The Bible has a liberal bias

At least according to conservatives.

The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project.

The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible.

The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down platitudes.

"Professors are the most liberal group of people in the world, and it's professors who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible," said Andy Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia.com, the project's online home.

Yes, he's related. Continuing from the AP link ...

This liberal slanting, Schlafly argues, ranges from changing gendered language - Jesus calling his disciples to be "fishers of people" rather than "fishers of men" - to more subtle choices, like the 2001 English Standard Version of the Bible, which uses "comrade" and "laborer" more often than the conservative-friendly "volunteer."

And this from the Right Wing Watch link (the original source's link, the Nashville Tennessean, appears to have expired):

The most radical change in the Conservative Bible might be dumping two passages of familiar Scripture.

One is the long ending of Mark's Gospel, which includes verses about snake handling and the story of the woman caught in adultery. Neither is found in most of the oldest Greek manuscripts used to translate the Bible. Schlafly says that adultery story, in which Jesus says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" should be cut because it portrays Jesus as being soft on sin.

"It's a liberal addition, put in by people who wanted to undermine the reality of hell and judgment," he said.

Now I frankly had more than enough quarrels with Christianists without learning of this devolution.

The "best" part is the substitution of 'Pharisees' with 'intellectuals', and also 'liberals'.

Conservatives have their own news network to tell them how to think; they are vigorously denying and reinventing their own science as it relates to climate change and evolution; why, it's simply a "logical" extension to find them rewriting the Bible in their own (craven, misguided mental) image.

The Locke campaign's self-immolation

We're nearing the merciful end of a bad campaign run by a really bad candidate and some truly awful staff.

Parker campaign manager Adam Harris called the claims from Tejano Chair Sandra Puente and black Dems' leader Gabrielle Hadnot "twisted and misleading." Using the same spreadsheet from which Locke's team compiled its findings, Harris calculated that more than 71% of the Controller's Department staff is composed of minorities.

As Martha notes, one day the candidate says this:

“I am not going to go into issues of race, issues of sexuality ...”

And the next day his campaign says this:

“It is unacceptable that in this day and age, a citywide elected official would employ such discriminatory hiring practices,” said Sandra Puente, HCTD Chair. “Annise Parker is not someone we can trust to lead our city. The leadership of her office does not reflect the great diversity of our city.”

Imploding in a foul-smelling morass of lies, bigotry, and disgraceful conduct is no way to run for political office, people. You highly paid out-of-towners can now be dismissed to pack up and move on, and you locals need to line up to be deloused.

Update:

A day after black and Hispanic groups criticized Annise Parker's record of hiring minorities in the city controller's office, the diversity record of her runoff opponent's law firm has been called into question.

A January 2007 report compiled by four minority attorney organizations shows that Andrews Kurth, the law firm in which Gene Locke is a partner, scored a "D" under a formula the groups developed to assess minority representation in 21 of Houston's largest law firms.

The report, which was emailed anonymously to me, showed that Locke, an African-American, was one of 116 minority partners -- 5.2 percent -- at Andrews Kurth in 2006, when the figures were gathered. The scoring formula gave greater weight to partners than to lower-ranking attorneys. Winstead Sechrest & Minick had the highest proportion of minority partners at 17.4 percent.

The overall score for Andrews Kurth was 64 on a scale of 100, the sixth-lowest among the firms included. Weil, Gotshal & Manges was the winner with a score of 100.

Kimberly Devlin, a senior strategist for Locke, said his campaign didn't issue the statement criticizing Parker and would have no comment on the law firm diversity report.

Poor Sandra. Muse has the coup de grace.

One-stroke penalty for grounding your club in a hazard

It may be OK this time to hate the playah and not the game ...

Tiger Woods said he let his family down with transgressions he regrets “with all of my heart,” and that he will deal with his personal life behind closed doors.

His statement Wednesday follows a cover story in Us Weekly magazine that reports a Los Angeles cocktail waitress claims she had a 31-month affair with the world’s No. 1 golfer.

“I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves,” Woods said on his Web site. “I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”

The cocktail waitress, Jaimee Grubbs, told the magazine she met Woods at a Las Vegas nightclub the week after the 2007 Masters — two months before Woods’ wife, Elin, gave birth to their first child. Grubbs claims to have proof in 300 text messages. About three hours before Woods’ statement, the magazine published what it said was a voicemail — provided by Grubbs — that Woods left her phone on Nov. 24, three days before his middle-of-the-night car crash outside his home in Florida.

Shorter Grubbs (for once, the paramour has an appropriate name): Gee, I'm sorry I sent the voice mail and the 300 text messages to the media and I'm sure this has severely damaged your squeaky clean reputation and could cost you your marriage and hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements alone, but I sincerely hope we can remain good friends.

The voice mail?

“Hey, it’s, uh, it’s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Um, can you please, uh, take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone. And, uh, may be calling you. If you can, please take your name off that and, um, and what do you call it just have it as a number on the voicemail, just have it as your telephone number. That’s it, OK. You gotta do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right. Bye.”

This story isn't quite as ridiculous as the Balloon Boy Caper or even the Salahis crashing the White House state dinner, but it does reveal a continuing American fascination with lurid distractions. I used to blame the media exclusively for it, but the truth is that in a miserable advertising environment they're just chasing ratings (or clicks, as the case may be)...

We in the respectable media are not interested in Tiger Woods' car crash for prurient reasons. Oh, no. We don't care about what a celebrity, but a private citizen, may or may not have been doing with his extracurricular time. Nor do we care about the rush of viewers and readers—like you there, who came to this article by Googling "Tiger Woods car crash affair rumors"—and how good it will make us look to our advertisers if we indulge it.

No, we care only for high-minded reasons. It's about, um, the business impact of the story on the lucrative sports-endorsement business. It's about, um, the ever-changing culture of American celebrity. It's about, um, traffic safety! How many more innocent trees must suffer? Wait, no! It's about the media coverage itself! That's the ticket! So here is a blog post about the media coverage itself! ...

But whenever a story like this breaks, the first thing that gets exposed is the gap between media outlets, like TMZ, that unashamedly love this kind of story and cover it well, and more-traditional media outlets, who are either uncomfortable with or unsuited to the story, yet finally can't ignore it.

These outlets aren't blind, either to the news or to the interest in it. They are as capable as you of seeing, for instance, that the most searched term at the New York Times website is, as of this morning, Tiger Woods.

And yet the "serious" news outlets can't just wholeheartedly revel in the human filth of the story. Not just for high-minded reasons, either: there are cold business reasons. As with so many things today, traditional media are caught between a newfangled audience, with new expectations, and an old-fashioned audience that expects old-fashioned standards of propriety.

All too true. The reason we -- you and me; American citizens -- cannot focus on the critical topics like healthcare or Afghanistan is because we are all too willingly distracted by the titillating gossip and celebrity scandal, not to mention the wannabe reality-show contestants trying to clock in on their 15 minutes or the cocktail waitresses digging for gold.

So we can wring our hands and cluck our tongues and bemoan the loss of role models or the weakness of the male of the species and how they (we) think with our little heads too often, but we probably can't whine any longer about stories like this not being 'news'.

