Christ vs. Christians

Two excellent pieces to celebrate Easter. First from Tom in Lake Jackson, commenting on this news from Houston:

If you think Jesus will be lurking up in the rafters of Minute Maid Park for this appalling display of extratheological fluff, I would make you a small bet that, instead, he will be out in some park with the kids looking for the eggs the bunny left for them.

He may even help hide the eggs.

The Christian church that has gone bats over abortion and homosexuality while turning a blind eye to war and poverty still manages to have a good time worshipping entertainers and celebrity. I find it nauseating.

And "If I were a Christian":

If I were Christian, I'd have to guess that Christ doesn't care what the heck you call yourself, Republican, Democrat, Boy Scout, Muslim, Hindu or even atheist; it's your deeds that count, your actions that matter, and your character that defines you. Good people are identified as good by the good deeds they do, while evil people are identified by doing evil deeds. I'd point out clearly that arguing for the cult like worship of any human being, in any nation, as an inerrant God like leader, praising warfare or terrorism, the repression and bombing of innocent civilians, arguing that torture or murder or genocide is a good thing, and defending the wealthy and powerful, is completely at odds with what Christ clearly taught.

...

If I were Christian I would be filled with pride and wonder that my blood, organs, skin, and hair, are made from the elements cooked inside of ancient stellar furnaces. That the mortal coils we each inhabit were bequethed to us via countless generations of living things and exquisite constructs, from primate to bacteria, from organic protien to cosmic proton. And I would weep with the glorious knowledge that I am made of star-dust.

...

If I were Christian, I'd have to guess that Christ, who was after all beaten to a bloody pulp and then nailed to a cross to die a horrible, lingering, death, for our sins, wouldn't think very highly of a (political) party, a faction, a group, a pharaoh, a Caesar, or a President, that thinks they should be able to legally whisk people off to torture chambers to foreign shit-holes run by despots, with no trial or charges ever held for them! And were I a Christian, I'd have to guess that any beliver would and absolutely should be very nervous about being associated with torture in any way, shape, or form.

...

But I'd also have to guess there is one huge difference between Christ and me: I have little patience for folks that use religion as a tool of manipulation. And for the mad bombers and their enablers, whether they justify their killing sprees with passage's or sura's, I wouldn't mind if they spent the rest of their days in prison mumbling holy hatred to themselves while strapped to a gurney in a straitjacket. Christ was an inspiring example, and that's true regardless if the underlying theology is accurate or not. But I'd have a hard time living up to His standard. It would be challenging for me to forgive some of those people, including I'm sad to say those that are destroying this nation from within and without. But I'd pray for the strength to do so, if I were Christian.

Read the entire post here.

Senator Kay Bailey Hypocrite

Anna and Vince have done the research; just go read them.

Eric reminds us how Senator Perjury Technicality managed to avoid Ronnie Earle's long arm not so long ago.

We CAN get rid of this kind of crap without sending it to D.C., you know.

Starting in November, at the top of the ballot.

Anybody else missing Jeff Bagwell?

I'm enjoying the opening month of baseball season as much as always. Just seems to be a void.

When Baggy trotted out to receive his ring last week, the first thing I noticed was how small he had gotten -- his arms and shoulders were, well, shriveled compared to years past.

My wife was quick to point out that his ass hadn't gone down any.

Anyway, here's a pretty good article from former Astro reliever and current Tiger DL resident Todd Jones on closers, hitters, and their intro music:

Mariano Rivera has one. Billy Wagner does, too. The same one, in fact. Chipper Jones has one. Trevor Hoffman has the best one. I'm talking about intro songs. Music is everywhere in the big leagues, and why not? It gets the fans going, and the players dig it.

Don't think that heavy-metal song you hear when Chipper Jones comes to bat was just pulled out of a hat, either. Guys give their intro music more thought than I'd like to admit. Kevin Millar has been known to change songs -- quickly -- if he goes a series without any hits. Some guys get to know guys in bands, and they come out to their buddies' band's song. That's why Johnny Damon rocks to Sevendust when he comes to the plate.

Music also is a good way for old players to keep up with the young guys. The most popular music in big-league clubhouses has got to be rap. After a win, most teams have a set CD that's played in the clubhouse. As a rule, if you lose, no music.

For batting practice, the resident computer geek often is the one who burns CDs that combine several guys' favorites. Those CDs can get old quick, and when they're not changed from day to day, guys can come to know what time it is by what song is playing. If the lineup doesn't change and the B.P. groups stay the same, the same guy will end up hitting with the same song playing. It can get monotonous.

Few guys keep the same songs for their whole careers. If you play long enough, the song gets played out and you get sick of it. But there are some staples. Luis Gonzalez is a Collective Soul man. Todd Helton likes to hit to Disturbed. Chipper hits to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Rivera and Wagner enter to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.

Hoffman sets the gold standard for intro music with AC/DC's "Hells Bells." It's worth a trip to Petco to hear. It's not just the song, either -- it's the scene. They take all the graphics off the video board until Trevor hits the door coming out of the bullpen. When he begins his slow jog to the mound, it's exclusively Trevor Time. Everyone in the park seems to be singing, and Trevor is oblivious to it.

What makes it so cool is that Trevor hardly ever blows a save. Let me assure you, that atmosphere provides a big advantage for him. Hitters are out before they get into the box. Matter of fact, Trevor is so recognized by "Hells Bells" that if it ever is played in another park, guys will say, "I didn't know Hoffman got traded."

Finally, when Adam Dunn is slumping, he has been known to come out to the chorus from a Toby Keith song that goes, "I Ain't As Good as I Once Was." Guys can be pretty creative.

Russ Feingold, Cindy Sheehan, Jim Hightower and David Van Os are all in Austin next week

Austin is the epicenter for Democratic and progressive activists next week.

David Van Os' "Citizens' Filibuster for a Fair and Constitutional Education" begins Monday April 17 at high noon for 24 hours straight on the Capitol grounds -- the same day that the Lege goes back into session for the fifth time (or is it the sixth?) in order to solve the pressing dilemma of funding public education in Texas.

You can catch Cindy Sheehan at the UT east mall (near the statue of MLK) between 11 and 12:15 on Monday the 17th for a rally with the Cameo anti-war folks.

And Senator Russ Feingold will have a listening session with CD-21 candidate John Courage at the UT Student Union Quadrangle on Tuesday, April 18 at 12:30 pm, and a rally beginning at 7:30 pm for Courage supporters at Jovita's, 1619 S. First Street, where Jim Hightower as well as Feingold and Courage will speak.

All these are open to the public and free of charge. I'll see you at all three events next week. Stop by and say hi to me.

Update: A correction to the "free" notice above... The evening rally with Feingold, Courage, and Hightower is a fundraiser, includes musical entertainment South Austin Jug Band, The Grassy Knoll Boys and Texas Youth Word Collective and costs $25.

Update II (4/13/06) : sonia in the comments notes Senator Barack Obama's event on Tuesday the 18th as well.

Victory is sweet.

Just returned from the parties for Barbara Radnofsky and Borris Miles, and I have to tell you, as sweet as March 7 was, tonight was even better.

Lyn and I were on the BAR live webcast tonight again, joined this time by Mrs. Diddie (it will be archived tomorrow for viewing; I'll update this post then) and even before it began, the AP had called the race for Barbara. So it's on to November, and some reckoning with Senator Perjury Technicality. Kay Bailey Rubberstamp hasn't had much in the way of a respectable challenger in her time in the Senate, but all that changes now.

As the webcast continued and Lyn got some returns fed into her Treo, we rushed over to the Sheraton by the Astrodome to party with the Miles crew and the rest of District 146's elated constituents. Borris had pulled ahead as the returns closed on the finish line, and within the ten o'clock hour Rep. Edwards conceded. When the Representative-elect finally made an appearance, he was something I haven't seen before: humbled. And a little bit awed by the incredible dedication and hard work of his supporters.

