Texas GOP in Houston this week

Lock up the children (the women are probably safe):

The Texas Republican Convention gets under way in earnest today in downtown Houston with an appeals court still considering a lawsuit aimed at changing the gathering's procedures.

Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state House Speaker Tom Craddick are today's scheduled featured speakers for the gathering of about 10,000 delegates and activists at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Speakers set for Friday and Saturday include Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison and national GOP figures Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.

Say one thing for the GOoPers, they can still draw the worst and darkest to speak to them. But here's the fun part ...

A group of Republicans including supporters of Paul's presidential campaign and others sued the party last week on grounds that it fails to follow state law that requires procedures to make the convention's actions official. The group essentially alleges that party leaders ignore the rules to retain power and limit dissent — a charge the party denies.

After County Court-at-Law Judge Roberta Lloyd said Monday she had no jurisdiction to try the lawsuit, the group appealed to the all-Republican, Houston-based First Court of Appeals, which refused Wednesday to intervene on an emergency basis. That means the convention will kick off at 1 p.m. free of any court orders.

But the court — justices Tim Taft, Sam Nuchia and Jane Bland — asked lawyers in the case to send written arguments on the case by 5 p.m. today, leaving the possibility of further court action.

The Paulies will likely disrupt this convention in some benign fashion. I'm just sorry I don't have the stomach to be around so many Republicans long enough to cover their convention, because it would probably be a laugh a minute.

Update: Harold Cook welcomes the delegates.

"I'm Voting Republican"

A post-convention Wrangle

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme wants to know what the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is hiding when it permitted Asarco to restart polluting El Paso. Crony is as crony does.

BossKitty at BlueBloggin tells us about the Government Accountability Office's (GOA) revealing report to Congress on how tax preparers work in cooperation with banks to advance refunds which can greatly reduce your tax refund check, in Refund Anticipation Loans, Rapid Refunds, Sleazy Tax Preparers.

The live-blog of the contest for the state chair of the Texas Democratic Party was done by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Off the Kuff conducted an interview with the communications director of the American Wind Energy Association on the state of wind energy in Texas and America today.

Kit of WhosPlayin thinks much of mainstream media coverage of late - especially with regard to the Democratic nomination is meant to distract us from the more important issues like Iraq, health care costs, and the mortgage market meltdown.

Texas Kaos has extensive liveblogging and video from the Texas State Democratic Convention this past weekend. Highlights include Chelsea Clinton's Two Messages for Texas Democrats, Sam Houston Makes The Case for Caring About the Judicial Races, and Senator Mario Gallegos Addressing the State Convention a year after he and the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus held off David Dewhurst's grab for your voting rights.

Arson in Austin

The 154-year-old Governor's mansion is nearly destroyed early this morning by an arsonist:

An official close to the investigation said agents determined the fire was a criminal act after reviewing footage from security cameras. A national response team from the U.S. Department of Justice arrives Monday to help dig through the wreckage for clues.

No one was injured in the four-alarm blaze, which engulfed the historic landmark and sent orange flames billowing from the front door and second story terrace.

...

Department of Public Safety security officers, who stay on the property, were alerted to the fire by a tripped smoke alarm. An officer went to examine the cause, saw flames coming through the front of the house and immediately called the Austin Fire Department about 1:45 a.m.

By the time fire trucks arrived a few minutes later, the fire had made its way into the attic space. Firefighters trained fire hoses from all four directions on the exterior of the house in an effort to save it.

More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze for hours. Though the blaze had been extinguished by an 11 a.m. press conference, firefighters could be seen hosing down remaining hotspots.

“What has been lost today can never be replaced,” said governor’s press secretary Robert Black, citing damage from fire, water and smoke. “It’s an extraordinary amount of loss.”

I left the state capital around nine this morning without turning on the teevee or checking the news online. I drove right past downtown Austin without a clue as to the tragedy -- in historical proportions -- of what happened today. When I got home around noon and booted up the home PC is when I learned about it.

State officials were unable to estimate Sunday’s financial loss. They said the silver lining was that all art work, furniture and historical artifacts had been removed as part of the renovation, which included extensive asbestos removal and replacing virtually all the plumbing. The work began last September. ...

Efforts to determine the cause of the blaze were stymied Sunday morning by fears that the roof would collapse. But investigators found telling clues by reviewing surveillance cameras, and by interviewing security personnel, bystanders and some downtown residents.

“They indicated there was somebody here who potentially set the fire,” Mr. Maldonado said.

A picture of the mansion from 2006: