Texas GOP lines up, pays big for more Rove lies

Longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove decried Democrats in general and Hillary Clinton in particular as big spenders and said President Bush's spirits are high at an Associated Republicans of Texas fundraising dinner Thursday.

When The Architect of a misadventure in Iraq deep into the trillions of dollars with still no end in sight calls anyone a "big spender", maybe it's time for the attendees to put on the waders. They put on their kneepads instead:

Among those attending were Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Comptroller Susan Combs, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones.

"Every time ... I see Karl, I bow just a little bit and call him 'his excellency,' " said Dewhurst.

Shame we don't live in a monarchy. Oh wait ...

"Karl was neither the man behind the curtain in as many things as he got credit for, nor is he to blame for all the things in the last couple of years he's been blamed for. He's a hard-working, smart political strategist. I would imagine he's so busy rewriting history these days that he may not have time to make any history with new candidates."

-- Democratic consultant Kelly Fero, getting it right for once

2007 Texan of the Year: Silver Stars

Since 2005, the Texas Progressive Alliance has named a "Texan of the Year" to give recognition to a worthy Texan who has made a significant contribution to the world of politics or the progressive cause.

For our third annual TOY Award, the TPA elected to not only fete one Texan -- the one who contributed the most to the progressive movement in 2007 -- but also recognize others whose contributions were important to the progressive cause and worthy of recognition.

The Texan of the Year will be announced on December 14. Between now and then, the Alliance will release its list of Texans who made contributions we believe also worthwhile. This begins today with the announcement of the TPA's Silver Stars (and next Monday, four additional "Gold Stars" will be named, followed by the TOY on Friday).

Without further ado, here are the 2007 Texas Progressive Alliance Silver Stars (in alphabetical order):

Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski. It has been said that persistence is as much a virtue as is patience. Inasmuch as that is so, it is also true that persistence pays off. In the case of Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski, persistence also saved thousands of Texas children from a certain hell at the Texas Youth Commission. Beginning in 2005, Burzynski investigated allegations of sexual misconduct in Texas' juvenile prison system. He was rebuffed by state authorities, local prosecutors, and even the United States Department of Justice. In spite of these roadblocks, Burzynski continued to press his case -- investigating, making noise, not letting go, and never taking 'no' for an answer. The end result? He broke open one of the largest criminal justice scandals in Texas history and brought forward a flood of legislative reforms. For this and more, the Texas Progressive Alliance is pleased to confer upon Ranger Brian Burzynski a 2007 Texas Progressive Alliance Silver Star.

Hank Gilbert. Though Gilbert's race for agriculture commissioner ended last November, he also persisted. During his 2006 campaign Gilbert promised Texans that -- win or lose -- he would continue to fight against toll roads, mandatory animal ID legislation, and international corporations that threatened the citizens of Texas. Gilbert organized a Texas Independence Day march on Austin. Working with farmers, ranchers, Democratic activists, and disillusioned landowners, he brought nearly 1,000 people to testify against the Trans-Texas Corridor at a session of the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security the day before the march. Thousands more Texans showed up the next day to join the public protest. Gilbert has been instrumental in forming a statewide umbrella organization of anti-toll road groups to continue the battle against toll-enabling legislation. As a director for Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, he continues to travel the state and nation speaking out against the takeover of taxpayer-funded infrastructure by private interests. For this and more, the Texas Progressive Alliance proudly names Hank Gilbert recipient of a 2007 Texas Progressive Alliance Silver Star.

Congressman Ciro Rodriguez. In 2006, Rodriguez was the "comeback kid" of Texas politics, winning a seat in Congress after a runoff about the time the Texan of the Year for 2006 was announced. This year, Rodriguez took office as part of the first Democratic Congress in nearly a generation and has served his San Antonio-based district honorably. His race is considered one of national Republicans' top targets, although Rodriguez's constituent services and his support from Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi will no doubt help him retain the district.

Texas Bloggers who made a difference. For the first time Texas bloggers determined that some of their own were worthy of special recognition for their work during 2007: John Cobarruvias (Bay Area Houston Blog); Vince Leibowitz (Capitol Annex); Edmundo "Xicano Power" Rocha (XicanoPwr); and Sharon Wilson (TxSharon of BlueDaze). A note on each blogger:

John Cobarruvias almost single-handedly changed the way Texas legislators use and report their campaign/officeholder expenses. Because he held their feet to the fire with his "Spending Campaign Cash" series, organizing a group of volunteers to file complaints against offending legislators and urging media to report on spending abuses, legislators have cleaned up their acts. The Texas Ethics Commission has issued written reminders to legislators about the very problems with reporting expenses that Cobarruvias uncovered.