A special shout-out to my blog podnah Greg Wythe, who poured everything he had into this race and looked as worn out and happy as Borris' mother did. And there's a thousand others, and I hope their enthusiasm can carry over to all the other races we must win in November, from Chris Bell to BAR to my man David, and Hank Gilbert and Fred Head and Maria Luisa Alvarado (congratulations to her on her victory today as well) and Ellen Cohen and Kristi Thibaut and Hubert Vo and all the rest.

I salute Rep. Al Edwards for his 28 years of service to the district and the state of Texas. But I am thrilled that I will have a real Democrat representing me in Austin.

Ten thousand marched for justice in Houston today.

That's about ten thousand people who filled the streets of downtown H-town this afternoon to make a statement about justicia para todos, like the pledge says. Even I-45 ground to a standstill with cars trying to get to the march and cars stopping to watch. I saw the flags of the United States, Mexico, Pakistan, Palestine, Honduras, and El Salvador. I saw signs that said "Outlaw Ignorance" and "We're workers, not terrorists". I saw mariachis and Uncle Sam on stilts and Lady Liberty and palenta and taleta and chicharron vendors.

Here's a photo from Austin also worth sharing:

The Republicans are getting nauseous about the genie they've let out of the bottle, but the local conservatives remain angry and bitter. This is going to end badly for them, they know it, and it's only going to make them more insufferable to live with (as if that was imaginable).

Today. In Houston.

This is yesterday in Dallas. That's 350,000 -- no, wait, maybe half a million people -- marching for the rights of immigrants in the United States. Not immigration reform, mind you, and certainly not in favor of a penalty-laden piece of racist, classist legislation that not even Box Turtle Cornyn or Kay Bailey Perjury Technicality thinks goes far enough.

Immigrants' rights. Because there's no such thing as an illegal person.

St. Louis, also yesterday.

Today, in Houston, beginning at 1 p.m. at Guadalupe Plaza at the corner of Navigation and Jensen, and proceeding to Allen's Landing at Commerce and Main.

Join us.

Another really bad week for Republicans

Because I was under the weather most of this past week, I didn't really get to blog about all this:

The Hammer hammered himself, a "breakthrough" immigration bill broke down at the last minute, the House budget blew up, Bush hit another low in the polls, and the President was revealed as the Plame leak in the White House.

Some are calling it "a staggering collection of misfortunes and failures", but I think I'll just consider it a good start toward the end of our long national nightmare.

Once I don't have to watch that jaunty little jerk swinging his arms as he walks, and instead shows a little humility -- like he has suddenly become aware of what a mess he's made of the entire world -- then I'll really feel like we're getting somewhere.

Immigration? Minimum wage? No, poverty

Yes, quite a bit went on this week and I didn't feel good enough to document it until now, so I'll play some catchup.

DeLay cut and run, his goons are acting like bitter-enders in their death throes, and apparently no special election will be held. Republicans and the rest of us (well, Kuffner) are trying to figure out what it means.

Turns out the President is the leaker. Imagine that. Will he fire himself now?

But to get back to the headline of this post, I attended a breakfast meeting Friday morning hosted by councilman Peter Brown on poverty (defined by a family of three with an annual income of $16,000) in Houston. Here, his statistics speak for themselves:

• Of the 2.1 million people living in the city of Houston, over 500,000 -- one quarter -- live at or below the poverty level. That is is the highest among Texas cities.
• There are 14,000 documented homeless person in Houston, but the actual number is probably twice that.
• The poverty rate among Houston's Hispanic immigrants affects over 150,000 people; poverty among African-Americans numbers nearly 200,000.
• 49% of those Houstonians who receive food stamp assistance are Af-Am and 34% are Hispanic.
• 34% of Houston families whose head of household is a single female live below the poverty line. That number is 41% if that family has a child under the age of 18. And 29.5 % of Houston children under 18 live in poverty.
• 27% of Houstonians who live below the poverty line never graduated from high school and 32% are unemployed.

And some Texas statistics (so that we don't need Rick Perry to remind us again how proud he is):

• 28% of Texas workers between 18 and 64 are without health insurance. Texas is 50th -- that would be dead-ass last -- with regard to the number of its residents without health care insurance. Maybe Governor MoFo can follow the example of his good-haired comrade and get a law passed making this illegal. Oh yeah, 200,000 children in Houston have no health insurance either.
• Texas has the highest number of minimum wage workers in the nation. That's not first place either, Governor. One out of every nine minimum wage earners in America lives inTexas.

So there's this little issue -- you'll see some more protesting about it tomorrow -- about why people -- and let's be clear: no human being is illegal -- come here, and that's so that they can almost make it to the poverty level, which is waaay better than they can do in their own countries.

Immigration? Minimum wage? No health insurance? I see a wholesale dismantlement of the American middle class. A destruction executed by Republicans in Washington and Austin but advocated and funded by the real culprits in New York and Houston: big business, middle-sized business, and small business. Corporations of every size, run for the most part by the good folks who "need" cheap labor, whether it's in their factories or their shops or their backyards. And who vote straight-ticket Republican, of course.

Is there a quick answer to all of this? Of course not. But there is a relatively easy task for those of us who are alarmed by these statistics can get started on, and that's organize, join, or enable the rebirth of the labor movement in this country.

A collective bargaining agent empowered by its members would, in comparatively short order, acquire a living wage and health benefits for its members, making decent housing more affordable, lifting even people of limited education above the poverty line and increase everyone's standard of living (except those who don't scrub their own toilets or wash their own clothes... unless they go into rehab, as Bill Maher noted Friday night).

The Service Employees International Union organized janitors in Houston, who have -- soon to be 'had' -- the lowest wages and benefits of similar workers in the United States. This isn't something I'm trying to get started; it's already happening. It's gathering momentum, and it will change my city and state and return this nation to a prosperity which began with the Industrial Age but was decimated by the simultaneous metastases of Big Bidness and the Republican Party that bega in the '80s. (Which was enabled by the fundamentalist Christian Right, of course, but even those poor fools can't continue to delude themselves much longer about the Samaritan intentions of the GOP.)

A revitalized union movement will change things for the better for most all of us quickly, but it's going to terrify that association of rich and powerful currently in charge.

The corporate executives will quake. The silk-stocking set will grit their teeth and then starting writing five- and six-figure checks to the PACs. (Follow the money and you'll eventually find Tom DeLay in his new career. He won't be the first but he WILL be the fattest pig at this trough, mark my words.) The small businessmen, through their own collectives, will whine and bitch and grouse and then bribe and intimidate the Republicans to protect their way of life.

That alone is reason enough for me to help a Wal-Mart employee contact a union representative.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

It seems like a dream, but it's real: Tom DeLay is quitting the race for Congress and changing his residence to Alexandria, VA in order to trigger a special election for his seat. That appears the only way to utilize arcane Texas election laws to the GOP's advantage.

"Even though I thought I could win, it was a little too risky," DeLay said.

How noble. How gallant.

Kuffner summarizes and links extensively so I don't have to. Sugar Land mayor David Wallace has all but announced for the coming special.

There'll be more to say about this later; for now, that DeLay has chosen to suddenly cut and run speaks volumes about the true character of this so-called Christian. He's been plotting this withdrawal for quite some time now, obviously, and took this action not just to try to keep his seat Republican but to have a (typically heavy) hand in anointing his successor. Apparently he had no use for those who dared challenge him in the primary less than thirty days ago.

La Cucaracha Grande is nothing if not a master manipulator. He will no doubt transition seamlessly into a lucrative career lobbying Congress on behalf of various corporate and Christian causes, losing none of his influence while quintupling his income.

