a radio interview with Jack Pieper of KLVI, and then a dinner reception with the Progressive Democrats of Southeast Texas, headed up by DVO supporters John and Suzanne Stafford. (David was kind enough to acknowledge my mother Jean's upcoming birthday in his remarks.)

Wednesday started in Orange, Texas and a press conference including Glenn Earle of KOGT and county judge Paul Thibodeaux, who told David that the steps from which he spoke were the same ones where Lyndon Johnson addressed Orange County citizens in his 1947 Senate run.

I lef the tour after Orange and returned to Houston; David and family continued on to nine more county seats, wrapping up the trip in Conroe on Thursday the 22nd, with Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert and 70 supporters. Sharon posted an excellent DKos diary here with photos, links to coverage by the Montgomery County Courier and the Jasper Newsboy, and podcasts by David of the tourstops. Thursday night concluded the week's events with a spaghetti dinner fundraiser held at the Woodlands home of Nahla Williamson. Mrs. Diddie and I tried to get up there for it, but once again the weather (and 5 o'clock rush hour traffic on I-45 North) was uncooperative; we were forced to turn back after getting caught in the gridlock.

Friday morning the 23rd I returned to Galveston County and represented the campaign at the Mainland Ecumenical Alliance luncheon, and spoke for a few minutes for David along with Chris Bell, Barbara Radnofsky, Hank Gilbert, county judge Jim Yarbrough, and district court judge Susan Criss. In attendance were many of the area's Baptist ministers, parishioners, Democratic activists, organized labor leaders Lee Medley, Sam Munn, Daryl Stewart and more.

Saturday at the Pride Parade we filled in at the DFA booth registering voters and signing up supporters. The heat and humidity did not deter the revelers.

I'll try to manage a few photos of some or all of the week's events later.

With Van Os for the next week

at the Filibuster for Freedom in Galveston today through Monday, Juneteenth, and then traveling through Southeast Texas on the Courthouse Tour. Light posting likely due to rare access to the broadband connection.

Consider this an open thread to discuss anything you like in the comments until I get back.

Paul McCartney turns 64 on Sunday.

He wrote the song as a goof on his dad shortly after the elder McCartney had reached the age his son will be day after tomorrow.

Paul's mother had died of breast cancer five years earlier, as did his wife Linda seven years ago.

... About 2.7 million other Americans observe their 64th birthdays in 2006, including Muhammad Ali, Erica Jong, Larry Flynt, Garrison Keillor, Michael Bloomberg, Harrison Ford, Ted Kaczynski and Barbra Streisand. (Ringo Starr, the only other surviving member of the Fab Four, will be 66 next month; John Lennon was murdered at 40 in 1980; George Harrison died of cancer at 58 in 2001.)

"The slogan back then was 'Never trust anyone over 30,' " recalled Jeff Greenfield, the CNN commentator, who is 63. "We thought people would be dead or in a home by their 60's."

Today, on average, 64-year-olds can expect to live more than 16 years, about 4 years longer than 64-year-olds could expect in 1967, according to government statisticians (and, hey, an editor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Jude Rutledge, was named for another of Mr. McCartney's songs).

Here's hoping my favorite Beatle exceeds the life expectancy.

Time to start Acting Blue

ActBlue is the federal clearinghouse for donations to Democratic candidates, having channeled over $5.5 million to Dem contenders so far. With your help, we can activate it for Texas... for statewide, state house, and state senate candidates.

Together, Texas bloggers have agreed to help activate ActBlue for our state's non-federal candidates by asking our readers to put us over the top. Normally, ActBlue asks each state to raise $10,000 before moving forward (Texas being at $4,625 so far). But we've got some good news for you from the people at ActBlue:

However, in doing some more preliminary research Texas turns out to be similar to some other states we've already done -- so if we could break $5000 we'd be ready to move ahead with it. Would the Texroots be able to help us out with the remaining $1000 by the end of the month?

As far as timeline, my aim would be to have everything ready to go as early in July as we can.

So will you -- the TexRoots, that's you -- get us over the $5,000 mark and activate ActBlue for all our state non-federal candidates? Do it here.

This is the most important thing you can do for the David Van Oses, the Hank Gilberts, the Maria Luisa Alvarados, and the VaLinda Hathcoxes of Texas as we move forward to support all of the TexRoots candidates, to be announced in the coming months here and elsewhere around the Texas liberal blogosphere.

Update (7 p.m.): $5000.02. Thanks everyone who pushed us over the top, including SH-126 candidate Chad Khan.