Vince Leibowitz. As the 80th Session of the Texas Legislature ended in turmoil -- with parliamentarians resigning, legislators walking out, and two stooges of Tom Craddick on the dais as officers of the Texas House, Leibowitz decided that the full story of those final days wasn't being told and started digging. Through public information requests, he uncovered a sheaf of documents from Craddick's office that helped piece together exactly what happened in those final hours. No mainstream media outlet did better reporting, and Leibowitz's work broke new ground and proved that Craddick's actions were the premeditated acts of a Speaker on the brink.

Edmundo Rocha. Blending heavy-handed social critiques, local and national politics, and a heaping dose of common sense in his blog, Rocha tackles heavy topics like immigration, teenage pregnancy, racial and gender politics and backs it up with a unique style and spirit. With a loyal and unwavering audience (his Texan of the Year nomination, in fact, was suggested in the comments of a blog by one of Edmundo's readers), Rocha has rapidly become one of the state's most prominent Latino bloggers. No issue is too tough and none taboo for this blogger.

Sharon Wilson. Most Texans don't know what the Texas Railroad Commission is or does. In 2007, one Texas blogger changed that. Wilson's reporting on the injection well drilling in the Barnett Shale region and its impact on the water quality and the environment in Wise County and surrounding areas has been invaluable in bringing wider attention to the dangers this practice poses across the state. Wilson has nearly single-handedly stood up to large oil companies and made the companies and state agencies -- including the Texas Railroad Commission -- take notice. Relentless in her drive to educate the public and elected officials to the damage being done to the Texas environment, Wilson's investigative reporting and blogging is worthy of greater recognition.

Texas Legislative Study Group. The policy clearinghouse for progressives, the Texas Legislative Study Group is full of unsung heroes. Helping legislators keep up with the more than 50 bills that come up each day in the Texas House, the TLSG and its policy analysts could be considered the most important behind-the-scenes players in the legislative process when it comes to safeguarding progressive principles. Legislators carry their reports around on the House floor like bibles. Their arguments against the appropriations bill, some versions of Jessica's Law, and the Castle Doctrine were masterful. Also worthy of recognition is that the brilliant minds behind the work of the TLSG aren't aged policy veterans, but rather among the best minds of more recent generations, "Generation X" in particular. The men and women who toil at the TLSG are indeed those who will shape Texas public policy for generations to come.

TexBlog PAC. Started by just a handful of Texas progressive bloggers, TexBlog PAC has harnessed the energy of the online community. In a state with one of the largest netroots communities in America -- and the most vibrant progressive blogosphere, TexBlog PAC is poised to build on victories bloggers helped happen in 2004 and 2006. Having already raised over $10,000 in its initial months, the PAC will play a key role for Democrats as they take back the House in 2008.

David Van Os. Following his defeat in the 2006 Attorney General's race, Van Os made good on his promise to "keep fighting 'em on the ice." From aiding groups like TURF in their battle against the private takeover of government infrastructure, to helping workers who were intimidated when nooses started showing up in their workplace (securing the removal of both the noose and the supervisor), Van Os never stopped fighting for working Texans. In addition, from musicians to probation officers to non-profit employees, Van Os has continued his life's work on behalf of the union laborers of Texas.

State representative Mike Villarreal. In 2003, many were ready to write Villarreal's political obituary. Fast forward to 2007, and Villarreal has become one of the progressive leaders in the Texas House. Authoring legislation that would have created contribution limits for political candidates and an independent redistricting commission, Villarreal took a lead with these progressive issues. In addition, Villarreal led on GLBT rights by authoring HB 900, which would have provided protections from discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression for the GLBT community. These efforts, coupled with the compromise he sought to proffer when Republicans tried to take over the House and suspend the constitutional provision concerning the consideration of legislation early in the session, make Villarreal worthy of recognition.

Join us in expressing your thanks and congratulations to the Silver Stars of the Texas Progressive Alliance.

Diane Trautman for Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector

As with being a Texas public school administrator, and as with her 2006 statehouse run in the blood-red suburb of Kingwood, Dr. Trautman likes big challenges:

“My race for Tax Assessor-Collector will be about one thing—improving Harris County government,” Trautman explains. “We can be more efficient. We can be more responsive. We can be more transparent in the way we collect county taxes. And we can have a voter registration system that is fair and inclusive to all the citizens of Harris County."

