More rumor-endo

Since this blog so rarely traffics in rumor and innuendo, it's time for me to catch up with some of the latest scuttlebutt associated with our National League affiliate.

ESPN's Steve Phillips said tonight that the Rangers have offered Hank Blalock to the Astros for Brad Lidge.

They ought to take that deal. But the two teams might be discussing various trades; Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll says the Rangers have offered Brad Wilkerson and Rod Barajas for Lidge, Morgan Ensberg and Fernando Nieve, something that seems too lopsided for Texas. If the Astros took Blalock for Lidge, they could then send Ensberg to San Diego for Scott Linebrink, with either Linebrink or Chad Qualls or Dan Wheeler closing.

The Orioles and Astros have also discussed a Miguel Tejada deal that includes Roy Oswalt, according to both BP and the Baltimore Sun. Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett would complete the package and go to Baltimore.

I don't see how this makes the Astros better. Tejada is a huge offensive upgrade, but that doesn't make up for the loss of Roy O and the defensive downgrade. The Orioles may not be especially interested anyway, since they'd likely only have Oswalt through 2007. And Oswalt appears to have been taken off the table for now.

Next year the 'Stros gain many millions of dollars in the expiring contracts of Jeff Bagwell, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte, money which they could use in pursuing free agents for 2007. I'd rather see them reload for next season rather than try to punch through something costly in order to try to capitalize on Clemens' final season (and possibly Pettitte's as well). That urgency alone suggests Tim Purpura may do something rash.

I hope he doesn't, but we'll know for sure by tomorrow's trading deadline.

The train don't come by here no more

That is, if the Republicans, led by Rick Perry, get their way. From the Houston Chronicle:

The venerable Texas State Railroad may run from here to Palestine, but it's about to get sidetracked in Austin.

The 110-year-old railroad is the most endangered of the 114 properties in the state parks system, which is going on the offensive for increased funding after more than a decade of tight budgets that have led to decaying facilities and reduced services. ...

"Best I can determine, we're either going to become a static display, or (local railroad boosters are) going to find a private operator," said Robert Crossman, the railroad's superintendent. "Nobody has come back to me and said, 'If funding greatly improves, y'all are going to continue to operate.' "Ellen Buchanan, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regional director, said she's been told her agency will not keep operating the trains even if funding increases in the next legislative session. Crossman is hopeful money can be found to keep it rolling a bit beyond the planned Dec. 31 closure, but he isn't optimistic.

Most of the parks in Texas are in shambles:

More than half the state's parks, historical sites and other preserves have considered or enacted service limitations because of money problems. They include the slowed reconstruction of Sea Rim State Park after Hurricane Rita, and the Sunday-Tuesday closure of the Varner-Hogg State Historic Site in Brazoria County.

Penny-pinching for more than a decade also has affected quality, said Walt Dabney, the state's parks director.

"We're absolutely in the ditch," Dabney said.

Dabney fondly recalls working at the Inks Lake State Park near Burnet as an intern in the late 1960s. And then there's the recent memory of a visit to the rest rooms he once cleaned.

"They are absolutely amazing. Just worn out," Dabney said. "You can see the building is literally collapsing in on itself."

From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:

(Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris) Bell said that the railroad is just one of the state parks suffering to the brink of closure. Texas ranks 49th in state park funding, and per capita, Texans spend $1.20 on state parks annually, compared to the national average of $7.50.

Money problems have been mounting at state parks for years, forcing Texas Parks and Wildlife to cut park hours and staff and limit maintenance.

Bell said that the Battleship Texas is held together with "tape and Silly Putty," and that the elevator at the San Jacinto Monument no longer goes all the way to the top.

"Seriously, sometimes the punch line writes itself," he said.

More at the links.

Somervell County Salon has more of the Democratic candidates' whistlestop in Palestine yesterday, including photos, and will have video of the speakers posted later now; click here.

If you want to save our state parks, then you have no business voting for any Republican.

Rick Perry's A.S.S.

Of course, some of his biggest supporters are huge asses, but this news isn't about them:

A bunch of Texans upset with the governor's support for a new business tax acted on their frustration by giving him campaign checks for 2 cents earlier this summer. Some sent in checks for 3 or 5 cents and a few mailed 1-cent checks.

The Perry campaign coded them as "ASS 06."

Political campaigns routinely code contribution checks to keep track of which event or mailing inspired them. Because the unsolicited protest checks were not tied to any specific event, "they were coded as 'A Small Supporter,' " Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black said Friday.

"In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best choice for an abbreviation," Black said.

Has any governor ever been deserving of greater ridicule than this one?

I say we kick Governor Good-MoFo'n-Hair out on his A.S.S in November. You conservatives have two other former Republicans on the ballot to vote for, so get to work and git 'er done, please.