And he may accomplish his goal of staunching the GOP bleeding and lessening the November losses in the House -- beginning at home with TX-22 -- but that fate now lies more with Democratic efforts that it did yesterday.

Go back to work, people.

In honor of Opening Day

The first Monday in April is one of my favorite evenings to be at a sports bar; it's when the NCAA men's basketball championship is decided, and also the beginning of the professional baseball season. In honor of the tipoff to the boys of summer's season, some excerpts from Frederic J. Frommer's "The Washington Nationals: 1859 to Today" on the presidential tradition of throwing out the first pitch:

For most of the last century, when Washington was home to a baseball team known as the Senators, presidents typically took center stage on opening day.

Starting with William Howard Taft in 1910 and continuing through Richard Nixon in 1969, every president threw out at least one opening-day pitch. After the Senators left town, presidents headed north to Baltimore for the duty.

...

At the beginning, the president threw the ball to the starting pitcher or even the umpire.

Later, from his box in the stands, the chief executive tossed the ball over a scrum of photographers into a crowd of players from both teams. Whoever caught the ball brought it over to the president for an autograph.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed for White Sox outfielder Jim Rivera. According to a report years later by Chicago Tribune writer David Condon, "Jungle Jim" immediately demanded a more legible signature.

"Do you think I can go into any tavern on Chicago's South Side and really say the president of the United States signed this baseball for me?" Rivera said. "I'd be run off."

Laughing, the young president agreed to sign the ball more legibly. "You know," Rivera replied, "you're all right."

In the days before luxury boxes, Senators' owner Clark Griffith arranged for Woodrow Wilson to watch the game from his car parked in foul territory, outside the right field line. Griffith made the arrangements because Wilson had been partially paralyzed by a stroke. Griffith even stationed a player in front of Wilson's car to protect it from getting hit by foul balls.

Sometimes, the star power of a president would lead to mishaps on the field. In the 1910 opener, Washington outfielder Doc Gessler was daydreaming about hitting a grand slam and talking to Taft about it. A fly ball quickly brought Gessler back to earth. Backing up, Gessler tripped over a fan (spectators could stand on the field behind a rope back then) and the ball dropped for a double. It was the only hit that pitcher Walter Johnson surrendered that day.

At the 1936 opener, Senators pitcher Bobo Newsom and third baseman Ossie Bluege converged on a bunt. As Bluege fielded the ball, Newsom took his eye off the play to glance at President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the stands. Bluege's throw to first nailed his distracted pitcher in the face, leading to a broken jaw.

Roosevelt threw out a record eight opening-day pitches — and made one crucial at-bat on behalf of baseball during World War II. On Jan. 15, 1942, little over a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt told the baseball commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, that the season should go on despite the war.

"There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before," FDR wrote in what became known as the "Green Light Letter."

FDR's successor, Harry Truman, had one of the worst receptions ever. His appearance at the Senators' home opener on April 20, 1951, came shortly after he had fired General Douglas MacArthur as Far East commander — and just one day after MacArthur went before Congress and uttered his famous line, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

The crowd at Griffith Stadium booed Truman loudly. The Air Force Band tried to drown out the jeers with "Ruffles and Flourishes" and "Hail to the Chief."

Richard Nixon was probably the greatest baseball fan to occupy the Oval Office — with the possible exception of Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers, who had originally played in Washington.

In 1972, just a few weeks after the Watergate break-in that ultimately led to his resignation, Nixon wrote an article for The Associated Press that listed his all-time All Star teams.

In 1959, on the eve of then-Vice President Nixon's opening day pitch, Truman sent Griffith this telegram: "BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ON OPENING DAY AND EVERY DAY. WATCH OUT FOR THAT NIXON. DON'T LET HIM THROW YOU A CURVE. YOUR FRIEND, HARRY TRUMAN."

...

After the Senators announced they would move to Texas following the 1971 season, Nixon met with Washington Mayor Walter E. Washington to discuss prospects of a new team.

In a taped Oval Office conversation on October 13, 1971, the president mentioned the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians as possible replacements. Nixon also teed off on the Senators owner, Bob Short, who had been a chief fundraiser for Nixon's 1968 opponent, Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey.

"Short is a jerk," Nixon declares. "... I sat behind him at games, and I can tell you — moaning and bitching all the time."

You know, I forgot to mention...

... that there's been this little immigration thing going on lately, involving a bill in the Senate and some protests by high school students all around the nation.

Stace and Charles have been covering it well, and Dos Centavos in particular explains the Mexican flag thing for the unreasonable gringos among us.

And all I have to say about this is 'fuck it'. There's already a syndrome identified that accounts for the rise: B.I.T.S.

Maybe if we would ITMFA, we could curb the pandemic.

While I was away...

My "spring break" is over. Let's catch up with some (in cybertime) old news:

-- special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will likely seek additional indictments in the Plame leak case sometime in the next month, and their names might (finally) be Rove or Hadley. Herr Rove is said to be cooperating with Fitzgerald's office, and has been described lately as "jaunty" by observers. Does he have reason to think he's slipped the noose ... again?

-- Antonin Scalia had a good week; first he discussed publicly the Guantanamo case pending before the Supreme Court, has so far declined to recuse himself from it, and then made the "bafangu" gesture at reporters. As he came out of church.

-- Pastafarians rejoice! You made the mainstream media.

-- the best news in Bloglandia concerned the FEC ruling that online political discussion remains a First Amendment right. So blogs that discuss candidates and campaigns, like this one, will not be considered political advertisements. So you'll probably begin to see me mention the campaign I am working on here more often.

I'll try to be more frequent here, health permitting. Thanks as always for stopping by.

Update: Forgive my wretched Italian. It's "vaffanculo", and both Sean-Paul and Atrios have a photo of the Justice flipping us off. Why couldn't Dick Cheney have shot this bastard in the face?

The top ten reasons Cheney won't ever resign

We had some chat about this topic a while back, and Letterman has now cleared things up:

Top Ten Reasons Dick Cheney Won't EVER Resign...

10. Trying to fix up Condi Rice with his daughter

9. Turns out when you shoot somebody, if you're not vice president, you gotta do time

8. Bush leaves at two every day and then it's margaritas and Fritos

7. Set the solitare high score on his office computer

6. Wants to see if he can help Bush get his approval rating under ten

5. Too hard to give up Vice Presidential Discount at D.C. area Sam Goody stores

4. Wants to stay on the job until every country in the world hates us

3. Extra-zappy White House defibrillators

2. Undisclosed location has foosball and whores

1. Why quit when things are going so well?

Bell and Soechting on Radnofsky, Radnofsky on Kelly

OK stop thinking that.

"Barbara Radnofsky isn't just the best choice, she's the only choice. As I go forward with a real opportunity to beat Rick Perry, I need this tough lady campaigning for the U.S. Senate, making an aggressive case for the New Mainstream. She's fighting the tough fight for veterans, for teachers and for all Texans, and I know as a longtime friend of Barbara's that she has the sharp mind and moral courage needed to carry our banner high."

That's the Democratic nominee for Texas Governor talking, of course.

TDP chairman Charles Soechting:

“I believe this man is a Republican plant. It's no coincidence that, for more than a decade, Gene Kelly reaches the general election, rolls over, and plays dead for his Republican opponent."

And Radnofsky on Kelly:

“I’ve challenged my opponent to a debate, but he hasn’t responded. Perhaps I should challenge him to a dance.”

You can meet Barbara Radnofsky and Chris Bell and Charles Soechting and a host of other Democrats at the opening of her campaign headquarters Friday, March 24, at 1:30 p.m., here.

Three waystations in Bloglandia

The Kossacks really, really like Russ Feingold this month.

