Sunday Funnies (Irony Surge for Mother's Day edition)

Congratulations to Melissa Noriega who finished first in a field of eleven, with over 46%, in her race for Houston City Council yesterday, and to my friend Muse who managed her successful campaign. Runoff coming in June.

Your mother and art deco

It's an excellent way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Take your mother:



The old City Bank building at 1001 McKinney, built in 1946 but incorporating some of the century's earlier art deco architecture.

On Mother's Day, the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance hosts a walking tour of some of downtown Houston's best art deco buildings. It features the city's finest examples of 1920s, '30s and '40s architecture. Some of the art deco deco gems have been restored; others are still waiting for attention. The tour will also explore art deco designs that have been lost, using historical photographs and descriptions. Sites include the Peden Co. Building, the City National Bank Building (now 1001 McKinney) and the Banking Hall of the Gulf Building, now part of JPMorgan Chase.

• What: Downtown Deco Walking Tour

• When: 2 p.m. Sunday

• Where: Meet at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Ave.

• Tickets: $10 (on sale at 1:30, prior to walk)

• Information: www.ghpa.org

Michael Moore's letter to Treasury: SiCKOs

From Michael Moore:

I know you all are aware of the controversy surrounding my recent trip to Cuba with a group of 9/11 heroes for my upcoming movie SiCKO and the subsequent letter I received from the Treasury Department letting me know I'm now being investigated. Well, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. I just put it in the mail this morning...

May 11, 2007

Secretary Paulson,

I am contacting you in light of the document sent to me dated May 2, 2007, which was received May 7, 2007 indicating that an investigation has been opened up with regards to a trip I took to Cuba with a group of Americans that included some 9/11 heroes in March 2007 related to the filming of my next documentary, on the American Healthcare system. SiCKO, which will be seen in theaters this summer, will expose the health care industry’s greed and control over America’s political processes.

I believe that the decision to conduct this investigation represents the latest example of the Bush Administration abusing the federal government for raw, crass, political purposes. Over the last seven years of the Bush Presidency, we have seen the abuse of government to promote a political agenda designed to benefit the conservative base of the Republican Party, special interests and major financial contributors. From holding secret meetings for the energy industry to re-writing science findings to cooking the books on intelligence to the firing of U.S. Attorneys, this Administration has shown time and time again that it will abuse its power and authority.

There are a number of specific facts that have led me to conclude that politics could very well be driving this Bush Administration investigation of me and my film.

First, the Bush Administration has been aware of this matter for months (since October 2006) and never took any action until less than two weeks before SiCKO is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a little more than a month before it is scheduled to open in the United States.

Second, the health care and insurance industry, which is exposed in the movie and has expressed concerns about the impact of the movie on their industries, is a major corporate underwriter of President George W. Bush and the Republican Party, having contributed over $13 million to the Bush presidential campaign in 2004 and more than $180 million to Republican candidates over the last two campaign cycles. It is well documented that the industry is very concerned about the impact of SiCKO. They have threatened their employees if they talk to me. They have set up special internal crises lines should I show up at their headquarters. Employees have been warned about the consequences of participating in SiCKO. Despite this, some employees, at great risk to themselves, have gone on camera to tell the American people the truth about the health care industry. I can understand why that industry's main recipient of its contributions -- President Bush -- would want to harass, intimidate and potentially prevent this film from having its widest possible audience.

And, third, this investigation is being opened in the wake of misleading attacks on the purpose of the Cuba trip from a possible leading Republican candidate for president, Fred Thompson, a major conservative newspaper, The New York Post, and various right wing blogs.

For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me -- I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until George W. Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide.

I demand that the Bush Administration immediately end this investigation and spend its time and resources trying to support some of the real heroes of 9/11.

Sincerely,

Michael Moore

This doctor agrees with Moore's take in the film, even if the Bushies don't. Is it possible that the US government has a more important investigation to conduct? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

Beaumont Enterprise (Hearst) replaces publisher

Two months ago the owners of the Beaumont Enterprise pushed the man who had been its president and publisher for nearly twenty years -- a man I worked directly for in my first corporate career -- into involuntary retirement.

(This post is going to be more than a little "inside baseball", so if you're looking for one of my usual amusing or curmudgeonly pieces, this won't be it.)

Let me set up the history: Upon graduating from Lamar University with a degree in management, I went to work for the Enterprise in 1981 as a retail advertising account executive. I called on a cross-section of Beaumont's retail establishments -- tire stores, restaurants, liquor stores, dress shops and so on -- for the purpose of their ad placement in the newspaper. I thought it was the best job in the world. I got to use both sides of my brain all day long: salesman, artist, business consultant, budget writer, creative writer, and so on. The newspaper was owned by the publications subsidiary of the Jefferson-Pilot insurance company, and the publisher at the time was a rather non-descript man named Gene Cornwell (there is a chronology of Enterprise publishers from the newspaper's inception here -- reg. req.) He was soon replaced by Harold Martin, the head of Jeff-Pilot Publications, which sold the Enterprise to Hearst in 1984. Upon the ownership change, George Irish -- who is now the senior executive for Hearst Newspapers in New York -- became the publisher of the Enterprise as well as the group publisher of Hearst papers in Laredo, Midland, and Plainview. It was Irish who came to me in 1986 and asked me to go to Plainview and become the advertising director, in line to succeed the Daily Herald's publisher, a 64-year-old who had just had five bypasses.

So I did, but not before I married my beautiful wife of now 20+ years. Irish and Aubrey Webb, the general manager of the Enterprise -- he had been the advertising director before Hearst's purchase and was my immediate superior through the mid-Eighties -- both came to our wedding.

When Irish went to San Antonio and became the publisher of the Light, Webb succeeded him as publisher of the Enterprise, in 1988. Both men were in their early forties.

These two pretty much set the stage for both my rise as a Hearst newspaper executive as well as the fall. I left Plainview for Midland and a job as the national advertising manager of the Reporter-Telegram in 1988 after telling Irish I couldn't take it in Plainview any longer, both the town and the man I worked for. He plucked the ad director out of Midland to be Plainview's top dog, but passed me over for the seat that was vacated. I finally left the newspaper game for good in 1992; Irish's Hearst career continued to flourish.

Irish's history as corporate hatchetman has been well-documented: when Hearst announced it would buy its larger cross-town rival San Antonio Express-News, late in 1992, they also declared that they would kill the Light if no buyer was found. Three months later, as its now-suddenly-final edition was rolling off the presses, George Irish jumped up on a desk in the newsroom and told the Light employees: "You are released."

Irish left for New York and most of the Light's employees headed for the unemployment line. He -- perhaps I should rightly say Frank Bennack, now-former president of Hearst and himself a former San Antonio Light publisher -- continued this method of eliminating jobs in San Francisco in 1999 (Hearst sold the Examiner and bought the Chronicle) and tried it again most recently in Seattle but the Blethen family, owners of the Seattle Times, the paper in joint operating agreement with Hearst's Post-Intelligencer, thwarted them.

The federal judge in California who got involved as the San Francisco newspaper negotiations commenced, and then devolved, put both Bennack and Irish under oath and later declared that he found their testimony "simply not credible". A good reason why is that Irish's sworn testimony contradicted his own hand-written notes, which were displayed on an overhead projector in court.

After this embarrassment, Irish was promoted to senior vice president of the Hearst Corporation.

Back in Beaumont, Webb promptly went to sleep at the switch for the next couple of decades. The Enterprise, which in 1981 had a Sunday circulation of nearly 115,000, started a slow downward spiral similar to all US newspapers but particularly those classified in the industry as "community" papers (under 100,000 circulation). Hurricane Rita nearly finished off the newspaper in 2005, sending its staff fleeing for several weeks. The paper couldn't put out a print copy for ten days and didn't have enough circulators to deliver the paper for weeks and weeks after that. Prior to Rita the newspaper was at 70,000 copies on Sunday; currently it stands at just under 59,000. Part of this decline has been exacerbated by the flourishing of two weeklies in the market, both owned by wealthy attorneys and engaged in a pitched battle for readers and advertisers themselves.

The numbers -- ad revenue must be suffering mightily as a result of the circulation decline and the two lower-priced competitors -- finally forced Irish to cashier his old buddy Webb. "Publisher emeritus" is what the company does when they don't have the courage to just fire someone.

The new publisher of the Beaumont paper has his own rather checkered history of legal issues regarding circulation. Here's an explanation of what was going on that got the Mississippi state attorney general's attention.

I'll probably keep up with what the old guys I used to work with in the paper business are up to, but I'll try not to bore you any more with it.

GOP Senators were for immigration reform before they were against it

Jonathan Singer:

Despite the fact that the Republicans' nativist language did not save their congressional majorities as some in their ranks expected and that such positions actually hurt the GOP in a number of instances, Republicans in the Senate appear to be drifting even further to the right on immigration -- a position that runs almost completely contrary to current polling.

Who's among the reality deniers? A couple of guys who want to be nominated for president, naturally ...

The cynicism and opportunism of these Republican Senators -- chief among them McCain, Martinez and Brownback -- is quite remarkable even if it were predictable. Each of the three aforementioned Senators, who are walking away from last year's bill, not only voted for it when it came to the floor but were among the bill's six co-sponsors.

Like the science on global warming, like the refusal to believe in evolution, like the need for fools like Alberto Gonzales and Paul Wolfowitz to resign, the truth keeps slapping the GOP in the face but they just don't get it:

This move also carries great potential downsides for the Republicans, who could be on the verge of losing the Hispanic vote for years to come. Hispanic voters, many of whom were repulsed by the GOP's resort to nativist language last cycle, gave Democratic congressional candidates close to 70 percent of their vote, up between 10 and 15 percent from just two years earlier. In the Demember special election in Texas' 23rd congressional district, Democrat Ciro Rodriguez upset Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla in no small part as a result of the support of Hispanic voters.

And it's not just Hispanic voters who could be turned off by GOP antics on immigration reform. As mentioned above, polling quite clearly indicates that the public favors creating an arduous path towards legalization and perhaps even citizenship for those here unlawfully. At the same time, just a very small, however vocal, minority supports mass deportations. So while Republicans in the Senate play games, backing away from their own compromise of just one year ago to placate their extremist base, it's quite clear that both in the short run and the long run they're in for a rude awakening as voters' unhappiness with their shenanigans comes home to roost.

Then again, if the Republicans can succeed in disenfranchising the voting rights of large portions of the population likely to vote against them, then they may well succeed in holding onto power.

I have written previously that "illegal immigration" isn't an issue the Republicans in power are really interested in addressing. The whining about it, however, has reached uncomfortable decibel level out here in "the heartland". I have listened to the GOP's soft suburban base complain about it for years even as they themselves hired undocumented workers to cut their lawns, care for their parents, and clean their offices.

The hatred for Latin people lately and by my observation seems to be reaching an unprecedented level. An inability to comprehend the history of the United States -- a nation that exists in its present form only because of immigration -- as well as another American tradition, racism, lies at the center of the rightward bluster.

Were it not for uncontrolled European immigration, the North American continent (from Mexico to Canada, just to be clear) would be populated with the people indigenous to it -- brown people. Were it not for the slave trade by those same European immigrants, there would likely be millions fewer Africans calling themselves Americans.

And that's exactly the way many of the conservative Europeans would like it to be.

It will never happen. There is nothing anyone can do to stem the surge of people of all races who will come to America for a chance at a better life, legally or not.

Their choices are to keep raging against the tide, or learn a little tolerance.

Don't count on any intellectual breakthroughs from either the Republican base nor those who wish to lead them.

Mecom Fountain may light up again soon

What the Mecom Fountain looked like before vandals cut the lights off.

The lights of Mecom Fountain, one of Houston's showiest landmarks and a bright spot on the city's grandest thoroughfare, have been dark for seven months. Last fall, someone stole the fountain's 264 light bulbs and the bronze canisters that encased them.

Why?

"Hard to say," says Mark Ross, deputy director of facilities for the Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for the fountain's upkeep. "Precious metal theft is in vogue for sure."

But what began as an elaborate act of vandalism has grown into a community effort to bring light back to the fountain's three immense bowls.

A photo from one of the recent Iraq War protests.

"It's our Trevi Fountain, our Golden Gate Bridge," says Peter Brown, the exasperated city councilman at large who's been fielding complaints ever since the fountain went dark. "It's the urban icon that helps define this city."

Sanford Criner, board chair of the Hermann Park Conservancy, calls the 1960s fountain "one of the most, if not the most, beautiful and recognizable civic landmarks after dark in the city."

This is my part of town. We lived just south of the Texas Medical Center from the time we returned to Houston, from Treasure Island, Florida, in 1993 until two months ago when we moved to West University (just west of the TMC skyline; I photo'd here).

This fountain is precisely what Councilman Brown says it is.

When it broke a few years ago and sat silent and empty for a long period of time, it was as sad a time then as it is now at night. Rumor had it at the time that an anonymous benefactor wrote the city a $1 million check for the repairs after learning that the fountain might not work again for years, if ever.

