Reactions to Massachusetts

Yeah, it sucks that we lost our 60th vote, but really, what did 60 get us last year? It empowered Joe Lieberman, gave cover to Blanche Lincoln, provided excuses to Harry Reid, and gave a free pass to Max Baucus.

Now we don't have 60. And like the Republican Senate of the 2000s, if Democrats want to get anything done, they'll have to do it via reconciliation.

Given last year's track record in the Senate, it certainly can't make the Senate any less effective.

-- Markos

If “Scozzafava’d” (having a candidate endorse the other Party’s candidate) is still a verb in the political lexicon, then I believe “Coakley’d” (taking victory for granted while your opponent campaigns his heart out) should be a verb as well. The conclusion I’m coming to is that Coakley may have been a fine public official, but she was a terrible candidate. Brown’s campaign made all the right moves to take advantage of this special election situation. Meanwhile, Coakley gaffed it up and stayed inside where it was warm (19 events compared to Brown’s 66 events ...)

The lesson for progressives: work hard and don’t take anything for granted. The lesson for elected Democrats: when you have a mandate from the people, use it or lose it.

The silver lining (beyond the fact that Joe Lieberman is joyfully irrelevant once again) is that Texas Democrats don’t take anything for granted.

-- "Coakley'd", from Lubbock Left

The best part of the Democratic loss in Massachusetts is that the pitiful Senate health care bill will now probably die the ugly death it deserves. The only chance it has to survive is for the House progressives to knuckle under and accept the Senate bill as it is, and I don't think they'll do that. At least, I hope they don't.

If they do give up and accept the terribly flawed Senate bill, then the Democrats will suffer in the November elections, and they'll richly deserve it. The American people put the Democrats in power to affect real change in this country, and so far the Democrats have failed to deliver on that promise.

-- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger

For the sake of our country, I hope this turn of events serves as a wake-up call to President Obama and his advisors. Barack Obama did not win the presidency by calling out for caution and incrementalism. We all know this. He won the presidential election because he inspired a significant winning margin of voters with his bold calls for hope and change. Yet for Obama's first year in office his message to the populist base that gave him a mandate was, "Don't expect too much". The audacious, ringing cry "Yes we can!" turned into the cautious admonition, "No we can't".

-- David Van Os

It’s no secret that the voter unrest is driven by D.C.’s failure to understand the breadth and depth of the nation’s economic anxiety. Some pundits want to say the Massachusetts outcome was anti-health care reform. But that’s not it. The problem is reform hasn’t passed, it doesn’t go far enough. Combined with the perception that bankers and other Wall Street malefactors are getting off easy, the public wants to know why they are left outside on the ledge while the culprits enjoy martinis and big, plump-cushioned, comfortable chairs.

Looking at this from Texas, it’s good news that most Texas Democrats don’t suffer from East Coast smugness. They are, by and large, men and women of the people. Politics is personal, and individual needs and opportunities matter. This is the direction national Democrats should take. Screw the big powerful lobbyists. Get out on Main Street, listen to folk. Lead, but understand who you are leading.

-- Glenn Smith at Dog Canyon

Update: The last word from Jon Stewart.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass Backwards
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Run-offs in the primaries for Texas governor

Both of them, in my always-humble O. First, about the Pukes:

The appearance in last week's statewide televised debate evidently helped Republican activist Debra Medina the most and won her a spot in the upcoming Jan. 29 debate hosted by Belo.

An new Rasmussen Reports survey shows Medina with 12 percent support among 831 likely GOP primary voters surveyed Sunday. Medina had only 4 percent support in a survey by the company in November.

Perry continues to lead with 43 percent support and Hutchison was at 33 percent, with 11 percent undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. In the November poll, Perry led 46 percent to 35 percent.

Kay Bailey needs to get to 35% and Funky Cold Medina to 16 -- which is the more likely of the two scenarios -- and voila: Rick Perry will have to beat Kay again in a run-off in April.

For the Dems, let's go to Burnt Orange for the opinion of Dr. Richard Murray's take, who's working locally for ABC-13 ...

Bill White starting out with the most name identification is of course an advantage but Farouk Shami has been advertising statewide for the last month to the tune of what I can tell is about $2.5-3.0 million over $3.5 million dollars. White hasn't spent money on TV ads to date and it's unclear when or if that will happen prior to March 2nd's primary. I'm a little curious how effective Shami's ads in December will be for a March primary but considering he's probably going to be on air all the way through the next month and a half, that could solve the problem of people forgetting your name/brand if they aren't reminded about it. Of course, if he got himself listed on the ballot as Farouk "CHI IRON" Shami he'd win the name id game in a pinch. Alas...

Read it all but note this from Dr. Murray at the end:

Taken together, Bill White is almost certain to be the Democratic nominee for governor this year. There is some question as to whether he can get 50% plus against six opponents, thus avoiding an April runoff with Farouk Shami (I think he will get a majority).

Dr. Murray goes on to speculate about the possibility of Shami stalking for Governor MoFo, even quoting John Whitmire in the plot.  I rarely disagree with the good professor and I only occasionally question the Dean of the Texas Senate, but that is complete balderdash.

Anyway, and as I posted on the BOR thread, I'll take Dr. Murray's bet. In 2006, Felix Alvarado's sister -- who had no prior elective experience -- became the Democratic nominee for lt. governor, finishing ahead of an Anglo who had been a state representative and an appeals court judge. She led in the primary election (which included another Hispanic political novice, Adrian DeLeon) and she won the run-off handily.

That's right; four years ago Ben Z. Grant, the only non-Latino in the race for lite gov, got less than 40% of the three-way vote in a race in which more Democrats voted than in the contests higher on the ballot: US Senator (Radnofsky v. Kelly) and governor (Bell v. Gammage).

I think Aguado and Alvarado can draw at least 30% of the primary vote between them, so I'll say the March 2nd numbers look something like this:

White 40%
Shami 20%
Alvarado 18%
Aguado 12%
Dear, Glenn, and Locke together 10%

I believe it's entirely possible that Felix Alvarado and not Farouk Shami makes it into a run-off with White; more likely, in fact than White getting 50%.

*And like Dr. Murray (I'm guessing), I reserve the right to revise this prediction as we draw closer to Election Day, now about six weeks away.

Whatever happens today in Massachusetts ...

... Democrats have only themselves to blame.

I would give a slice of humble pie topped with a schmear of greasy blame to each of the following:

-- Martha Coakley, for running one of the most lackadaisical campaigns ever seen. For a once-popular elected official, she's made one mistake after the other, the most glaring one calling Curt Schilling "a Yankees fan".

