"Back to Basics" on the air

... in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. This ad really keeps the pressure on Perry, underscoring his extravagant lifestyle at the expense of Texas taxpayers.

With the poll earlier this week showing the race tied, the nominee's keynote at the convention tonight drawing additional media coverage, the Clinton endorsement and now this devastating spot, the White campaign is rolling.



Next report will be from Corpus.

Sybil Gilbert 1929-2010

Deepest condolences to Hank Gilbert on the passing of his mother. Harvey Kronberg's Quorum Report with the sad news:

Folks who have been to previous state Democratic conventions know that Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert can deliver a stemwinder of a speech.

Unfortunately, delegates congregating in Corpus Christi this weekend will not be able to hear from him this time.

Gilbert’s 81-year old mother Sybil passed away today. The family has set the funeral for Saturday in Kilgore. There is simply no way for Gilbert to make it from Kilgore to Corpus in time.

The details of the visitation and funeral can be found here.

Perry's former chief of staff coordinated Greens' ballot petition drive *update*

The Perry campaign has lied their asses off about their involvement. LSP:

Earlier today, a key witness testified under oath that a top member of Rick Perry’s inner circle paid him about $12,000 to convince Green Party of Texas leaders to participate in an elaborate ballot petition scam. (Source: Austin American-Statesman, June 24, 2010)

Mike Toomey, the former chief of staff for the governor, paid Garrett Mize, a 22-year-old University of Texas student, from his personal checking account to present a formal proposal to Green Party leaders. The proposal suggests using out-of-state funds to gather signatures needed to field candidates in the upcoming Texas election. The memo notes that, “many of the donors will be people that simply do not want to see the Democratic Party win.” The proposal by Mize can be seen here.

Toomey’s direct involvement elevates the matter to a level of wrongdoing not seen since the Sharpstown scandal of the 1970s. Mike Toomey is a member of Perry’s inner circle and described as “close friends” (Source: Texas Monthly, February 2005). It is irrational to believe that Toomey would have made such an elaborate -- and likely illegal -- effort to field Green Party candidates without the knowledge and approval of the governor. 

The morning testimony left it unclear what happened after the original plan proposed by Mize fell apart. A second plan was formulated just two weeks before the deadline to turn in ballot petitions. This second plan funneled $532,500 in corporate money to pay for the effort to gather signatures for the Green Party in order to qualify candidates for the Texas ballot. Documents and testimony in the coming days should reveal whether Toomey masterminded this plan as well. (Source: Austin American-Statesman, June 24, 2010)

Their hands are as dirty as we thought.

This would not be the first time Mike Toomey has used secret corporate donations to illegally help elect Republicans in Texas. Toomey was implicated in the TRMPAC scandal and the Texas Association of Business lawsuit after the 2002 elections. The TRMPAC “indictments …noted that TAB board members Mike Toomey and Eric Glenn, both lobbyists, played prominent roles in soliciting money.” (Austin American-Statesman, September 8, 2005)

And a bit more from Postcards (the Statesman):

Mize was approached to run the effort by a family friend, Stuart Moss, who at the time worked for a Republican political consulting and public relations firm run by former Perry communications director Eric Bearse. Bearse said Moss no longer works for him.

Mize quit the effort in April after he grew uncomfortable that Republican interests were driving the initiative and not informing the Green Party.

“Do you know what a Trojan horse is?” questioned state District Judge John Dietz. “Were you a Trojan horse?”

Wow, the Republicans are crooked. Imagine that.

But the revelation here is that should the Greens proceed with this tainted ballot bid, the TDP will sue the living daylights out of them. And the Greens will lose.

The best thing they can do now is withdraw their petition. And really, that is a damn shame. And not just for them.

I think -- unlike the brain trust at the TDP -- that the Greens on the ballot would be a good thing; it would force Richie, Angle, et.al. to stop taking the progressive base of the Democratic Party for granted. If they were honestly threatened with losing a few percentage points because they are too conservative, then they could either adapt to the new world or get used to minority status for a generation or more.

The key word there being 'honestly', of course.

Update: TRO granted.

A state judge on Thursday granted the Democratic Party a temporary restraining order to block Green Party candidates from being certified for the November ballot.

Democrats contended that a petition drive to put Green candidates on the ballot actually was an effort to help GOP Gov. Rick Perry by diverting votes from his Democratic challenger, former Houston Mayor Bill White.

State District Judge John Dietz ruled that the effort was “an unauthorized, illegal contribution.”

Lawyers for the Green Party said they plan to appeal.

Meet the Democratic Statewides: Bill White

This series on the Texas Democratic Party's slate of statewide candidates concludes today with the bio and introductory video of the 2010 standard-bearer, nominee for Texas Governor Bill White.



White's parents were schoolteachers, which is likely why this campaign piece focuses on education.

There are many, many ways that Bill White and Rick Perry are different, but perhaps the most critical contrast is their approach to public education. Rick Perry steadfastly refuses to accept even the most obvious facts about the dropout crisis to our public schools. Bill White has made finding solutions to the state’s dropout crisis a central pledge of his campaign, because -- like business leaders, educators, and parents across the state -- he understands our state’s future depends on the kids we’re educating today.

The Texas Association of Business, in a recent report, stated: “Our state faces a true Texas-sized crisis… that will destroy our good business climate, prosperity and growth if it goes ignored.” As the report points out, there are only seven states in the country that have done a worse job than Texas in developing a well-educated young workforce. Only 30.7% of adults in Texas have an associate degree or higher.

A critical reason for Texas falling behind in education is the state’s dropout crisis, a crisis Rick Perry has offered little to no solutions for in his ten years as governor. In fact, Perry can’t even get the numbers right. He and his campaign team have continued to state that Texas’ drop-out rate is only ten percent. (Source: Houston Chronicle). Perry also ignores a report that the National Governors Association put out, stating that, as reported by the Dallas Morning News, “206 Texas high schools were dropout factories -- where at least 40 percent of ninth-graders failed to reach the 12^th grade.” (Source: Dallas Morning News). Perry’s negligence on the dropout crisis is one major example of how he is not looking out for the future of our state.