That last sentence is going to be the most important accomplishment we can make in 2008 locally.

Paul Bettancourt, the incumbent TA/C (the post also serves as voter registrar in each Texas county) is one of the most dangerous Republicans in America. Not the county, not the state. The nation. He runs a sophisticated voter caging operation which is the envy of all who survey it. And only Republicans are allowed to survey it, trust me. It is cloaked in partisan secrecy, so much so that even the Harris County Democratic Party chairman, a wise constitutional lawyer himself, is reticent to challenge it -- or Bettancourt himself, for that matter.

Fortunately I have been able to pull back the shroud a bit, and will promise again a more detailed posting about this in the very near future.

But this is a post to congratulate and welcome his very formidable challenger, so on with her announcement:

I am passionate about providing a quality education in all of our public schools, and I believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to play a role in educating our children–especially our political leaders. That is why, when our current Tax Assessor/Collector publicly campaigns against our schools in the recent school bond elections, I think he needs to be challenged. Instead of an incumbent who has spent the last decade using his county office as a partisan pulpit, we need someone who will focus on getting the job done for all the citizens of Harris County.

Additionally, I think that the public has had enough of recent ethics scandals in county offices, and that they are ready for some accountability and ethical leadership in county government, which will be a primary focus of my campaign. What is more, it is outrageous that Harris County, the third most populous county in the country, has one of the lowest voter registration rates. We must do better if we are to have a truly effective government and democracy. My campaign will be about modeling ethical and appropriate officeholder behavior, building a voter registration system that is fair, inclusive and works for all Harris County citizens, and running an efficient, transparent office for county taxpayers.

Bravo, Dr. Trautman. The battle is joined.

It's beginning to look a lot like the War on Christmas

If there's a "War on Christmas" anywhere but in the minds of conservatives like Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson, then Christmas appears to be winning. But if, as national intelligence estimates sometimes reveal -- up is down, war is peace, and the anti-Christmas forces actually are surging -- then the war in Iraq must be nothing short of total victory at this very moment.

Did you know that the John Birch Society fired the first shot in the War on Christmas in 1959? The enemies, then as now, were American department stores and the "Godless UN". And like their sworn foe Big Retail, the Religious Right doesn't even have the decency to wait until Thanksgiving to open the season -- in the conservatives' case, whining about what words people use to describe the December holidays.

For anyone who is genuinely offended because the newspaper ad from Target fails to include the word "Christmas" and the temporary clerk at Sears dares to say "Happy Holidays," I have some advice: this Christmas, ask Santa Claus to bring you a life.

Iran has no WMD program. That's why they must be bombed.

President Bush has stated that the national intelligence estimate indicating that Iran ceased its bid for nuclear viability in 2003 proves that we need to ratchet up more pressure on Iran.

That's right; because they stopped their weapons program, we must continue to threaten them with sanctions, leave "all options on the table", and so on.

After all, it's nothing but a vast left wing (and intelligence community) conspiracy that denies that World War III, instigated by a nuclear Iran, is imminent.

And naturally this dovetails precisely with the thinking of the saber-rattling, chest-beating, war mongering neoconservatives, Dick Cheney as usual leading the charge. Are you “formidable”, and do you have nuclear weapons? Then we don’t want to mess with you. But if you appear to be formidable and “evil”, but aren’t a threat -- real or imagined, to the US or your neighbors or anyone else -- then it is of the utmost importance to make sure that the weapons that aren’t being developed ... well, aren’t developed. Which is why the NIE confirms the reason why Iran must be attacked. ASAP.

Norman Podhoretz (he advises Rudy G) says so. John Bolton says so.

Update: Even though national security director Stephen Hadley and director of national intelligence Mike McConnell briefed senior administration officials on the NIE "beginning in July", Bush apparently knew nothing about it until Tuesday of this week (as he claimed in his press conference). Yet he mentioned it to Israeli prime minister Ehud Ohmert on Monday, November 26.

Why does anyone believe anything these people say any more? Even the locals, a rather Republican bunch, have stopped drinking the war Kool-Aid.

Larry Craig is still not gay

... no matter what those eight men claim, so stop saying that.

Dan Barrett for HD-97

From our press release: The Texas Progressive Alliance, a confederation of political blogs, bloggers, and online activists from across Texas, today announced its endorsement of Dan Barrett (D-Fort Worth) in the special election runoff in House District 97. "We believe that Dan Barrett will make an excellent addition to the growing numbers of Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives," said Vince Leibowitz, Chair of the Texas Progressive Alliance. "We are pleased to offer him our support," he continued. In early November, Barrett led a field of seven candidates vying for the seat vacated by retiring State Rep. Anna Mowery, a longtime ally of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick.