-- Harry Reid, who allowed every Blue Dog (and a few Republicans) to pee their little bit into the smelly hash made of healthcare insurance reform. When you're elected by the people on the basis of "universal health care" and then can't even manage to make a public insurance option palatable to the Lords of the Senate, you're as weak as rainwater.

-- and Barack Obama, to hit Rahm Emanuel in the face with, for driving the White House's hand in the mostly-hands-off process and performing his classic "Let's Shit All Over Our Base" number once again.

I got off this bus a few weeks back.  I am more than happy to let the bill die. And it looks to me like the country needs to go through another few years of Republicans' "governmental reform" before we wise up.  Again.

And on the off chance that Coakley somehow manages to pull it out, I hope everyone is paying attention to who did the last-minute phonebanking and blockwalking and all the other GOTV efforts.

Clue to Rahm: it isn't the goddamn independents.  And  a vise grip to conservatives: it won't be ACORN either, you morons.

Update: Jonathan Alter of Newsweek -- damned liberal media -- obviously doesn't get it either. But Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post does.

Update II, post-Election Day: Howard Fineman adds his list, on which we agree about the top three and then he veers way off the rails. Read a blog besides your own once in awhile, pal.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes you a happy MLK Day as it brings you this week's blog highlights.

Off the Kuff takes a look at some demographic trends in the Houston area.

Something STINKS about TCEQ's recent Fort Worth air study. Considering that the Barnett Shale has a staggering asthma rate of 25% compared to 7.1% statewide, TXsharon thinks it's time for an intervention in Texas. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme, along with every other progressive, knows why Democrats are having a hard time. Even the Tea Party activists know that our country should not be run by corporate lobbyists.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson discusses the importance of the elections this year: 2010 races loom large for 2011 legislative redistricting.

Mary Peters loves her some private toll roads, which is understandable since her income depends on stupid people at TXDOT selling off our roads. McBlogger, understandably, has a problem with the fact that taxpayers have to get screwed for Mary and her masters to make money.

A few of PDiddie's friends around the state are taking a crack at public office this year. See who they are at Brains and Eggs.

Bay Area Houston notices what they didn't talk about at the Republican debates.

Neil at Texas Liberal updated his Martin Luther King reading & reference list for 2010. This list is the best such resource on the web.

MUD? FWSD? WTF? Developer welfare comes back into the light in Denton County, at the Texas Cloverleaf.

Remembering MLK today

And not with a sale or a day off.

By 1967, the Rev. Martin Luther King had become his country's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War and a staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 -- a year to the day before he was murdered -- King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

TIME magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi," and the Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."

Part 2 can be seen here as well as the full text of the speech. Here is a short excerpt:

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. ... A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, 'This is not just.' It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, 'This is not just.' The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.

"A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

Hat tip to the Texas Climate Emergency Campaign.

Farouk Shami in the news

Full disclosure: Not only is Shami a paid sponsor of this blog but Vince Leibowitz, my good friend and chair of the Texas Progressive Alliance, also serves as Shami's campaign director and senior strategist.

Shami's religious views and economic plans made news this past week. First, Corrie MacLaggan at the Statesman:

When Farouk Shami's gubernatorial campaign officials were asked in November what his religion is, they said he is Quaker.

But on Monday, other campaign officials said he is not.

Rick Casey at the Chron:

Farouk Shami, the Houston hair care magnate running for governor, wants you to know that he is not a Muslim.

He also wants you to know that he is not a Quaker.

One more thing he wants you to know: The Texas media, possibly out of “something darker and racially motivated,” is engaging in a disservice to Texas Democrats by promoting a “media sideshow surrounding Shami's religious beliefs.”

Aman Batheja at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Because of the wealthy Houston businessman’s origin, as soon as he announced his candidacy a rumor started that he is Muslim.

His campaign initially told reporters that Shami is a Quaker but appeared to backtrack this week.

On Tuesday, members of Shami’s campaign staff suggested that recent questions from the news media about his religion were racially motivated.

"Apparently, if you’re not lily white, some people will require you to pass a religious test in order to run for office in this country," campaign director Vince Leibowitz said.

K-T Musselman at Burnt Orange Report:

Earlier this week, I posted on an (sic) disappointing attack made by one of the minor Democratic gubernatorial candidates on Farouk Shami's faith. A number of other Texas media outlets wrote about some confusion and apparent backtracking by Shami as to whether he was Quaker, Muslim, or none of the above. ... I was a little disappointed at first that the release addressing the issue didn't answer the question which was raised as to what the actual response should be to attacks on Shami's faith- simply, what does he identify as?

Shami's statement on his religious beliefs:

I was born in the land of Abraham, believing in Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, and believing in one God. I grew up with members of my family and friends practicing multiple faiths: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I was also educated at a Quaker school. All of these things contributes to my relationship with God. To say simply ‘I'm a Muslim’ or ‘I'm a Quaker’ is to ignore major parts of my faith. I know it seems complicated that I do not have a pat answer to questions about what religion I am, but without my exposure to many different cultures and religious beliefs I wouldn't be the person I am today.

Although I'm not a member of any specific religious tradition, I do begin every day with prayer and meditation and have a strong personal relationship with God. I respect those who practice all faiths because I believe God gave us life to help one another, the poor, the sick and the oppressed. It is through God we can achieve peace, freedom and bring justice to the world. As Governor, I know, with God's help and guidance, I will be able to help every Texan have access to the American Dream just like I did—a good job, access to healthcare, and an excellent education for their children. That's why I feel called to run for office."

Glad that's all cleared up.

Shami's unconventional economic proposal is to build factories in hard-pressed Texas cities to construct solar panels to be placed on homes, free of charge.  Costs would be recouped by selling the generated electricity back to the power company, and once paid for, the panels then donated to the homeowner. A hundred thousand jobs would be created under this plan, presumably by the construction of the factories and then the factory and installer jobs themselves, along with -- again I would guess -- ancillary jobs from the investment, suppliers and so forth. From KHOU:

“I'm hoping within the first two years I will create a minimum of 100,000 jobs or I will resign and I am thinking I will give the state $10 million,” Shami said. “What do you think of that?”

Rice University and 11 News Political Expert Bob Stein had a different view.

“I think it will probably come off looking more like a gimmick than serious public policy,” he said. ...

Voter Scott Nethery said he wasn’t buying it right away.

“My first initial thoughts would be: unrealistic,” he said.

University of Houston Economist Barton Smith agreed. He called it “a stretch technologically” because solar panels are so expensive.

“(It is) something the private sector could not possibly do on its own given the current technology,” he said.