BobcatJH on Bush's presser today:

To watch President Bush's press conference Tuesday morning was to watch a man squarely at odds with reality. We saw Bush the defiant. Bush the angry. Bush the liar. Never has the man seemed less in charge of America.

Taking tough questions from the White House press corps, the president laughed in the face of a grim reality, blamed the media for the disaster in Iraq and boasted of progress that simply isn't there.

The long, slow march toward irrelevance is over. Bush is officially a lame duck. He doesn't matter anymore. Today proved that.

Go read it all; it's good.

R.G. Ratcliffe of the Chronic likes the odds of a cockroach skating:

The appearance of possible bias forced two judges out of the criminal case against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay last year, and similar issues could taint some judges on two appeals panels that are now considering the charges against the former majority leader.

The two three-judge panels on the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin are considering appeals that could effectively end the DeLay prosecution. ...

On Wednesday, one 3rd Court of Appeals panel will hear Earle's appeal of a district judge's ruling throwing out charges against DeLay, R-Sugar Land, of conspiring to violate the state's election code.

There are still charges pending against DeLay on money laundering that accuse him of participating in a scheme to convert illegal corporate cash into money Republican candidates could use in 2002 Texas House races. DeLay denies any wrongdoing in the case.

The other 3rd Court panel is reviewing an appeal brought by DeLay's co-defendants, Jim Ellis and John Colyandro. It challenges the legal theory of Earle's original money laundering indictment brought against the men.

The issues are so similar to the charges against DeLay, that if Colyandro and Ellis win, the case against DeLay could evaporate.

The real news here is not whether Republican judges Alan Waldrop and David Puryear will let DeLay off the hook if they can, but that they have Democratic challengers in this election cycle.

Remember the names: Alan Waldrop and David Puryear.

So that you can vote them out in November, irrespective of their bias in this case.

Moneyshot Quotes of the Week

"It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings."

-- Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, speaking of Texas Republican-led judicial intimidation

"My administration was satisfied that port security would not have been undermined by the agreement. Nevertheless, Congress was still very much opposed to it."

-- Bush

"He made that veto threat then he went on the trip to India and went silent basically. Karl Rove calls the people in Dubai two nights ago and tells them pull the plug on the deal, and I think as a result, the president looks weak, frankly."

-- Bill Kristol, Fox News

"My buddy Korg is a lifelong Democrat but he told me he was switching to the Republicans. Why? Because if a Republican shoots somebody in the face, the other guy has to apologize."

-- Rich Miller, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times

Spanking the fundies with their own Bibles

My sincerest apologies to those who've been checking here for something fresh and finding nothing. Between the campaign and maintaining my small but TLC-requiring client base and some rather debilitating vertigo for the past few weeks, I just haven't kept pace.

I did find this today worth sharing.

On March 1st, in Annapolis MD, at a hearing on a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, a professor of law at American University and candidate for the Maryland state Senate, was requested to testify. At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "As I read Biblical principles, marriage was intended, ordained and started by God -- that is my belief. For me, this is an issue solely based on religious principals."

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

The room erupted in applause.

Senator Jacobs could also stand being reminded that the Bible discloses eight varieties of "approved" marriages, including that of a rapist and his victim and assigned marriages among slaves.

The surprises from yesterday

-- First, I never thought that Bell would smash Gammage. Judging from the relentless promotion and snide personal attacks on Bell from his half-dozen supporters on BOR -- including two of his campaign operatives -- I believed that the Gammage for Governor effort was serious, significant and a viable contender for the nomination.

It wasn't.

-- Secondly, that Henry Cuellar is going back to Congress without a runoff -- in the wake of glitches in the voting machines in his native Webb County -- is more than enough to make the conspiracy theorists salivate.

-- But the most shocking example of simple voter ignorance is that Barbara Radnofsky is in a runoff with Gene Kelly. Here's how Katie O'Harra, one of her associates at V&E, put it:

SHAME on Texas Democrats for allowing Gene Kelly-- who is a perennial joke on Texas politics -- to challenge Barbara Radnofsky in a runoff for U.S. Senate. Texas Democrats MUST get the word out regarding the importance of the upcoming runoff election on Tuesday April 11, 2006: a strong, viable candidate needs a decisive victory over a clown.

Barbara Radnofsky is a strong contender for the Senate seat currently occupied by Kay Bailey Hutchison. Barbara is campaigning throughout Texas with her well-considered positions on immigration, the Iraq war, veterans' affairs, health care, and other vital issues facing Texans and the nation as a whole. Barbara Radnofsky deserves your vote-- and she needs your efforts.

I personally have had the honor of working with Ms. Radnofsky for the last 20 years at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins. Barbara is earnest, hard-working, articulate, ethical and SMART. As a candidate, she would attract contributions, Independent and cross-over Republican votes, and dedicated volunteers. As our U.S. Senator, I know that she would make all Texans proud of her leadership.

By contrast, runoff opponent Gene Kelly is an octogenarian who has made four pathetically ineffective runs for U.S. Senate. This man doesn't campaign. Instead, his political "successes" rely entirely on "name recognition". Not recognition of his OWN prior successes, mind you, but the successes of Gene Kelly of "Singin' in the Rain" fame!

Sadly, as this runoff proves, Mr. Kelly DOES get political traction with his name. That is really the only possible explanation for his most recent election results. As reported February 17, 2006 in the Houston Chronicle: Gene Kelly refuses to spend ANY money on his race -- not his own money or anyone else's money. Kelly told the Chronicle in a rarely granted interview: "if somebody sends me a dollar I send it back."

Kelly also "shuns invitations to appear at candidate forums and bypasses opportunities to lay out his campaign ideas." Unbelievably, Mr. Kelly rejected a suggestion by the Chronicle that, as a candidate, he may have a responsibility to partake in a dialogue with voters.

So here's the bottom line: Do Texas Democrats want a joke candidate or a REAL candidate for U.S. Senate? Get your friends, family, neighbors, political clubs, and everyone else to the polls on April 11, 2006 to vote in the runoff. And visit Barbara Radnofsky's website and consider making a contribution and/or help in the campaign.

I'll be posting weekly about Radnofsky, her positions on the issues, and generally promoting her candidacy right up to April 11, in the expectation that Democrats can choose wisely.

Update: A message from the BAR campaign:


A reclusive candidate who doesn't talk to the media and avoids voters, Kelly has massive name recognition after ten failed attempts in fourteen years and runs solely off his name similarity with deceased Hollywood dancer Gene Kelly, whose moniker pulls up 19 million hits on Google.

Barbara decisively beat Kelly in the primary despite the fact that he was the party nominee against Hutchison in 2000. Running as a first-time candidate without primary polling, without direct mail, and without paid media, Barbara still took first place by a clear margin against a hunter in Texas and a deceased Hollywood icon.

She has carefully managed money, staff, and a statewide grassroots volunteer effort, and is well positioned to use her resources to win the runoff -- with your help.

Karl Rove, of course, would love to clone Eugene Kelly. He has run numerous races against Democrats and his name recognition is high enough to cause multiple runoffs and to even win the Senate nomination in 2000.

Once he makes the final cut, however, Kelly keeps playing dead -- to the glory and glee of the people he supposedly runs against. Against Republicans, he does no campaigning, avoids the media and Democratic events, and gives up without so much as a whimper. In his 2000 race against Hutchison he made no appearances, received no endorsements and only granted one interview. "I'm not doing anything different, to be honest with you," Kelly said in the runup to this year's primary, indicating that he plans to keep losing even as he tries to keep others from making a positive difference.

Texas Democrats need a fighter to take our state back and to keep fakers like Kelly from ruining our party. Barbara Ann Radnofsky has made 328 campaign appearances and received the endorsement of every major newspaper in Texas. And Kelly? Commentators describe him as a clown, a perennial joke, and an embarrassment to the party.