While Rick Perry tries to hide from the dropout crisis, Bill White has a record of results. As mayor of Houston, White launched the Expectation Graduation program to help cut the dropout rate. Mayor White and his wife, Andrea, led volunteers to go directly to the homes of high school students who didn’t return. (Source: City of Houston). Their efforts led to approximately 8,800 students returning to school as a result, according to material posted on Bill White’s website.

White helped build a law firm, managed a successful business, and served as Deputy Secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton administration before being elected Houston’s mayor in 2003. During his time as mayor the Houston area was a national leader in job growth, with more jobs added than 37 states combined. At the same time, White cut property tax rates five consecutive years and helped senior and disabled citizens with tax relief.

White is best known for his leadership and decisive actions in crisis.  After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, White mobilized effective disaster response and relief, including first responders, businesses and churches. The city of Houston absorbed well over 100,000 Louisiana evacuees, finding shelter and then permanent housing for them. The experiences of Katrina prepared the city for the full blow of Hurricane Ike in 2008, and once again the city's services responded well at a time of severe emergency, as much of the region was without electricity for weeks afterward. For his compassionate, hands-on leadership after Katrina, White received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2007.

Texas is desperate for a leader who will stand up and fight for the future of Texans, be they a high school child at risk of dropping out, a displaced hurricane evacuee, or the hard working middle-class families across the state. We know who Rick Perry stands with: the wealthiest and the most privileged. Texans deserves much, much better than that.

Watch for occasional missives from Corpus this weekend, as I carry dual credentials again this cycle, delegate and media. My friend Neil at Texas Liberal offers four reasons why White will defeat Perry and capture the governorship.

Whither the Astrodome? Survey says YES

I'm remiss about keeping up to date on what's been going on with the Astrodome's future, so if you want or need backstory the Houston Press seemed to have the best description of the three plans proposed to either renovate or demolish it. They -- and some of their reader comments -- were critical, but nothing like what I read in the daily paper of record as regards feedback from the residents of Harris County, who'll foot the bill however it goes.

Now there's a lesson here for everyone: if all you ever hear is the Tea Party types screaming "NO" to everything, then you might think theirs is a majority opinion.

Once again, it is not. And the Chron.com comments attached to this latest news about the Dome is another example of that forum's failing to represent anything other than the Teabagger POV. Read the story, then read the comments.

Respondents to an online survey run by Reliant Park's landlord "overwhelmingly" support saving the Astrodome, according to the official in charge of the survey.

Willie Loston, executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, declined to release a detailed breakdown of the 5,800 votes that have been cast for one of three options for Reliant Park's future. He said only that the combined votes for the two options that include renovations for the Astrodome outnumber those in favor of razing it.

The results, he said, "overwhelmingly show a desire to maintain the building." Loston said the results will help shape a recommendation to Commissioners Court, which controls the fate of Reliant Park.

Now I'm delighted that my opinion turns out to be the "overwhelming" majority one, because I thought ... you know ... that it might not be. Well, not only was I wrong about being right, but I observe that the apoplexy reflected in the poll's results by some of those commenters is nothing but the usual lack of understanding that anyone could POSSIBLY think something different than them. Sad to say, even a few of the now-expected Obama Derangement Syndromers ranting (as if the President or his political party have ANYTHING to do with decisions about the Astrodome) no longer surprises.

That is as fine an example of profound ignorance as one could ever hope to see. But back to the topic.

Commissioners: Disregard the screeching naysayers who only wail about the cost of EVERYTHING. And while you're at it, summon the intestinal fortitude to make the Astrodome a Wonder Again for future generations of Houstonians.

Lord have mercy, we need to find some brave politicians somewhere.

Meet the Democratic Statewides: Uribe, Bailey, Hampton

As the state convention opens today in Corpus, this series on the Texas Democratic Party's slate of statewide candidates continues with the bios and introductory videos of the candidates for Commissioner of the General Land Office Hector Uribe, and the nominees for state Supreme Court Blake Bailey and Court of Criminal Appeals Keith Hampton.



Uribe's goal is to lead the GLO from 20th century hydrocarbon-based energy sources to 21st century renewable ones. Uribe will vigorously battle global warming by promoting renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, while preventing any negative impact to the revenue streams that flow into the Permanent School Fund.

Uribe has extensive experience in legislative and governmental advocacy, having served almost a decade in the Texas Senate and 3 years in the Texas House. Equal educational opportunity, economic development, and job creation were the hallmarks of Uribe’s tenure as a state senator.

He authored the bill to merge Pan American University into the UT System (it's now called UT-Kingsville), providing graduate programs to previously underserved college students in the Rio Grande Valley. He similarly authored the Texas Enterprise Zone Act, designed to create new businesses and jobs in economically depressed areas. His varied legislative committee assignments prepared him in a broad range of areas including the protection of our environment. He chaired the Senate’s standing subcommittee on Water and vice-chaired the joint subcommittee on Oil Spills and Water Pollution Abatement.

But again, the most significant differences come when you compare him to his opponent, incumbent Jerry Patterson. Look:

The Christmas Mountains, in the heart of the Big Bend region of Texas, were given to the state in 1991.  They should have been transferred to the National Park Service (NPS) and been made part of Big Bend National Park a long time ago.  However, Republican Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has prevented that from happening, insisting that he wants to sell the Mountains to a private entity.

The foundation that gave the land to Texas wanted the Christmas Mountains to remain public.  Patterson refused to transfer the Mountains to the NPS because he claimed to take issue with any entity that disallows firearms – but in reality, Patterson is just an ineffective steward of Texas’ public lands who is more interested in selling Texas off than preserving it. [Source: NPR, 10/22/07]

Congress lifted the ban on firearms in National Parks and President Obama signed the bill into law earlier this year.  Because Patterson claimed his refusal to transfer the Mountains stemmed from the NPS ban on firearms, the hope was that he would finally transfer the Mountains to the National Park Service.  However, instead of sticking to what he said, Patterson just moved the goal posts.  He now says his problem is that hunting would not be allowed in the Mountains under Park Service control. [Source: Washington Post, 2/19/10; San Antonio Express-News, 4/9/10]

If the ban on hunting in national parks were lifted, would Patterson finally drop the act and transfer the Mountains, or just come up with another excuse?