Locke: Hotze endorsement acceptable based on "my record"

Just an amazing prevarication.

(Debate moderator and ABC-13 anchor Gina) Gaston: Mr. Locke, are you comfortable with political help or endorsements by people who oppose Annise Parker solely on the basis of her sexual orientation?

Locke: The reality is this: Both Annise and I oppose bigotry. Both Annise and I have been victims of bigoted attacks during this campaign. But this election is not about me or her. It's about which of us has the best chance to move this city forward -- to keep it safe, to grow jobs, to protect our neighborhoods and give a quality of life to our citizens. Understanding that, I will accept endorsements from those people who believe that I am the best candidate, and they would join a long list of folks who have endorsed me, from the police officers union to the firefighters to the Realtors to the home builders to the Teamsters. I think my criteria is, do you believe I am the best candidate, and if you do I accept your endorsement.

Parker: The mayor of Houston must represent all Houstonians and do it effectively. But the mayor of Houston does not have to embrace all of their ideas, and there are certain endorsements that I don't believe are appropriate to accept.

Gaston: Do you accept those endorsements of people who are choosing your campaign over hers based solely on that one issue?

Locke: If it's based solely on that one issue I've rejected them. If it's based on looking at my record and seeing that I am the better candidate I would accept them.

So let's get this straight (no pun intended): Locke will accept Hotze's endorsement not because Hotze is a homophobe, but because Locke isn't. The endorsement of a virulent bigot is acceptable not because Gene Locke is also the same sort of bigot, but because the bigot thinks Locke has been a successful attorney. Or has been endorsed by the police officer's union. Or something.

Seeing as how Locke insists he has never been a lobbyist when in fact he was registered with the state of Texas as one, perhaps he is also forgetting -- or wants us to forget -- that he asked for this endorsement. And he did not seek it because Hotze was about to endorse Parker. And Hotze most certainly is not endorsing Locke because of "his record", no matter what Locke says.

Then again ... maybe he is.

More from last night's debate here. KTRK has the entire debate file videos posted; you can see the specific exchange excerpted above here.

Reactions to the Afghanistan escalation

Mr. Obama never used the words "Coalition of the Willing," but his high-flown rhetoric about NATO and an international alliance to deal with Afghanistan stood in stark contrast to reality. Hardly anyone in the international community appears to have much interest in sharing or increasing the burden of continued warfare - a few of those hesitant nations have personal experience with that region in their history, none of it positive - leaving Mr. Obama and the United States pretty much on their own going forward. This may change, but not by much.

Where Mr. Obama departed from the well-worn script of Mr. Bush was in the realm of the rhetorical. He weaved a tapestry of interconnected American interests - economic, social, diplomatic - to explain why the war in Afghanistan must not just go on, but grow. Take this gem, for example:

But as we end the war in Iraq and transition to Afghan responsibility, we must rebuild our strength here at home. Our prosperity provides a foundation for our power. It pays for our military. It underwrites our diplomacy. It taps the potential of our people, and allows investment in new industry. And it will allow us to compete in this century as successfully as we did in the last. That is why our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended - because the nation that I am most interested in building is our own.

Indeed, it was all wonderfully phrased and brilliantly delivered. But in the end, Mr. Obama simply told us what we have been hearing for too long already: we must beat our swords into ploughshares by using swords. Mr. Bush never said it so well, but he said it all the time nonetheless.

Mr. Bush was proud to call himself a war president - "I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind," he famously boasted to Tim Russert with that signature smirk on his face. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama was nowhere near as blunt, but nonetheless, the torch has been passed. Whether or not his strategy for Afghanistan will be successful remains to be seen, but he sold it to the American people in exactly the same fashion as his predecessor. There was a little more sugar to make the medicine go down, but the taste of it remained all too terribly familiar.

-- William Rivers Pitt

This is a continuation of the Bush Doctrine; the waging of war based on the possibility of a future threat.

-- Rachel Maddow

I oppose sending 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan because I am not persuaded that it is indispensable in our fight against Al Qaeda. If it was, I would support an increase because we have to do whatever it takes to defeat Al Qaeda since they’re out to annihilate us. But if Al Qaeda can operate out of Yemen or Somalia, why fight in Afghanistan where no one has succeeded?"

I disagree with the President’s two key assumptions: that we can transfer responsibility to Afghanistan after 18 months and that our NATO allies will make a significant contribution. It is unrealistic to expect the United States to be out in 18 months so there is really no exit strategy. This venture is not worth so many American lives or the billions it will add to our deficit.

-- Sen. Arlen Specter

I may be the only person in the United States who was trying to wait for President Obama's Afghanistan speech to make up my mind about his war plans. Of course, I mostly failed at that. Sure, all of Obama's options are bad, but still, few decisions seem as clear-cut as this one. Escalation is hard to see as an exit strategy. Obama has no clear path to "victory." We are likely to waste more lives than we save. I thought that was true before Obama's big speech, and I still think it now, afterwards.

At the moment he needed all of his persuasive powers, Obama gave the worst major speech of his presidency. I admit: I expected to be, even wanted to be, carried away a bit by Obama's trademark rhetorical magic. But I wasn't; not even a little. I found the speech rushed, sing-songy and perfunctory, delivered by rote. I despise the right-wing Teleprompter taunts, but even I wanted to say, Look at your audience, not the damn Teleprompter, Mr. President. Obama looked haggard, his eyes deeper set, and I believe this decision pained him. But I'm not sure even he believes it's the right decision. Neocon Danielle Pletka Tweeted happily mid-speech: "So far, could be Bush speaking" and later, approvingly: "count me gobsmacked." That makes two of us. Rep. Maxine Waters spoke for me on "Countdown" tonight when she opened her remarks by telling Keith Olbermann: "I'm very saddened." ...

So what's an increasingly disappointed Democrat and Obama supporter to do?

-- Salon's Joan Walsh

I agree with President Obama that it would be a setback for democracy and stability if the Taliban regained power, but I have serious concerns.

First, why are American taxpayers and our brave soldiers bearing almost all the burden in what should be an international effort? Where are Europe, Russia, China and the rest of the world? Second, why in the midst of a severe recession – with 17 percent of our people unemployed or under-employed and one out of four kids on food stamps – are we going to be spending $100 billion a year on Afghanistan when we have so many pressing needs at home? Third, I worry about how we can forge a dependable partnership with an Afghan government that is ineffective and corrupt.

My nightmare is that we may get caught in a quagmire situation from which there will be no successful exit.

-- Sen. Bernie Sanders

It's the strategy that worked in Iraq.

-- Sen. Joe Lieberman

And I would have to ask a question: Why 30,000 troops and not 40? Why 30,000 troops and not 20? Why 18 months and not 16 or 24? These are artificial time lines and numbers that have no true military significance as planners sit down and develop what's called "troop to task" requirements. There is nothing that I heard tonight that would convince me that we are embarking on a strategic mission that is both vital and necessary. We invaded Afghanistan with less than 1,000 special forces personnel and killed or captured over 98% of all the terrorists that we could identify.