Barbara Ann fights for veterans' rights, for education, for better healthcare, and for Texans.

The dancer is dead, folks ... please don't let him kill the Party.

Musings on the election returns

Governor Chris Bell, by a whopping margin. My happiest result.

A runoff for Barbara Radnofsky (go here for her webcast; I'm on it) and Gene Kelly, Ben Grant and Maria Luisa Alvarado in the Lieutenant Governor's contest, and Borris Miles and Al Edwards in SH-146 (still very close at 12:45 p.m., but I'm going to bed and hoping tomorrow sets off another thirty-day campaign season).

I attended the victory parties for Bell and Radnofsky and Miles this evening, and the mood was festive, excited, and determined for the battles ahead.

I conducted a successful precinct convention prior to the fun, enlisting four delegates to accompany me to the Senate District convention in three weeks.

I'm exhausted and elated at the same time.

Hammer to spend election night with lobbyists, Fastow prepares to stick it to his bosses

Too perfect for comment:

Rep. Tom DeLay, whose association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff has left him politically vulnerable, is spending Texas' primary night Tuesday at a fundraiser hosted by two Washington lobbyists. ...

The fundraiser is being held by lobbyists Bill Paxon and Susan Molinari, both former members of Congress from New York. The event will raise money for DeLay's re-election campaign. ...

Paxon, now a lobbyist with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and his wife, Molinari, are friends of DeLay. Molinari is chairwoman and CEO of The Washington Group, a Ketchum company.

DeLay's toughest primary challenger, attorney Tom Campbell, criticized the congressman's election night plans:

"I think it's amazingly ironic and callous he would be spending election night with a group of lobbyists," Campbell said. "I don't think he understands how unhappy constituents are with what appears to be a trade of principle for power."

My prediction is that DeLay will win tomorrow without a runoff. And lose in November.

In other local felony indictee news, Jeff Fastow is all set to testify against his former bosses:

As the next witness — expected to take the stand by Tuesday — he will have his chance to redraw the portrait that Lay and Skilling have painted of him as a rogue employee, substituting the image of one made the scapegoat for a broader conspiracy.

"I've got to think he's going to defend himself and be combative and angry," said Kent Schaffer, a Houston attorney who has followed the case. "I don't think it will be particularly effective, but he will be one of the most interesting witnesses."

Keep an eye on the Chron's coverage of the Enron trial. It's the best out there.

It's hard out here for a Chimp

Well it's hard out here for a Chimp
There's a whole lotta Bushes gettin' bent.
While there's not a lot of money bein' spent
To help no hurricane survivors pay the rent.

Well it's hard out here for a Chimp
gotta make a livin' on the money Poppy sent.
When yo poll numbers start to take a dip
There's a lot of politicians jumpin' ship.

Now it's hard out here for a Chimp
When yo foreign allies think you look like Shemp.
And yo high-priced (women) don't get 'em sent
In they' Manolos to Nola, so you went.

Now it's hard out here for a Chimp
When yo clockers think dat they da prez-i-dent.
What I give to play ball wit' Jack Kemp
'Steada killah Cheney on a huntin' trip.

Well it's hard out here for a Chimp

So if you missed it...

...you can go here and read all about it.

Armed vice president to guard nation's ports

I'm in San Antonio and Austin through the weekend working on the campaign, so here's your news courtesy of Andy Borowitz:

Attempting to defuse the controversy over the decision to place the operation of several key American ports in the hands of a company based in Dubai, Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he would personally patrol those ports with a 28-gauge shotgun.

Calling himself “armed and dangerous,” the vice president used a White House press briefing to put potential evildoers at the nation’s ports on notice.

“If anyone tries any funny business at one of our nation’s ports, they’re going to have to answer to this!” he declared, brandishing his shotgun for the benefit of reporters.

Moments after Mr. Cheney pulled out the firearm, however, the room cleared as reporters ran for their lives. “I have never been more terrified in my life than when Dick Cheney whipped out that gun,” said NBC White House correspondent David Gregory. “I was sure I was a goner.”

In his remarks to the press, the vice president said that he would be “vigilant and on alert” for any suspicious activities at the nation’s ports: “I’ll have one beer at lunch, but that’s it.”

While Mr. Cheney’s offer to patrol the nation’s ports seemed designed to silence critics of thecontroversial port deal, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said he was “not satisfied” that a shotgun-wielding vice president could provide adequate security.

“Knowing Dick Cheney, if he takes aim at a terrorist, he’ll wind up hitting a bird,” Sen. Biden said.

That had to be Feingold, not Biden. Biden isn't that quick or (rapier-like with his wit).

MetroRail anagrams, FOX screenshots, and conservative idiots

Ethan has the Houston light rail train station names in anagram here. Boing Boing has dozens more cities treated similarly.

These FOX screenshots capture the majesty of their propaganda. The real outrage is that this is the most watched cable television "news" in the United States; 2-to-1 over CNN.

And the Top Ten Conservative Idiots once more features the President of the United States with this lede:

It's hard to believe that just one week after the vice president of the United States shot a man in the face, an even bigger story would come along. But here it is: last week the Bush administration approved the sale of the operations of twenty-one major American ports to Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates.

He's number one. He's number one...

Curt Gowdy, Don Knotts, and Darren McGavin

They say they come in threes; these television icons -- to me -- all passed away this past week.

I remember Curt Gowdy from the Game of the Week broadcasts in the '60s. This was the only baseball you could find to watch at the time. About the same time I was becoming a Astros fan and listening to Gene Elston (congratulations to him on receiving the Ford Frick award this week) and Loel Passe ("breezed 'im one mo' time") on the radio, I was watching Gowdy and Tony Kubek on the tube. He also did the World Series as well as some of the first Super Bowl telecasts. The ones I clearly recall were III -- which was the seminal moment for Joe Willie Namath and the AFL -- and V, which was the first one the Dallas Cowboys played in (they lost, on a last-second field goal to the Colts, which nearly made me kick in the screen). Gowdy was just as famous for being a Red Sox broadcaster and for The American Sportsman, but to me he'll always be baseball on Saturday afternoons.

Speaking of firsts, the first thing my family ever saw on our new console color television was Don Knotts and "The Incredible Mr. Limpet". I believe it must have been 1965, since the movie premiered in '64.

And if you watch the Sci-Fi Channel you can still catch episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which made McGavin famous to me long before A Christmas Story, the "major award", and "you'll shoot your eye out". Those old Night Stalkers look awfully cheesy now, but at the time I was just short of terrified once a week by them.

RIP to three good men.

Moneyshot Quotes: Conservatives ready to cut and run from Iraq, port storm rages, and Jeff Bagwell arrives in Florida

Rush Limbaugh says we can't win (.mp3), Bill O'Reilly says we need to "hand everything over to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible", and Wiiliam F. Buckley says we must "acknowledge defeat".

This is what Howard Dean was saying months ago, wasn't it? Yet he was vilified.

The Port Storm isn't subsiding. Bush digs in his heels, and the Republicans prepare to throw him, and the deal with Dubai, over the side. Since we're assembling Moneyshot Quotes, here's two more:

Thomas Kean, head of the 9/11 Commission:

"It shouldn't have happened, it never should have happened," Kean said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The quicker the Bush administration can get out of the deal, the better, he said. "There's no question that two of the 9/11 hijackers came from there and money was laundered through there," Kean said.

President Bush, making sense for once:

"This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America."

And finally, unrelated to any of the preceding, Jeff Bagwell had this to say about his disagreement with Astros management over whether he can still play:

"I understand the business side of baseball. If I cannot play baseball this year, and I am physically unable to play with the Houston Astros, trust me, I want them to collect as much insurance as possible. I'll write the letter. That's not an issue for me. But I just want the chance to see if I can play."

