The Weekly Wrangle

More than three-fifths of the Texas Progressive Alliance believe that the Seahawks should have handed off to Marshawn Lynch as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff writes about opposition to the Plano equal rights ordinance from transgender activists, who say it excludes their community.

Libby Shaw, writing for Daily Kos, sounds the alarm bell on conservative lawmakers. When one touts one's conservative credentials, voters should never assume this means one is necessarily fiscally responsible, ethical or honest, in Conservative Texas: Cronies, Crooks, No-Bid Contracts, No Oversight, Junk Science.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson knows that Dan Patrick and the GOP are going to cut taxes no matter what, and need has nothing to do with it.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is appalled at the racism coming from Texas Republican representatives to the US House and the Texas Legislature.

Bob Stein at Rice University's Baker Institute handicapped the Houston mayor's race much the same as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs did... two weeks ago.  And Dos Centavos posted the latest cheez.

Politicians love to talk about the economic skills gap -- where there are a lot of job opportunities out there, but not enough skilled workers to fill them. But thankfully as Texas Leftist learned, some Houston politicians are moving beyond the talk and working to actually address the issue. Plus, some big news for Texas musicians as we finally learn the fate of the Texas Music Office under Governor Abbott.

Neil at All People Have Value acknowledged the bad behavior of Texas conservatives inside and outside the Capitol last week, but also wondered when Texas Democrats would stand up in defense of justice and fairness.

Bluedaze documented the Texas earthquakes on Super Bowl Sunday.  Just the ones on that day.

Ted at jobsanger wanted to know if juvenile justice actually got better in Texas, or if that was just an illusion.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

The TSTA Blog reminds us that "school choice" is not a choice for many families in Texas.

The Rivard Report predicts that driverless cars will not solve all of our traffic problems.

Texas Clean Air Matters urges the Legislature to restore clean air funding.

Keep Austin Wonky maps the decline of the capitol city's bus service.

Minding Houston explains 1115 waivers.

Mark Phariss implores the citizens of Plano not to reject its equal rights ordinance. Nell Gaither, on the other hand, argues that it excludes the transgender community.

Newsdesk explains how open carry advocates shot themselves in the foot.

Scott Braddock highlights another controversy connected to Michael Quinn Sullivan.

Unfair Park reports that the city of Fort Worth has extended spousal benefits to same-sex couples.

Burnt Orange Report takes note of the Tea Party under way in the Texas Senate, but not (yet) in the House.

Socratic Gadfly points out to Bernie Sanders that he's taking the wrong fork in the political road.

State Impact Texas noted that the financial markets are now betting on the Keystone XL pipeline.

And the TPA welcomes Diary of a Mad Trial Lawyer, the occasional observations of former judge Susan Criss, to the Tex-blogosphere.

Mittens is out of the clown car, but Miss Lindsey is in

We don't need to link to Governor 47%'s withdrawal, do we?  How about Governor 39%'s clarity?  Let's excerpt it anyway just for the laughs.

During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, former Gov. Rick Perry told host Sean Hannity that he realized how unprepared he was to run for president in 2012.

He started an "intensive program" in late 2012, he said, with domestic policy, foreign policy and monetary policy, "so when I stand on the stage and debate this next time, you're going to see a person who is very, very well prepared and able to talk across the board about the issues that the president of the United States is going to have to deal with as we go into 2017."

Perry had gone on the program to discuss the recent developments on his pending indictments, calling the case "a badge of honor."

Video at the link.  He's going for the Dan Quayle bump, for all you millennials who don't have a clue about scorn worn as a fashion accessory.  I'm anxious to change my Twitter avatar to this, but nah gah do it until Zombie Governor Oops gets another stake driven through his heart.

The real news is the heretofore stealth candidate coming out, Madam Senatah from the Grate State a Sou' Cahalina.

The already-crowded field of would-be Republican presidential candidates grew again on Thursday when Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) announced the formation of an exploratory committee for president.

The launch of the Security Through Strength committee enables Graham to raise money for a potential run. It’s the clearest sign yet that he is serious about entering the race, and comes as a flurry of White House aspirants are taking public and private steps toward entering what could be the most wide-open GOP primary in memory.