Gracias tanto, TDP

Amber Moon, Communications Director
Hector Nieto, Deputy Communications Director
Texas Democratic Party
707 Rio Grande Street
Austin, Texas 78701

Dear Amber and Hector:

Over the past few months, you have done tremendous work to bring the Texas Democratic Party and the surging Texas netroots community together.

Specifically, we want to commend you for the accommodations you provided at the recently completed Texas Democratic Party Convention in Fort Worth. From the front row seating to free wi-fi access, you gave us tremendous access to an excellent convention. Most importantly, you treated us with the same respect you gave to the traditional media.

The Texas blogging community may be an unconventional bunch. We don't write for major dailies, and we can't guarantee thousand-dollar checks. We do, however, work tirelessly -- as volunteers, as activists, as organizers, and as bloggers -- to fight for the candidates and the people of our Texas Democratic Party.

Thanks again for all the work you did helping make the 2006 TDP convention a success, and we are eager to continue working together to help move Texas forward.

Sincerely,
The Texas Progressive Democratic Webloggers

Rep. Aaron Pena
www.acapitolblog.blogspot.com

Sean-Paul Kelley
www.agonist.org

Anna
www.annatopia.com

Perry Dorrell
http://brainsandeggs.blogspot.com

Karl-Thomas Musselman, et al
www.burntorangereport.com

Vince Leibowitz
http://capitolannex.com

Nathan Nance
www.commonsensetx.com

Stace Medellin
dos-centavos.blogspot.com

wcnews and dembones
www.eyeonwilliamson.org

Greg Wythe
www.gregsopinion.com

Shannon & Ted McLaughlin
http://jobsanger.blogspot.com

Matt Glazer
www.justanothermatt.blogspot.com

Marc Gault
www.marcsmiscellany.blogspot.com

Trey McAtee
www.mcblogger.com

Martha Griffin
http://muse-musings.blogspot.com

Charles Kuffner
www.offthekuff.com/mt

M. Eddie Rodriguez
http://theredstate.typepad.com

Texas Kos
http://soapblox.net/texaskos

CC: Boyd Richie, Chairman, Texas Democratic Party
Ruben Hernandez, Executive Director, Texas Democratic Party

A lawsuit in Texas against electronic voting

From the Longview News-Journal:

Two Travis County voters, joined by Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General David Van Os and the Texas Civil Rights Project, filed a lawsuit in state district court Wednesday seeking to block the use of electronic voting machines that do not produce paper receipts.

The lawsuit claims that the paperless machines violate the public's right to a secure election and the purity of the ballot box under the Texas Constitution, according to a news release.

Darryl Primo, Gregg County's Precinct 2 commissioner, said he isn't surprised that someone is challenging electronic voting machines. He said he was the lone dissenting vote when commissioners purchased 160 machines in October using a $539,000 grant from the Help America to Vote Act.

Primo said he voted to purchase additional equipment to produce receipts that would allow for a voter audit trail.

"They voted not to do it. I wanted to do it; they voted not to do it," Primo said, "and it sits like a time bomb ticking away until the next time we have a contested election."

...

Primo pointed to the 1992 county judge election between Ken Walker and David Wright, when it took five recounts before Walker was declared the winner by fewer than 10 votes.

"Here's the issue, that the people I spoke with a year ago said that no matter how many safeguards were put into the design of these (electronic voting machines), there were vulnerabilities in the system," he said.

...

"When every voter cannot be sure that a machine recorded his or her vote the way he or she intended, democracy is not fulfilled," (Van Os) said. "These paperless machines are a direct threat to constitutional democracy. We must have paper ballots."

Much more you should read between the ellipses above. The Austin American-Statesman takes a more pessimistic slant (that is, for voters who want fair elections) :

The lawsuit argues that voters have no way of knowing whether the vote they cast is recorded or stored correctly by the eSlate system, which has been used in Travis County since 2002, and that electronic systems are prone to fraud and mistakes. The group wants an injunction to block use of the machines and cites government and media reports detailing problems with electronic voting in Texas and other states.

Travis County has embraced the technology, switching to electronic voting for everything but absentee ballots. The federal government required Texas to put at least one electronic voting machine in each precinct by Jan. 1 so people with disabilities can easily vote.

DeBeauvoir and a spokesman for Williams, along with the founder of the Austin company that created eSlate, all rejected the claim that paper ballots are necessary for a fair and secure election.

"I am not a lawyer but I kind of doubt that there is much of an argument," said DeBeauvoir, whose office runs elections in Travis County. "I believe that the system is accurate and secure the way it is."