My one editorial comment for the day: Bagwell is the best player the Houston Astros have ever had, and I sincerely hope Drayton McLane won't piss in his brain again.

Meet fifty Texas Democratic candidates at once

The Harris County Democratic Party and more than 20 social clubs are joining together for a Primary Kickoff and Roundup Rally in Houston on Saturday, February 25. The event will showcase the party's candidates just before the primary elections.

Among the speakers will be Chris Bell, Bob Gammage, Barbara Radnofsky, and David Van Os, and there will be over fifty other candidates for federal, state, and county offices in attendance. You'll have the opportunity to meet them all.

It's at Drexler's Barbecue in downtown Houston from 5-8 pm and is sponsored by the following:

* 1960 Democrats
* I-10 East Democrats
* Area 5 Democrats
* Battleground Democrats
* Bay Area New Democrats (BAND)
* Bellaire Democrats
* Braeswood Democrats
* Democracy for Houston
* Fort Bend Area Democrats
* Greater Heights Democratic Club
* Harris County Democrats
* Harris County Democratic Party
* Harris County Young Democrats
* Katy Area New Democratic Organization (KANDO)
* Kingwood Democrats
* Meyerland Democrats
* Northwest Crossing Area Democrats
* Oil Patch Democrats
* River Oaks Area Democratic Women
* San Jacinto Democratic Veterans Brigade
* Sharpstown Democrats
* Texas Progressive Populist Caucus
* West Houston Democratic Club
* West University Area Democratic Club

The cost is $5.00 and recommendations are highly recommended. RSVP to kellen dot wilson at sbcglobal dot net .

Skilling and Lay get thrown under the bus again

This week it was the former managing director of investor relations and corporate secretary:

The spotlight was largely on former Enron Chairman Ken Lay today as a former company executive accused him of repeatedly misrepresenting the company's financial health to investors, analysts and even employees.

Paula Rieker ... told jurors that in one case she even corrected Lay and he still continued to misrepresent the truth about Enron's retail business. ...

"I told Mr. Lay a significant amount of the earnings came from the sale of stock by Enron Energy Services and not from core activities," Rieker said, meaning it was one-time revenue that did not indicate EES was strong. She said Lay did not change his pitch. ...

She said she was "very bothered" by the company decision to continue to make EES look like a growth story in 2001 by shifting its losses to the more profitable trading division. She said when she complained, her boss (Mark) Koenig (who has previously testified for the prosecution) said "'You may not agree with it, but your job is to deliver the company message.'"

Rieker said she saw Lay mislead analysts by pretending not to know the name of the financial deal called Raptor that was unwound at a $1 billion hit to shareholders equity. She said Lay also misled analysts about why the company stopped charting the future contract value of the retail division.

...

One of the most dramatic moments of the day may have been one of the least significant legally.

Lay isn't charged with insider trading or with stealing from the company as it went into its death spiral. But prosecutor (John) Hueston showed a timeline including troubles at Enron in October and November 2001 that contrasted the company's ills with Lay's drawing millions out in cash.

While the timeline focused on things like the pension plan closing to employees who wanted to move stock, the cancellation of the holiday party, the failure of the Dynegy merger, it also showed Lay withdrawing $1 million here or $2.5 million there in cash from a revolving loan account with the company approved by the board in better times.

Lay withdrew $1 million the day the Dynegy deal died, which was the last hope of keeping Enron out of bankruptcy court. Lay's lawyer Bruce Collins asked Rieker on cross-examination if that amount wasn't just a drop in the bucket when hundreds of millions of dollars were being called in by Enron creditors at the same time but she said "No sir."

Rieker recalled for jurors how in February 2002 the board of directors was presented with a report that included Lay's stock sales for 2001, the year the company came apart.

"I learned that Mr. Lay had been selling stock back to the company in return for cash in excess of $70 million," she said. When Hueston asked about how the board of directors reacted, Lay's lawyer objected several times.

"They were outraged," Rieker finally answered.

Asked if she could recall what any specific board member reaction, Rieker said, "John Duncan exclaimed that 'Mr. Lay was using Enron as a damn ATM machine.'" By the time Rieker repeated that, because of an objection in mid-sentence, it appeared every juror was taking notes.

Rieker also bolstered some of the testimony given by Koenig about Skilling's involvement in altering earnings reports before they were made public.

She said she understood that in January 2000 and again July 2000 that Skilling ordered that earnings per share be increased. In January, she said it was done virtually overnight when they realized analysts were estimating earnings at 31 cents, rather than the 30 cents Enron almost reported.

In July 2000, she said, her boss told her Skilling ordered the earnings be raised a couple cents over the 32 cents they had planned. She said analysts and investors were told it was strong underlying performance that caused the hike to 34 cents.

The truth, she said, "would have really hurt the credibility of Enron and it would have hurt the stock price."

I took a bit more than the usual liberty with that excerpt because it reflects so clearly the simply bottomless hubris of Kenny and Jeffrey. Besides the usual "what made these men think they could get away with this" has to be "what did they think their former underlings were going to say once they had made a plea deal with the Feds"?

It's really too bad they can't get life in prison, isn't it ?

(I'm not a death penalty advocate.)

What it will be like ordering a pizza in 2010

Click here and turn your speakers up (it's work-safe).

Primary Endorsements

Vince Leibowitz and Charles Kuffner and Greg Wythe and Eddie Rodriguez have posted theirs; mine follow (in the contested races) :

US Senate -- Barbara Ann Radnofsky

Governor -- Chris Bell

Lt. Governor -- Ben Z Grant

Agriculture Commissioner -- Hank Gilbert

US Congress, 1st -- no preference

US Congress, 7th -- Jim Henley and David Murff both earn my endorsement. The constituents of the Seventh Congressional District would be well served by either man.

US Congress, 10th -- Ted Ankrum

US Congress, 28th -- Ciro Rodriguez

Texas House, District 140 -- no preference

Texas House, District 146: Borris Miles

Texas House, District 147 -- Garnet Coleman

And it's not a contested primary, but you all ought to know who I support for Texas Attorney General by now. I'll add links to other blogland endorsements as I find them, and if anyone wants me to explain my picks, ask me in the comments.

Update: Stace Medellin adds his dos centavos. Nate chimes in. LFT and Cincinnatus have some pointed remarks on the governor's race, from opposite perspectives.

Update: I really should revise my "no preference' in CD-01 to recommend whom you should not vote for, and that is Roger Owen. He is apparently an unmitigated homophobe and more than a little flaky, and isn't worthy of support.

Update (2/22): Abram gets up on his soapbox. Fred injects the truth serum. Just Another Matt gives us his.

Pot Luck (contains no gamebird)

I'm going to mosh a few random unconnected items together into a sheperd's-pie of a post:

-- NBA All-Star-weekend in Houston concludes with the basketball game this evening, and the bacchanalia got so out of control around the Galleria yesterday that HPD closed several exits on the 610 Loop and likewise blocked cars from entering at-capacity parking garages until the revelers unclotted.

"The revelers" is probably an understatement. This was entourages in fleets of stretch limos gridlocking intersections at every single restaurant, club, luxury high-rise condo and entrance to Neiman Marcus.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, and lasting deep into the evening.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the two Houston Chronicle reporters on this story -- fresh off the debutante beat -- also implicate marauding President's Day shoppers in the traffic jam.)

-- Mardi Gras is a bit of a letdown this year, both in N'Awlins and in Galveston (there because of the Crescent City's downsizing, here because of unusually cold weather for February).

-- Dick Cheney's gunshot victim, upon release from the Corpus Christi hospital where he spent the past week, apologized for all the trouble he's caused the Vice President. The birdshot pellets lodged in Harry Whittington's heart and liver, each through their representatives, also issued statements of regret for the incident.