With Hector Uribe, there are no questions about integrity.  On Hector’s first day as Land Commissioner, he will transfer the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service, so that they can be cared for responsibly and enjoyed by Texans for generations to come.

Uribe’s focus will be on protecting Texas’ rich and wild environment.  He will be a responsible steward of our vast public lands -- not an ideologue who keeps moving the goal posts however it suits him.

Bailey's pet peeve is the same as mine: the 100% Republican Texas Supreme Court is completely biased against little-guy plaintiffs and in favor of the biggest corporations.

In a recent, Blake Bailey pointed out that Wal-Mart is far more successful appealing lawsuits in Texas than anywhere else in the country. From 1998 to 2005, Wal-Mart has won 100% of the appeals brought against them in Texas; outside of Texas, Wal-Mart has only won 56% of their appeals.

That statistic is the most staggering of a long trend facing the Texas Supreme Court: they have a controversial history of supporting big business in their rulings. From 2005-2006, eighty-two percent of all rulings went in favor of defendants. The rulings themselves wouldn’t be as much of an issue, if it weren’t for the contributions that came along with them.

From 2000-2008, the more money donated to Texas’ Supreme Court justices, the higher the chance of success. A study conducted by the non-partisan consumer advocacy group, Texas Watch, showed that the success rate among donors who gave to the justices on the Supreme Court increased based on how much the donors gave. Here’s a breakdown of their findings:

• 345 donors who had cases before the court gave less than $10,000. They had a success rate – a favorable court ruling – of 54%.

• 44 donors who had cases before the court gave between $10,000 and $24,999. Those 44 donors had a 58% success rate on their cases.

• 48 donors who had cases before the court gave more than $25,000. Those 48 donors had a whopping 64% success rate on their cases.

Justice should not be for sale, regardless of price or party. It is offensive to think that giving more money to the Texas Supreme Court justices will correlate with a higher success rate in the Court – but the findings detailed above demonstrate it to be true.

Bailey's opponent is recently-appointed Justice Eva Guzman... another of Rick Perry's ham-handed attempts at Hispanic outreach. Guzman has accepted large contributions from insurers and bragged on her website about how judicial "reform" has improved the business climate in Texas. Attorneys representing the state's largest insurance companies have even told Bailey point-blank that they were unconcerned about the verdict in a jury trial against his clients, because an appeal to the SCOTX virtually assured them of victory.

This "Supreme Court For Sale to Big Business" aspect is one of the most important things we can change in November.



Hampton is running for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6. He is challenging two-term incumbent Republican Michael Keasler. When first elected in 1998, Keasler replaced the last Democrat to hold a seat on the Court. Since then the CCA has been under complete Republican control. Sound familiar?

Without any Democrats on the CCA for the past twelve years, the ideological spectrum of the Court has shifted dramatically to the right. One Republican judge on the Court, Lawrence Meyers, recently toured newspaper editorial boards promoting the state’s fairness, prompting Dallas Morning News Editor Michael Landauer to write, “Try not to laugh.” (Source: Dallas Morning News, June 2009). Scott Henson, an award-winning blogger who writes for the non-partisan criminal justice site Grits for Breakfast, wrote the following about the political nature of the CCA:

There is no liberal wing on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. There’s a conservative wing, to which Judge Johnson belongs, and a more or less totalitarian wing, in which Keasler and Meyers reside along with Presiding Judge Sharon Keller. (Source: Grits for Breakfast, June 2009)

The “totalitarian wing” of the Court has a well-documented and thoroughly perplexing history of unprofessional actions. From the “sleeping lawyer” case in October 2000, to investigations into the judicial conduct of Sharon Keller in 2007, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is in desperate need of professional, accountable judges on its bench.

In order to restore a semblance of fairness and justice to the Court, Texas Democrats can help elect Keith Hampton to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6.

Later today: Bill White.

Greens ballot bid was GOP corporate-funded

Let's leave it to one of the Greens' highest-ranking officers to deliver the news.

In a June 10 e-mail to other Green Party officials, state party treasurer David Wager said, “I was promised by a representative of Take Initiative America that the organization was not a corporation and that he would comply with all disclosure requests. Today I was informed that the organization is in fact a corporation and they will not disclose their donors. They claim that their collection of signatures and in-kind contribution was not political. I don’t agree. In my opinion, we have no choice but to refuse the signatures.”

Now that e-mail is nearly two weeks old, and the Greens have been a little defiant since then, hiring Republican attorney Andy Taylor to defend their bid to to gain 2010 ballot access. So who's to say if this means they're going to keep fighting in the courts. My guess is yes. There's a hearing on Friday.

Hat tip to Phillip Martin at BOR.

Petraeus

After listening to Keith Olbermann and Lawrence Wilkinson last night advocate for McChrystal remaining in his post, I determined that would be both the shrewdest course of action and something Obama would not do. And sure enough ...

President Obama removed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday, moving quickly to restore the unity of his administration's war effort after the general and his top aides in biting remarks in an explosive magazine article.

Obama named Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and currently the head of the U.S. Central Command, to replace McChrystal and urged the Senate to confirm him promptly.

But Obama reaffirmed in blunt terms the counterinsurgency strategy he ordered last year, and he said that "war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president."

This move actually makes slightly more sense, blunting conservative criticism by tapping their Iraq hero for the job. As Laurence Lewis posted:

Conservative critics of President Obama long have derided him as weak. Intellectual, reserved, unemotional. When the BP oil gusher exploded, they criticized him for not taking aggressive enough action. Despite otherwise being critics of federal government. And then when he took decisive action by shutting down deepwater drilling and forcing BP to set aside $20 billion as a beginning of their debt repayment, they criticized him for overreaching and being a thug.

With the removal of General Stanley McChrystal from command of Afghan military operations, you can be certain that we will hear more right wing criticism. No matter what the President does, the right will criticize him. But those like McChrystal and his supporters who might have thought the President was weak now have their answer. He's the Commander-in-Chief, in a government that has civilian rule over the military. There is a chain of command. He knows it, and they that dared flout it now know it.

Let the critics come. Who looks weak now?

And of course this change maintains continuity of command and the strategy in Afghanistan and all that blahblahblah. July 2011 remains the withdrawal start date, and frankly it can't come soon enough.