Shami also suggested this past week in a campaign appearance in El Paso that undocumented immigrants be granted amnesty in exchange for revealing criminal gangsters to law enforcement:

"We cannot continue to treat all undocumented workers as criminals. We must narrowly target the gangs that threaten our safety and to do that, undocumented workers must become our allies. Furthermore, we must give them incentives, beyond making their community safer, to come forward. That's why I want to work with the federal government to give legal status to anyone who contributes to the capture of gang members."

Lastly, Shami's transportation policy reveals him as favoring the end of both the Tran-Texas Corridor as well as the use of eminent domain "abuse". He proposes increases in the state gasoline tax to pay for his suggestions -- making him a rarity among candidates.

Update: What's sacred to Texas voters is the truth.

Friends running for office

-- Rachel Barrios-Van Os, for Bexar County Clerk. Yes, she's related to one of my very favorite dudes. One of her primary opponents is former Bexar County Democratic Party chair Carla Vela, who does not use e-mail ("it's too complicated") and noticed just last month that $200,000 was missing from the county party''s treasury.

... Vela struggled to explain how she only learned two days ago that Adams had been draining money from the party's primary account for 13 months.

That's despite County Auditor Tommy Tompkins' public complaints in August that the party had bounced a $100,000 check to the county for 2008 primary expenses.

At that time, Vela insisted the problem simply was a bank error. She said Wednesday that Adams told her “the bank gave us the wrong account number” when Compass Bank took over Laredo National Bank in 2008. She added that Tompkins never formally notified her that the check had bounced.

Tompkins disputed both of those points Wednesday.

“The check was bounced because there were insufficient funds to cover that $100,000, not because of a closed or wrong account,” he said. “I find it hard to believe that (Vela) is saying she just now found out about it when she had an e-mail I sent her back in July.”

Barrios-Van Os is hosting a meet-and-greet over dinner next week in San Antonio.

-- Jefferson County assistant auditor Keith Hawkes, for county treasurer.  Keith is a fraternity brother from college and has a compelling life story. This article in the Beaumont Enterprise online mentions six races in Jefferson County that will be decided on the Democratic ticket.

-- And Jody Crump, Orange County's first Republican and a childhood friend of my younger brother, challenges long-time Democratic incumbent Precinct 4 Commissioner Beamon Minton -- whose daughters also attended grade school with me.

-- No connection to me except through Southeast Texas: Hardin County officials who switched parties -- Democratic to Republican -- late last year also have several challengers:

Hardin County Democrats who filed for office Monday include Russell Wright for county judge; Sharon Overstreet for county treasurer; Chris Barnes and Thomas Tyler Jr. for Precinct 1 justice of the peace; and Valerie Stewart for Precinct 6 justice of the peace.

Hardin County is worth watching closely regarding the success of the TeaBagger phenomenon in suburban/exurban/rural Texas.

Bloggateering with the Mayor

A few of us local online pundits celebrated with Mayor Annise Parker at La Griglia last evening.

Attorneys Roland Garcia and Neil Thomas sponsored the event, and several of the mayor's staff joined in paying tribute to the Houston progressive blogging contingent who supported Parker's mayoral victory last month.

More photos here.

Update: Join Charles and Stace and David this Tuesday for a post-mortem on Houston's municipal elections at the Houston Area Table lunchtime meet-up.

Sunday Funnies

An open letter to Pat Robertson, from Lucifer

Dear Pat,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating.

I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welsher.

The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people they first get something here on Earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake.

Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll.

You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best,

Satan

Update: God's presser ...

In the wake of his comments about the earthquake in Haiti, televangelist Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today.

In a rare press conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, the usually reclusive Almighty said that He was taking the unusual step of airing His feelings in public because "enough is enough."

"I pray that his TV show would just go away, but of course, when you're Me there's no one to pray to," God said, to the laughter of the packed room of reporters.

While God held out no hope that Rev. Robertson's "700 Club" would be cancelled any time soon, He did say, somewhat ruefully, "If Pat Robertson were on NBC he'd be replaced by Jay Leno by now."

Some post-debate punditry *updates*

(Hutchison) came out swinging with a smile, repeatedly challenging (Perry's) leadership. He didn't hold back on criticizing her, hard, and defending his record.

As often as they could, the two took the fight directly to each other on issues important to all Texans, including the budget and taxes.

Activist Debra Medina didn't fade into the background, as she well might have, sharing a stage with two powerhouses. She stood her ground and presented her limited-government point of view staunchly, winning kudos from a Hutchison staffer afterward for her command of the facts.

More detail on budget fixes from Perry and Hutchision would have been good. Cut where? How much can you really scrub from the budget without hurting vulnerable Texans.

-- Peggy Fikac of Texas Politics

I agree with Senator Hutchison that Texas future is at risk because we are failing to educate so many Texans. Dropout rates are among the highest in the nation and college tuition has been skyrocketing. ... And yet, in a one hour debate, Governor Perry never accepted accountability for the failures of public education or described how we could improve it and bring down skyrocketing college tuition rates. Our state deserves better than that.

Much of the debate consisted of complaints about the federal government, rather than solutions for Texas.

-- Bill White

(Last night's debate was) a childish squabbling match to see who can be the most far right reactionary candidate. ... Things in Texas are heading in the wrong direction. The cost of health care and health insurance are out of control, the quality of basic public education is falling, and our air, land and water are under constant threat from polluters. We simply can't settle for more business as usual.

It is more important than ever for the other Democratic candidates for Governor to have the opportunity for meaningful dialogue. I hope Bill White will rethink his decision to not debate the other candidates in a public forum.

-- Farouk Shami

Senator Hutchison walks away with a pretty clear win tonight, with a powerful assist by Debra Medina, who now becomes the credible third option in this race in the eyes of everyone watching tonight. And Democrats, of course, walk away from the debate happy -- the incumbent got pounded, the dark horse got a huge boost in credibility, and enough slime got thrown around to make us look forward to the rest of the Republican primary race.

-- George Nasser at The Texas Blue

Governor Perry looked tired and irritated. Senator Hutchison remained calm and collected, while smiling, as she responded to Perry's attacks. Hutchison used a debate style move of posing a question to Medina that was a direct swipe at Perry. Medina made mention several times that the other two would respond as typical politicians to questions. ...

While Hutchison was grilled on her abortion stance, Medina was not asked about her decision to home school her children and only teach creationism to them while ignoring evolution. She believes the age of earth is not settled and that it must only be about 4,000 years old, as biblical teachings direct her. She was asked about her practice of carrying a gun without a conceal carry license, which is legal in Texas. You may be interested in knowing she does not take it into the grocery store.

-- moderate conservative blogger Pondering Penguin

And some non-partisan reporting from Aman Batheja at Poli-Tex. More updates to this post later today.

Update: Burka, excerpted in easy-to-digest small bites.