This time all it needs to be re-lit is $100,000 (and some security guards to keep the bronze vandals away from it).

Clemens to make comeback as Bush's war czar

There's just too much irony for me lately to take things seriously ...

After trying in vain to enlist a traditional military man to assume the bizarre post of “War Czar,” President Bush announced today that he had “pitched” the job to Roger Clemens, who has accepted.

Bush had to outbid the New York Yankees for Clemens, who will now be the highest paid employee in the United States Government, at $32 million per year.

The president wasted no time in anointing Clemens with a patented Bush nickname to reflect his new role, in this case “Clemenza.”

Indeed, Bush is counting on the intimidating presence of Clemens, known as “The Rocket,” to singlehandedly defeat the war on terror. As the president, himself a former owner of baseball’s Texas Rangers, put it: “anyone willing to throw splintered bats, and 96 MPH fastballs at people’s heads, is just the kind of sonuvabitch we haven’t had around here since the departures of Rummy and Wolfowitz.”

Clemens also has certain perks in his contract, including only having to show up to work every fifth day, and not making any of the long road trips to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Even with such limitations, the consensus is that Clemens’ effort and performance will far exceed that of all other Bush appointees put together.

Bush has also promised to give Clemens the use of the private jet now utilized by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Clemens, for his part, was quite honest in admitting that his decision was strictly “about the money” — “after all, unlike with the Yankees, it’s obvious that here I have absolutely no chance of winning.”

Art Car Parade Saturday

This is one of Houston's don't-miss-it events.

Always attracts a couple of hundred thousand spectators.

Very few of them Republicans.


These are pictures of parades past. This year's will be even better.

When: 1-3 p.m. Saturday

Where: Begins at Allen Parkway and Taft, turns around on Bagby downtown and ends at Eleanor Tinsley Park.

Cost: Free

Also: Art Car Weekend begins Friday with the free "Shop Talk,'' the Art Car Symposium, 6-9 p.m. at the Art Car Museum, 140 Heights. Live music, illuminated art cars and films by Aurora Picture Show.

Another six months. Tops.

Lifted in its entirety:

[Rrrring!]

"It's a great day at Fred Kagan Neocon Plumbing! How may I help you?"

"Yeah, this is Gladys Higginbotham. You worked on my toilet a few months ago."

"Yes, Mrs. Higginbotham. You must be calling to thank me for doing such a good job."

"No, actually I'm calling because there's raw sewage exploding out of my bowl and I need you to try something else."

"Well, I'm afraid that's impossible, ma'am. You must be looking at someone else's toilet. Because you know our motto: 'We fix it real good the first time so there's no need for Plan B.'"

"Well, you better get over here because there's shit flying out of my john because of your Plan A."

"Look, ma'am, I understand these are tough times. But you have to trust us. We listened very carefully to the plumbers on the ground and acted accordingly. Give it a chance to work. I mean, the job's barely a few months old. Another three months is all we ask -- six tops -- and then we can reassess the results and adjust the plumbing strategy accordingly. I'm sure it's already starting to get better."

"So you're saying that the stream of fecal matter that's flowing out of my bathroom, down the steps and into my living room is normal."

"Totally to be expected, Mrs. Higginbotham. Trust us... we've been experts at this since early 2003."

"Well, okay, but... six months tops."

"Of course. Six months. Tops."

To be continued.

Upper respiratory bloggerrhea

-- The perils of pet ownership are beginning to wear on me: last week I caught a cold, probably at the vet's office since there were a bunch of sick people in there. It's the damn upper respiratory crud, with all of the attendant phlegm-hacking as it runs its course. Despite having the headache that neither aspirin nor naproxin could make go away, last Friday I took Teddi out for a little fetch-the-ball and stepped into a hole, badly twisting my ankle. As I writhed in pain on the ground, my little puppy gleefully jumped on my back and licked inside my ear, thinking that my being at her level was a brand new game. Limping and coughing all the way back home didn't seem to concern man's best friend too much; she anticipated my fresh loogies with the enthusiasm she might show to a dead frog in the road or another dog's ass, which is to say she got all up on it with her nose and tongue.

Naturally the past week's infirmities have placed a greater burden of canine responsibility on my wife, who walks the dog upon arising at five a.m. and again at seven, then again when she gets home in the evening at least twice, the final trip usually taking place around 11 p.m.

