The Weekly Wrangle

Time for yet another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up, including the posts of some our newest members this week.

South Texas Chisme got what they were asking for: a spotlight on the Webb County Sheriff's race. BlackBox Voting's Bev Harris has asked for relevant auditable materials. CouldBeTrue can hardly wait to find out what happened.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the "rail-rage" that's hitting Central Texas: Rail, Rail, Rail - Do It Right, Not Fast.

President Bush hasn't seen President Medvedev since his 'election' to the Russian presidency. Last week, he had his first opportunity to look into his eyes. Check out McBlogger to see what he saw.

Lightseeker at Texas Kaos tells the chilling tale of Goodhair and the Fire at the Governor's Mansion. Governor Rick Perry didn't light the match, but decisions laid at his door certainly made things a lot easier for the arsonist who did.

The Texas Cloverleaf examines T. Boone Picken's plan to save us from evil oil men and move forward with greener energy.

Texas Senators Cornfed and Bailey scored a perfect ten in synchronized flip-flopping on the Medicare bill last week, shortly after they and the rest of the Republicans exhibited mirror-image coordination on FISA. PDiddie at Brains andEggs has the details.

BlueBloggin sees Maliki making the same mistakes as King George: Iraq Hands Out Stimulus Money As US Shifts Occupation.

BossKitty worries about the consequences of revaluing human life in America:Dollar Value of American Life drops - Now What.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Texas Senate Democrats have taken a strong stance on calling for reform of the Texas Department of Insurance, with one senator even calling for the Insurance Commissioner to be an elected official.

MeanRachel wonders when politics became unpatriotic on July 4th.

Off the Kuff had a guest post from Rep. Pete Gallego about the HDCC and its efforts to reclaim the statehouse for the Democrats.

WhosPlayin was impressed that Ken Leach, candidate for U.S. Congress in CD 26 got good coverage in the Gainesville Register, even though his totally honest quote didn't pass the "smell" test.

jobsanger took a look at the lies being told in a McCain campaign ad.

Nat-Wu of Three Wise Men ponders whether long-suffering American Indians could actually make a difference in this presidential election.

Bay Area Houston details the record $52,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission against State Senator Craig Estes.

Additional Sunday Funnies

*This last one above, sadly, was no joke.

289-196-53

To demonstrate what an uphill task poor John McLame has to win the presidency, this week I moved into the undecided column all states where the polling indicates either a tie (Missouri, North Dakota) or a slim one-point lead for either candidate (Alaska, Indiana, Ohio, and Nevada).

If McSame managed to win them all he would still lose.

<p><strong>><a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/'>Electoral College Prediction Map</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.</p>

We'll get back to reality -- an Obama total in the EV of 300+ -- next week.