Clerk Kaufman retiring

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, a one-time Waller County farm girl who oversaw record-keeping and election functions of the nation's third largest county, announced Friday she will not seek a fifth term next year. ...

n 1994, Kaufman was appointed to fill an unexpired term as county clerk after the death of Molly Pryor, who had been appointed eight months earlier after the death of longtime clerk Anita Rodeheaver.

Duties of the county clerk include maintaining records for commissioners court, probate and civil courts; overseeing records of real property, tax liens and vital statistics, and supervising elections.

Congratulations and enjoy your retirement, Ms. Kaufman.

Let the speculation begin on her 2010 potential successors. Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Pro Tem (and DNC member) Sue Lovell is widely rumored to be interested in the post, though we likely won't hear anything about it from her until after the November municipal elections. Hector de Leon, Kaufman's director of communications and voter outreach, could have an interest; 2006 Clerk candidate and 2008 judicial candidate James Goodwille Pierre may as well.

Republicans will line up to replace Kaufman, too. Their ranks could include former and very temporary District Clerk, Theresa Chang; the man she replaced when he unsuccessfully challenged County Judge Ed Emmett, Charles Bacarisse; and Tom Moon, whose long record of both Republican activism and government service includes a stint working for both Kaufman and former tax assessor/collector Paul Bettencourt.

Dwayne Bohac and Ed Johnson probably have ruined their chances.

What names are you hearing bandied about, from either side of the aisle?

Update: Carl Whitmarsh advances the name of Sue Schechter.

MLB realllly needs instant replay

Jeff Passan:

On Friday night, a bad call might have cost the Minnesota Twins a chance to beat the New York Yankees on the road in their American League Division Series. In the 11th inning of Game 2, Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer sliced a ball down the left-field line that not only glanced off Melky Cabrera’s glove in fair territory but also bounced at least 6 inches inside the line and then into the stands for what should’ve been a ground-rule double. Umpire Phil Cuzzi, standing 10 feet away, called it foul. (See photo above.) And even though Mauer singled and the Twins managed to load the bases with no outs, they didn’t score, and the Yankees won 4-3 on a Mark Teixeira home run later that inning.

The Twins were here, of course, because of an umpiring error earlier in the week. A pitch glanced off the jersey of Detroit third baseman Brandon Inge with the bases loaded in the 12th inning of the Tigers’ one-game playoff with Minnesota. Umpire Randy Marsh didn’t call it. The Twins scored in the bottom half of the inning. Marsh claimed not to have seen the video, and MLB’s umpiring boss, Mike Port, said he stood by Marsh.

A pair of bad calls, one completely hideous, as all after-the-fact evidence easily reveals.

So that’s what baseball has come to: supporting egregious flubs to protect their own. It’s the epitome of an old-boys’ network, and it’s insulting to the game. MLB says it uses a grading system during the regular season that rewards the best umpires with playoff assignments. That alleged fair and impartial grading system, mind you, rewarded a postseason series to C.B. Bucknor, about whom a player once said: “My grandpa would be a better umpire than him. And my grandpa is dead.”

Bucknor, by the way, blew three calls at first base in Game 1 of the Red Sox-Angels series. Bungling one call is bad. Mangling two is unconscionable. Blowing three in a single game is fireable.

All of this, again, has happened within a half a week’s time. Two game-defining calls and three more that could have led to … well, no one knows. That’s a wall MLB hides behind: that even if Mauer were on second, who’s to say Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer would’ve followed with singles?

Baseball has to start getting these right.

Technology exists to ensure that such errors are rectified before they cost a team. If Cuzzi is willing to admit he’s wrong after the game – “There’s a guy sitting over in the umpire’s dressing room right now that feels horrible,” crew chief Tim Tschida said – then it behooves him and others to allow their calls to be vetted in-game. In no way does it subvert their authority. Players will respect their fallibility, a grand quality for so many who try to play god.

Take the cue from football. Use a red replay flag. Each team gets two per game. If the manager throws them too early, or misuses them, and can’t overturn a poor call later, it’s his mess. ... Accompanying the technology is the urgency. Nobody inside baseball wants a postseason defined by its umpiring screw-ups, and yet year after year, they happen. Ignoring the issue won’t make it go away.

Watch for the next blown call, and whether the outrage is sufficient to drive baseball out of the 19th century and into the 21st. Next season. Perhaps.