Now back to the Gulf oil catastrophe, the economy, the multiple reform legislation battles ...

Meet the Democratic Statewides: Chavez-Thompson, Moody, Weems

With the Texas Democratic Party opening their state convention in Corpus Christi tomorrow, let's take a look at the introductory videos of the candidates for lieutenant governor, state Supreme Court, and railroad commissioner: Linda Chavez-Thompson, Bill Moody, and Jeff Weems.



Chavez-Thompson's life story is compelling, and offers the starkest contrast imaginable between the GOP and the Dems at the statewide level. From the TDP's candidate piece:

As a child, Linda Chavez-Thompson picked cotton to support her family and couldn’t afford to finish her education. Through years of hard work, Linda rose to national prominence as a leader for working families, and today, she is running for Lieutenant Governor to make sure every Texas child has the opportunities that weren’t available to her.

Linda Chavez-Thompson may be an underdog running against a millionaire, but unlike David Dewhurst and the Republicans, Linda knows we can’t afford to write off a generation of Texas children who must be prepared for good jobs in the new economy.

Just last year, David Dewhurst showed he was willing to write off thousands of Texans by applying a different standard to us than he applies to himself. During the debate on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Dewhurst demanded that working families re-enroll for CHIP coverage every six months instead of annually, saying he doesn’t think people “have a lot of sympathy for someone that can’t fill out a two-page application every six months.” Yet when it came to his own business dealings, Dewhurst failed to file legal forms in a timely fashion six times -- forms required to conduct his business legally in Texas.

After twelve years in statewide office, David Dewhurst may think he is entitled to special treatment, but Texans have had their fill of hypocritical politicians who use their offices for career advancement while ignoring the everyday concerns of Texas families.

Moody collected more votes than any other Democrat in 2006, narrowly losing his contest against Republican Paul Green -- who has turned in a record of near-invisibility since. From Moody's TDP candidate piece:

Judge Bill Moody is running for Texas Supreme Court, Place 5. Judge Moody was one of our most successful statewide candidates in 2006, earning more votes than any other Democrat on the ballot. In the twenty-three years he has worked as a judge, he has tried over five hundred jury trials. Over his long and distinguished career, he has earned a reputation for hard work and a commitment to ensuring justice in Texas’ courts.

The same cannot be said for his opponent, Justice Paul Green. First elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 2004, Green’s absence from the opinion-making process is a perfect example for why we need fresh ideas and committed public servants on Texas’ highest court.

Of 144 rulings issued in fiscal year 2007, Justice Green issued an opinion in only four cases. That’s right -- Paul Green issued a ruling in less than 3% of cases in which the Texas Supreme Court took action, the fewest of any Justice on the Court. (Source: San Antonio Express-News)

Green is the symptom of a much larger problem. An analysis by Texas Watch in February 2008 showed that it took the Texas Supreme Court an average of 852 days to dispose of a case -- approximately 2.3 years. Even after oral arguments were finished, it would take the Justices on the Court over a year to write an opinion on the case they heard. (Source: Texas Watch)  As Texas Watch argued in their report:

Cases in which a consumer has won at the lower appellate level comprise the majority of cases the Court accepts for review. By keeping these cases on hold for inordinate amounts of time, the Court makes it more likely that injured patients will go without recompense for lost wages and medical expenses, individuals will be forced to declare bankruptcy, and matters involving children are delayed.

The snail’s pace of Paul Green and the entirely Republican Texas Supreme Court is harmful to Texans looking to get their fair day in court. Yet while Green has shown little concern for swift justice, he has been expedient in charging Texas taxpayers for his travel expenses.

Over the course of three years, Justice Green filed for mileage reimbursements for 272 separate trips between Austin, where he lives in an Austin apartment, and San Antonio, his home town. The 272 trips totaled over $16,000 in travel expenses.  (Source: The Houston Chronicle)

This November, Texans will have a chance to change the Texas Supreme Court. The contrast between Bill Moody’s extensive experience and Green’s slow-paced and controversial behavior on the bench could not be any clearer. Texans who believe hard work and fairness should be the hallmark of a Texas Supreme Court justice should support Moody this November.

Weems, like many of the other Democrats on the statewide slate, has experience that dwarfs his opponent's. You may recall that TeaBagger David Porter edged incumbent GOP Railroad Commissioner Victor Carillo in a bitter primary last spring where Carillo suggested that his Hispanic surname was a liability in the Republican party. From Weems' TDP candidate piece:

Jeff Weems brings a lifetime’s worth of firsthand experience to the Texas Railroad Commission. Republican candidate David Porter, on the other hand, is completely unqualified.


The Amarillo Globe-News called Jeff Weems’ credentials “superior.” [Source: Amarillo-Globe News, 4/11/10]  Weems is an oil and gas attorney by trade, and has worked in the oil and gas industry since high school. He worked his way through college on the rigs and as a drilling mud representative. Jeff earned a degree from the University of Texas in Petroleum Land Management and worked as a landman, negotiating complex commercial transactions. Since earning his law degree from UT, he has spent 20 years as an energy lawyer. ...

Republican challenger David Porter, on the other hand, has no experience for the job. He told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that his qualifications include working as an accountant and owning property that happens to have pipelines on it. [Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 2/17/10]

But even worse than his inexperience is that Porter has seemingly no understanding of the responsibilities of the Commission he is trying to lead -- and resorts to irrelevant partisan rhetoric to distract from both his inexperience and lack of knowledge.  He thinks global warming is a myth.  [Source:  Porter’s Editorial Endorsement Interview with the Dallas Morning News 2/10]  His disturbing misunderstanding of the role of Railroad Commissioner is evident from his “Why I am Running” statement on his website:

“The Obama administration cap and trade energy tax, the proposed changes in tax law such as doing away with percentage depletion…are a de facto declaration of economic war by the current administration on the Texas oil and gas industry.” [Porter campaign website]

Porter either doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, that the Texas Railroad Commission does not draft, enforce or otherwise deal with federal cap and trade legislation or tax law.