These are among the many reasons we never had children. And I certainly expected some changes in our lifestyle to be sure, but after a few thousand dollars of veterinary care and feeding and supplies, not to mention soiled carpet and chewed-up baseboards and cabinetry and the hours upon hours invested in simple service to the puppy, I find myself reaching the point of diminishing marginal returns more and more often (when I was hoping after nearly six months that it would be less).

Despite 10 weeks of obedience training Teddi still hasn't learned to maintain control over her bladder, and whines to go out every few hours. Next week is her spay appointment, and I have warned her that she'll really have something to cry about then. She doesn't seem to get it.

-- Rocket Clemens is going to New York to be with his butthole buddy Andy Pettitte, but of course it's not about the money. I hope the young couple is happy together, and that the Yankees miss the World Series (again).

-- Why does the NRA hate America? Did you know a person could be on a terrorist watch list and still purchase as many guns as they wanted?

-- The White House threatened another veto, so the House expanded the definition of hate crimes to include gays and people targeted because of their gender. The ultra-conservatives declared the legislation to be a threat to their "right to express moral opposition to homosexuality". No shit.

-- The scandal-plagued Texas Youth Commission adopts a policy of "don't say a thing".

-- Ted Poe is a complete fool. To stand in the well of the House and quote an Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan is one thing, but to quote a losing general in a civil war in a debate over Iraq simply drips with irony. This stupid bastard would still be sentencing people to wear sandwich boards that say "I beat my wife" if it weren't for Tom DeLay and his redistricting scheme.

-- Mitt Romney thinks "it's entirely possible" that Iraq's WMDs were hidden in Syria. You know, even George Bush isn't that stupid.

Maybe next year (again)

Calvin Bo-Rail

"This is the most greatest moment of my life".

-- Calvin Borel, who rode Street Sense to victory in yesterday's Kentucky Derby

Borel -- called "Bo-rail" because of his ability to guide a horse along the track's inside railing in order to gain ground -- grew up in southwestern Louisiana. He learned to ride from his older brother Cecil, who still trains racehorses at Delta Downs in Vinton, just over the Sabine from Texas.

A second cousin of mine who owns a quarterhorse and runs him around the Cajun track circuit knows the Borels from all the way back.

Borel can barely read but has been a tireless worker all his life, having won more than 4,300 races and earned over $83 million for his horses' owners.

Good fortune just couldn't have happened to a more deserving fellow.

Sunday Funnies

Derby Day

Race favorite Street Sense gets -- or maybe gives --- a kiss. Thanks to the Chronicle for the pics.

I'll give him some tongue if he fills out my exacta box this afternoon, but he needs to go together with Scat Daddy or Great Hunter and -- even better -- one of the longer shots like Any Given Saturday or Zanjero, I haven't really decided.

Thursday Funny: Mission Accomplices

Documenting the Texas GOP atrocities: children are dying

Two months ago, on March 1st, 14-year-old Devante Johnson died of complications of kidney cancer that went untreated for four months as Texas' medical eligibility system left him in limbo, between Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

Earlier today Devante's mother, Tamika Scott joined several members of the Texas Progressive Alliance and spoke about the legislation pending in the Texas Legislature that would prevent other children from losing their medical coverage due to delays, errors, or bureaucratic bungling.

The Texas Senate is expected to debate a bill in the coming weeks that would allow children to re-apply for CHIP coverage once a year (instead of every six months), eliminate a 90-day waiting period, and allow families to deduct child care expenses when determining eligibility. Although the original bill -- HB 109 -- passed the Texas House in resounding fashion, it faces a tough battle in the Senate.

Ms. Scott was joined on the conference call by Barbara Best, the state executive director of the Children's Defense Fund, and Anne Dunkleberg, the associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities.

One of the overarching themes of our Republican state government is personal responsibility, particularly in the matter of the CHIP funding. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst has said as much:

"I don't think most people in Texas have a lot of sympathy for someone that can't fill out a two-page application every six months.'' (Austin American-Statesman, January 25, 2007)

Tamika Scott filled out at least five sets of paperwork, but the Houston Medicaid office couldn't even look at one of them for six weeks. Their office is so inundated that it is impossible to reach them by phone.

Children are dying while office workers sift through paperwork, far behind schedule. And whether those clerks are good, hard-working people or not isn't the point. This is the kind of environment that our Republican state leadership has fostered. You could call it an unfunded mandate, but it seems more like planned incompetence to me. There are naturally many examples, but I'll cite just one more: my beer buddy Pete at Perfectly Cromulent shares the story of his daughter's illness, which is similarly impacted by a different piece of legislation.

Is this the Texas we can all be proud of? The one that simply refuses to pay for our children's education, their wellness -- hell, even the cancer that's killing them?

Please contact your representatives and tell them if it is not.

Update: Corrie MacClaggen of Postcards from the Lege points out that time is running out on the bill. Vince has noted the 17,000 Texas children kicked off CHIP just this month for clerical errors. It bears repeating that denying children health care because of paperwork is just not a classy thing to do.

"Voter fraud", "illegal immigration", and Saddam's WMDs

Q. Which of these things is not like the other?

A. The missing weapons of mass destruction -- you know, the ones hiding in Syria now -- actually could have been a problem at some point.

The other two are nothing more than conservative contrivances. Imaginary issues, in the mind of deluded conservative thinkers (oxymoron alert).

I'm going to write this verrrry slowly (and I'm going to quote someone who knows):

There is no mass voter fraud problem in Texas. There are no cases of voter impersonation that have been claimed or proven. There is no effort to steal the elections in Texas by getting people who aren’t citizens or who aren’t eligible to cast votes for anyone! There are already laws in Texas that require a voter to show an ID when they vote in Texas. These laws are working! We do not have any such problem!

But there is voter intimidation in Texas, and there have been situations where people have been turned away from the polls or have been forced to vote with a provisional ballot (of which 20% or fewer are counted). Texas has been and continues to remain subject to the Voting Rights Act because of our history of voter intimidation and voting rights abuses.

Maybe that is why Texas is second in population but only fifth in the number of voters who do vote.

Creating barriers to voting, no matter how well they are disguised, is still the wrong direction for us to take in Texas.

Now then, to the matter of undocumented workers:

The reason a certain cabal of certifiably insane Republicans despise Bush for not taking the action they desire is because Bush isn't going to piss off Bush Pioneers like "Swift Boat" Bob Perry, whose source of cheap labor to build his cheap homes would evaporate.

"Illegal immigration" isn't a problem to the country-club Republicans who run business in this country, it's only a problem to the GOP's bigot caucus. A substantial voting bloc, true, but since they don't have any money ...

Any questions, class?

Stem Cell Research Town Hall

The Texas Freedom Network, the League of Women Voters, and a panel of medical experts will host a town hall meeting on stem cell research tomorrow evening in Clear Lake.


If you think it's time for Rick Perry and Texas elected officials to develop a responsible, ethical public policy that encourages this promising research, then sign their petition and join us Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at the Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church, at 17503 El Camino Real (77058 if you're mapping it).


Stem cell research shows potential for discovering cures for a wide range of debilitating ilness and disease including diabetes, from which I suffer.

So it's personal, see.

Senate Democrats at the Alamo

All that stands between democracy in Texas and the most vile voter disenfranchisement legislation imaginable is Mario Gallego's newly transplanted liver:

A Senate committee has passed the controversial, partisan-charged voter identification bill, but Democrats are vowing to do whatever it takes to block it.

Their success will depend on whether Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr., D-Houston, who has missed most of the session recuperating from a liver transplant, can make it back to work for the vote.

All 11 Senate Democrats are needed to block the bill from coming to the floor for debate, where the Republican majority will easily pass it.

"I'll be here," Gallegos promised Tuesday from the Senate floor, where he put in a full day against the advice of his doctor.

Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst promised to give Gallegos 24-hours notice before the bill hits the Senate floor — but only once, and that came Tuesday.

There won't be another notification should the bill be delayed today.

If this bill passes the Texas Senate, I would go so far as to say that the Republican party in Texas will become that permanent majority Karl Rove desires for another generation. Or longer. Essentially the rest of my life (and I'm not quite fifty). And I was feeling so positive just a few days ago.

And every Texan should understand what that means: a woman's reproductive rights completely eliminated; forced prayer in every public venue, conducted by fundamentalist zealots wearing sidearms; the absolute worst possible conservative nightmares that you have ever dreamed coming true. Wholesale deportation of every brown person they can't shoot. Homosexuality outlawed. Non-Christian worship intimidated at best and banned at worst. Pretty much everyone that doesn't conform to their view rounded up, deported, spied upon, arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned.

3-D neo-conservative theocratic fascism, coming to your town, your home, your bedroom.

Alarmist, you say?

I want to be wrong but it feels to me like this is the Alamo, people.