Maybe the question is: Was there a winner? Well, the format was a winner. ...

... But televised debates are as much about images as about words, and I thought (Perry) looked terrible, even creepy at times. He really looked uncomfortable. Sometimes he wore a frozen grin, sometimes it was a smirk; whatever it was, it transmitted, “I don’t want to be here.” He was constantly on the defensive. When he said how well Texas is doing (in job creation) Medina shot back, You’re using 07 figures. Perry is not very good when he is on the defensive. He is very good when he is on the attack....

Hutchison had one terrible moment. It came when David Montgomery asked about her support for Roe v. Wade. She sidestepped the issue. Other panelists tried to get her to give a straight answer. She handled it so badly that the audience laughed. That is never good. ... If it had not been for the abortion question, I would have said that Hutchison won the debate, but that was a disaster for Hutchison. ...

I was hoping for more from Debra Medina, but I don’t think she made a case for herself as a major candidate for governor. Medina marginalized herself by concentrating on fringe issues, such as open carry (guns), legalization of drugs, and other libertarian positions. ... It seemed evident that she and Perry are fighting over the same constituency on the right.

The campaign will now move to the airwaves. Perry so far has had a huge advantage. His TV is so much better than Hutchison’s, his messages so much clearer. Thirty-three days to go before the start of early voting.

Wayne Slater at the DMN, also noticing the pointlessness of KBH's nuanced position on abortion among GOP primary lunatics voters:

Kay Bailey Hutchison had to convince Republican primary voters of two things in Thursday's debate: why they should boot Rick Perry out of the governor's office and why they should put her in.

The veteran senator offered plenty of ammunition for the first: toll roads, new taxes, school dropouts under Perry's tenure and the dark warning of creeping cronyism in Austin.

But for the voters she needs – the conservative, small-government, anti-abortion party activists who will dominate turnout in March – the reason to pick her seemed a less convincing case.

No issue animates social conservatives like abortion. And for anti-abortion forces in the GOP, Hutchison's views on that always have been a problem.

When a panelist asked Hutchison about her vote against overturning the Roe vs. Wade court decision legalizing abortion, Hutchison rolled out her conservative credentials. ...

The answer – nuanced and reasoned – probably isn't what many in the GOP primary electorate wanted to hear. And those are the voters she, Perry and Debra Medina will be vying for in the primary.

Also check out the "heat index" veracity-checking of some of the claims made by last night's participants at TrailBlazers (Ryan Rusak gets the credit). Lastly, Jason Embry from the Statesman, followed by satirist Ken Herman with the zombie video.

The debate was notable for the themes it didn't hit. There was hardly any discussion of public education or state transportation policies, and the candidates laid out few specific ideas about what they want to do in office. ...

There were no major gaffes, although each candidate mangled a line or two. And no candidate was particularly specific when asked how to solve the state's looming budget shortfall, which the state is facing in large part because Perry and lawmakers have committed billions of dollars every year to hold down property taxes.

===================

Well, now you've heard it straight from the GOP gubernatorial candidates. The decision is in: Texas, our Texas, is the greatest state in the land.

And if you tuned into Thursday night's GOP gubernatorial debate, you'd have reason to believe that Gov. Rick Perry and challenger Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison each are individually responsible for our wonderfulness.

Both were certain in praising Texas' near-perfection. Neither, somehow, had much to say about any current problems, much less offering a solution to any current problems.

The short version: no runs, no hits, no errors and nary a word about solutions.

Update II: More on those zombies -- the ones outside the hall, not inside -- from Aman Batheja.

Perry, Hutchison, Medina debate tonight

The first contested Republican primary debate for Texas governor in 20 years is scheduled to occur on statewide television tonight as Gov. Rick Perry tries to fend off challenges from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and activist Debra Medina.

The debate will be broadcast live locally in Houston at 7 p.m. on KUHT Channel 8, KTRK-DT Channel 13.2 and at 10 a.m. Saturday on KXLN Channel 45 (Univision in Spanish), as well as airing on radio on KSEV, 700 AM; KTRH, 740 AM; and KUHF, 88.7 FM.

An Internet live stream of the debate can be obtained from www.TexasDebates.org.

That Medina won the right to be in tonight's debate means she can already claim probably as much victory as she will see in this primary. She is popular with the TeaBaggers and Libertarians but so far that translates into 5% in the polling. She should do much better than this; Larry Kilgore managed 7.58% four years ago (he dropped out of this contest last month and endorsed Medina) and further, the sum of the "not-Rick-Perry" faction earned almost 16%. If that happens again this March -- and Kay can pull 35% -- then you're looking at a run-off. One that Perry likely still wins, but ...

Update: Peggy Fikac ...

GOP consultant Mark Sanders (who managed Carole Strayhorn's 2006 gubernatorial campaign) said the candidate to watch is Medina.

“She is the wild card. If she performs well, she could throw the gubernatorial election into a runoff ... It'll take more than just the debate, but she could be the anti-Washington, anti-incumbent candidate that many voters are looking for.”

Suggested reading:

The Pre-Game Show (the Texas Tribune's advance story)

Medina at the Ramparts (about her border policy)

Perry rakes in the money (but Kay actually has more)

Perry won't let Texas bid for federal education dollars (expect this to be a topic in tonight's debate)

Right Place, Right Time (Texas Monthly's Paul Burka on the governor's secret 2012 bid for the White House)

Perry for President: Conjuring the Apocalypse (a response to Burka from the Texas Observer's Bob Moser)

Charles Kuffner's summary (which includes the two links above)

Perry lacks trust in Texas voters (the Chron's Rick Casey)

SD-22: Kip Averitt, Darren Yancy, and perhaps some others

State Sen. Kip Averitt of Waco suddenly discontinued his bid for re-election yesterday, citing health concerns.

The decision comes a week and a half after the closing of the filing period to run for state elected office as a Democrat or Republican and leaves Burleson insurance agent Darren Yancy as the sole candidate left to campaign in the GOP primary.

No Democrats have filed to run for Averitt’s seat, which covers McLennan, Coryell, Falls, Bosque, Hill, Navarro, Somervell, Hood, Johnson and Ellis counties.

Averitt, 55, a certified public accountant, has represented Waco since 1992, when he was elected to the state House. He issued a statement to the Tribune-Herald that said in recent years he has struggled to balance health and the interests of his family with his role as a public servant.

“I have been advised that I must now put my health above all else — for me and my family — and it is with deep regret that I announce today the cessation of my Senate campaign,” the release states.

Averitt, a moderate Republican with tenure and respect from colleagues across the aisle, was in line for more power in the upcoming session.

