The Kay Bailey Watch

Three MSM political bloggers weighed on KBH's radio appearance today with three distinctly different observations. First, Anna Batheja at the Star-Telegram's PoliTex (emphasis is mine):

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison suggested on conservative radio host Mark Davis' show this morning that she might put off her resignation from the US Senate once again.

"I am going to leave," Hutchison told Davis on WBAP/820 AM. "I think it’s important that I do everything I can when there are such huge issues and I haven’t been able to set that deadline which I know is something a lot of people are looking at to determine what other possibilities there might be."

Davis asked if she might stay in her seat until the end of the year.

"I can’t say anything right now because I don’t know," Hutchison said. "Every day in Washington, some new bad thing is coming up."

Davis pushed further, asking if she might stay in the Senate through next year's March primary.

"Well, a lot of people are suggesting that," Hutchison said. "That’s not what I want to do. That’s not what I intend to do but... right now I want to just see what comes next. ..."

Hutchison announced in July, also on Davis' show, that she would step down from her Senate seat sometime in October or November in order to devote herself to her campaign for governor.

Todd Gilliam at the DMN's Trail Blazers mocked out Michael Burgess' re-endorsement:

The Hutchison for governor campaign is touting an endorsement today from U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville. Burgess joined the senator this morning on the Mark Davis show on WBAP to "announce" his support. Hmmm. Seems like I read that somewhere a couple weeks ago.

Oh yeah, here is it.

Lastly, RG Ratcliffe at the Chron's Texas Politics notes the senator's jabs at the governor, calling him a former Democrat, that he has "increased taxes", and that he is "so political and trying to protect his political base that he's not doing what's necessary to lower taxes, have good policies, to address the what's good for Texas in 20 years and not just tomorrow".

My reaction to these reactions is 1) so what -- KBH is saying one thing and doing another, again; 2) so what --Burgess is the pretty much the least freaky of Texas Republicans in Congress, he brings very little to the table she needs; and 3) ho hum -- Kay Bailey is shaving off a deli-thin slice of red meat and having one of her purse boys throw it to Rick Perry's 'political base'.

The only news here is her continuing lack of commitment to a deadline for withdrawal. At this point that probably means a special Senate election butting up against the March primary -- not what the governor wants, which is exactly why she's stalling.

And so we wait.

Update: Even the conservo-blogs express perplexity.

Columbus Day Wrangle

About 517 years have passed since Christopher Columbus stumbled onto North America, and it's time to remember that with a three-day weekend.

Well, for some of us. While national government offices can be depended upon to celebrate a federal holiday, Columbus Day isn't a day off for all Americans. Some schools will stay open, and local bureaucrats will still shuffle paperwork ... but the department store sales soldier on.

Looking back, the formal recognition of Columbus Day is relatively recent. New York City threw the first recorded Columbus party in 1792, but it took New Yorkers 74 years for another big celebration. Then, Colorado scooted in to become the first state to have a Columbus Day (1905). President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided the Depression could use a new holiday, and made Oct. 12 a federal one in 1937. Under President Richard M. Nixon, Columbus Day got moved to the second Monday in October.

According to the Wall Street Journal, 22 states don't observe the holiday. Why the disparity? Well, among other reasons, a strong contingent feels that the Genoese navigator's sailing the ocean blue in 1492 introduced a dark period of colonization. Protesters and academics have argued for years that the existing American population, plus earlier evidence of Viking houseguests, make the notion of "discovery" misleading.

These impassioned arguments around Columbus go back decades before any holiday: efforts to make the Italian navigator a candidate for sainthood inspired a tart New York Times editorial that said Columbus got his "fleets at public expense, on the condition that he remove himself and his tediousness as far as possible toward the unknown west."

Wait a minute... America's honored "discoverer" was a Socialist?

Some states have long just "observed" the holiday, but leave local government offices open. Others use the date to revere the native population who existed long before the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria sailed in. According to a Wikipedia round-up, South Dakota declares October 12 as Indigenous People's Day. Hawaii celebrates the more general Discoverers' Day, which actually refers to the Aloha State's Polynesian founders (although the bureaucrats firmly emphasize "this day is not and shall not be construed to be a state holiday").

Tennessee, though, wins for creative calendaring: The Wall Street Journal (link above) points out that the state bumped Columbus Day to after Thanksgiving to create a four-day weekend. Indeed, the explorer's day leads in "holiday swapping"—work on that October date, get another day off later in the holiday season.

Update: Irregular contributor Open Source Dem sends this along ...

(T)he weirdest thing is the possibility, likelihood actually, that Columbus was a Secret Jew and began what would later become Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, including, yes, Jean Laffite!

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Here's the weekly roundup of the best posts from the Texas Progressive Alliance from last week.

This week on Left of College Station, Teddy writes about what it is like to share a birthday with a war and how we have been unable to learn from the mistakes we have made during the last eight years. In the weekly guest column about teaching in Aggieland, Litia writes about the reasons why they are a teacher. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notices that Republicans running Texas agencies don't care whether doctors are bad as long as you can't sue.

WhosPlayin investigated complaints by parents that schools were allowing church groups on campus during lunch hour to proselytize, while preventing parents from accessing their kids.

Communities all across the nation are watching DISH, Texas to learn how natural gas drilling is threatening our health but TXsharon at Bluedaze wants to be sure you don't forget about the public meeting Monday, October 12th at 7:00PM.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about a 17th-century book by Rhode Island founder Roger Williams that was ahead of its time in offering respect for Native Americans and women.

The Texas Cloverleaf watches as Denton County comes out for LGBT equality.