(If you're a semi-regular reader around here, you don't need reminding why this bill is bad news in the first place, but in case you do Eye on Williamson, Kuffner, and Vince have been all over it.)

Tell me I'm overly concerned (as long as you're not a goonbat). No, really. Convince I'm worried about something that isn't so serious as I think.

Really. Don't assuage me, persuade me that I'm mistaken.

While I wait for your argument I'll make my disaster preparations, if you please.


Update (6 p.m.): It's always nice when you're able to provide a little ray of sunshine into a pathetic child's life.

The Texas Youth Commission scandal is much worse than Sharpstown

And the consequences for all of those involved, from Governor 39% all the way down to the lowliest prison guard, should be at least as severe.

Rick Perry knew about sexual abuse in the TYC system as early as 2001, yet took no action. He appointed cronies and contributors to the TYC board, and when the crimes came to light, named his former chief of staff to oversee a cover-up of his involvement.

He should resign.

Attorney General Greg Abbott ignored the reports from a Texas Ranger, and instead had OAG agents peeking into the bathroom windows of little old ladies in a wild goose chase for evidence of Democratic voter fraud.

He should also quit his post.

Even Alberto Gonzales and the USDOJ refused to heed the warnings, but naturally the Prezdent still has full confidence.

These revelations are months old, and still there is little public outcry and even less effort to bring those responsible to account.

The larger question is how much embarrassment can Republican officials in Austin and Washington endure before they get the message, or at least acquire some shame. We know Bush is ignorant, and we know most of the people he surrounds himself with are as well, but you have to wonder when someone -- some Republican somewhere -- will stand up and say "the Emperor has no clothes". Will it be Medal of Freedom winner George Tenet, on 60 Minutes tonight but also selling his book? Will he be the tipping point?

Really, how much is it going to take? How many lies, how big a scandal, how serious the crimes?

The signs of GOP depression

It's too early to begin celebrating, but it looks like Karl Rove may be succeeding in creating that permanent majority. Thanks, Turdblossom!

President Bush's unpopularity and a string of political setbacks have created a toxic climate for the Republican Party, making it harder to raise money and recruit candidates for its drive to retake control of Congress.

Some of the GOP's top choices to run for the House next year have declined, citing what Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) called a "poisonous" environment. And Republicans' fundraising edge, an important advantage over the last five years, has dwindled.

With GOP clout diminished after November's election losses, the Republicans' national committee and their House and Senate campaign committees together raised the same amount as the Democrats in the first quarter of the year — and Democrats ended the period with more cash in the bank. At this point four years ago, Republicans had more than twice the money Democrats did.

"The reality is the Republican brand right now is just not a good brand," said Tim Hibbitts, an independent Oregon pollster. "For Republicans, the only way things really get better … is if somehow, some way, Iraq turns around."

Jennifer Duffy of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said the party was "desperately in need of some Prozac."

"Toxic climate". "Poisonous" environment. And we're not talking global warming.

"Not a good brand". And I don't mean General Motors.

"Desperately in need of some Prozac", and we're not referring to Seung Hui Cho.

Save your Republican friends (if you care and if you can). Here are some of the danger signs of severe depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex

Well, maybe not the sex part.

Sunday Funnies (Delete All edition)

I could be outdoors, playing with my puppy

But instead I'm blogging live from the afternoon general session of the Texas Democratic Party's quarterly meeting in Austin ...

Susan Bankston and I are holding down the fort here at the end of the ballroom. She gave me a flash report from the grassroots committee meeting this morning that sounds ambitious and enthusiastic: formation of a precinct/county chair support committee, which would share and communicate ideas on minority outreach, a New Democrat package to be given to newly registered voters, an update to the TDP handbook, and local/regional issues which could be synergized by coordination among counties, (such as efforts to block the Trans-Texas Corridor, for example). They also intend to establish a Yahoo group to take input from the real grassroots.

The chair recognized two candidates in attendance who have announced for CD-10, Larry Daughtery and Dan Grant. Various committee reports were offered and accepted.

Some extended discussion and adoption of various rules from Rules occupied the balance of the next half-hour. The focus finally turned to the proposed revisions in the state convention's delegate selection. Rep. Yvonne Davis rose in opposition, indicating that many disincentives arise under the proposed structure. Ken Molberg indicated Dallas County would lose three hundred delegates under the proposal. Another SD member spoke in support of the plan. Fidel Acevedo also spoke against the change, and Bill Brannon pointed out that the percentages stayed the same even if the raw numbers varied widely.