David Hart, the founder of Hart InterCivic, said that more than 400 jurisdictions nationwide use the company's eSlate system, which uses tablet-size screens on which votes are cast with dials and buttons.

He said the system, which is not connected to the Internet, stores ballot information in three electronic places. In Travis County, it captures images of each ballot so electronic or manual recounts can be conducted.

"The eSlate system has got a lot of security built into it," he said.

The difference in opinion presented in these two stories could illustrate the divide between rural Texas and the state's capital city: Austin is where Hart Intercivic -- the company that supplies the eSlates used to cast ballots in Travis County as well as the rest of Texas -- is headquartered. And the state Capitol, where the corrupt Republicans who authorized this purchase gather biennially, is right up the road from the AAS building.

The company seems to have been a small, only-slightly-imbalanced player in the political contributions game (.pdf file) but maybe there's an embedded special interest in there somewhere.

You think?

More TDP photos

The Van Os-mobile.

Anna of Annatopia, who organized our Blogger's Caucus at the Flying Saucer, the most successful social event of the convention.

David Van Os and his women: from left daughters, Kay Cee, Leya, and Maya, wife Rachel.

Hank Gilbert and family.

Blogger's Alley inside the convention center.

I, The Media.

Fred Head's statement on public education.

Thanks to TomTech of Daily Kos for these. Here's more.

Why Rove wasn't indicted

Seth Abramson, a criminal attorney who writes the outstanding Suburban Ectstasies blog, has the brain candy. It's an easy three-step explanation showing how prosecutorial trial strategy, and not Rove's innocence, was the reason "Turd Blossom" escaped federal prosecution, but let's skip right to the smackdown:

Conclusion. Any competent lawyer will tell you that Rove got off on Perjury/Obstruction of Justice charges because the case against Scooter Libby was infinitesimally stronger than the case against Rove, and thus Fitzgerald went with the stronger prosecution over the weaker. (For the analysis of an incompetent attorney, see here). This doesn't mean that Rove is innocent, of course. In fact, it doesn't even mean Fitzgerald thinks he couldn't convict Rove. It means only this: that if Fitzgerald thinks he has a 95% or greater chance of convicting Libby, he must, therefore, think that he has a 94% or less chance of convicting Rove. So, it's simple trial strategy at work here, not anything the Porcine Wonder did. Don't let the media mislead you into thinking the lack of a Rove indictment means the case against him was weak. It wasn't. It isn't. It never will be. Which is why Rove will lose his shirt in the civil suit that's coming down the line any day now.

Perhaps I'll save that bottle of bubbly I was chilling for Fitzmas after all ...

Images from the TDP Convention

Yours truly with Senator Barbara Ann Radnofsky.

The Texas Progressive Alliance (well, most of it, anyway).

Bloggers' Caucus at the Flying Saucer. I'm in the middle of this mix, talking to David Van Os.

Hoping BAR doesn't fall (and I have to catch her).

The back of my head. Oh, and Jim Huebner and Mrs. Diddie also.

The next President of the United States.

All images stolen from Anna. Vince has more.

Look at all the live-blogging!

Hey, there's Brian, whom I must've wowed, because I didn't make his list and Kuff -- but he sucks, and Anna, who doesn't suck whatsoever, and over there standing on the rickety bar stool yelling is Vince. He appears to be having the proverbial good time by all. Everyone. Everybody's good time is also being had by Vince.

And hey! I see Muses and Ladies in Pink (no wait, that's not her after all, and it's not Alison Bell either, who was smashing -- particularly her curly coiffure) and some of the fellows from Burnt Orange. Last night I ran into Trey, who had to remind me he wasn't his sister (and then reminded everyone that he sometimes IS a little bitch).

The DU crowd numbered twenty-plus and took over the back of the Flying Saucer. I was stuck mostly up front, playing spotter to Barbara, who jumped up on the sofa arm to say a few words. Picture me catching the next Senator from the Great State falling into my arms as she tumbled backward. It didn't happen, and I wasn't hoping it would, but it would have made a great picture ...

Then Mrs. Diddie and I wrapped the evening at Crystal Ballroom 'C', where J- Lee and J. Goodwille (he's third from the top) and the rest of the exceptionally hip were jammin'.

I have only a small headache.

The Fort Worth Hilton

... which serves as the Texas Democratic Party's convention hotel (and where I am writing this) was formerly the Hotel Texas, the place where President John F. Kennedy and the First Lady slept the night of November 21st, 1963. The next morning, after a speech in the hotel's ballroom and a press conference directly in front of the hotel, the president's motorcade departed for a short flight to Love Field in Dallas, taking with it the final moments of a more innocent America.