Graham is not regarded as a top-tier candidate by most Republicans and may run into problems because of some moderate views he holds.

'Moderate' once again being a relative term in this usage.

But he is known primarily as one of the GOP’s leading hawks on national security and represents an early nominating state, making him a potentially disruptive force in a fluid race. His positions on the use of U.S. force will probably put him at odds with at least one other prominent 2016 hopeful, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who represents the growing libertarian wing of the party.

There we go: a faceoff between the Teabagging warmongerers and the Teabagging isolationists.  It's Chris Kyle's world now in Dumbfuckistan (also known as the Deep South) and Graham Cracker sees an opening to exploit.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, another Republican making moves toward running, called Graham a “good man,” a “friend” and a “man of deep passions.”

Does it make anyone else's gaydar go off when sullen Republican white men talk about each other's passions?  Speaking of latent homosexuality, the thing to watch for at any GOP shindig over the next year -- and there will be one every other weekend, as we know -- is whether or not Rick Perry and Lindsey Graham are bunking in the same cabin.  (That link is probably NSF your W.)

Of course, Graham’s main problem is that he may have some skeletons rattling around in his, er, closet. His far-right opponents in last year’s GOP primary didn’t have any problems labeling him “ambiguously gay” and “a nancy boy.” Rumors about Graham on the verge of being outed pop up every once and a while, a phenomenon that will increase dramatically if he runs for president. Esquire political columnist Charles Pierce pointedly calls Graham Senator Huckleberry J. Butchmeup. (Graham’s official photo doesn’t do much to knock that nickname down.)

Needless to say, Graham insists he’s not gay. He’s done so by speculating about having a relationship with Ricky Martin, which is exactly the kind of thing that a red-blooded heterosexual would do.

I'm laughing so hard I'm coughing and choking.

Super Sunday Funnies

Scattershooting on the day after Texas Muslim Day

-- That went just about as well as anyone could have expected.  When a homeless woman from Michigan goes "on the road" to Austin to crash a peaceful rally, and doesn't get arrested, then you're excused in believing we've crossed another dangerous line here in Deep-In-The-Hearta.  What do you suppose would have happened if a black guy had grabbed the mic at an Open Carry protest?  What if a pro-choice activist had interrupted the pro-forced birth gathering on the other side of the Capitol last Saturday, who themselves were counter-protesting the anniversary of Roe v. Wade?

I'd rather just ignore the state representative who demanded visitors to her office pledge allegiance to the Israeli flag, if it's all the same to y'all.

That's not Lake Travis, that's the Rubicon.

Update: Christine Weick -- the angry white woman outside the Capitol yesterday -- is stretching her fifteen minutes of fame to the limit, now challenging Franklin Graham to take over a mosque.

-- This is Texas, goddammit, where the teachers have Glocks but we hide the science textbooks.  Our Republicans aren't snuffing the canaries in the coal mines with their gas; they're the fucking bats.  Shitting on everything as they swarm out of their caves.

-- Our beloved Texas, where we never shook until we got fracked.

North Texas never felt an earthquake until 2008, but since then the United States Geological Survey has recorded more than one hundred, concentrated in areas of oil and gas extraction from shale by hydraulic fracturing—fracking.

Now the USGS will raise the official earthquake risk level in Texas. The new assessment will appear on the government group's seismic hazard map, which influences building codes, public policy and insurance for homes and other buildings across the country, said Mark Petersen, national coordinator of the earthquake hazards program.

"Because of increased rates of earthquakes in Texas, the hazard is higher than it was previously," Petersen said. "This is a new thing that we want to start accounting for, these potentially induced earthquakes."

If you're a city, you can't pass a law against it.  Only the state government can do that, and they laugh at your attempts to stifle their oil buddies' waya life.  And if the feds would stop telling us how to spend the Medicaid billions we're leaving on the table, maybe we'd take the money.

-- Texas, our Texas, all hail the mighty state, where we must man the ramparts and barricades against the twin terrors of immigrant children and black people voting without ID.  We've evolved.  I mean, this is what intelligent design looks like.