The change was adopted overwhelmingly by the SDEC.

Update (4/28, 2:30 p.m.): Boyd Richie reported on his nine townhall meetings. The good news included fundraising: TDP has raised more money to date than any year since 2000. Boyd recognized Susan and her blog for linking Kelso's column on Voter ID, probably the best take so far on the subject.

Update (2:35 p.m.): The interns from St. Edwards University who worked in the TDP office -- William Rodriguez, Jackie Villanueva, Aira Jimenez, Rachael Pena -- were acknowledged. Worthy young men and women with bright futures in politics sat on the end with Susan and I and received their proclamations from the chairman.

Update (2:45 p.m.): Convention plans for 2008 (to be held at the Hilton in downtown Austin) proceed apace. The committee is open to suggestions for themes and activities for this conclave from the Democratic public.

Update (3 p.m.): Resolutions on matters ranging from global warming to remembering those who have recently passed are adopted.

Update(3:15 p.m.): I'm going to ask Evelyn Burleson, chair of Calhoun County, permission to do a profile here. Susan's favorite quote of hers is "Conservatism is just a political justification for being stingy." She sounds like my kind of lady.

Chairman Richie completes old business and announcements and adjournment wraps it up. We're gathering in our caucuses so more to come (but it may be tomorrow).

Boadecia also posted live.

Conservative hysterics

Via The Agonist, The New York Sun reports that Deadeye Dick Cheney is the GOP's best hope in 2008 ...

For all the talk about potential candidates who haven't entered the 2008 presidential race — from Mayor Bloomberg to Vice President Gore to Senator Thompson and Speaker Gingrich — the one that who would bring the most to the race is Vice President Cheney.

Commenters there declare Dick and running mate Tom DeLay as the unbeatable combination for rogue elephants longin' to keep hangin' in the White House. Here's a sampling of campaign slogans and bumper sticker ideas:

Cheney/Delay Just a Heartbeat Away
Dick & Hammer (I can see the logo, can't you?)
"30% of Americans can't all be wrong"
Cheney 2008: "Pump Action"

In other hilarious news, right-wing blogs discovered the plot to hide WMDs in Iraq. This delusion has been making the right-rounds for quite a few years now. It's almost as ridiculous as Laura Bush saying "no one suffers more than the president and I" and almost as funny as Rudy Giuliani thinking a gallon of milk costs a dollar-fifty. Almost.

And don't watch this video of Michelle Malkin leading cheers until you've peed first. Really.

Much less funny: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher declared to audience members in a subcommittee hearing that he hoped their families would "suffer the consequences" of a terrorist attack.

It's important to note that what I find funny about this demonstrated ignorance is the sheer cluelessness of the Republicans spouting this nonsense and their believers believing it. The popularity of Fox News among this subset is also proof of their stupidity.

Of course it would be much more funny if people and planets weren't dying because of it.

Skilled facility postpourri

Today Mrs. Diddie's mother is moving from the hospital to the nursing home.

Here's a few updates on things that you have probably been able to follow elsewhere ...

-- Republicans are determined to disenfranchise Texas voters (they had help from two House Democrats who failed to show up for the vote), but Rodney Ellis and other Senate Democrats are just as determined to stop them. Kuffner has a good link assembly.

-- Pulitzer author David Halberstam was killed in an auto accident this week. Eye on Williamson has a nice remembrance. And also Boris Yeltsin, whose mighty heart finally gave out. Don't miss mcjoan's eulogy.

-- The Army lied about Pat Tillman's death and Jessica Lynch's ordeal. As I posted at this link:

Why does the Pentagon feel it necessary to concoct these falsehoods? Is this war lacking heroes?

Were the fabrications invented to give the GWOT some measure of credibility that the generals perceive it to be lacking?

And do the military leaders take their cues on lying from their civilian commanders?

-- Bush says "Screw you" to Gonzales critics (which means everybody in the world).

-- The storms are again swirling around the Turdblossom. Paul Wolfowitz takes Abu Gonzales' lead and digs in, refusing to quit the World Bank over his girlfriend scandal. Dennis Kucinich files articles of impeachment against Deadeye Dick. Another Republican congressman resigns his committee seats over his relationship to Jack Abramoff, and DeLay aide Ed Buckham moves deeper into legal jeopardy as well.

More when I can.

More Sunday Funnies

Sunday Funnies