And now with the remaining few, less than 100 according to the national security adviser, we are going to deploy an army of 100,000 to rebuild a nation?

The president says, as one of his major points, we are going to act as a partnership with the Afghan government and yet we all know, anyone who has studied it, anyone who has his eyes and ears open, that that government is corrupt beyond malice. I think and I hold strong objection to sending American soldiers into harms' way and combat to prop up a government that is more corrupt than Tony Soprano and his lieutenants. And so, no, I heard nothing tonight that would sway me against my absolute objection to what I consider to be a fool's errand.

-- Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge.

The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us. ...

All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.

When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.

Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.

-- David Van Os, "An Open Letter to President Obama"

As a nurse, I have been involved in major traumas. I remember one in particular: a young woman was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Her sports car went under the back of an 18-wheeler. It took the top of her head off, as well as many other injuries, but that was the most spectacular. She came in with large bore IV's. We were squeezing the blood in by hand while it was running out of holes everywhere else. We were literally ankle deep in it. She was losing it so fast that we couldn't keep up with the volume.

After slamming in 15+ units of blood, and still not able to get a viable blood count, we had to let her go. All of the blood in the world couldn't replace what was lost. We tried, but there was nothing more we could do.

This is how I feel about Iraq. It is analogous to a country bleeding to death and our troops are the transfusion. However we simply cannot transfuse fast enough, because when we stop one bleeder, there are 20 others to take its place.

It's time to pronounce the patient, Mr. Obama. Our resources can be conserved to utilize when it can make a difference. Now, it simply does not.

-- "Horse With No Name"

Oh no. Not at all.

So, not only is Sarah Palin's new book chock-full-o-crap, so is the so-called bus tour she's taking to promote it:

As much of her entourage, including HarperCollins publicist Tina Andreadis, risked a collective case of White Line Fever, covering more than 3,000 road miles during the book tour’s first week, Sarah Palin herself seems to have remained above it all, apparently cosseted in the luxury of a Gulfstream II 12-passenger jet rented from Universal Jet Aviation of Boca Raton, Florida, at a cost of more than $4,000 per hour.

More than two weeks ago, quoting Andreadis, USA Today reported that Palin would be “making two and sometimes three stops a day, traveling in a bus painted with the cover of her book.” And just before the tour started, Palin herself said on her Facebook page: “I’ll post our progress from the road.” To further the illusion, the populist heroine gave televised interviews from the bus, including one to Greta Van Susteren en route to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. [...]

It seems now that Palin hasn’t been on the bus, except for short hops between local airports and hotels and book-signing sites. Instead, as first reported by the Alaskan blog Palingates, she’s apparently been aboard UJT750, the Gulfstream American twin-jet ...

Both Palin and the publishing house that has invested so many millions of dollars in her seem to have felt it would send the wrong message to let the “common-sense conservative” be seen winging her away across the country just like any other good old-fashioned Republican CEO.

She's so real and honest.

Gordon Quan may take on Emmett

Miya Shay breaks ...

Former City Council Member Gordon Quan is THISCLOSE to throwing his hat in the ring for Harris County Judge. I heard the rumors a few days ago, but confirmed with Quan this morning...

When we spoke earlier today, I asked him what prompted him to consider challenging Ed Emmett. He replied, "Well, I'm thinking it's now, or never." However, Quan was quick to point out that this is not a "done deal." He's getting legal opinions on what relationship he can maintain with his firm. He's also looking at the quality of campaign consultants that would be available. In addition, he's got to convince his family members, who are often tough cookies.

Quan says he will make a decision in the next two weeks on whether or not to jump in the race. If he does, he says he will make a call to Judge Ed Emmett first, as it is the proper thing to do. Quan estimates he'll need at least a million bucks to run for County Judge. Considering his vast connections within the legal, political, and Asian-American communities, it should be a reasonable goal. In addition, the fact that Mayor Bill White is expected to jump into the Governor's race only makes more sense for Quan. He thinks it will be a well coordinated campaign county wide.

In 2004, after he was term-limited off city council, there was a big Democratic rally at which several people (a group I was part of) publicly begged Quan to run against John Culberson in CD-07. He passed on that; he also passed on a challenge to Tom Delay in 2006 -- ceding a certain win-and-then-out to Nick Lampson. He wasn't rumored for much in 2008 despite the clarion call of the presidential election (and likely could have had whatever he wanted and been elected to it). He also skipped the mayoral race this go-around. Quan would present an enormous challenge to "Hunker Down" Ed, who continues to accomplish nothing of distinction in the county's most powerful slot.

This announcement, frankly, would be more greatly anticipated this week than that of another Houstonian "considering" a run for higher office.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance welcomes everyone back from the Thanksgiving holiday with these highlights from the blogs.

TXsharon has arranged by area 60 TCEQ fugitive emission videos obtained via the Texas Public Information Act. The videos were taken throughout the Barnett Shale area using a GasFindIR (Infrared) camera. Find the videos for your area at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS to see what you're breathing.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why some destroyed Galveston beach houses were paid out at prices nearly double their county appraised value.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is fed up with road rage and wants it taken a more seriously by the authorities. Road rage is indeed vehicular terrorism! Vehicular terrorism is dismissed by the court system as misdemeanors with token consequences ... unless of course someone gets killed. Even then is not identified for what it really is. Vehicular terrorism! Is road rage is a way of life for Texans?

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on Gov. Perry's "jet-set" ways. A Watchdog group wants to know about Gov. Perry's travel expenses.

Bay Area Houston lists who the local bloggers are endorsing in the Houston mayor's race (it's one-sided).

Off the Kuff rounds up reactions to Bill White's announcement that he is considering a jump into the governor's race.

Libby Shaw, in her post Texas Republican Lawmakers Lose Huge Federal Contract, examines the whys and whos of the huge government contract Rick Perry and the Boyz just lost and what it means for Texas. Check it out at TexasKaos.

Neil at Texas Liberal ran a post about a great white whale: We Are All Shipmates --Moby Dick. This post offers up a picture of the excellent ship pulpit featured in the book and its movie adaptations. Neil reminds you that we are all shipmates.

WhosPlayin is still watching Lewisville ISD and wishing they would just answer a simple question.

Maybe the BAE Systems plant in Sealy, which lost its $2.6 billion Pentagon contract due to the economic incompetence of Rick Perry and other Republican elected officials, can now manufacture "Republic of Texas" trucks, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Xanthippas at Three Wise Men takes a look at the results of a study that demonstrate how conservative anti-tax rhetoric has resulted in a substantial shift of the nation's burden from the wealthy to the lower and middle-class, and wonders what that means in an age when irresponsible investors crash the economy, are bailed out by the federal government and reward themselves with billions of dollars in bonuses.

Vote today in Houston

You can actually vote any day all week at the usual early voting locations. Why not get it done and get back to your Black Monday shopping?

After failing to appear at the televised mayoral debate, Gene Locke went there over the holiday weekend --"there" being Hotze-ville. This mailing follows hot on the heels of high-profile homophobe Dave Wilson's ad last week. Rick Casey reminded us of Houston's illustrious past mayoral contests featuring gay-baiting -- the lesson being that they always fail. As shitty a campaign as Locke has run, there's no way he gets elected IMO ... but we still have to turn out and beat him. Vote for Annise for Mayor, so that Gene can hurry up and get back to the rackets.