The human element. That’s the best argument purists muster against widespread instant replay in Major League Baseball. Let’s see how that works: Umpires make mistakes because they’re human, and ... that makes it OK! Somehow, it’s difficult to believe such reasoning would stand up in a court of law or, say, anywhere in the world not populated by baseball’s dopey decision makers who don’t understand that a huge integrity problem is about to smack them in the face.

I just hope he donates the prize money to ...

ACORN.

That would result in emergency rooms crammed full of conservative stroke victims from coast to coast, wouldn't it? A bonafide health care crisis for the Right.

Friday Funnies (alternate realities edition)

Cornyn and Gohmert: sex fiends of a varying sort

While John Cornyn only votes to support the rape of government contract employees by their co-workers without recompense, Louie Gohmert has apparently enrolled in the same kinky turtle club Cornyn once spoke fondly of:




I can't decide which is more offensive: his comparison of homosexuality to necrophilia, bestiality, and pedophilia, or his citing of Chuck Colson on the subject of morality.

It's just so difficult to pick a "worst Texas Republican" when they all compete so vigorously for the title, and when they all belong in the Hall of Shame.

Link via TPM.

Pistachios and Playgirl

Every time Levi Johnston rankles the Palin family, an angel gets its wings.



Truly, as long as Sarah keeps trying to extend her fifteen minutes, there will be little Levi, leeching his commission.

You don't think it drives the conservative hockey moms crazy, do ya?

US Attorney and US Marshal recommendations

A press release from Cong. Lloyd Doggett today revealed the recommendations from the Texas Democratic Congressional delegation for the Obama administration's selection of the US Attorneys and US Marshals for the four Texas federal districts.

While the entire list is noteworthy for its diversity and depth of experience, I'll focus on the two nominees -- both for the Eastern district -- with which I have a passing familiarity: Jefferson County criminal district court Judge John B. Stevens, Jr. for US Attorney and Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods for US Marshal.

First, a little about Judge Stevens, from an announcement in 2006 in conjunction with our shared alma mater, Lamar University:

John B. Stevens Jr., a Beaumont lawyer and Lamar alumnus, has presented Lamar University with first editions of “The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar” and other rare documents chronicling the man regarded as the father of Texas education. ...

“These documents chronicle Texas history at a time when its leadership was just made up of dreams and hopes,” said Stevens. “They had little or no money. They just had a love of freedom to inspire the people to follow them and pledge their lives and their sacred honor. And what has come of that? A great nation, then a great state and a great educational institution.”

“Anything related to Texas history is directly related to Mirabeau Lamar,” Stevens said in an earlier interview. “I don’t believe any of our Texas forefathers compiled such an extensive set of manuscripts chronicling Texas’ road to independence. Many owe much to Mirbeau B. Lamar, and he is often taken for granted.”

At the conclusion of his presentation, Stevens announced a surprise gift: A signed and numbered edition of Philip Graham’s “The Life and Poems of Mirabeau B. Lamar,” published in 1938 and which he described as the pre-eminent work that is not only the greatest chronicle of Lamar’s poems, but also one of the best biographies of Lamar.

“The first 1,000 of this issue of the book were numbered, and Lamar University already has No. 441,” Stevens said. “The first 300 were numbered and signed. You do not have a numbered and signed one – until today. It is my great honor to present No. 219.” ...

Stevens graduated from Lamar in 1974 with a degree in government and history. He went on to post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Texas and to receive a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1979. He earned a master of social sciences from Syracuse University in 2001.

He began his legal career in the Jefferson County district attorney’s office, where he served as an assistant district attorney from 1979-81. Stevens spent four years in private practice, then began a 20 year career as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

He resigned from that post to become a candidate for judge of Jefferson County Criminal District Court. After receiving the Democratic nomination for the post, he is unopposed on the Nov. 7 (2006) ballot.

Sheriff Woods:

Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods is a step closer to becoming the next U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas. The U.S. Marshal Services is a federal law enforcement agency that protects the federal courts and its personnel. It is the oldest law enforcement agency in the United States. He applied for the job in July and recently his name was submitted for it. Sheriff Woods tells FRONT ROW that the next step is to pass an FBI background check and receive Senate confirmation. Woods has been sheriff since 1996.

The position is appointed by the President of the United States. There are 94 U.S. Marshals, one in each federal judicial district. If Woods gets the job, he'll remain in Beaumont. The office is housed at the federal court building.

The state's senators usually have a say in these appointments, but since Texas has no Democratic representation in that body, the Congressional delegation took on the task of initial vetting and selection of these recommendations.

Congratulations to all of the esteemed officials on that list, and let's look forward to speedy confirmation by the US Senate.