Porter’s campaign has focused on “anti-Washington, D.C., anti-Obama rhetoric” because he is frighteningly inexperienced and has nothing to run on but empty slogans.  As someone who thinks climate change is not real, Porter is unfit to effectively take care of our state’s vast energy resources.  Capitol Inside described Porter as “a candidate who had almost no money and even less name identification for a race that he’d entered 15 minutes before the filing deadline simply because no other challenger had signed up to run for the post.” [Capitol Inside, 4/16/10]

Texans deserve a Railroad Commissioner who understands the job, and Jeff Weems delivers a lifetime of experience.

Tomorrow: the two remaining judicial candidates Keith Hampton and Blake Bailey (there's already some about them at Burnt Orange), Hector Uribe, and Bill White.

McChrystal: what should be the penalty?

So should he be fired? The military details several responses for insubordination, including loss of rank.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain derogatory comments about President Barack Obama and his colleagues, administration officials said Tuesday.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who publicly apologized Tuesday for using "poor judgment" in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine (.pdf), has been ordered to attend the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person Wednesday rather than over a secure video teleconference, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. He'll be expected to explain his comments to Obama and top Pentagon officials, these officials said.

Obama has the authority to fire McChrystal. His predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan, was sacked on grounds that the military needed "new thinking and new approaches" in Afghanistan.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen has told McChrystal of his "deep disappointment" over the article, a spokesman said.

Though McChrystal has not, as far as we know (isn't that phrase simply the most devastating, backhanded insinuation, by the way?), disobeyed a direct order -- that is both the military's as well as the corporate definition of 'insubordination' -- some punishment more severe than harsh language seems in order.

Should he just be chastised? Or relieved of command? Busted back to colonel? Placed before a firing squad? (That would be my preference, based only on past history.)

Allowed to retire in disgrace?

And in the wake of the fact that Afghanistan has now become America's longest war ever, still with no end in sight, with McChrystal's own officers questioning his strategy, is another new general going to make any difference anyway?

Are we in Afghanistan at this point so that we can mine their mineral deposits? Then let the corporations hire the mercenaries to fight there.

Update: Barbara Morrill notes that the Uniform Code of Military Justice defines insubordination as including "contemptuous words".  There's also a poll at that link that currently indicates 80% of more than 7,000 respondents think McChrystal should be cashiered (I voted 'unsure').

Update II: It's not the general; it's the war.

A war that can't be won, in support of an Afghan government that can't govern, and an Afghan military that can't fight? And the Afghan people just continue to suffer.

Meet the Democratic Statewides: Radnofsky, Gilbert, Sharp

As the 2010 Texas Democratic Party's statewide convention (.pdf) comes forward on the schedule this weekend, let's feature the videos of the statewide slate, starting with the three I know best (they were all on the 2006 ticket), Barbara Ann Radnofsky,  Hank Gilbert, and Jim Sharp.



Barbara has kept the heat on the inept, incompetent incumbent: attorney general Greg Abbott, who needs no introduction to regular readers here. This week she has challenged him to pursue litigation against Wall Street's tycoons, who perpetuated the fraud our economy still reels from. From her Kos diary:

Wall Street firms have harmed Texas and all of America. I've proposed a State Attorney General lawsuit and to work at no fee to help solve the problem.

Our people are unemployed. Our home values have plummeted. And, our state governments are making savage cuts to our schools, our kids' healthcare and more.

These facts give states, including Texas, the right to sue Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and other firms for wrongdoing.

It's time for state Attorneys General to file these law suits.

I provided Texas Attorney General Abbott the $18 billion lawsuit which should be filed on an urgent basis, ahead of the approaching deadline. The right to sue for negligence will likely expire in September 2010 (due to a 2 year legal "Limitation" period in Texas) so time is of the essence. I offered Attorney General Abbott the Complaint for the lawsuit and offered my legal services at no fee to work on the case. The Legal Complaint and Legal Memo are available at SueWallStreet.com explaining states suffering the harm have the right to go after the wrongdoers.

Hank takes on worthless hack Todd Staples, who is seemingly frantic about another challenge to his position as commissioner of agriculture. Gilbert lately exposed the incumbent for shady dealings regarding broadband internet access for rural Texans. Here's the press release from Connected Nation and Staples.

Connected Nation is well-connected, all right: to Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. The company is first in line to collect federal stimulus dollars -- $4 billion -- earmarked for the massive project of determining where broadband access will go in the hinterlands of America. Staples, on behalf of of the state of Texas, has outsourced a $3 million dollar contract to CN despite serious questions about the company's work in other states, questions about the bidding process (Staples got $60,000 from the Texas Farm Bureau, whose former president is listed as a 'national advisor' of CN), and even questions about CN's business model. Read more about that here, and also at the Wall Street Journal. And when Staples's office started getting media attention about his relationship with CN, the Texas Department of Agriculture directed reporters to the Staples re-election campaign, which then regurgitated their previous negative attacks on Gilbert.

Jim Sharp is the Democratic candidate for the Texas Supreme Court Place 3, running against Republican nominee and freshly-appointed Debra Lehrmann, yet another Rick Perry lackey. Sharp was elected Justice of the Texas First Court of Appeals in 2008, and as such is one of the few Democrats serving a multi-county portion of the state in any capacity. Read more about Sharp at Texas Lawyer, Off the Kuff, and Half Empty.

Tomorrow this space will feature Linda Chavez-Thompson, Bill Moody, and Jeff Weems.

Is Kesha Rogers the Texas version of Alvin Greene?

TIME thinks so.

South Carolina's unexpected Democratic nominee for the US Senate, mystery man Alvin Greene, says he wants to play golf with Barack Obama. But in Texas, another surprise Democratic primary winner, congressional nominee Kesha Rogers, wants to impeach the President. So while South Carolina party officials are still unsure of what to do about Greene's success at the ballot box, Texas Democrats have no such reservations — they wasted little time in casting Rogers into exile and offering no support or recognition of her campaign to win what once was Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay's old seat.

Several of my blog hermanos y hermanas cast aspersions on Rogers' nomination, you may recall.