In other news, asbestosis victims offered Halliburton a heartfelt mea culpa for breathing on the job.

-- Early voting in Texas begins tomorrow and continues (almost) all the way to March 7. A spirited Democratic primary up and down ballot features several contested races, the most focus being on the two candidates for Governor, Chris Bell and Bob Gammage. Latest poll numbers here. If there happens to be a runoff -- incumbent Republican Rick MoFo'n Goodhair has a handful of erstwhile challengers, including this kook from his right (go look; he's got a picture of a bloody baby on the home page) -- then the Kinkster and Grandma (pronounced 'Gran-Maw') have to wait another thirty days before collecting signatures.

Regarding the Dems, the Chronic snorts itself awake for a moment, then rolls over and snores loudly.

-- Cindy Sheehan will have a tea party for Barbara Bush -- the GranMaw, not the hottie -- here in Houston tomorrow also.

Update (2/21): More on the Galleria shopping orgy here. Untold by the Chronic in any report were the rumors of shopping mall security squaring off on limosine drivers refusing to move, steadfastly unwilling to inconvenience their VIPs. Police had to intervene (allegedly). And Lyn has pictures of Cindty Sheehan in Babs Bush's backyard yesterday.

On replacing Cheney with Condi

I've been thinking this same thing for quite awhile now, and Burt Levine beat me to the pixels with it (FWIW, Burt is a local Republican who has the ability to find common ground with Democrats. This came in an e-mail and I may be able to add a link to the entire piece in an update) :

I suspect what they're thinking and not saying is, If Dick Cheney weren't vice president, who'd be a good vice president? They're thinking, At some time down the road we may wind up thinking about a new plan. And one night over drinks at a barbecue in McLean one top guy will turn to another top guy and say, "Under the never permeable and never porous Dome of Silence, tell me . . . wouldn't you like to replace Cheney?" Why would they be thinking about this? It's not the shooting incident itself, it's that Dick Cheney has been the administration's hate magnet for five years now. Halliburton, energy meetings, Libby, Plamegate.

...

Cheney has always said he has no aim to run. Bush may feel in time that he has reason to want to put in a new vice president in order to pick a successor who'll presumably have an edge in the primaries--he's the sitting vice president, and Republicans still respect primogeniture. They will tend to make the common-sense assumption that a man or woman who's been vice president for, say, a year and a half, is a man or woman who already knows the top job. Every president since 1960 has been a governor or vice president. Currently the Republican Governor of California is ineliigible because he is not a born American, the Republican Governor of Texas would be two Texans in a row and the Republican Governor of Florida is too liberal to win the nomination from the southern conservatives that choose the nominee and the Republican Governor of Florida would be two Bushes in a row and America is a republic, not a royalty run nation.

Anyway, the new man or woman will get a honeymoon, which means he won't be fully hated by the time the 2008 primaries begin.

This new vice president would, however, have to be very popular in the party, or the party wouldn't buy it. Replacing Cheney would be chancy. The new veep would have to get through the Senate, which has at this point at least three likely contenders for the nomination, at least two of whom who would not, presumably, be amused. The current secretary of state has succeeded through two senate confirmations already.

People wouldn't like it . . . unless they liked it. How could they be persuaded to like it?

It would have to be a man or woman wildly popular in the party and the press. And it would have to be a decision made by Dick Cheney. If he didn't want to do it he wouldn't have to. If he were pressed--Dick, we gotta pull your plug or we're going to lose in '08 and see all our efforts undone--he might make the decision himself. He'd have to step down on his own. He's just been through a trauma, and he can't be liking his job as much now as he did three years ago. No one on the downside of a second term does, hate magnet or not.

I've thought for what seems like a long time that Dick would have another heart attack -- rather than give them to his friends -- and fade to black (figuratively speaking), paving the way for The Chosen One, 2008. John McCain has been sucking up to Bush since 2004 and badly wants the Pope's blessing, but he won't get it for two reasons: One, the fundies can't abide him, and two, the governor of Arizona is a Democrat.

So my hunch is that if Condi moves up, you could see an independent McCain run for the White House in 2008 -- a scenario not altogether dissimilar from our gubernatorial contest here in Deep-In-The-Hearta this year.

No hunches from here yet on our 2008 candidate, the above scenario notwithstanding.

Update: Burt e-mails me to say that he got the idea from this RCP posting, which was inspired by the indomitable Peggy Noonan and also Tony Blankley. Burt, you gotta start hangin' out with a better crowd. And congratulations on your new gig with Councilman MJ Khan (the city of Houston's first Muslim-American council member now has a Jewish staffer. How about that.)

Six Degrees of Dick and Whit (includes LBJ and both Bushes)

NoItAll, at ITPT:

Katharine Armstrong was appointed to the TPW Board by George Bush, who appointed Dick Cheney to find him a Vice President. Katharine told Dick to go appoint himself. Bush said okay, since she owns the second or third largest private ranch in the U.S. – a ranch particulary owned by her distant cousin Rep. Kleberg, served ably by young staffer Lyndon B. Johnson, until the young LBJ got cozy with the Brown Brothers, who formed the precursor to Halliburton, which Dick Cheney ran for a while, until he appointed himself Vice President.

Today’s Austin American-Statesman quotes UT Board of Regents Chairman James Huffines, who was the Appointments Secretary during the second (Bill) Clements Administration. Who was Appointments Secretary in the first Clements Administration: Katharine’s dad Tobin Armstrong, who was married to former Ambassador to Great Britian Anne Armstrong, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, who chose President Bush’s dad (also named George Bush) to be his Vice President.

Yet the Bush, Brown, Armstrong, and Johnson families seem to have no relation to Kevin Bacon. Unless you believe White House Press Secretary Scott McClennan’s dad’s book published last year that LBJ killed JFK – while officing in the building owned by Harry Whittington.

Cheney got a gun.

Whole world's come undone.

(Thanks to johntarheel76 in the comments at BOR for the Aerosmith riff.)

The primary wars are heating up also. Tim McCann with Chris Bell's campaign has responded to the near-constant online assault on their guy with this post on his blog. David Murff grew tired of taking potshots from Jim Henley and released this, which instantly drew more fire from Henley supporters.

Twenty-two days to Election Day, and everyone ought to buckle their chinstraps.

Update: Rico Politico went ahead and did the whole song.

The Grammys last week were great

In fact, I had something less than halfway written and then I read Bartcop's take and decided I'd crib it:

Madonna opened the show and she never disappoints. She was all legs and she looked like a teenager up there.

U2 was next with Vertigo, and they always deliver.

Mary J. Blige came out and sang One, and this time, unlike New Orleans, she was free to bust loose and give us her version of the song. Nice.

Kelly Clarkson, and then Ellen introduced Paul McCartney with "This man doesn't need an introduction..." and walked off. Paul did some boring new song, then a blistering Helter Skelter, reminding us that he didn't stab anybody.

Mariah was next, and she was the first big highlight. She sang with more grit and emotion that I've seen from her before, and at the end she went up and hit those notes in that dogs-only area. Damn, can anybody else in the building do that? I don't think so...

Keith Urban and Faith Hill had to follow that -- too bad.

Worse yet was the tribute to Sly Stone. Too many people onstage, not enough hours of rehearsal -- it was a mess. Eventually Sly came out with his white mohawk, which was stunning, but either Sly doesn't sing anymore or they had a world of microphone problems.

I was hoping for a Thankyou Falettinme Be Mice elf, but no. Sly mumbled a few lines then waved goodbye to the crowd and left. The band looked at each other with an "I don't know" look on their faces.