"I believe the voters in House District 97 are ready for a change and will realize that Dan Barrett will be no rubber-stamp for Tom Craddick's regime and policies," said Charles Kuffner of Houston, the vice chair of the Alliance. This is the second year for the Alliance, which is made up of more than 50 bloggers representing more than 30 of the state's most widely read progressive political blogs, to endorse candidates through its TexRoots program. The TexRoots program helps bring blog readers and online activists to specific candidates and races where their funds can make an immediate difference. The Alliance endorsed three candidates for its TexRoots 2006 rollout during the mid-term elections including State Rep. Juan Garcia (D-Corpus Christi).

Prot for President

Or is it Keyser Sose'?

















Or perhaps you would prefer Gomer Pyle?











It seems obvious that Kevin Spacey is a raging socialist just to be seen talking with Hugo Chavez, so if it comes down to him or Huckabee, I'm voting red (and that ain't Republican). Chuck Norris can kiss my ass.

Texas Education Agency scorns evolution (and terminates anyone who sends e-mail about it)

TXsharon has compiled the blog posts from across the Texblogosphere and beyond regarding the dismissal of TEA science director Chris Comer, and the backstory is there in any of the links. I'll quote Steven D at Booman Tribune for the summary outrage:

If merely forwarding an email about an upcoming speaker on the issue of evolution versus "intelligent design" theory gets you shitcanned in Texas, imagine what would have happened if poor Ms. Comer had had the audacity to suggest that she herself accepted the validity of the theory of evolution? Tarred and feathered, or burned at the stake for heresy? You tell me.

And it's no surprise a Bush appointee was the person behind this outrageous decision. As the Austin-American Statesman declared in its editorial about this case, firing someone for even mentioning that intelligent design and/or creationism have "critics" smacks of Soviet-era purges. Or of the Catholic Church in the 17th century suppressing Galileo's writings about the science that supported the "theory" that the earth orbited the sun. In short, it's absurd.

Yet that is what the most extreme Christian conservatives would have us become: A nation of ignoramuses, blind to any truth other than that "revealed" by scripture as (presumably) interpreted by our designated "Spiritual Leaders." That teachers were fired in the early 20th century for teaching evolution was understandable, if incredibly shortsighted, bigoted and stupid. That we are still having these debates at the beginning of the 21st century with all we have learned since the Scopes Monkey trial boggles my imagination.

Cynthia McKinney, Green for President

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who quit the Democratic Party and announced her candidacy for president as a Green last month, will make a campaign appearance in Houston this week.

She will speak at the Robert Terry Library on the Texas Southern University campus, 3100 Cleburne (at Ennis), on Tuesday December 4 at 7 p.m., discussing her quest for peace, politics in Washington and her campaign for the 2008 Green Party nomination. Questions or more information can be requested of Don Cook at 713-705-5594.

McKinney will also "freeway blog" with local activists at the Montrose overpass to US 59 at 4:30 p.m. prior to her appearance at TSU later in the evening.

McKinney first achieved renown (in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11) as one of the few Congresspersons who publicly objected to the selection by the SCOTUS of George W Bush as president in December 2000, and was one of 31 in the House who similarly objected to the allotment of Ohio's electoral votes in 2004 to the incumbent. She has also expressed strong reservations about the federal government's role regarding the events of September 11th, 2001 (for example, the 9/11 Commission sealed all notes and transcripts of some 2,000 interviews, all forensic evidence, and both classified and non-classified documents used in compiling its final report until January 2, 2009). McKinney's interest in 9/11 relates specifically to what she expresses as her opposition to excessive government secrecy, which she challenged with numerous pieces of legislation while a member of Congress.

McKinney also chose to be an active participant in the select bipartisan committee to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina, despite the Democratic Party leadership's call for Democratic members to boycott the committee. She has been a longtime anti-war activist, dating back to her opposition to the Gulf War in 1991 (and continuing through to the current administration's misadventures in Iraq, and its enablers in Congress).

She made headlines when she had a dustup with a Capitol police officer in 2006, and later that year lost a second bid for re-election from her Atlanta district.

McKinney has been vilified from all angles, left and right.

Her Green Party presidential exploratory committee website is Run Cynthia Run.