Unlike South Carolina's Greene, Rogers ran a high profile campaign, staking out a corner on a major intersection in the district to appear almost daily with a large sign: "Save NASA. Impeach Obama." She garnered 7,467 votes, 53% of the vote, in a three way race that included a local information systems analyst Doug Blatt, who gained endorsements from local Democratic clubs and labor groups, and Freddie John Weider Jr., a preacher and onetime Libertarian candidate; Blatt came in second with 28% of the vote and Weider won 20%. "The people of the 22nd district voted for me," she said. "They recognized the party is not acting in the interests of the people."

Her name was also -- like Greene's -- first on the ballot, and as wingnut blogger Greg points out, it could have been her name, or maybe it was the media's fault. Continuing from TIME ...

Meanwhile, the state party has adopted a resolution denying any party support for Rogers, citing the alleged racist and discriminatory views of the LaRouche movement — allegations that Rogers, who is African-American, firmly rejects. District 22 has also been stricken from the party's official online list of congressional races. ...

One theory, according to a Democratic Party insider, is Rogers benefitted from her name being in the top position on the Fort Bend County ballot, where African-American Democratic interest was high in two local races. But Rogers rejects that notion. "I went to senior citizens centers. I was knocking on doors everywhere — everyone knew my positions, " she told TIME. "I don't think the Democratic Party leadership is getting it. The people continue to see more and more economic devastation and they don't see any real leadership." And for now, the party leadership will pretend that it can't see Rogers. 

Lastly, Open Source Dem weighs in with this opinion:

Both the GOP and even the LaRouche organization have “dirty tricks machines”, parodies actually of psychological warfare and disinformation operations by military and military intelligence organizations.

The GOP thinks they are waging “politics as war” (Gingrich); the LaRouche outfit is waging “permanent revolution” (Trotsky).  It is not funny: Real people get hurt and the media returns are huge from relatively little outlay of funds.

Frankly, I am tired of Democrats whining about this.

These folks have 'declared war' but cringing liberals are just running around in circles wringing their hands and moaning “won’t anybody think about the children!”  The Democratic Party establishment is supporting the candidacy of LaRouche associate Kesha Rogers and remains “inclusive” of the LaRouche movement. Anything else is, evidently, an challenge to the legal imagination and vanity of Boyd Richie and Gerry Birnberg. (ed. note: though the Senate District Executive Committee of the Texas Democratic Party -- led by Richie -- has passed a resolution denying support to Rogers, Harris County Chair Birnberg favors her candidacy, as noted here.)

The Democratic Party establishment is also trying to deny ballot access to the Green Party based on a campaign finance -- or ethical -- argument against the Green Party, not the GOP operatives nor the source of funding for this “op”.

There is no doubt in my mind that the GOP wants (a) to suppress the latent Democratic majority in Texas, (b) to sow dissention among Democrats, and (c) to shave votes from Bill White. But they can probably “comply” with “ethics” laws as artfully as Matt Angle and the Democratic Party.

So is Andy Taylor smarter than Buck Wood or Chad Dunn? Probably not, but who cares?  Is any of this gamesmanship really politics or actually strategic?

No! The GOP is promoting the Green Party and the TDP is publicizing it. Who is stupider? It is a close call.

The main threat the Green Party poses is to clerk candidates in Bexar and Harris counties. But the Hart InterCivic company is not worried about that, so the party establishment in Austin is not either. They are trying to piggyback on and justify themselves to Bill White’s campaign. Otherwise they are doing whatever Matt Angle pays them to.

One could objectively, if amorally, admire a pimp-consultant like Angle if he was actually smart or proficient. But Wallenstein he isn’t. Tilly, maybe.

Cringing, gullible liberals and nostalgic, vindictive conservatives -- plus vain, underemployed lawyers -- do not for a strong, strategic, or victorious party make.

They cannot even whip a senile Trotskyite or a few GOP frat-boys playing “covert operator”.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance was unable to attend summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge this morning, but welcomes the official start of summer anyway with a cold beverage and the highlights from the past week's blogging.

There is no way in hell Txsharon could pick just one post from this hellish week in the Barnett Shale, so she did a recap, at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

San Antonio hospitals are dumping seriously ill homeless patients at Haven for Hope. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees Republicans hating health care for the poor. How selfish and cruel can a group of people be?

Off the Kuff examined some data to get a handle on Rick Perry's performance with Latino voters in the 2002 election.

The update on the Green Party's bid for the ballot, including Perry campaign operative Dave Carney's latest lie, is at PDiddie's Brains and Eggs.

Bay Area Houston has More on Driving Ms Daisy-Harper-Brown and her scandal.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw reminds Smokey Joe and Old Box Turtle what their jobs are, in Earth to Joe Barton and John Cornyn: You are not Lobbyists.

Neil at Texas Liberal offered up a post with two examples of folks voting across party lines. Neil says political parties provide a useful shorthand for voters and says people should support a slate that has the same general outlook and goals.

Serving up crow at Smokey Joe's Cafe

Excellent op-ed from the Denton Record-Chronicle.

We should all cut U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, a little slack. When he apologized Thursday to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the harsh treatment BP was getting for causing the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States, Barton was simply following a cardinal rule of politics: Once bought, an honest congressman stays bought.

Barton has been in the vest pocket of oil, gas and other polluting industries since the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. In Congress, he is the champion of any industry that can erect a smokestack, befoul a free-running stream and write a fat check to a political campaign.

God Damn that liberal media.

House Republican leaders backed away from Barton and his “apology” like a mess of crawdads. They reportedly took Smokey Joe to the woodshed even as the hearing was still in progress and threatened him with expulsion from the House subcommittee should he not retract his statement.

Which, of course, he did, with one of those patented nonapologetic Washington apologies.

We feel a measure of sympathy for Joe Barton. His lickspittle pandering to the head honcho of BP on Thursday was no worse than what he had done for much of his congressional career. It was as though he did not know that the object of his fealty had just inflicted grave harm upon this country through greed and neglect. It was as though he were pimping for Typhoid Mary.

And I left out some of the best parts.

In other apology-related news, Barton has taken to hiding in his basement:

The day after Rep. Joe Barton became a household name -- and a source of ridicule for late-night comics -- by first apologizing to BP and then retracting his apology, the Texas Republican appeared to go underground.

A phone message said his Washington office was closed, although press secretary Sean Brown eventually e-mailed that aides were, in fact, at work, but that there would be no further comment.