In 2005, Averitt pushed to restore funding and loosen eligibility rules for Texas’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, which had been cut in the previous legislative session. He’s also been involved in crafting the state’s budget.

And as chairman of the influential Natural Resources Committee, he has been a strong voice for the creation of local groundwater-conservation districts and long-term planning of the state’s water.

On Dec. 10, Averitt and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst attended a Tribune-Herald editorial board meeting together. Dewhurst, who presides over the Senate, said at the time that Averitt’s name was in the mix to head the powerful Senate Finance Committee in the upcoming legislative session. On Dec. 23, Averitt filed for re-election.

So ... three weeks after filing, and ten days after the deadline, the candidates remaining are Averitt's primary challenger, TeaBaggin' Darren Yancey (disregard the ECO's bragging) and one of two Libertarians that gets chosen at their March 13 convention (Tim Ballard of Cleburne or Ben Faulkner of Red Oak). Harvey Kronberg at Quorum Report has video from Yancey's aborted run at Cong. Chet Edwards:



Harvey also provides this, in a 11:47 p.m. update:

"If Averitt withdraws after winning the primary, then the Republican District Executive Committee (comprised of the County Chairmen from each of the counties SD 22, Sec 171.054) selects his replacement (not the SREC/SDEC); and the Democratic District Executive Committee also gets to nominate an opponent (Sec. 145.036). No litigation necessary."

That's also verified in this update from Michael Shapiro at the Waco Trib:

If GOP voters pick Averitt in the primary and he then withdraws, both parties would have the opportunity to name replacement candidates. Those candidates would be picked by the two parties’ District Executive Committees, which consist of party chairmen from the 10 counties in the district.

This district is pretty solidly red, but Averitt's withdrawal gives Democrats and independents a shot at an unexpected open Texas Senate. More developing.

Update: More inside baseball from the TexTrib.

Haiti

-- Two aggregates, one from Neil at Texas Liberal and one from conservative Blue Dot Blues have links you should follow.  You can simply text HAITI to 90999 and a $10 donation will be forwarded to the American Red Cross and billed to your cell by your provider. As BDB notes, the Red Cross is reporting that they have already extinguished their inventory of medical supplies.

Update: Katie Shellnutt at Believe It or Not posts ...

Apparently all those ten-buck and five-buck donations add up, with the Red Cross earning $1.2 million from texts alone by the end of Tuesday.

-- Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson quickly spewed their hate, and Keith Olbermann just as quickly shut them down.



Text:

"Even the worst of us in this political mosh pit of the early 21st Century can stop on occasion in grief and human sympathy, in mourning, or just in self-preservation. Not Rush Limbaugh, and not Pat Robertson. We'll explore this at length later, but Mr. Robertson, it is laughable now to try to call him Reverend, explained today that this earthquake was the result of a quote "Deal with the Devil" that he claims the nation made in the 19th Century to gain its freedom from France. "True story", Robertson says. Sir, because of your tone deafness and your delight in human misery, and your dripping, self-satisfied holier-than-thou senile crap, I am now likelier to believe that *you* are the Devil."

"Limbaugh, meantime, did not know when to just shut up. Today he blamed "Communism" for the poverty of Haiti, blamed President Obama for holding a news conference the day after this cataclysm, when he did not hold one after the failed, half-assed terror attempt in Detroit, and said Mr. Obama would quote "Use Haiti" to quote "Burnish their shall we say, credibility with the Black community in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned Black community in this country."

"Mr Robertson, Mr. Limbaugh. Your lives are not worth those of the lowest, meanest, poorest of those victims still lying under that rubble in Haiti tonight. You serve no good, you serve no God. You inspire only stupidity and hatred, and I would wish you to Hell. But knowing how empty your souls must be for you to be able to say such things in a time of such pain, I suspect the vacant, purposeless lives you both live now, are Hell enough already."

As did Raymond Joseph, the Haitian ambassador to the United States:

"I would like the whole world to know -- America especially -- that the independence of Haiti, when the slaves rose up against the French and defeated the French army -- powerful army -- the U.S. was able to gain the Louisiana territory for $15 million. That's 3 cents an acre. That's 13 states west of the Mississippi that the Haitian slave revolt in Haiti provided ..."

"So, what pact the Haitian made with the devil has helped the United States become what it is."

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Late Night spat

The drama consuming NBC's late night programming has been hard to keep up with ever since rumors spread that Leno was losing his prime time show and returning to late night. The fate, not only of Jay's show, but Conan O'Brien's and Jimmy Fallon's hang in the balance as negotiations continue between the network and its comedy stars.

I'll let you do the clicking and the watching of the videos at the links, but some are do-not-miss; these ...

CBS' late night king David Letterman put his two cents in Tuesday night, saying the entire shuffle is and will cost NBC "Hundreds and hundreds of millions and millions of dollars" and that between Leno and O'Brien it all boils down to money. He also suggested a replacement for NBC's soon-to-be-vacant 10:00 p.m. time slot: "Law And Order: Leno Victims Unit."

... and this one:

Jimmy Kimmel has also come out in support of Conan, going as far as doing his entire show last night dressed as Jay Leno.  With prosthetic chin and all, Kimmel mocked Leno's lack of scruples over the switch: "Conan O'Brien today announced that he is leaving NBC. He released a statement today that said, 'I won't participate in the destruction of the Tonight Show.' Fortunately though - I will!", he mocked.

The (coldest) Weekly Wrangle

With blue lips and chattering teeth, the Texas Progressive Alliance brings you a hot steaming mug of blog highlights for the week.

This week on Left of College Station: the filling deadline has ended and the primaries in the Brazos Valley are crowded with candidates. Also take a look at who tweets among the primary candidates for Texas Congressional District 17 and which does not want Left of College Station to follow their tweets. Teddy also posts about the modern day slavery of human trafficking, and how Houston has become one of the biggest hubs for the modern day slave trade. L o C S also covers the week in headlines.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the Texas GOP's inability to govern and the opportunities that provides for Democrats: GOP divisions can bring Democratic gains in Texas.

The Denton County candidates are ready to go at the Texas Cloverleaf.

How does Texas compare with other states? A statistical analysis with graphs reveals the truth at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Off the Kuff has a modest suggestion for how to handle Harris County's current budget shortfall.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme agrees it's time to put our money in community banks.

Thinking and acting both locally and globally, Neil at Texas Liberal sent membership donations to both Greenpeace and the Democratic Women of Denton County.

After a noted anti-gay and Republican activist filed to run as a Democrat against an unchallenged incumbent GOP county commissioner, investigation determined that the man used the wrong address and was disqualified from the ballot. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has more on the story.

Bay Area Houston nominates Dave Wilson for the "Dripping with Hypocrisy" award with One Man. No Woman.