Over 1500 Texans at a TTC meeting

... in Temple this week, and a grand total of eleven of those present were brave enough to raise their hands in favor of Rick Perry's massive toll road. Yet there are those on the right of Blogistan who don't yet know where they stand on the issue.

Displays of political tone-deafness such as this please me greatly.

Somervell County Salon has links to the video of some of the speakers, including Mary Beth Harrell, who is challenging "Exxon John" Carter in CD-31. Carter not long ago visited Iraq and posed for a photo shaking hands with Harrell's son, a soldier there, without knowing who it was. Carter was also in the news more recently, you may recall, for his opposition to extending the Voting Rights Act because, and I quote the Congressman directly here ...

“I don’t think we have racial bias in Texas any more.”

These are what wedge issues for Democrats look like (but don't tell the Republicans).

My ActBlue page is live, and some linkapalooza

Bad and statewide, to paraphrase a little ol' band from Texas. Kindly give a few clicks, and a few bucks to those with whom you agree are worthy.

On a related fundraising note, my man David is trying to raise $30,000 in thirty days, with an August 15 deadline. That's about how much he raised in the entire last reporting period. No Texas Democrat has been a greater inspiration to others. Please show him a little love.

There will be a debate among the candidates for Texas Governor on Thursday October 5, televised live and all over Deep-In-The-Hearta, in Spanish and English. (Take that, you anti-immigrant assbites.) Incumbent Mofo hasn't committed to attending yet. Yes, I'm sure he'd rather be clipping his toenails or even sharing something plastic with Geoffrey Connor, but he won't dare not show up.

Finally, Judge Susan Criss posted at Grits for Breakfast -- ahead of the Yates verdict -- about the failure of of our state to adequately fund programs that might prevent a similar tragedy:

What frightens me the most is knowing how many other severely mentally ill persons there are in Texas who are not getting treatment. The Texas legislature has consistently cut funding to MHMR resulting in eliminating treatment options for thousands of mentally ill Texans. There are countless other tragedies of the magnitude of this case that could be prevented but will not be.

That's what I think of every time I make the mistake of clicking on this shit. This guy's just about to lose his last marble. One more week of run-of-the-mill frustrations, a few slightly larger upsets, maybe a cat dying or something, and he's going to start shooting people.

Get some real professional help, pal.

The two new Democratic primaries are great news for one 2008 candidate

Actually Nevada is a caucus like Iowa and South Carolina is a primary, as is New Hampshire, but it's still excellent news for John Edwards:

They've got to be celebrating over at Edwards' HQ, because this map is designed to give him a huge boost.

Caucuses, unlike primaries, really are exercises in organization. Witness Kerry's victory in Iowa in 2004. And Nevada is a serious labor state. In fact, labor is essentially the organizing arm of the Nevada Democratic Party, especially UNITE-HERE's Local 226 of the Culinary Union. It's 60,000 strong, and firmly behind John Edward's candidacy.

The serious competition in Nevada will come from Richardson, who pushed hard for a southwestern state that wasn't NM to help his bid. People underestimate Richardson at their peril, and he has huge appeal in a Latino community that is growing like wildfire in Nevada. Can he build an organization to rival Edwards' allies at Local 226? Who knows, but let's hope he makes huge progress. Activating the state's Latino voters, in addition to a motivated an invigorated labor operation could mean trouble for Republicans in Purple Nevada.

Edwards pulled off his surprise 2nd place finish in Iowa in 2004, and he and his organization never left the state. It wouldn't be far fetched to see Edwards 2-0 going into NH. (Though Iowa will be fiercely contested by everyone -- Feingold is local to the region, Hillary has money and organization, Warner will want to make the early splash, Kerry will try to replicate his 2004 success, etc.)

Next is NH, with Kerry, Hillary, and Feingold fighting for supremacy. Edwards makes the required cursory efforts, but instead focuses on South Carolina, which is close to being home-field advantage. And for all Edwards knows, NH may follow suit as in 2004 and rubber-stamp the Iowa decision. The media boost for the winner of Iowa will be HUGE, with the media essentially coronating the winner. It's the problem with the 24-7 media environment.

Who is perceived as the loser in this reconfigured primary/caucus schedule?

Hillary, whose point person at the DNC, Harold Ickes, fought scheduling SC because it would give Edwards too big of a boost. She seems squeezed in this calendar.

There is another possibility -- that everyone except for Edwards and Richardson ignores Nevada to focus on New Hampshire. The political press, which is East Coast-based, won't want to travel to Nevada when New Hampshire, and its wealth of candidates, is just a short flight away.

My take is that HRC would concentrate on a win in NH, though she's got the dough to do everything at once. Where do Clark and Warner, other moderate Southerners, focus their efforts? It might be too late if they pick SC to do so.

Yeah, yeah, it's still too early to speculate, and I prefer to think of the Gregorian calendar as suspended, at least until we get some Democrats elected in about 100 days.