[...]

Barton is in a safe Republican district, although his Democratic opponent, David Cozad, mocked Barton in a web page, joebartonwouldliketoapologize.com, that has the lawmaker apologizing for many things, including bad World Cup calls.

If you're feeling generous, throw a few shekels at Cozad and let's see if we can't make Barton's district a little less safe.

Ignorance isn't bliss

On behalf of all Texans ...

... I apologize for Joe Barton. He is as venal and corrupt as a Texas Republican comes. And since he is so "ashamed" and "doesn't want to live in a country" where we hold corporations responsible for their mistakes, then I invite his sorry ass to GTF OUT of MY country.

A staunch conservative who has a long record of backing oil industry interests, Barton apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for the "shakedown" the Obama White House pulled on the company. (Barton has received more than $1.5 million in campaign donations from the oil industry, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan watchdog group.) You can watch the video here:

"I'm not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself," Barton explained, "but I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown. In this case a $20 billion shakedown."

Wrapping up, Barton said: "I apologize. I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words — amounts to a shakedown, so I apologize."

Joe Barton's Democratic opponent is David Cozad.

Update: And wipe that 10W-30 off your mouth when you say "misconstrued".

Greens ballot bid update

Wayne Slater:

A top Republican lawyer has been hired to represent the Green Party in a lawsuit in which Democrats want to know who bankrolled a petition drive to put the party on the ballot. ...

Andy Taylor, a Republican redistricting lawyer with ties to Tom DeLay, John Cornyn and Rick Perry, will represent the liberal Green Party. It's unknown who's paying him. Neither Taylor nor Green Party state coordinator Kat Swift returned telephone calls. The hiring of Taylor is the latest in a series of GOP connections to the Green Party effort.

Taylor represented GOP efforts to beat Democrats in legislative races in 2002 to clear the way for a DeLay-backed redistricting plan. He has represented DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and the Texas Association of Business, which spent corporate money that is banned in Texas races to elect legislative candidates. He was a top aide to then-Attorney General John Cornyn. And he has defended Republican candidates in political cases. As a lobbyist, his clients have included top GOP money givers such as Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, the governor's biggest campaign contributor (no relation).

Taylor also led the losing effort to unseat Hubert Vo and re-seat Talmadge Heflin in 2004. This scumbag is a Republican-exclusive hired gun. Every billable hour is spent advocating the legal causes of the GOP. And he doesn't do pro bono, either.

The Lone Star Project:

Any doubt that the Green Party of Texas is willingly being used by high profile Republicans with connections to Rick Perry can now be set aside. With an ethical cloud hanging over the Republican-Green Party petition collaboration, notorious GOP attorney Andy Taylor has signed on to represent a Green Party of Texas Co-Chair. ...

Perhaps most interesting is his relationship with Rick Perry. Andy Taylor has such a close relationship with the governor that when Perry was looking to fill vacancies on the Texas Supreme Court, he asked Taylor to interview “potential candidates and [assess] their strengths and weaknesses.” (Source: Texas Monthly, February, 2005)

One other thing: Dave Carney is a big fat-ass liar. Surprise!

Rick Perry's chief political strategist now acknowledges that the consultant who spearheaded the petition drive for the Green Party in Texas is somebody he's worked with in the past. But Dave Carney says he didn't work with him to put the Greens on the state ballot this year. ...

But Ross Ramsey at the Texas Tribune got a different reaction when he caught up with Carney at the state GOP convention this weekend in Dallas. Carney said he and (GOP consultant Tim) Mooney had worked together in the past after all, but are no longer in contact: "I couldn't pick him out of a lineup, and I haven't seen him, emailed him or talked to him on the phone in years."

Horseshit and corruption all around. Par for the course for the GOP, and the Green Party is coming due for a name change to the Watermelon Party; green on the outside, red on the inside.

Perry campaign punk'd

Mark Miner, Rick Perry's douchesack lickspittle campaign spokesperson, tried to pull another little Republican dirty trick yesterday, scheduling a press conference outside the Bill White campaign's Austin office with a generator marked "BTEC". But he was greeted by about fifty White supporters, including one in a chicken suit, calling once again for the governor to debate, and yes, the media got it all (thanks, Elise Hu-Stiles at the TexTrib):



More from Burnt Orange and the Statesman. See the Flickr slideshow here.

"Touchdown Jesus" struck by lightning and destroyed by fire

So I'm taking this as evidence that God is a soccer fan.

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way his arms were raised, as though reaching out to catch a football. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.

Doesn't the Bible say something about "all things being consumed by fire"? Heed the word, Christians.

Rick Perry's immigration problem

He's trying to avoid it by being coy, but the teabaggers and associated wingnuts he depends on to get re-elected aren't going to let him. From his statement of April 29, in the wake of Arizona's SB 1070, which essentially outlawed everyone who "appears" to be undocumented:

I fully recognize and support a state's right and obligation to protect its citizens, but I have concerns with portions of the law passed in Arizona and believe it would not be the right direction for Texas.

That's diametrically opposed to the majority of delegates at the just-concluded RPT convention, and with most of those who will vote Republican in the fall.

Texas Republicans adopted another get-tough policy on immigration and bilingual education Saturday that some say will make it hard for the party to attract Hispanic voters at a time when the Texas population is turning increasingly Latino.

The platform encourages state lawmakers to create a Class A misdemeanor criminal offense “for an illegal alien to intentionally or knowingly be within the State of Texas,” and to “oppose amnesty in any form leading to citizenship for illegal immigrants.”

Texas Republicans also want to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a U.S. citizen “with no exceptions.” The platform calls for the end of day-labor work centers and emphasizes border security, encouraging “all means … (to) immediately prevent illegal aliens.”

The party's education platform calls for the end of federally sponsored pre-kindergarten, and opposes any mandatory pre-kindergarten or kindergarten.

“We believe that parents are best suited to train their children in their early development,” it says.

Bilingual education should end after the third year, according to the platform, and non-U.S. citizens should not be eligible for state or federal college financial assistance.

More from Christy Hoppe at the DMN, who pointed out the problem for Republicans ahead of their convention last weekend.