So much love for fetuses, none for the babies already born.  You see, it transforms into a parasite on the hard-working, job-creating, property-owning upper class once it leaves the host.  Open carry coming soon, your all-season hunting license without having to purchase or even qualify for a license, and no bag limits.  Just be sure you're set to full auto and spray widely, before a good guy with a gun can pull his or hers.

One potential worthwhile outcome is that if every Texan is walking around armed, visible or not, we can do away with the police.  You know, save a bunch of money.  Oh wait, maybe we haven't thought that all the way through.  Like always.

Mutha. Fuggin. Texas.  The incubator of the best, most conservative government money can buy.

Paxton skates

Likely continues to do so, with a little help from his friends.

The Travis County district attorney’s office has concluded its investigation into securities law violations by Attorney General Ken Paxton without filing charges.

An investigation by the agency’s Public Integrity Unit determined that Travis County lacked jurisdiction over the Paxton allegations, District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said Thursday.

“Any conduct that might constitute an offense occurred outside of Travis County, and venue for any further investigation would be in the county where the conduct occurred,” Lehmberg said in a statement.

Poor Lehmberg just couldn't stomach any more controversy.  She's been cowed by the spin applied from Rick Perry's legal team and the governor's supporters reacting to his abuse of office indictments, start to (eventual) finish.  A classic conservative display of blaming the victim.

Lehmberg’s office referred the case to prosecutors in Collin and Dallas counties, she added.

Care to guess how that's going to go?

Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis, a Republican, is a longtime friend of Paxton. Bill Dobiyanski, the first assistant district attorney under Willis and chief of the felony trial division in Collin County, declined to say whether the office would investigate the matter.

Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk has issued a statement indicating her office has no avenue to pursue a case against Paxton, if one were warranted.

She said that after a discussion with Gregg Cox, the head of Travis County special prosecutions, “at this time, we are not aware of having venue over any alleged crimes committed in Dallas County by Attorney General Ken Paxton.”

With the Public Integrity Unit gutted by the Lege's new budget and to be eventually relocated out of Travis County, there will be no watchdog left on the unitary rule of the Grand Old Party in Texas.  Not that there was all that much before.  When the appeals court judges are also bought and paid for, you can't even get a conviction against Tom DeLay for money laundering to stick.

This is what Texans voted for last November, however (and in every midterm election for at least the past twelve years).  This is also what the Texans who were too busy/lazy/stupid to vote also voted for, whether or not they will ever figure that out.

BakerBlog's Bob Stein on the Houston mayoral race

This is worth dissecting.

There are six candidates (former Democratic congressman Chris Bell; councilman Stephen Costello; Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia; former Kemah mayor Bill King; councilman Oliver Pennington; state Rep. Sylvester Turner) who currently hold or recently held elective office. A seventh candidate, Ben Hall, has run recently for mayor and has some additional recognition as a former city attorney. These candidates have a record of electoral success in the city as well as a record of significant campaign fund raising. 

He handicapped them much the same way I did week before last.  With regard to the money end of things, let's overlook the fact that Costello and Hall and King can write themselves a check for whatever they need, which technically isn't 'raising funds'.  And that Turner needs to survive Bell's lawsuit transferring his million bucks from his legislative bank account to a municipal one.  And that Garcia can't move his county coffers around at all.  If you evaluate viability on the basis of how much money somebody has, then you don't have a democracy, you have a plutocracy.  If you begin with the premise that the more money a candidate can spend, the more likely they are to get elected, then you have devalued principle, good governance, and the ideological issues that should be the primary determinant of how one should cast their ballot.  In other words, you simply aren't a fan of republican democracy.

I won't be evaluating mayoral candidates competing for my vote using that measurement.  I want to know what their ideas for managing the city are, not how fat their wallet is.  So while Stein is tossing everybody running who doesn't have electoral experience and putting a star beside the names of those who are profligate fundraisers, where does that leave perhaps the most liberal candidate -- Marty McVey -- who can pay his own way, or the most conservative -- CM Jack Christie -- who can't?  And the rest who meet neither criteria?  Why, on the outside looking in.