WhosPlayin has the story of a public servant who manages a $13 million facility, where he works for the taxpayer by day, and for the private club that rents the facility at night.

McBlogger sees some problems with Sen. Hutchison's ad taking on Gov. 39% and some of the people making excuses for 39%.

A big bag of postpourri

-- Harry Reid was racially insensitive.   Trent Lott was racist.  Not at all surprised that conservatives don't know the difference.

There is a BIG difference between praising a segregationist in public like Lott did, and Reid's making, in private, a racially insensitive comment while praising and welcoming the candidacy of the man who would go on to become the first African American President of the United States.

Reid's choice of words shows that when it comes to race and discussing African Americans, he is very unenlighted. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE IS RACIST, it just means this guy, who it should be pointed out enthusiastically campaigned for Obama, has a long way to go when it comes to learning how to discuss race. His heart is most likely in the right place, his mouth and vocabulary? Not so much.

Lott on the other hand made a point to say that if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948 "we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years." Thurmond ran a presidential campaign on a segrationist platform in 1948 and on the campaign's plank remarked "all the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches."

When Michael Steele -- who recently came under criticism himself for using the phrase "honest injun" -- OR ANYONE ELSE advances the notion that there is any comparision between Reid's and Lott's comments, they show themselves either to be ignorant or worse; they show themselves as folks who will seek to exploit discussions of race as a launching pad to provoke racial division.

Update: Hal at Half Empty has more.

-- Visit my friend Michele's (yes, he's French) excellent blog Miss Welby.

-- If the Supreme Court rules in favor of corporations' political spending as free speech, then we will be one more giant leap down the road to American fascism.

If this vision becomes reality, businesses and other big-money players will spend billions either hyping their preferred candidates or running attack ads against elected officials who don't support their preferred agenda. Voters will be forced into a couch-potato role, mere viewers of the electoral spectacle bought and paid for by wealthy companies.

The Supreme Court's decision in the hotly anticipated campaign finance reform case Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission -- which may be announced as early as Tuesday -- will show whether a majority of the Roberts court is buying their argument.

-- Dennis Hopper is dying of prostate cancer.

-- Kelly Fero's memorial service yesterday included this reading of Che Guevara's last letter to his children:

If one day you must read this letter, it will be because I am no longer with you. You practically will not remember me, and the smaller ones will not remember me at all.

Your father has been a man who acted on his beliefs and certainly has been faithful to his convictions.

Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. Remember that the Revolution is what is important, and that each of us, alone, is nothing.

Above all, try always to be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.

Until forever, my children. I still hope to see you.

A big kiss and a big hug from Papa.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre.

-- Read this excerpt of John Heilemann's book about John and Elizabeth Edwards and the collapse of his 2008 presidential campaign, replete with the tales of Rielle Hunter, Elizabeth's cancer, and more behind the scenes. I didn't think I was capable of being shocked by this sordid episode any more, but this certainly did the trick.

-- The bra-color Facebook meme is tiresome already.

-- The most powerful man in American media and politics simultaneously is Roger Ailes.  No one disputes this. The question -- even among scions of Rupert Murdoch -- is whether, despite the enormous profits, this is a good thing.

-- The inventor of Gumby passed away. Art Clokey originally fashioned Gumby's crooked head after his deceased father's Conan O'Brien-styled hair swoop. Clokey was placed in an orphanage shortly after his father's death when his stepfather forced his mother to choose between them. He was adopted at age 11 and encouraged by his adoptive father to expand his artistic horizons.  As an adult he managed a little controversy as well.

-- When Mary Matalin and Dana Perino and Rudy Giuliani all claim that there were no terrorist attacks during George Bush's terms, that's not stupidity or even a mistake; that's premeditated.

Not only does the statement suggest Giuliani does not remember the devastating attack in his own city, it also omits the anthrax attacks and the attempted shoe bomber attack.

A day earlier, Giuliani falsely claimed that the shoe bomber attack occurred before September 11th.

Curiously, the Associated Press did a long write-up of Giuliani's Obama criticisms but omitted the startling mistake. George Stephanopoulos, who conducted the ABC interview, included the quote in a blog post but did not question it.

 This demonstrates again that Republicans are repeating lies as often as they can get away with in order that they become the "truth".

And when the media refuses to challenge them, then our democracy is failed.

Update: Harold Cook at Letters from Texas ...

In political messaging, one person misspeaking is a mistake. Two misspeaking is a concerted coordinated trend, and thinking, patriotic Americans should call them on their lies every time they attempt them. Those who seek to re-write this history only serve to so utterly mask the roots of our life-threatening challenges that they themselves put Americans at further grave risk.

And what of the so-called "reporters" interviewing these liars? Best I can tell from the video clips, neither Perino's or Guliani's false claims were at all challenged by their interviewers. Of course, Perino's interview was on FoxNews, which is to political news coverage what pro wrestling is to sports - it's not real, they just want you to think it is.

Sunday Funnies

Homophobe Wilson's ballot bid rejected *updates*

As regards this post. He listed his business address as his residence address, a violation of the mandatory provision of the Texas Election code. The letter to Wilson from HCDP chair Gerry Birnberg outlining the violation and the ineligibility is here. More responses as they are posted.

Updates:

Texas Election Code requires that a candidate's application for a place on the ballot include his or her residence address. Birnberg said that when he met with Wilson on Thursday, the candidate mentioned that he actually lives in a home on Lake Lane. Property tax records list the owner as Connie J. Wilson.

Wilson said he is separated from his wife and lives in an apartment at his business address. Wilson's voter registration lists his address on W. 34th.

Wilson said he will ask Birnberg to reverse his decision, and if Birnberg does not, he will contest it in court.

Birnberg insisted that election law gives him no discretion to make a judgment call. The language of the statute states that if the application does not meet requirements, the party must reject it. Had Wilson filed with a day or two to spare, Birnberg said, the party may have caught the error with time for Wilson to correct it before the deadline.

“It's his decision to file at the last minute that's the (cause) of the problem,” Birnberg said.

===============

But at least he gets his filing fee back. Don't spend it all in one race.

===============

Assuming Wilson does not file a suit to contest this, it means County Commissioner Jerry Eversole gets a much-undeserved free pass in this year’s election. It also means the Democratic slate isn’t polluted by Wilson’s rancid presence, which is the greater good. May this be the last time I ever have to type the name “Dave Wilson” into a blog post.

Reagan brought back from dead to revive GOP

Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP

More on Dave Wilson and other GOP ballot chicanery

Chris Moran at the Chron:

Conservative anti-gay activist Dave Wilson will be on the March 2 primary ballot for Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner as a Democrat.

