The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance salutes the US Women's National soccer team on their astounding victory yesterday and in their continuing quest for the World Cup championship as it brings you this week's roundup.

Refinish69 at Doing My Part for the Left has a Texas Update! We Are In A Severe Drought Situation! ACT LIKE IT STUPID! He also has a message for the young people out there: It does get better.

Lightseeker takes us on a quick tour of the Rick Perry religious manipulation tactics over the last 10 years to make a point: when you discuss his upcoming prayer summit, don't fall into the trap of yelling "church and state", at least not only and not first. Check it out at Texas Kaos: Talking Back to Perry's Prayer Summit.

Bay Area Houston has the scoop on the ground rules for Rick Perry's "The Response".

The Three Stooges -- Susan Combs, Todd Staples, and Jerry Patterson -- staged an eye-poking, face-slapping, hair-pulling pie fight as the Battle for Texas Lieutenant Governor in 2014 broke out early. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs reports from the front lines.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson tells us that as long as the same people keep showing up to vote, nothing is going to change: The electorate must change before change can come to Texas.

Off the Kuff looks at the opening arguments of the lawsuit over the sonogram bill, which didn't go in the direction people expected.

This week on Left of College Station, Teddy returns after taking a hiatus from blogging to take a look at Governor Rick Perry's far right radical social conservative appointment to the Texas State Board of Education.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about two books of the New Deal era in Texas art that show Texans working together and respecting the land. This stands in sharp contrast to the current reality where greed, anger at people who are different, and exploiting public resources with no concern for the future are the order of the day. There are resources out there -- in addition to your imagination and hard work -- that offer Texans a path to a more hopeful way of everyday living.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know why Bexar County DA Susan Reed didn't get any grief over denying a Mexican national consulate support in a death penalty case.

Sunday Funnies, "Whining of the Bulls" edition

Shuttle still on track for 10:26 CT liftoff

Eric Berger, the incredibly talented and intelligent Sci-Guy from the HouChron, is live-blogging the preamble of events leading up to today's beginning of the shuttle missions' end.

Weather conditions at 8:37 are "no go" due to clouds and low visibility.

Update (about 10:30 a.m.): And we're off.

Obama v. Rick Perry

In a preliminary face-off, with a life at stake.

President Obama is asking the Supreme Court to stay tomorrow's planned execution of a Mexican citizen in Texas, arguing it could do "irreparable harm" to U.S. interests abroad.

In 1994, Humberto Leal Garcia Jr. was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to death. Few doubt that he's guilty of the crime, but an omission in the handling of his case may make things tough for American citizens arrested abroad: Leal wasn't told that he could contact the Mexican Consulate.

The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a treaty that includes 170 countries, says a foreigner who is arrested must be allowed access to her home country's consulate. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that U.S. states' sentencing of 54 Mexican citizens to death without allowing them to contact the Mexican Consulate was a violation of the treaty. Then-president George W. Bush ordered Texas to review its policies, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that neither Texas nor any U.S. state could be held to an international treaty unless Congress passed a law binding them to it.

Now, President Obama is asking the Supreme Court to stay the execution until Congress passes such legislation, which was recently introduced in the Senate. The administration says the execution would do "irreparable harm" to U.S. interests abroad.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has rejected requests from the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, diplomats, judges, former President George W. Bush, retired military officials and now, the Obama administration, to stay the execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected the request for a stay yesterday, though Perry could still grant a 30-day delay. After the Supreme Court ruled in its favor, the state put to death another Mexican national who had not been informed of his right to access his consulate three years ago. The state argues that Leal was not in custody when he incriminated himself, so the Vienna Convention obligations were not relevant.

But observers worry that foreign countries will be less willing to grant the thousands of U.S. citizens who are arrested abroad each year consular access if Leal is put to death.

"As retired military leaders, we understand that the preservation of consular access protections is especially important for US military personnel, who when serving our country overseas are at greater risk of being arrested by a foreign government," wrote Rear Admiral Don Guter, USN, Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, USN, and Brigadier General James P. Cullen, USA in a letter to Perry.