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog provides detailed coverage of the Houston Asian American Mayoral Forum.

Off the Kuff notes that at least some conservative candidates are not interested in learning from the mistakes of others.

At Texas Vox read about how Tom Craddick laundered money through Jobs PAC to House Dems, and Texans for Public Justice files a complaint.

Over at McBlogger, Captain Kroc takes a look at the latest GOP plot to make people think they actually care about the poor.

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman announced her retirement, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs threw the names of a few Democratic and Republican potential successors into the rumor mill.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson writes that TxDOT again says the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is dead, but how many times will it die?.

Over at Texas Kaos, Libby Shaw asks: Republicans Are On Board with Corporate Communism?. They can't make up their minds, but it is sadly funny to read about.

Burnt Orange Report explores the value, or lack thereof, of proposing an opt-out of the public option as a strategy to pass the health care bill out of the U.S. Senate.

Ten reasons Obama won the Nobel

The original post says "deserved". I won't grant that, though -- as the citation notes, 'fact has no affiliation' -- this should end the discussion (and would if the whining objectors had any common sense whatsoever):

1. Before he became president -- Obama forcefully argued, at great political risk, that the U.S. should talk to its enemies (famously, in a debate with John McCain). He convinced a majority of Americans, and that is now U.S. foreign policy.
   
2. January 22 - On his second day in office, Obama announced plans to close Guantanamo in a year. He has made great diplomatic efforts to find residences for innocent detainees, even as fearmongers accused him of wanting to release terrorists in America.
   
3. February 27 - Obama details his plans to pull out of Iraq. He made his speech in front of uniformed Marines and explained that combat troops would be out by 2010.
   
4. March 13 - Obama Justice department drops 'enemy combatants' label on detainees, marking a return to the Geneva Conventions.
   
5. April 5 - Outlines details of nuclear weapons reductions plan in a speech to the public in Prague. The plan calls for intense international diplomacy and a respect for the right of fledgling countries to enrich uranium for energy purposes, proposing an international nuclear fuel-bank for those aims. All this was in the face of North Korean long-range missile testing.
6. April 13 - Repeals restrictions on Cuban Americans, allowing them to visit home as long as they want and to send money. Also allows telecommunications companies to pursue agreements in Cuba, hoping to promote communcation. This is the boldest move towards peace with Cuba any president has made in over 40 years.
   
7. June 4 - Obama makes landmark speech in Cairo, in which he quotes three different holy texts and speaks Arabic. Again, at tremendous political risk at home, Obama makes empassioned tribute to the achiements of the Muslim world and admits U.S. role in overthrow of Iranian government, attempting to create environment of honesty, respect, and cooperation.
   
8. June 27 - The U.S. begins removal of combat troops from major cities in Iraq.
9. July 6 - Obama heads to Russia to speak with Russian president about nuclear arms reduction. He makes a speech at a Russian University, notably saying, "There is the 20th century view that United States and Russia are destined to be antagonists. And that a strong Russia or a strong America can only assert themselves in opposition to one another. And there is a 19th century view, that we are destined to vie for spheres of influence and that great powers must forge competing blocs to balance on another. These assumptions are wrong. In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonishing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chessboard are over."
10. Sept 24 - In a first for a U.S. president, Obama presides over a U.N. Security Council summit, where members unanimously agreed to a sweeping strategy to stop the spread of and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons

On June 2nd, Obama stood with Nancy Reagan and signed legislation marking the 100th anniversary of her husband and calling for celebration of his achievements as president. Wouldn't it be nice if some in our country could be as humble as to recognize the positive achievements of someone they didn't vote for?

President Obama is making great strides towards peace, which are all the more impressive when you consider the political environment that has developed in the U.S. over the past several years, where torture is acceptable by many, searching for peace is called "demasculating America" by Rush Limbaugh, and Joe Scarborough says there is "no upside" for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Bush said that we are a peace loving nation. I'll let the reader decide if that is true.

Obama finds cure for cancer

Harris County GOP cries: "MD Anderson has been bankrupted"


Eleven and one-half months is more than long enough to stay stuck on stupid, much less in Sore-Loserland.

What do you think will be this week's Faux Outrage?

Perry received arson report minutes before Willingham executed

Should the governor be condemned to death for killing an innocent man?

Just 88 minutes before the February 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, Gov. Rick Perry's office received by fax a crucial arson expert's opinion that later ignited a political firestorm over whether Texas, on Perry's watch, used botched forensic evidence to send a man to his death.

In a letter sent Feb. 14, three days before Willingham was scheduled to die, Perry had been asked to postpone the execution. The condemned man's attorney argued that the newly obtained expert evidence showed Willingham had not set the house fire that killed his daughters, 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron, two days before Christmas in 1991.

On Feb. 17, the day of the execution, Perry's office got the five-page faxed report at 4:52 p.m., according to documents the Houston Chronicle obtained in response to a public records request.

But it's unclear from the records whether he read it that day. Perry's office has declined to release any of his or his staff's comments or analysis of the reprieve request.

A statement from Perry spokesman Chris Cutrone, sent to the Chronicle late Friday, said that “given the brevity of (the) report and the general counsel's familiarity with all the other facts in the case, there was ample time for the general counsel to read and analyze the report and to brief the governor on its content.”

A few minutes after 5 p.m., defense lawyer Walter M. Reaves Jr. said he received word that the governor would not intervene. At 6:20 p.m. Willingham was executed after declaring: “I am an innocent man, convicted of a crime I did not commit.”

How about we just end Perry's political life -- right now? Not wait for March or November 2010? Demand his immediate resignation.

Oh wait, I almost forgot: this is Texas.