In the controller's race, Ronald Green needs to survive his tax problems and defeat MJ Khan, who is -- like Locke -- desperate to consolidate conservative support. The difference between Locke and Khan is that Khan doesn't have to try to pretend to be a Republican; he actually is one.

The city council races have been lively; great story here about the progressive Lane Lewis and the TeaBagger Brenda Stardig having a spirited debate as they street-raced down Long Point, after Lewis photographed Stardig's car in a nearby bar's parking lot (apparently she preferred a couple of pops to showing up at a neighborhood association meet-up). Lewis is, again, the only choice.

And Karen Derr should get past "confused independent" Stephen Costello.

Sue Lovell over perennial candidate Andrew Burks and Jolanda Jones over neoconservative Jack Christie. Please.

What are you still doing here? Go vote.

Press names 39% Turkey of the Year

Tough call.

Last year Rick Perry won the Turkey Politician of the Year award for his prissy response to Mayor Bill White's cursing incident during Ike; this year he takes the whole turkey enchilada for a stunningly entertaining and embarrassing string of events that brought applause from the tea-bag minority of the country and derision from the rest.

Perry is the longest-serving governor in the state's history; the strange thing is that people don't seem to like him much. He won his last re-election with 39 percent of the vote, which is about what George McGovern managed to scare up against Richard Nixon in 1972. ...

Sure, Perry entertained us with episodes such as firing a state board of forensics experts who dared to question whether he had wrongly executed a man, or suddenly setting aside, the moment he had a ­viable primary opponent, his long-standing, quixotic attempt to build a massive superhighway wanted by absolutely no one who wasn't directly getting a big paycheck from it, but it was his Tea-Bag Tango that set him apart from the other Turkeys of 2009.

Their summary of his winning efforts ...

He boldly rejected federal stimulus money, then later quietly took it. "It's nothing out of the ordinary," he said after making his money grab. Perry also — while ranting loudly about federal interference with the states — found no trouble asking for funds to battle swine flu or "protect the borders."

He told a Midland crowd that the Obama administration was taking illegal immigrants arrested in Arizona and dumping them off in Presidio. "This is a city that does not have the social services, does not have the law enforcement, does not have the ability in any form or fashion to handle that type of influx of people," Perry said. "Do the math on that. In a year period of time, we're talking 28,000 people that are going to be turned loose on our border." ... In the same speech, he said Obama was "hell-bent toward taking America towards a socialist country," which is somewhat close to being in English, but which also got him a nice big red headline on the Drudge Report and lots of face time on Fox, which Perry gleefully Twittered about.

He jumped on the bandwagon about Obama's speech to schoolkids. Remember that run of idiocy? Obama, like presidents before him, was going to give a televised speech to students. ... Here's the lead from an Associated Press story: "Austin — Gov. Rick Perry called President Barack Obama's plan to speak to the nation's school children about the importance of education 'disturbing,' but he said he would not advise parents to keep their children home from school that day despite calls to do so from angry critics."

Anytime you can call a "plan to speak to the nation's school children about the importance of education" disturbing, you've accomplished something.

Go read all the snarky goodness.

Sunday Funnies

Maybe they can manufacture Republic of Texas trucks

That's harsh, and it's from a commenter on this news item:

The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin's Democratic governor.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.

But as one Democratic operative puts it: “That's like having a party in the corral after all the horses have run out.”

The more you read, the worse it gets -- for the people in the Sealy region, for the state's economy, for Rick Perry and Michael McCaul and Texas Republicans.

Elected officials in Texas assumed the contract would remain in their state, relied on networks of support built up during Republican control of the White House and Congress and did not provide BAE Systems any state assistance.

Katherine Cesinger, Perry's deputy press secretary, said BAE Systems “did not ask our office for any assistance prior to the recent decision.”

“It sounds to me like complacency may be the biggest factor in Texas losing this contract,” says political scientist Paul Light of New York University. “The Army made a decision to give the contract to the lowest bidder. If I were an elected official from Texas, I'd stop whining and start asking questions about why Texas didn't put up the dollars to help the company keep that contract.” ...

The setback for Texas illustrates just how far the state's political leverage has plummeted since Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Houston, helped BAE's predecessor win the initial contract in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush, and Sens. Phil Gramm, R-College Station, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, helped the company retain the contract in 2001 under President George W. Bush.

“We never saw this coming — we were completely blindsided,” says a top aide to Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee panel with jurisdiction over military vehicles.

Lawmakers and BAE officials alike felt “sucker punched,” added David Davis, a top Hutchison aide. “ ‘Shocked' doesn't begin to describe it.”

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, whose Austin-to-Houston district includes the plant, learned of the Army's decision while driving to an appearance in his district in late August. He and press secretary Mike Rosen immediately diverted to visit BAE officials in Sealy.

“In a time of war, terminating a relationship with a proven manufacturer does not seem to be a prudent choice,” McCaul subsequently wrote Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a letter signed by 25 members of Texas' 32-member House delegation.

One congressional aide said Texas lawmakers should have been more alert to the possibility of losing a contract that Oshkosh had tried to win in 2001. “It just wasn't on anybody's radar,” the aide said.

And here come the recriminations.

Some Texas Democrats have seized upon the lost contract to criticize GOP officials. “Job protection is really job No. 1 for a member of Congress,” says former Democratic Rep. Chris Bell, a former Houston City Council member who served one term in the House before losing in 2004.

McCaul failed to enlist Democrats in Texas' congressional delegation such as Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, to help protect the contract in a Democratic administration, says Matt Angle, a longtime Democratic operative who heads the political action committee known as the Lone Star Project.

There is also, naturally, some whining about the influence of Wisconsin's D.C. Democratic delegation -- including David Obey, Herb Kohl, and Russ Feingold -- which may or may not have been brought to bear. But I think it's really about the Badger State's savvy governor, who used heavy financial incentives to sharpen the Oshkosh bid.

The 92-year-old Oshkosh Corp. undercut BAE Systems' bid by roughly 10 percent. The Wisconsin company had support by a predominantly Democratic congressional delegation that helped Barack Obama carry the state last November. And the truck builder reaped the benefits of state assistance crafted by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. ...

The $35 million in tax breaks and the economic assistance provided Oshkosh over 12 years signal that “Wisconsin is open for business,” Doyle said. But the truck manufacturer says the assistance “did not make the difference” in the outcome of the bidding.

But Light, the political scientist, noted: “It doesn't sound like Texas has much maneuvering room in the bid protest — a 10 percent difference in price is huge on a multibillion-dollar contract.”

From the comments ...

If I were making decisions for the Army, I too would be nervous about entrusting vital military manufacturing contracts to a State whose Governor has expressed sympathy for the possibility of Texas' succession from the Union. Yeah, I know he was kowtowing to the Tea Party Astroturf movement when he made his remarks, but as Rush reminds us, words have meaning. But on a more serious note, as this article so clearly shows, Governor Perry needs to get his head out of the ideological fog, and do his job, which includes ensuring that Texas retains and develops more government connected jobs by effectively working with Democrats who now control the Presidency, Senate and House. Texas jobs should not be a casualty in Perry's ideological war against the Obama Administration.