Wilson — who once hosted a fund-raiser for Republican incumbent Jerry Eversole — believes Eversole will resign his seat as a result of a corruption investigation by the FBI, and he wants voters, not the county Republican Party or county judge, to pick his successor.

County election records indicate that Wilson, 63, has voted in eight GOP primary and runoff elections since 1995, but never in a Democratic election.

Dude actually sent a ringer to sign in and file for him. Since most candidates -- such as myself -- fill out the form and have it notarized at party headquarters, Wilson would have had to prepare and notarize his form elsewhere and have his impersonator provide it.

Harris County Democratic Party Gerry Birnberg accused Wilson and the Republican Party of fraud. Not only is Wilson not a Democrat, Birnberg said, but the candidate sent a representative who signed in as Wilson and allowed himself to be introduced as Wilson to a roomful of applauding Democrats.

Birnberg said he did not realize when Wilson's representative filed his candidacy papers that it was the same Wilson who sent out 35,000 fliers in November opposing Annise Parker for mayor, in part, because of her sexual orientation.

“We would have recruited a placeholder so we could keep this charlatan out of the race,” Birnberg said.

He said local Republicans should be ashamed to “stoop to such fraudulent chicanery.”

Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill said, “We had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

But that's not what Wilson says, Jared, so one of you is lying.

Wilson said he did not decide until minutes before Monday's 6 p.m. filing deadline which primary to enter. He reported to the Republican headquarters, where he found Koenning and former City Council member Toni Lawrence, both of whom said last year they would run for the seat if Eversole retired.

If Lawrence or Koenning had filed in the Republican primary, Wilson said, he would have joined the race to prevent a scenario in which Eversole resigned to move aside for Koenning or Lawrence.

Meanwhile, Wilson dispatched his treasurer to Democratic Party headquarters. Just minutes before the deadline, after determining that no one else was filing as a Republican, Wilson instructed his treasurer to enter him in the Democratic primary.

So this isn't the only louse on the ballot -- and I don't refer just to the legal, Republican ones either.

Birnberg said he also asked two state agencies whether he could prevent lawyer Lloyd Oliver from running as a Democratic candidate for judge. Oliver is under indictment for illegal solicitation of clients by a lawyer. He is running for judge of Harris County Criminal Court No. 3, the bench vacated by Republican Judge Don Jackson, who was convicted last month of a misdemeanor charge of official oppression. Lawyer Judith Snively also has filed for the Democratic nomination.

Having been informed by the secretary of state's office and the Commission on Judicial Conduct that the indictment did not disqualify Oliver's candidacy, Birnberg said he will seek a resolution from the county party's executive committee authorizing him to inform voters of Oliver's “criminal circumstances.”

That meeting is Thursday evening, and I'll be in attendance.

Underpants of mass destruction

The seemingly organic self-generating terror of, by, and for the Republican Party only pauses momentarily when they need to wail about "Obamunism".

Have you ever seen a bigger bunch of pants-crapping cowards in your life?

Candidate filing odds and ends

-- Star Locke, who ran in the Repulican primary against Rick Perry four years ago, is running in the Democratic primary this year. For governor. As Texas Cloverleaf notes ...

I would direct you to his website, but my antivirus software says it has a trojan. So, bad move. But you may remember Star as one of the also rans against Rick Perry in the 2006 GOP primary. Among Star's fun ideas is taxing abortion clinics and soda. If he can't stick you for killing a fetus, well he will get ya for drinking that Coke!

-- Dave Wilson, the nasty homophobe last heard from during the Houston mayoral campaign, has turned coat and filed to run against ethics-tarred Jerry Eversole for Harris County commissioner. Update: Muse's note declaring it was not this Dave Wilson is no longer posted, and many other sources confirm that it is that Dave Wilson.

-- 1st Court of Appeals Justice Jim Sharp and Bill Moody, the Democrats' top vote-getter in 2006, both filed for separate places on the Texas Supreme Court.  They're two of the good guys.

-- Wayne Slater says that the Metroplex is ground zero for Democratic efforts to reclaim the Texas House:

The Democrats recruited Jamie Dorris against Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland; and Dallas businessman John Wellik, an executive at United Surgical Partners Inc., against Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas.

Dallas County GOP Chairman Jonathan Neerman countered by pitting retired Marine Capt. Kenneth Sheets against Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas; and businessman Rodney Anderson against Rep. Kirk England, D-Grand Prairie.

In November, there will be eight contested House races in Dallas County. Other targeted incumbents include Democrats Carol Kent and Robert Miklos, and Republicans Linda Harper-Brown and Dan Branch. Throw in the contested Democratic gains in Tarrant County (seats now held by Chris Turner and Paula Pierson), and the DFW area becomes home to by far the most high-profile House races of any region.

Aman Batheja at Poli-Tex is less impressed with the number of Democratic challengers on the Tarrant County ballot.

-- Kuffner, as always, has more and better.

Ellen Cohen's opponent

... talks like a TeaBagger:

“The last year has shown us that the incumbent representative’s party is on a spending spree unprecedented in American history.” (West University attorney Sarah) Davis said. “Her party is trying to gain control of the Texas House. We must not let that happen.”

I'm sure Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are her idols.There's a lot more out of focus than just her photograph (at the link).

Update (because I wanted to add this): No mention of "the incumbent representative"'s record or what Davis would do if elected, no mention of the HD 134 electorate or how she might offer something different, just a generalized Beck-styled rant at Washington (read: Obama) and a "stop the liberal infidels" call to arms. Bill White notes:

“I don't think this race is going to be about one party or who said what to whom in Washington. It's going to be about where we want to go with public education, cutting the dropout rate, reducing barriers to higher education, plans for long-term mobility funding for our state, insurance rates that have skyrocketed along with our utility bills.”

Some postpourri, happy and sad

-- This morning the mayor of the fourth largest US city formally took office. Charles, John, Martha and Neil were all in attendance. Wish I could have been there for the history.

-- Kelly Fero passed away suddenly today. He had consulted many Democratic candidates; John Sharp, Tony Sanchez, Jim Mattox and others. In recent years however he was mostly one of the go-to people when the corporate media needed a quote about some Democratic political development. Ross Ramsey at the Texas Tribune has more.

-- RG Ratcliffe has listed the statewides (including the Republicans) so I don't have to update this.

-- Hector Uribe and Jerry Patterson are already exchanging pleasantries. After Uribe filed to challenge the incumbent Land Commissioner, Patterson responded:

"Hector's a friend and fellow actor. We were both in the recent movie ‘The Alamo’, filmed near Austin, albeit on different sides in the conflict (actually Hector had a real part, I was just an extra). When Hector surrendered at San Jacinto, I should have shot him when I had the chance... "

As an afterthought he added, "I hope folks understand then we were just acting, now it's a real war."