Journalist Euna Lee, who was detained in North Korea in 2009, wrote in The Washington Post that even that rogue nation granted her access to a Swedish diplomat who was representing U.S. consular interests after she was arrested. "We ask the world to treat our citizens with respect when they are detained in other countries, including honoring their right to consular access. It is a two-way street," she wrote. The Atlantic's Nicole Allen points out that even Iran gave brief consular access to the American hikers still in custody in that country on suspicion of spy activity.

So even Iran and North Korea treat "illegals" more fairly than Texas. What a great place to be. Here's the moneyshot, emphasis mine, from The Atlantic article:

Texas's commitment to its sentencing, meanwhile, signals the fundamental distaste many Americans seem to feel for international governance. Last year's Tea Party wave ushered in a series of state legislature attempts to ban the application of foreign legal codes and international mandates in U.S. courts. Though most of these measures did not pass, they provided a rallying point in many conservative circles. As Governor Perry contemplates a run for the Republican presidential nomination, a high-profile rejection of the international community and the Obama administration may be one of his most powerful assets.

Do you think the SCOTUS will do what Rick Perry refuses to do (so far)? Once again, I am not holding my breath.

Update:

The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a bid by the Obama administration to spare the life of a Mexican national set for execution for the 1994 rape-murder of a San Antonio teenager. Humberto Leal Garcia Jr., 38, is to be was put to death at 6 p.m. today.

Staples, Patterson pile on Combs

It's Republican-on-Republican battery as these morons jockey for the lieutenant governorship three years from now.

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson are quick to slam Comptroller Susan Combs' widely criticized handling of a data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of Texans — a misstep that's marred her image as the one to beat if she runs for lieutenant governor in 2014.

They're also quick to cite another potential problem if she enters the GOP primary for the seat now held by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who may run for U.S. Senate. Why, Staples asked in a statement, "after two decades in politics, has Combs suddenly switched from pro-choice to a pro-life position on abortion? Switching political philosophy solely for political gain is not committed conservatism, it's opportunistic."

Abortion is still a federally granted right, but Teabaggers throughout the nation are waging war on women through their headlong rush to restrict reproductive choice by any means necessary. Texas passed its sonogram bill into law, and it has already drawn its first lawsuit. Kansas is the latest and most restrictive (though a federal judge has at least temporarily blocked it from taking effect). Abortion is, in fact, only an issue when Republicans can use it to placate their evangelical Christian supporters.

So it makes sense -- only in the conservative hive mind, naturally --  that rather than keep the focus on Comb's obvious incompetence, Staples and Patterson are making their future primary battle a litmus test on who's farthest to the right on a hot-button social issue.

Patterson, asked about his abortion position, cited his pro-life credentials and added, "Todd and I have the same position. And Susan, I'm not sure what her position is this week." 

Patterson and Staples actually differ a bit. Patterson said he opposes abortion except when the mother's life is in danger. Staples believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned "and is pro-life with three narrowly defined exceptions of rape, incest or life of the mother," according to his camp.

Combs consultant Reggie Bashur said, "Susan wants Roe v. Wade overturned. She thinks abortion has become a form of birth control and sex-selection. She is against abortion except in cases of life of the mother, rape and incest."

Compare that to her view as a state representative, as showcased in this paragraph in a 1995 Austin American-Statesman article (and yes, there's some irony in the first sentence, given the data breach): " 'I don't give my Social Security number to anybody,' said the 50-year-old Combs, explaining that the number can be used to obtain personal information. 'We are so casual about government intrusion in our lives. I'm pro-choice for the same reason.' "

A 2003 Associated Press story about Combs, then agriculture commissioner, said she "supports a woman's right to choose, with exceptions. She opposes 'partial-birth' abortions and third-trimester abortions and favors parental notification for minors seeking abortions."

It's like watching the Three Stooges poke, slap, pull hair and hit each other in the face with cream pies. Combs, Staples, and Patterson are all ridiculous, incompetent, and to varying degrees corrupt. In other words, the typical statewide Texas Republican elected official. If conservatives in Texas had any sense at all they would turn the whole lot of them out in 2014.

But I don't believe they do, or will.