You hit the nail right on the head. 10,000 jobs are big lose for Sealy, Texas. Governor Perry and the republican senators need to understand, their colleagues (Tea Party wackos) do not employ 10,000 people in Texas. How in the world they did not know this?

The Army probably has a mandate to make trucks in the US and not in a foreign country.

Where are the free enterprise advocates when someone else offers a better deal to save taxpayers money? Thanks to Tom DeLay gutting Texas' seniority in Congress (by redistricting out senior Democrats) and a 10% higher price, what did you expect the Pentagon to do - pay MORE? Beside, BAe is a UK company; Oshkosh is a US Company. Texas voted for the GOP: Wisconsin voted for the winner - and people are surprised?

Now he can build his "Republic of Texas" Trucks.

Hard to imagine conservatives complaining about the loss of federal dollars. Didn't Republicans also oppose the fiscal stimulus package? Can you say "Illogical"?

The people on talk radio dont want government contracts anyway. To them thats a form a socialism. See talk radio, your tea party is working! Congrats to Dan Patrick radio and his idiot followers.

I agree with all of you who want to "succeed". Under this administration, we will.
To the extent those of you who want to "succeed" by seceding... wouldn't it be easier if the three of you just moved? I mean, it doesn't make much sense for an entire state to leave the union to satisfy three whackjobs who cannot spell. I would suggest Alaska, but Alaska actually is a socialist state and you three seem not to like that. Perhaps Iran? That may be just conservative enough for you.

That beatdown the Longhorns put on the Aggies last night can't feel any worse to Governor 39% than this. It's suddenly not a very happy Thanksgiving for Texans, and even less so if they're standing on the right. But the truth is that all Texans will suffer to a degree for what appears to be our state leadership asleep on the economic job.

Be safe today

No matter whether you're driving, flying, eating, drinking, cooking, cleaning, relaxing, working, shopping, or just trying to stay alive.

Sesame Street's "Pox News" debuts Spill O'Reilly

Republished in full.

Earlier this month we reported on a minor controversy that arose after PBS re-aired a two-year-old episode of “Sesame Street” that parodied Fox News. Last night, in an effort to make light of that episode, a Sesame Workshop executive went on Fox News’ “The O'Reilly Factor” to introduce a brand-new muppet: Spill O'Reilly.

The sketch that began the controversy featured Oscar the Grouch reporting for the Grouch News Network, or GNN. After hugging and kissing his interview subjects, Oscar is lambasted by an angry caller for not providing news she deems sufficiently grouchy, prompting her to exclaim, "From now on, I am watching Pox News," adding, "Now there's a trashy news show!"

The skit caused some like the anonymous writer "Stage Right" at the prominent conservative website Big Hollywood to complain of a liberal bias in “Sesame Street's" content:

If Mom and Dad watch cable news, it’s better than 50/50 they watch "POX News." So what gives? PBS — a network partially funded with my tax dollars — has the right to tell my kids that their parents watch "trashy" news? The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of "Sesame Street" without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority...

Last night Sherri Westin, the executive vice-president of Sesame Workshop, appeared on O'Reilly's show to discuss the controversy. After encouraging the notoriously bombastic host to forgive Oscar the Grouch and call off any plans to launch an attack on Oscar's character and professionalism, Westin introduced a new Grouch News Network character to follow in the footsteps of Walter Cranky and Dan Rather-Not: Spill O'Reilly. The new muppet promptly took over the camera, welcomed viewers to the "No-Spew Zone" and encouraged them to run out to purchase his new book, "A Stinky Rotten Pile Of Grouchiness," an obvious parody of O'Reilly's recent book, "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity."

Watch:

When contacted this morning by Yahoo! News about the possibility of more muppets inspired by Fox hosts like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity for the show, Ellen Lewis, vice-president of corporate communications for Sesame Workshop, issued a stern "no comment" and wished us a happy Thanksgiving.

*standing and applauding, even for O'Reilly's self-deprecation*

Dueling styles

The incomparable Nick Anderson at the Houston Chronicle.


Another funny found on Facebook: Farouk Shami for Hair Care Commissioner.

Happy Day Before T-Bird Day

-- If you are considering putting something besides the swollen, roasted carcass of a domesticated animal in the middle of your table tomorrow, Grist has some options. One of them -- not the Tofurkey but the Quorn -- sounds like it might even taste good. (We'll be hitting the scrumptious buffet at the Elegante' in Beaumont ourselves.) I also drooled over this recipe for turning your leftovers into turkey gumbo. I'm going to do this the next time I buy a rotisserie chicken that I can't seem to finish before it goes bad in the fridge.

-- The incessant "Black Friday" bargains on teevee -- and I'm not talking about the commercials, I'm talking about the CNN and the network breakfast talking heads -- drive me nuts. The 'get out there and buy something in order to save the economy' message is so out of touch with what's happening for so many families across the country that it makes me nauseous. We're going to maintain our new tradition of spending the day at the Texas Renaissance Festival on Friday. If I'm going to put myself in a throng with thousands of freaky people it might as well be with a turkey leg in my hand.

-- Not as sad a story as you might initially think. This part is best ...

He thought about the "Five Remembrances" that some Buddhist monks chant each day: I will lose my youth, my health, my loved ones, everything I hold dear and, finally, life itself by the very nature of being human. Smith said those remembrances told him that the transient nature of life does not mean people should love others less but more.

Read it and don't weep. (Or go ahead if you'd rather.)

-- Barack Obama is about to be a war president. He's taking ownership of Afghanistan, which to my thinking is the greatest mistake of his presidency yet. Only time and circumstances somewhat outside of his control will tell if he pays a political price for it. With everything on his plate, he has no room left for error anywhere. And if something unforeseen happens -- another Ft. Hood, another economic belch, some international incident, an earthquake, a hurricane, anything -- he, and us, are going to teeter a little farther over the abyss.

-- I find the idea of a war surtax entirely appropriate at this time.

Dubbed the “Share the Sacrifice Act,” the six-page bill exempts anyone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan since the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as families who have lost an immediate relative in the fighting. But middle-class households earning between $30,000 and $150,000 would be asked to pay 1% on top of their tax liability today ...

Read the details. I'm convinced it will never pass, but the discussion compels the conservatives in both parties to go on the record "supporting the troops" with money they say we don't have for health care. Let's have that debate and have that vote, Speaker Pelosi.

The fact that there will be fewer than 75000 soldiers and reservists as an immediately-available national defense force after this surge in Afghanistan also disturbs me greatly.

If President Obama orders an additional 30,000 to 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, he will be deploying practically every available U.S. Army brigade to war, leaving few units in reserve in case of an unforeseen emergency and further stressing a force that has seen repeated combat deployments since 2002.