Springsteen did Devils & Dust, like he'd made his own deal at the Crossroads. I kept hearing Dylan -- that's a compliment, Bruce. He closed with a terse "Bring 'em home," which left the censors unprepared to cut his message of peace.

Then Kanye reminded the crowd why the word "show" is in "show business." Golddigger was Shirley the most infectious song of this past year...

Herbie and Christina did Leon, and I said to Mrs. Bart, "Christina has more torch, but Mariah more range than Montana."

Winding down, they seemed to have a Richard Pryor tribute ready to roll, but maybe they were late because they just blew right past Richard. Seems like everybody forgot Richard. SNL could hardly be bothered, Dave was too busy, Leno did 30 seconds, but I guess Richard died when people were busy with other things -- that's sad.

Then they closed with the massive jam to New Orleans and Wilson Pickett.

Still, I thought it was a night of highlights. I was surprised. So often these shows can totally suck.

I thought Christina Aguilera and Herbie Hancock were a little better than Bart thinks, but other than that he's on the money. After Paul said, "This is my first Grammy performance, and I'd like to rock a little," and they lit into Helter Skelter, I was blown. All I could think of was that the song -- together with some '60's-strength LSD -- made Charlie Manson kill people, and how that old man McCartney could still go.

And the whole Sly and the Family Stone thing was just odd.

But I've made sure to catch the Grammys for the last several years because there's always some surprises and it usually knocks your socks off. This year was no exception.

Warning: not to be taken literally

On January 31, 2006, President Bush gave his State of the Union address, and among the issues he mentioned were America's "addiction" to oil. On February 1, 2006 -- less than 24 hours later -- two administration officials, the energy secretary and the national security advisor told us this was not to be taken literally, that these words were only meant to be spoken in terms which the American People could understand. Bush didn't really mean we had to break our oil addiction. It was just an "example", they said, but what they meant was that it was a metaphor, which Merriam Webster defines as 'an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something <"it's raining cats and dogs" is just a colorful metaphor and not a meteorological announcement> -- see CONCEIT '. So apparently it was only a figure of speech; something between truth and untruth.

This past week Bush spoke in Los Angeles -- presumably to defend his domestic spying program -- and in it he disclosed for the first time a 2002 plot to fly a plane into a building in L.A. Indeed, the president went into more detail than has ever been usual regarding threats to The Homeland, and even told how the plot was thwarted. Almost immediately, the mayor of Los Angeles responded by saying he had never heard about the plot before. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also said he had requested meetings with Bush in the past to discuss homeland security issues and as yet there have been no meetings. However, former administration officials said that there was no direct threat to Los Angeles -- not in 2002, and not at the present time. So was this just another example of something the President said that shouldn't be considered seriously?

We seem to be entering a new realm of administration prevarication. Previously when Bush has been questioned on the "truthfulness" of his statements, his lackeys have been quick to cover it up by saying "the President misspoke". Now the spin is "it wasn't meant to be taken literally." Just an example, random musings, presidential ramblings spoken off the cuff ...

Could this mean when Bush said Iraq had WMDs -- Rumsfeld even said he knew exactly where they were; "around Tikrit" -- that he didn't mean it literally? Was that actually just a postulate, a hypothetical scenario?

How about his statements regarding "not knowing Ken Lay or Jack Abramoff"? Did he really mean that when he said it? Or was it another statement we shouldn't take seriously?

We've been told since the 2000 campaign that Bush is a straight shooter. Over and over again, press secretary Scot McClellan has said, "The President meant it when he said ..." Is 'straight-shooter' a figure of speech? A metaphor?

Perhaps the Traditional Media should consider running a disclaimer when broadcasting a Bush speech, as a crawl beneath his picture: Warning: Not to be taken literally. Or perhaps the corporate press corps could simply ask Bush or designated spokespeople a permanent followup to every other question they ask: "Can we take that literally? Or is it just a metaphor, a figure of speech, a hypothetical scenario, random musings ... ? "

A disturbing hypothetical scenario to consider: when Bush took the oath of office and swore to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States, did he mean it metaphorically?

Was that not to have been taken literally?

Greg Abbott takes on an invisible issue

Ed Ishmael takes him down:

Like most Republican leaders these days, Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott seems scared. He sees the writing on the wall in large urban counties and knows there is little he or any Republican can do to keep those counties from turning Blue. What with Republican corruption, a do-nothing Governor and a Republican- controlled legislature that cannot even fund our schools, the only thing the Republicans have left may well be the one thing Abbott is advocating: voter suppression.

In his recent opinion piece Voter Fraud Must Stop, Abbott takes a well-worn page from the Republican’s playbook and twists himself in knots setting up a straw man -- voter fraud -- which he then attacks. He claims we have an epidemic on our hands but predictably offers no evidence supporting his wild assertion. His attempt would be laughable if it did not involve the denial of voting rights to hard-working concerned Texans and if it wasn’t costing you and me $1.5 million dollars.

If you were surprised by Mr. Abbott’s epidemic alarm, you’re not alone. Even noted experts on Texas politics in general, and on Texas voting in particular, have no idea what he’s talking about. You see, you haven’t heard about this so-called epidemic before because it does not exist.

If you want to understand the smoke and mirrors trick Abbott is performing you must look no further than his own words. He starts his presentation by listing instances he claims prove voter fraud in Texas.

And what is the first example he references? One from 1948. That alone should tell you how weak his coming argument will be.

Go read the whole thing, and then read Phillip Martin's post at Burnt Orange Report, which is quickly becoming the go-to blog on Texas politics. Commenter Sonia cogently explains there why this is garden variety, poll-tax-style voter suppression and intimidation.

I'm guessing we'll be talking about it some at the Tejano Democrats' convention this weekend.

Tejano Dems, Bell/Gamage face off, and the Band of Brothers in DC

The Tejano Democrats are here in Houston to screen and endorse candidates. There are several events open to the public, and lots of candidates for you to see, hear, and meet.

Bob Gammage and Chris Bell debated on a live television feed this afternoon, carried by WFAA in Dallas. BOR live-blogged it.

The Band of Brothers gathering in Washington yesterday was nothing short of awesome.

More on all this later.

Kay Bailey caves in to BAR and the vets

See? It works.

"The people, united, can never be defeated":

After U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky's nearly two years of advocacy for a VA hospital south of San Antonio, Kay Bailey Hutchison asked the Veterans Administration yesterday to consider turning a former regional hospital into a VA hospital for South Texas veterans.

In her June 27, 2005 press release Radnofsky formally called for a veterans' hospital south of San Antonio as soon as Hutchison entered the race, and she repeated that call in over 300 campaign stops, rallies, meetings and press conferences throughout Texas, as well as in media advisories and position papers including her most recent press release on February 2, 2006.

Succumbing to Radnofsky's advocacy, the activities of local veterans, South Texas legislators, and a resurgent Democratic Party, and feeling the pressure of declining support among Hispanics (56%, Nov. 2005 to 46% in Jan.2006) in the most recent Zogby Battleground States poll, Hutchison moved to limit the damage by finally moving ahead with a much-needed hospital.

"Hutchison, as Veterans Affairs Subcommittee chairwoman on the appropriations committee, has failed to fill the gap in projected VA budget shortfalls and has deserted our veterans," says Radnofsky. "Her resistance to a hospital south of San Antonio until forced by my campaign, and her repeated votes against increased veterans’ funding, demonstrate that our veterans need a real advocate in Washington, not a rubber stamp for the administration."

According to Radnofsky, "Sen. Hutchison, after following my lead on a VA hospital for South Texas veterans, now needs to follow my recommendations on guaranteed funding for the VA, protection of veterans and service personnel from unscrupulous lending practices and discrimination in bankruptcy proceedings, insurance reform, and federal research authorization for pharmacy and medical schools in South Texas and El Paso."