In the side foyer of the hotel is a photographic recollection of this bit of history. More on the convention events later.

P.S. : I have a first-edition copy of An Inconvenient Truth, signed by the book's author Al Gore, donated to our statewide candidates as a silent auction item. If you're reading this and attending the convention, come by and place a bid on it.

RIP, Mary Kay Merriman

Mary Kay Merriman, Democratic activist, League of Women Voters member, and wife of Progressive Populist Caucus chair emeritus Stan Merriman, passed away suddenly yesterday.

David Van Os posted these remarks:

The fact that we are going to have a wide open, democratic election for state party chair is in large part a result of Stan Merriman's labors over the past 4 years to re-democratize the Texas Democratic Party. The fact that the Progressive Populist Caucus meeting is going to draw huge interest and will have heavy impact is a direct result of Stan's labors over the past 4 years in building the Caucus. The fact that the State Party Platform of 2004 was one of the most progressive in the history of the Texas Democratic Party is a direct result of Stan's labors. The fact that the 2006 platform will no doubt continue the same spirit is likewise a result of Stan's work. The fact that the face of the Texas Democratic Party in Convention this week will reflect a much more grassroots oriented party than it did 4 years ago is likewise a direct result of Stan's ceaseless labors, much of which are unknown to most but are undeniable to those who know.

Stan Merriman has been one of the most committed progressives that I have ever known. My family's thoughts and prayers go to him now at a time of incalculable loss.

Texas property insurers want another big raise

My friend John Cobarruvias, the blog-prietor of Bay Area Houston and president of Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, submitted this editorial on State Farm's homeowners insurance rate increase:

It is beyond belief that the State Farm Mutual Insurance company has filed with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to raise homeowner's rates as much as 39% across the state. This request will be the first challenge for the new TDI Commissioner Mike Geeslin and the leadership of Texas, and they need to stand up for the consumers and show State Farm the door.

In 2002 Texas had the highest homeowner's insurance rates in the nation. After the massive insurance reforms proposed during the 2003 legislative session, rates are now twice the national average and Texas again has among the highest rates in the nation, second only to Louisiana. If that isn't bad enough, deductibles are much higher and coverage such as foundation, water, sewer and mold is now optional, at an additional cost.

The promised reforms of the 2003 session were a complete and total failure of the leadership of the state. Then- insurance commissioner Jose Montemayor -- now CEO of an insurance investment outfit -- caved in to every request of the industry. After conducting hearings on toxic mold, he removed mold coverage without any reduction in rates or any worthwhile measures to prevent the cause of mold contamination. He allowed the use of credit scoring, giving the industry the right to increase rates based upon an owner's credit history. And he authorized the use of HO-A policies, which made foundation, water, and sewer damage insurable only as additional expensive policy riders. And yet not one single penny of rate reduction was realized by homeowners.

The Texas Legislature, led by Governor Rick Perry, wasn't much help either. They failed to protect homeowners by passing business-friendly legislation that provided absolutely no rate relief for consumers. The Texas Attorney General at the time, John Cornyn, filed lawsuits against the insurance companies questioning changes in their rates, but the suits were frivolous because Cornyn never intended to -- and never did -- follow through on the charges filed against the insurance industry. The present Attorney General, Greg Abbott, has also done nothing to defend Texas consumers.

The insurance industry, the TDI, the attorney general's office, and the state legislature has provided a steady stream of excuses to homeowners while rates have doubled and tripled and coverage has been slashed. And now State Farm wants to raise rates as much as 39%.

It is clear the current Texas political leadership has absolutely no interest in protecting consumers. The property tax relief passed in the recent special session will be offset by the out-of-control increases in property insurance, all while the insurers have enjoyed record profits. And the insurance industry has now found another excuse, "reinsurance"; the insurance purchased by insurance companies to protect themselves. Never over the last 4 years has reinsurance been used by Texas insurers. This is a sure sign that in the face of windfall profits, the industry is grasping for excuses to justify additional rate increases.

As in 2002, and as if on cue, insurance companies will file excessive rate increases right before the 2006 elections. Our elected officials will again have a chance to file frivolous lawsuits and make empty promises on the campaign trail, giving lip service to 'lower rates'.

Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott, and Insurance Commissioner Geeslin should stand up for the consumers and show State Farm the door, or the voters in Texas should show them the door in November.

John will be hosting a consumer caucus on the Texas Residential Construction Commission -- what Chris Bell called "a case study in corruption" -- next Saturday at the Texas Democratic Party Convention in Fort Worth.