According to information compiled by the U.S. Army for The Washington Independent about the deployment status of active-duty and National Guard Army brigades, as of December 2009, there will be about 50,600 active-duty soldiers, serving in 14 combat brigades, and as many as 24,000 National Guard soldiers available for deployment. All other soldiers and National Guardsmen will either be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan already or ineligible to deploy while they rest from a previous deployment.

Do you remember how loudly Republicans were whining in the mid-'90's about our "broken military" because of the Clinton administration's missions in Bosnia and Kosovo? Neither do they.

Jim Hightower reminds us that Stanley McChrystal is being duplicitous and dishonest about Afghanistan. A historical parallel exists between McArthur and Truman; I wonder when Obama will fire him and bring our army home. 2011? 2012?

-- And just so I don't leave this post with you feeling a little grim ...

Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.

Kyle Mortensen would gladly give his life to protect what he says is the Constitution's very clear stance against birth control.

"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."

According to Mortensen—an otherwise mild-mannered husband, father, and small-business owner—the most serious threat to his fanciful version of the 222-year-old Constitution is the attempt by far-left "traitors" to strip it of its religious foundation.

"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."

Read the whole thing; it's another Onion classic.

The sum of conservative logic on healthcare

More on White and the battle for governor

Still digesting yesterday's news and reading the tea leaves and (insert your own favorite cliche'). For now I'll excerpt what I find and emphasize the most interesting. First, this HouChron story doesn't tell us much new beyond sandwiches served at Sunday afternoon's meeting between Tom Schieffer and Bill White.

Several sources close to White said the decision to switch races was made at the Sunday meeting with Schieffer and his adviser, Lyndon Olson, who was a Clinton administration ambassador to Sweden. Houston lawyer Scott Atlas also was at the meeting. White insisted he still is in the listening stage.

“Right now, people want folks who are competent and shoot straight, don't engage in cronyism and get things done,” he said. “I've had a lot of people bending my ear about what I ought to do next, and I ought to listen to them.”

More on Scott Atlas if you need to know it. Harvey Kronberg has more of the juicy grist (is that an oxymoron?) in this from QR:

In the words of Democratic advisor Harold Cook, “You better get your popcorn and go to the bathroom 'cuz you don’t want to miss a minute of this.” ...

In a first sort-through, the big damage may well be to Kay Bailey Hutchison. While we never expected big Democratic crossover vote into the Republican March primary, an effort to stop Farouk Shami and Kinky Friedman with an “A” team candidate becomes more important. (No disrespect to Hank Gilbert who has run a very active, issue oriented campaign)

An exciting Democratic primary cannot be good for the Republican gubernatorial challenger.

Harvey's spot on here. I'll go further, however: there's not a lot of difference between Hutchison and White once you take the party label off. Establishment, conservative, calm, even bland. The rumors you heard months ago about her funneling clues to him about her plans suggests that the two have something more than just shared Houston governmental policy interests. Before I digress ...

On the other hand, Governor Perry’s life just got a little more complicated. Even Hutchison supporters acknowledge that he has driven the narrative of the campaign and out-maneuvered his challenger at every turn. Hutchison went from twenty points (up) at the end of last year to 12 down in recent polls. Although the primary is still a hundred days away, the betting line has been consistently swinging toward the incumbent.

More on that from this anonymous blogging GOP consultant (via Kuffner)...

White seems to be the best shot at the governor’s mansion, and that’s trouble for Rick Perry’s campaign. Slipping by with 39% of the vote in 2006, Perry will fare poorly in a head-to-head with White. Moderates in Houston will mostly back White, who is widely popular there. The trick for White will be spreading the Houston support throughout the rest of the state.

On the R’s side, primary voters will be faced with a pretty clear choice: nominate a candidate (Perry) who will struggle to beat a widely popular Houston mayor, or a candidate (Hutchison) whose statewide popularity is unmatched in recent Texas political history. No matter what happens, Perry will have to shift to the center. He’s been driving hard right for a long time, though… it’s possible that he may never be able to win over moderates at this point.

Back to Harvey:

Bill White in the primary and the general undercuts one of the anchors upon which Team Perry has been counting. Private polling indicates that in a two-way with Hutchison, Perry will dominate in the greater Houston area, no doubt because of his high visibility and impressive performance during two hurricanes.

Only White can trump Perry’s long shadow in voter-rich Houston. More importantly, White is transitioning directly from mayor to gubernatorial candidate which means his name ID is still high and his fundraising should not be impaired.

Houston/Harris County/Houston-Galveston metro or whatever other title you want to give "Greater Houston" represents something on the order of 20% of the entire statewide Democratic vote tally; maybe a bit less for the GOP (they're stronger in suburban and rural Texas, naturally). A swing of millions of votes from the Republican to the Democrat at the top of the ticket lifts the other down-ballot boats. More on that from HK just down from here.

Now let's not be naïve. Perry already has the opposition research on White. Expect to hear about under-funded public pensions and who knows what else in Houston. But that is pretty far down the road. White has plenty of time to put the book together on Perry and Hutchison … and now he can go back to his contributor list and hit them up for five-figure donations rather than the paltry $2,300 limit for a federal race.

Probably more like six figures in White's case.

Perry still holds the statewide name ID and charisma advantage over White should he win the primary. Consultant Dave Carney, pollster Mike Baselice and media maestro David Weeks have plenty of practice at this statewide election stuff and they start with a candidate the camera loves. However, Perry is considered a more polarizing figure (whose) strengths work best in a primary rather than a general election.

It’s no secret that some Republican House members worry that (Perry leading a) November ticket against a strong Democrat could well cost the GOP more seats going into a redistricting year. ...

And there's the most valuable bit: with all of this media attention on White, postponing a decision for the next two weeks spreads the fire wider. Everybody (D & R) who has thought about running for something in 2010 has to assess what it means for their prospects. In state Senate and House districts, in the courthouses (especially in Harris County) and at the statewide level, thousands of aspiring politicos woke up early this morning and are Twittering and texting even as I type this.

With White in the race, it may also become easier to flesh out the rest of the ticket. Eliott Shapleigh had been rumored to consider a statewide race, but perhaps Lt. Governor might be more enticing. Although we are only teasing a long shot, a spot on the Legislative Redistricting Board in 2011 would give him some serious leverage with his former colleagues should he somehow find himself as the presiding officer.

Kirk Watson may be reconsidering a statewide run, but his public reaction gave no clue. Barbara Radnofsky has been toiling the field in a quest for AG for over a year.

Sure, Kinky Friedman is running for Guv and Marc Katz says he is running for Lite Guv. But frankly, that is just another way of saying one is selling baloney and the other is selling pastrami.

Top-shelf New York Deli stuff, Harvey.

Republicans still have the incumbency advantage and are more battle-tested. And although Texas is still a center-right state, demographics are changing and Texas could turn purple sooner than anyone expects.

Meanwhile, the entire field in the greater Harris County area just got shook up. Republican-targeted Democrat Kristi Thibaut is in a little more secure position today than she was yesterday. Similarly, Democrat-targeted Republicans Dwayne Bohac and Ken Legler are on shakier ground than they were just a few hours ago.