And then Uribe rejoined:

"Jerry is a friend and quite a good actor. I was happy that he and I escaped the fantasy battles without a bruise. However, I am concerned that he seems to be reliving his part. I’m his opponent not his enemy, and he can put his gun away.

When he was reported as saying that he was desperately looking for an opponent I took pity on him and finally decided to make his day. Although I suspect I’m not quite the E-Harmony candy-date that he was dreaming of.

I’m sorry I can’t accept his proposal that we go on a stroll along our eroding beaches on some smog obscured moonlit night to discuss public policy. I think those talks ought to be held at a series of public, televised and internet forums.

Texans, Jerry and I will be the better for it.

SJL catches a primary challenge

...from Houston city councilman Jarvis Johnson. Martha and John did the Q&A at HCDP HQ earlier this afternoon (in fact a few minutes before I arrived to file for my precinct's chairmanship).

Frankly I think this is mostly symbolic; Johnson can't realistically think he can unseat Jackson, but he and his faction apparently want to send a message. Many SD-13 and CD-22 African American Democrats still hold a grudge over Sheila's endorsement of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton two years ago.

It should be fun to watch but I think Sheila is safe.  She will, however,  do well to take the challenge seriously and get to work on mending fences.

Update: More in detail from Texas on the Potomac, including news about Ron Paul's four GOP primary challengers and Michael McCaul's one. Ted Ankrum, who carried the Democratic flag against McCaul in 2006, will re-challenge McCaul as well.

Hector Uribe for Land Commissioner

Harvey Kronberg breaks it:

Former state Senator Hector Uribe filed to be a Democratic candidate for Texas Land Commissioner today. Uribe returns to state politics after a 14 year hiatus, when he was the Democratic nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner.

“The current Republican leadership is short-sighted. For example, I believe that Texans want our state leaders to help address the real threats to our environment, but many of our current state leaders continue to minimize the importance of having clean water to drink and clean air to breathe,” Uribe said.

Though Campos will find something to complain about, there will be no more excuses for low Hispanic turnout in the March primary. More from Burnt Orange.

Chavez-Thompson to file for lt. governor today

Linda Chavez-Thompson, a national leader within the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party, plans to enter the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, according to a source familiar with her plans.

She is expected to file today at state Democratic Party headquarters.

Former Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle and Austin deli owner Marc Katz are also seeking the Democratic nomination. The Republican nominee will probably be incumbent David Dewhurst.

Chavez-Thompson, a former AFL-CIO executive vice president, can tap a national network of organizing and fundraising contacts.

This is now easily the most exciting primary race on the ballot (all apologies to Rick v. Kay and Kinky v. Hank).  With Ronnie Earle collecting the progressive populist bloc, Thompson the Hispanics and labor, and Marc Katz the ... uh ... Jewish deli faction, this contest will shape up as a critical display of Democratic constituent stress testing. My humble O is that with either Thompson or Earle, Democrats don't lose.  Dewhurst has money but no respect among state Senators nor the TeaBag faction, which will dictate terms to the GOP this cycle.

First Wrangle of the New Decade

(...If you happen to be a zero-based indexing sort of person -- thanks to Charles K for the mathematics terminology.) The Texas Progressive Alliance is still somewhat amazed to be living in the year we make contact, and we hope we're all still going strong when Odyssey Three rolls around.

Texas has most drilling and the worst regulation. And the state made national news this week in the ProPublica investigative report and they used pictures provided by TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

WhosPlayin reports that the Lewisville city council is once again considering the question of whether to participate in 287(g) and force its vendors to use E-Verify to check for work eligibility.

BossKitty at TruthHugger found a poignant editorial on al-Jazeera: Weary Soldiers At Risk, They Know This. Why do foreign correspondents have more in-depth observations than America's own corporate media which follows the money and toes the line for sponsors' political perks that promise "scoops"?

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks all kids should be given free, nutritious school meals. Just do it.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson discusses another worthless GOP plan for transportation in Texas: Kay's transportation plan is a clunker.

The Texas Cloverleaf questions whether or not a Houston city councilman-elect knows the difference between a campaign website and city resources.

Off the Kuff called out some political gamesmanship over the murder rate in Harris County.

Last week Teddy reviewed the best of the Left of College Station, and looks at the year ahead at Left of College Station. This week LoCS will begin coverage of the 2010 campaign season in the Brazos Valley, and report on human trafficking in Houston.

Candidate filings, including Gordon Quan for Harris County Judge and a list of the statewides, appears in PDiddie's post at Brains and Eggs.

Bay Area Houston hopes the next decade will be better than the last.

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog covered Gordon Quan's campaign kickoff, including the full video of Quan's speech.

LibbyShaw puts together the latest throw downs exposing GOP hypocrisy and lies. Check it out at Texas Kaos: Rachel Maddow Busts Republicans for Cowardice, Hypocrisy and Lies.

At McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze noted with some interest that Marc Katz filed for Lt. Governor. Some, but not much. More important to him was a really nasty prairie dog attack.

Neil at Texas Liberal selected his wife as person of the decade and named his blog as blog of the decade.

Sunday Funnies

Blaming Obama for eight years of Bush

When G.W.Bush  took office, we had a balanced budget.  When he left -- we didn’t.
When G.W.Bush took office the unemployment rate was 5%.  When he left -- it was 8.7%
The government bailout of Wall Street that has given us trillions of dollars in debt was supported and signed into law by President G.W. Bush.

With a current approval rating of 51%, more Americans support Obama than did President Bush. Yet there is not the same sense of offense for Bush that there seems to be for Obama.

Bush was initially elected under a cloud of controversy without winning the popular vote. He left office with an approval rating of just 22% - among the lowest in history. His citizenship was never questioned. He was not called a socialist, and no member of congress shouted at him during a Joint Session Address -- calling him a liar ...

The Radical Right has become the Raucous, Ranting Right. Their foaming, deranged grumblings continue to take center stage on the Sunday morning Talking Heads. From Dick Cheney and Glenn Beck all the way to Joe Lieberman (who a week ago seemed to suggest that the United States invade or bomb Yemen), conservatives fan the flames of every single fear they can find: from terrorism to racism to socialism to hoarding gold.

They are emboldened by the ever-louder screams of of the TeaBagging fringe even further to their right; wailing about "taking their country back" translates into carrying loaded guns to town hall meetings, which manifests itself in Congressmen making no secret of stalling or stopping legislation in order to take down the president.

I have my own disagreements with the president's policies, but putting Republicans back in charge of anything would be the worst possible outcome -- for the county, for the state, for the country.