Too bad for them... and too bad for those of us who thought the race might turn on the issues, too.

The best financed candidates and those who have effective organizations able to identify and turn out their loyal and likely voters will most likely move forward to the runoff. It also seems unlikely that issues or partisanship will be critical factors in the general election — though this should change in the runoff, depending on which two candidates move forward. I would expect the candidates in the general election to run campaigns directed at frequent and targeted voter contacts, using traditional door-to-door canvassing, extensive social media and very personalized appeals to voters from the candidates. I don’t see a significant incentive for candidates to attack each other in the general election, as this might detract from their efforts to mobilize their base and worse, risk losing supporters in the runoff, should they advance.

Are you enthused yet?  This is going to be a milquetoast election if Stein is right.

Thankfully, he's probably wrong.

From conservatives, it's going to be all about those hellbound transsexuals using the bathrooms where your children will be assaulted (when it's not bitching about potholes in the roads, anyway) and tsk-tsking those hateful bigots from the center-left in response.  There will be plenty of issues, just not the ones we ought to be talking about.  And to Stein's credit, he's at least correct that it won't goose turnout much, if at all.  So then, twenty million dollars-plus spent on campaign advisers, mailers, and tv commercials for a runoff election in December that resets everything.  That's some high-priced sound and fury signifying nothing.

Candidate-wise, Stein has some breakdowns for the six perceived frontrunners, but let's focus on his comments about Adrian Garcia.

Garcia could have broad appeal to several constituencies of likely voters, i.e., Hispanics and Democrats. In addition, he has won two countywide elections for sheriff, winning significant (12 percent) crossover support from Republican voters, although this success appears to be limited to non-city portions of the county. He did not garner a substantial crossover vote in Kingwood, Clear Lake and Westside precincts inside the city.

For Garcia, the key questions are whether he can establish himself as the “Democrat” candidate for mayor and mobilize Hispanic voters. His efforts to establish himself as the prime Democrat in the race maybe thwarted by Bell’s efforts to make the same claim. In addition, Garcia’s only tepid support of the countywide candidates in 2014, most notably Kim Ogg, Democrat for district attorney, may come back to haunt. Moreover, there is evidence that younger Hispanic voters are not motivated by partisan candidate appeals — witness their poor performance for the Democratic ticket in 2014 (i.e., pre- and post-election surveys suggest 45 percent of 18-44 year old Hispanic voters balloted for Greg Abbott while only 34 percent of Hispanic voters over 45 voted for Abbott).

Emphasis mine.  Garcia's success hinges on his ability to turn out all the Latino vote, and depending on that has always been problematic.  If the electorate doesn't agree that it's their time, his campaign is over before it begins.  Anglo Republicans in the 'burbs haven't bought his oddball brand of conservatism previously; no reason to think they will this time around.

Texpatriate's on record with Turner and Pennington making the runoff, which is a fairly conservative bet.  I'm not ready to join him there; I think Bell and Costello and Hall will also have strong efforts.  There's still seven months to the filing deadline; a long time to go before the field settles out.  And this last, with respect to the SCOTUS decision on marriage equality and the HERO trial playing out in the background.

There may be several referenda on the ballot to amend the city charter (e.g., term limits and revenue cap) as well as repeal the recently adopted Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). A jury trial is underway to determine whether the city erred in rejecting a petition to place the repeal of HERO on the November ballot. Whatever the jury’s decision, it will certainly be appealed. If any of these items are on the November ballot they are certain to change the character and possible outcome of the general election. The HERO amendment has the greater potential for widening the field of candidates with the entry of an anti-HERO candidate. Other candidates, notably Turner, King and Costello, may have trouble with this issue, as many of their core supporters have positions on the ordinance at variance with the candidates’ position.

This is Pennington's primary advantage today: stoking the fear and loathing of the gays among the Republican base.  It could help him in the general election and then backfire on him in the runoff.  We'll just have to watch and see if that is something he -- or someone else -- thinks they can capitalize on.