Thibaut, Valinda Bolton, Joe Heflin, Diana Maldonado, and those other Texas House Democrats elected two years and four years ago that closed in on the majority are likely feeling very encouraged. Bohac, Legler, turncoat Chuck Hobson and half a dozen other Republicans across the state ought to be very concerned. TeaBagger mania just can't stay stoked all the way to next November; the fury is already waning and the Republicans will fragment into a back-biting morass by this time next year.

Finally, this from Bradley Olson about White and how he speaks to the evangelicals:

Accepting a plaque from the U.S. Pastor Council, a group of largely conservative Houston-area ministers whose executive director recently discussed plans to persuade voters not to choose City Controller Annise Parker because of her sexual orientation, White repeatedly emphasized tolerance and love and the separation of church and state.

Although the mayor has publicly stated that he hopes the race will not devolve into attacks dealing with race or sexual orientation, he did not mention the mayor's race at all in his remarks, although the subtext was there in almost every sentence.

White, who has proudly touted his Sunday-School-teacher bona fides even in the most unusual situations (a fact not lost on the pastor group, members of which heaped praise upon him), cited numerous references of scripture in urging those present not "to judge" as they jump into the political sphere.

Just as Jesus urged followers in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6) not to "pray in public to be seen," so too should faithful Christians avoid judging others and expressing their own "public righteousness," White said.

How many Republican votes all across Texas do you think that's worth?

White "considering"

Fresh from KHOU at White's press conference about two hours ago.

Houston Mayor Bill White says he is considering dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate and instead making a bid for the Governor's office, he said in a news conference Monday.

"Since Friday a week ago, Texans from all backgrounds have asked me to consider running for Governor of Texas," White said. "I agree to consider running for that office and will make a decision by Friday, December 4."

Now in the next paragraph it seems to be clear that this is more than a mere consideration.

White said he believes he could beat Perry in a head-to-head match up next fall, reminding reporters that the Governor won re-election with 39 percent of the vote in 2006. "I'm disappointed in Governor Perry's failure to make tangible progress in addressing the dropout race, fighting polluters, and I could go on and on," he said. "If I don't step up and do this, Texas faces several more years of highly-charged wedge politics and a lack of leadership, and Texas cannot afford that."

And about that meeting in Dallas with Boyd Richie and the other candidates ...

Texas Democratic Party leaders have been hastily arranging a new slate of candidates for the November, 2010 election, assuming White makes a run for the top of the ticket. Other Democratic candidates for Governor are reportedly meeting with party leadership at a meeting in Dallas this afternoon. According to 11News partner WFAA-TV in Dallas, TDP leadership said it will not back any specific candidate for governor in the primary, and other candidates remain in the race.

Jason Embry is a little more conspiratorial ...

A source inside one of the Democratic gubernatorial campaigns says that state party chairman Boyd Richie called a summit of the Democratic governor candidates (and candidates only) for 2:30 p.m. today at a Dallas law firm. The stated purpose early this month was to talk out guidelines for how the party would be involved and to make sure everyone was going to be aboard to endorse the eventual nominee. But this source speculates that this is some kind of gambit for Richie to blow everyone’s minds with Bill White as the candidate in favor. Same source says every candidate is committed to coming.

Tom Schieffer, in withdrawing today, not only endorsed White but called for the other candidates to clear the field for him. Hank Gilbert and Farouk Shami quickly -- and Kinky Friedman a bit more slowly -- responded that they would all remain in the race. First, Gilbert's spokesperson Vince Liebowitz:

"The departure of Tom Schieffer and the possible entry of Bill White into the governor’s race doesn’t change anything for Hank’s campaign. We're going to continue to stay the course, and we welcome all comers into the governor's race. Hank remains the only candidate in the race who has proposed bold common sense policy initiatives, and has actually proven that he has new innovative ideas to move Texas forward into the 21st Century. It's not going to change our base of grassroots support, and I'm sure that the departure of Ambassador Schieffer from the race will likely bring some more people over to our side. We welcome Mayor White if he wants to get into the race, but it’s not going to change anything for us."

And Shami:

"I came to America with $71 in my pocket and founded a multi-billion dollar company that has created thousands of jobs for Texans. Even Rick Perry says I embody the American Dream. I got into this race to create jobs for Texans, and that's why I'm sticking in this race. Let's have a positive Democratic Primary dedicated to discussing how to create the most jobs for Texans, and no matter who's part of that discussion, Texas will be better off."

Lastly, Kinky's spokeswoman Rania Batrice in responding to Schieffer's departure ...

"Our campaign plan was never dictated by who was or wasn't in the race. Our strategy has been and will continue to be one of common sense and honesty. Returning power to the people is Kinky's top priority, and that includes education reform, justice reform, and insurance reform."

That's the wrap for today on the topic of the day.

Schieffer leaves Democratic field *update* And White joins

"He just couldn't put it together".

Word is that Democrat Tom Schieffer is quitting his bid for governor of Texas. Some Texas Democrats have never warmed to Schieffer because of his long-time ties to George W. Bush. Schieffer was a partner with Bush with the Texas Rangers. And as president, Bush appointed him ambassador of Australia and Japan. Schieffer's campaign has struggled winning money and support. It has scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference today. Ross Ramsey at Texas Tribune is reporting this morning that Schieffer will announce he's out and sources are confirming that's true. There's talk that Schieffer might consider switching to the lieutuenant governor's race, but no confirmation of that.

When our little Houston blogger confab had lunch with Tom back in August, I was impressed with him to a degree but skeptical, like many, of his close personal relationship with 43. Schieffer had collected many endorsements from Texas legislators, so those cards are back on the table.

Could Schieffer's exit herald another entry into the governor's race from the likes of Bill White or Ronnie Earle or Elliot Shapleigh? Time will tell.

Update: "Time", in this case, was something less than an hour ...

Fort Worth businessman Tom Schieffer is expected to drop out of the Texas governor's race later today, and Houston Mayor Bill White then will join the fray, according to a reliable source.

We now have a second reliable source telling us that White's switch to the governor's race will occur.

I was -- like White himself -- on record as saying this wasn't likely, so now we'll watch the speculation fly this afternoon, and in the days and weeks ahead.

Update II: From the TexTrib's updated story ...

Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie called a meeting of the gubernatorial candidates — no staff allowed — for this afternoon in Dallas. Speculation in the campaigns is that he's trying to clear the path for White, and perhaps to talk the candidates into other statewide races where no Democrats have declared. They've been told only that he wants to outline what the Democratic Party can do for them, to ask them not to cut each other up too badly in a primary, and to ask them to support the nominee, whomever that turns out to be.

Update III: Shapleigh endorses White.

The Weekly Wrangle

The turkeys and hogs might be a little nervous, but the blogs of the Texas Progressive Alliance stride fearlessly toward the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend with this round-up of the best postings from last week.

The Texas Cloverleaf clues you in on why you can't breathe in Denton County -- gas drillers!

WCNews at Eye On Williamson has some thoughts on Texas House Speaker Joe Straus' interim charges -- including topics like feral hogs, blogging, and transportation.

On Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS, TXsharon summarizes the Barnett Shale emissions meeting in Fort Worth.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme would like the sun to shine on city doings even if city officials don't.

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog is delighted that Hank Gilbert has enlisted Geeyung Li as APIA Outreach Director and thus has the first Asian American senior staffer of the campaign.

With Farouk Shami's entrance into the race, McBlogger thinks it's now down to two real candidates. Find out who they are.

WhosPlayin discusses how two cities within the Lewisville ISD have vastly different expectations when it comes to construction.

Neil at Texas Liberal offered information about when you should thaw your turkey. He also offered information about having a vegetarian Thanksgiving if that's your thing.

The Kay Bailey-Rick Perry cage match is a front in the war for control of the Republican Party going on throughout the country. Battles like the one in NY-23 last month are gearing up in a D-FW-area state Senate district in Texas, and a US Senate race in Florida, and likely all points in-between. Find out more at Brains and Eggs.

Over at Texas Vox, Public Citizen energy policy director Tyson Slocum urges the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to fight global warming.

nytexan at BlueBloggin is worn out with political buzz words, especially Socialism, The New Buzz Word. Americans are amazingly ignorant about civics, types of governments and the world around them. Knowing what's going on around us, and researching facts is after all boring and unnecessary when we have news soundbites. And I am not only speaking about the talking heads on Fox. Yes, here in America, we even outsource our thought process to main stream media and whatever tickles their fancy at any given moment.

Libby Shaw over at Texas Kaos reports on the circular firing squad that is today's Texas Republican Party in her posting, Tea Party Candidates to Challenge Texas Republicans . Give it a read.

Sunday Sorta Funnies

KBH versus Perry spotlights GOP in a tug-a-war

Sam Merten in the Houston Press:

At stake is more than just the governor's mansion. It's a pitched battle for the soul of the Republican Party not only statewide but nationally as the GOP tries to figure out how to keep itself relevant in the age of Obama. Must it go to the hard right and maintain ideological purity by purging itself of moderates, as Perry suggests; must it cast its lot with newly elected Republican Party of Texas chair Cathie Adams, the former president of the socially conservative Texas Eagle Forum and a Perry supporter who feels there's a high moral cost to tempering ideology with moderation?

Or is there room underneath the tent for pro-choice Republicans, Log Cabin Republicans and "environmental wackos," as Adams describes them, who believe in limited government, lower taxes and a strong national defense? ...

The battle lines of the civil war are drawn: Hutchison vs. Perry, Longhorn vs. Aggie, party diversity vs. party purity, right of center vs. extreme right, a race that could energize the party or one that may tear it apart.

We already know which way the RPofT wants to go. Paul Burka posted the letter from George Strake imploring Kay Bailey to abandon the governor's race, and another post brutalizing her first television advertisement:

What can I say? This is what we have been waiting for? Everything about this spot is dreadful. I can’t even give it a positive grade. It is going to lose votes. She has no energy. Her body language radiates defeat. The fighting words have no defiance in them. The subject matter is wrong. The message is wrong. And where was an editor when somebody wrote a script that raised the red herring of a state takeover of health care? That’s from outer space. Anyone who is backing her and sees this spot is going to be not just disappointed, but dismayed. Even horrified.

Perhaps Hutchison is trying to follow the old rule of “hang a lantern on your problem.” But the problem that she is hanging a lantern on is not that she had a difficult time making a decision about leaving the Senate. The real problem is that she has never given a rationale for her candidacy. If she had spent half the energy she devoted to worrying about her resignation on developing a message, she would be in much better shape today. Are we supposed to vote for her for governor because she’s against Obama’s health care program? We already have a governor who is against it. Who is going to be persuaded to vote for Hutchison because she vows to do the job she was elected to do?

Why in the world would Hutchison choose to make her first spot one that focuses on a process issue? Nobody cares about process. People care about what she is going to do for the state. Why is she still talking about a decision that has been made? She can’t undo the past and all the dilly dallying and undisciplined talk about whether and when she would resign, September, October, November, December, January, never, whenever. It just highlights the lack of self-confidence that comes out in her body language.

...(She has become) is a creature of Washington — not in the way Perry means it, that her values have been infected by the cooties of the Capitol, but in the sense that she stayed too long. She originally said she would serve two terms, and that is what she should have done: quit in 06 and run for governor, and there is a good chance she would be running for reelection today. She has no feel for Texas politics any more, or what the Texas Republican party has become — otherwise she would never have undertaken the suicide mission of attacking Perry for refusing the unemployment insurance stimulus funds, when 70+% of Republican primary voters agreed with him. But she is determined to prove that she is as much of a conservative as he is, which is futile. She had months to do her homework on Texas issues, and that time is now gone, and she hasn’t done it. If she gets in a TV debate with Perry on Texas issues, she’d better have EMS on hand because she is going to get slaughtered.

And Burka is -- by my estimation -- the voice of Texas Republican moderation. (Mostly.)

Anyway, the purge in Deep-In-The-Hearta on the undercard of the Kay-Rick death match is well under way. Here is one of my occasionally unhinged right-wing-blog brethren attacking state Sen. Kip Averitt -- he represents ten southern D-FW metro suburban and rural counties -- suggesting he might switch parties. Believe me, Kip Averitt is no Chuck Hobson.

That New York Congressional race won by the Democrat when the Republican withdrew and endorsed him because of the insane TeaBagger Party challenge? Look for a lot more of that all over the country, and especially here in Texas. The extreme right will win a few more of these (primary challenges) than they will lose, and what the moderates do in November 2010 is anybody's guess. None of the internecine fighting strengthens the GOP brand, no matter what they think. Harvey Kronberg, from the Press article also linked at the top:

"We now have two reasonably popular Republicans in a bloodbath with each other. Everybody who is an active Republican understands the loser's supporters are going to be put into exile; they won't be able to play in politics anymore. So it's going to divide the fund-raising base, it's going to divide the supporter base and it's going to damage the party for years to come."

Related:

Tea partiers turn on each other

Beck stakes out activist role

Republicans eye the tiger of populism

Lou Dobbs: The Anti-Palin

Update: And more ... Beck unveils plan to save America

And starring Blanche Lincoln as Olympia Snowe

The gentlewoman from Arkansas Walmart Big Pharma takes center stage in advance of Joe Lieberman's second act ...

Her clear warning that she would oppose the Democratic plan in its current form is certain to keep her squarely at the center of the increasingly contentious health care fight and intensify a campaign in Washington and back home to put her on the spot in advance of a re-election bid next November.

For once I would just like to hear a modern-day diva say :"I vant to be alone."

(T)he political implications are inescapable. Of the swing-state Democrats struggling with the health care issue, Mrs. Lincoln, a 49-year-old mother of twins who is married to a physician, is one of the few set to be on the ballot next year. Republicans are lining up to oppose her in a state where President Obama performed badly in the 2008 election.

Mrs. Lincoln is likely to join a motley crew of Senate Democrats quietly conspiring to euthanize the public option in favor of triggers. Go read this now, because it's what the talking heads on teevee will be chattering about next week.

Update: A Streetcar named Opportunism.

Friday Funnies (Rogue to the White House edition)