The Talibaptists

They're here, they're queer ( in the definition of the word before it was co-opted some decades ago as part of the bigots' agenda ) ... get used to it.

Or not. As you prefer. Of course, if you'd just rather not fight back, then please take a seat in this lovely handbasket.

The Dallas Observer has a piece -- it was forwarded to me by my nearly favorite blogger -- about Richard Ford and Kelly Shackelford, one a lion in winter, the other a Christian Soldier on the rise. These two men have and will continue to affect moderate -- a precarious definition itself, from the liberal view -- Texas GOP politicians in their inimitable way: by playing the "Who is the MORE Religious Conservative?" game. ( Go read the article. )

That made me think of a passage in Lou Dubose and Molly Ivins' Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush where they detail the takeover of the Texas Republican Party in the '90s by the likes of Tom Pauken, Dr. James Leininger and others. Even W. wasn't pure enough for them at that time ( the litmus test for party chairman in 1994 was whether or not you had attended an anti-abortion rally. You haven't? Too bad. ) I found my copy so I'll excerpt the cogent part:

George W. Bush was not Phi Beta Kappa at Yale, but he understands: you got to dance with them what brung you. He has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist who suffers from too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment. Dubya's skillful handling of the Christian right -- giving them just enough to keep them in line -- is probably his most impressive political credential. ...

In the end, the Christian right gets more sermons than blood, seat, or policy out of Bush. He talks the talk but rarely walks the walk -- and still gets the support of the Christian right. Among other things, it's very shrewd politics. Although Gary Bauer and Dr. James Dobson have figured out his strategy -- feed the lions just enough to stop them from attacking -- it is, as Sam Smoot says, a dangerous game. These disciplined political Christian soldiers have spent the last ten years taking over the the machinery of the Republican Party, precinct, county, and state. Now they want a ring, not just a promise.

The authors go on to describe how Karl Rove engineered the ascendance of Dim Son without selling out to the Jesusoidz; how John Cornyn came to be our Senator ( and not Pauken -- thank God for small favors ) and a few other kernels of wisdom.

Here's my point:

It will take at least a decade of hard work and long hours, not to mention a shitpot of money and some hurt feelings and bruised egos and maybe even some skinned knuckles in order to beat back these zealots.

And don't forget: their jihad is just. They've got God on their side.

I ask those who intend to stand for office on the progressive side one question, whether you run for precinct captain or Governor:

Are you ready to rumble?

We don't have time for any more John Kerrys -- and by that I mean Democrats, on ballots local and national, who won't fight back ( for whatever reason ). And one more thing: unless you're quite a bit younger than I am, you won't live long enough to see the fruits of your labor. Is the fight still in you?

Let's get going, then. We've got a country to take back.

P.S. There's a Houston Democratic Underground Meetup, above ground, tomorrow afternoon. Click on the link in my header. Warning: we're probably weirder in person.

Met some more cool kidz last night

at the weekly "Drinking Liberally" get-together. Among the most cool were a lawyer with a nifty blog, an actress with an Office Space credit as well as a national commercial (we don't hate Mondays either, K) and ... Travis? I cannot remember what you told me your deal was. Tell me again?

And hopefully we can get the Kink worked out (more on that later, dear reader) ...

This Jeff Gannon thing

really has me laughing uncontrollably.

So many have written so much that I'll just refer you to them for any part of this story you are not familiar with:

AMERICAblog was all-Gannon-all-the-time for a few days last week; scroll down for the juicy stuff. John also gave Aaron Brown an earful on CNN Newsnight. Atrios this morning rips Howard Kurtz (WaPo media bloviator) for his most recent hypocrisy. But the best comes from a snark-only thread at Daily Kos, whose diarists essentially broke this story (appearing as a correction):

For the Record: The journalistic alma mater of 'Jeff Gannon', where Mr. Gannon studied journalism in an intensive two-day, all-meals-included course costing a full fifty dollars, is in fact known as the Leadership Institute Broadcast Journalism School and not, as I had previously referred to it, the Morton C. Blackwell Institute of Media Whorticulture.

Which brings to mind the immortal words of Dorothy Parker:

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her (let's make that 'him' as well) think."

Update: I should have mentioned that Salon's Eric Boehlert -- who was also on Newsnight with AMERICAblog's John A. -- has a great synopsis, and that Crooks and Liars has a video of the CNN interview, the transcript of which I linked above.

Having java in South America this p.m.

Well, sort of. In that "in your mind" kinda way.

Me and the cool kids from Houston Metrobloggers (clink at the top...there. Right there. See it?) are doing the Meetup thing at Brasil this afternoon.

Hope I'm not the oldest one in the room...

Update: if the c.k. were there, they were hiding from me.

My Valentine of 18 years was kind enough to walk around to the other rooms and patio inquiring (you know how we men are about asking for directions) and a tableful of young men said, "sure that's us" but her BS detector red-lined. So, H-Town bloggers, if that really was you, no offense...

Ha. Ha. *click* *BLAM*

From this week's Idiot files:

Hi-jinks were the order of the day at a recent Bush event in Fargo, ND, when Karl Rove grabbed the microphone of CNN's John King and proceeded to do a little "reporting" of his own. "The president is making an incredible presentation to the audience here in Fargo, North Dakota," said Rove. "The crowd has received an overwhelming - his reform message of Social Security. The crowd broke into a strong applause when the president attacked the mainstream media..." King interrupted, "It's not bad. I'd keep your day job, but that's not bad." Not bad? How dare you, Mr. King! "I'd say more than not bad," gushed Judy Woodruff, back in the studio. "I think we're ready to hire Karl Rove right now. We'll start - we'll make the phone call right after the show." You know, I don't know what's worse... the idea that Karl Rove's spin is so similar to CNN's regular reporting that Judy Woodruff can't tell the difference, or Woodruff assuming CNN can employ someone they already work for.

I'm so appalled at broadcast news any more that I barely watch it.

My first corporate career was in the newspaper business. Ten years ago, I subscribed to the daily paper, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and a dozen others periodicals on an occasional basis.

Today? Nothing.

I had access to a dozen more dead-tree versions of dailies around the country, as well as the WSJ and the Nation's McPaper. I also subcsribed to Editor&Publisher, the bible of the industry, and wondered why the denizens of the onion-topped towers I occasionally bumped into took so lightly the things I read in its pages that alarmed the hell out of me.

Well, they're still there, raising their ad rates 6% every year and cutting their editorial staff a couple of people, managing their publications at a 20 or 30% profit margin and meeting once a year at a resort location to congratulate themselves on what a fine job they are doing.

I moved on. Of my own volition.

I get my news online these days. And I don't give up my personal information to invasive-registration sites. I have my browser shields up so high and so thick that there are blank spaces with "AD" in them all over the page. Little bubble noises go off frequently, signifying another pop-up window has been blocked.

This blogging thing is just more evidence that the old media is just about over. And the sooner we all help them figure it out, the better we all will be.