Rick Perry has a Latino election strategy, but it's flying squarely in the face of these recent developments, national trends, and the inexorable cultural shift. He continues to catch flak over the slightest perceived missteps in policy.

The question is not whether Latinos will vote for him -- none in their right mind will buy this head fake from the governor -- but whether Latinos will turn out in sufficient numbers to vote against Perry and his party, and whether any of the conservatives wailing about not voting for him over this issue will indeed follow through on that threat.

Meanwhile, the cost to real people and their families continues to rise.

San Antonio valedictorian faces deportation

Hispanics abandon Arizona, fleeing economy, immigration law

Arizona's next target: children of illegal immigrants

"The price that we pay": Undocumented immigrants and taxation

Update: Kuffner adds a prediction.

The conclusions I will draw are that Perry is certainly capable of getting a third or better of the vote in heavily Latino areas (throughout the state), and that if his efforts aren’t matched by something at least as strong, he will do well enough to make a Democratic victory all but unattainable.

Texas voter fraud cases in past eight years can be counted on two hands

Sometimes I really like it when Karvey Kronberg screams.

OUT OF MORE THAN 20 MILLION GENERAL ELECTION VOTES, LESS THAN 300 VOTER FRAUD REFERRALS HOUSE COMMITTEE TOLD

Actual instances of voter impersonation prosecuted with state involvement can be counted on two hands

House Elections (ed. note: this would be the Texas House committee on Elections) held another hearing today on voter fraud and as in previous hearings on the topic, state officials told lawmakers that reported instances of voter impersonation (the kind that a photo ID bill is designed to catch) constitute a tiny fraction of the number of voter fraud cases that are investigated at the state level.

A witness from the Attorney General’s office told the panel that since August 2002 nine cases involving illegal voting have gone through the complete indictment process and were fully resolved either through a guilty verdict, plea deal or a dismissal of the case.

Nine closed cases. Out of more than twenty million votes cast. Over the past eight years.

And how many legitimate votes do you think were NOT cast, because overzealous Republican precinct election judges violated the law by demanding ID at their polls?

This is the only purpose of a voter ID bill; to suppress turnout. To keep people that they don't like voting FROM voting. Because Republicans LOSE when more people vote. And they know it.

Update: Voter ID fight appears certain

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance salutes that grand old high-flying flag as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

Off the Kuff takes a look at an alternate universe in which the DeLay-engineered re-redistricting of 2003 never took place.

Captain Kroc at McBlogger is not at all impressed with all the cross-Atlantic chatter regarding British Petroleum and their oopsie in the Gulf.

Bay Area Houston has photographic evidence that the Republican party convention was invaded by dickheads.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why a Hidalgo election is allowed to stand after so many fraud allegations.

The Republican Party of Texas is either under siege or on a crusade, depending on the POV of Dave Mann at the Texas Observer and Wayne Slater of the DMN. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs just thinks they're a bunch of gun-and-Bible-clinging bed-wetters.

TXsharon has a video of water from a private well that was contaminated from hydraulic fracturing a Devon Energy Barnett Shale gas well, at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

WhosPlayin has been analyzing discipline data obtained via open-records request from Lewisville ISD, and find finds that the data reported to TEA through the PEIMS system regarding fights and assaults might be vastly under-reported. (0 reported last year, but 750 so far this year by mid April.) TEA explains that districts may choose to report some of those incidents as "violation of local code of conduct".

Three Wise Men takes another look at the current outlook of national and state races in the midterms.

Libby Shaw over at TexasKaos shines a light on an article that really should get more attention. "....37 of the 64 judges in the Gulf region from Texas to Florida, have financial ties to big oil and gas." Check out the rest : Most Judges in Gulf Region Have Financial Ties to Oil and Gas.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about Renew Houston. This proposed ballot initiative for the 2010 Houston ballot would dedicate money for wastewater removal. Yet it is funded by regressive means, and appears to add no progressive green solutions to Houston's wastewater removal strategies.

Jimmy Dean 1928 - 2010

Jimmy Dean, a country music legend for his smash hit about a workingman hero, "Big Bad John," and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died on Sunday. He was 81.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home.

After we were married in 1986, my wife and I lived in Plainview for a bit over two years. I was the advertising director for the Plainview Daily Herald and she was an assistant to the coordinator for special projects for Central Plains MH/MR.

Born in 1928, Dean was raised in poverty in Plainview, Texas, and dropped out of high school after the ninth grade. He went on to a successful entertainment career in the 1950s and '60s that included the nationally televised "The Jimmy Dean Show."

In 1969, Dean went into the sausage business, starting the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in his hometown. He sold the company to Sara Lee Corp. in 1984.

I never met Dean but did meet many people in Plainview who knew him and his family well, and he was a big favorite of the country and western music fans in my household growing up. The facility that Dean and his family first opened to make sausage became a popcorn factory while I was there, churning out a variety of flavored popcorn in decorative tins.

In the late '60s, Dean entered the hog business — something he knew well. His family had butchered hogs, with the young Dean whacking them over the head with the blunt end of an ax. The Dean brothers — Jimmy and Don — ground the meat and their mother seasoned it.

The Jimmy Dean Meat Co. opened with a plant in Plainview. After six months, the company was profitable. His fortune was estimated at $75 million in the early '90s.

Don't forget that his biggest hit became something of a parody two years ago, thanks to John Cornyn.

More recently, a scrap with Sara Lee led to national headlines.

The Chicago-based company let him go as spokesman in 2003, inciting Dean's wrath. He issued a statement titled "Somebody doesn't like Sara Lee," claiming he was dumped because he got old.

"The company told me that they were trying to attract the younger housewife, and they didn't think I was the one to do that," Dean told The Associated Press in January 2004. "I think it's the dumbest thing. But you know, what do I know?"

Sara Lee has said that it chose not to renew Dean's contract because the "brand was going in a new direction" that demanded a shift in marketing.

Courtesy Erik Vidor, here's audio of a caller complaining to the Jimmy Dean Meat Company about the size of their sausage package (some profanity).



Update: Entertainment Weekly notes that Dean was the pioneer of country music television; before Hee Haw, and before even Johnny Cash, there was The Jimmy Dean Show. That link has some great videos, including one of Rowlf the Dog (the first Muppet to make it big on the country scene).