Friday Praise God Funnies

Because tar sands oil is "good"

Behold the Ethical Oil campaign.

"Forced Labour? Or Good Jobs?"
Degradation? Or reforestation?
Funding terrorism, or peacekeeping?
Persecution, or (gay) pride?
Indigenous peoples killed? Or hired?
Conflict Oil? Or Ethical Oil?

George Orwell would be so proud.

My phone call to John Culberson this morning *update*

One of his very courteous staff members took my call a few minutes ago. I said this:

"In 1985, the top five percent of households, the wealthiest five percent, had net worth of $8 trillion. Today, the top five percent have net worth of $40 trillion. The top five percent have gained more wealth (in 25 years) than the whole human race had created prior to 1980." That's a quote from David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director, in 2010.

Please remind the Congressman for me that we do NOT have a SPENDING problem in this country; we have a REVENUE problem. We have a revenue problem because of George W. Bush's two wars and tax cuts for the afore-mentioned wealthiest Americans, and because W's buddies on Wall Street wrecked the economy before he could leave office in the fall of 2008.

And please ask Congressman Culberson, respectfully, to stand down; move out of the way and let the grownups raise the debt ceiling. And then a discussion about solving the budget deficit created by Bush can take place, separately from that. The President has indicated his willingness to have that conversation and make that deal.

Ask Congressman Culberson for me to please STOP holding the full faith and credit of the United States government hostage to his extreme partisan agenda.

She was very pleasant and polite and actually let me say all of that.

One more thing: as a result of 2012 redistricting I will be represented by Sheila Jackson Lee. Really, that's a blessing from the Invisible Man in the Clouds, also known as the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Update: MoveOn.org activists went to Culberson's office Wednesday for a noon meeting, and here's the report on that.

About fourteen of us met with several press people outside the building at 11:45. Channel 2, Fox News, and an “independent news photographer” were there. Mary Schultz read her prepared letter which the whole group had signed. We then went up to the office, where we all were greeted quite politely and brought into the conference room, which we filled. Members of the group, which included Jerry Wald and Charlie Mauch of the Houston Peace and Justice Center, were articulate and well-informed and our discussion lasted about an hour. However, Culberson’s chief of staff made it quite clear that Culberson was totally unyielding about raising any taxes on corporations or the wealthy. Their main reason: the corporations might move ALL of the jobs overseas. ... Another very important thing he told us –- their office has received many, many phone calls telling them NO TAXES, but they don’t hear from our side.

Oh he hears. He just doesn't listen. Here's the appropriate response to "the corporations might move all the jobs overseas":

Henry Ford, one of this nation's most successful businessmen, saw the value of paying well-above-prevailing-scale wages to his employees. It reduced turnover and absenteeism and made his company a model corporate citizen for its time. One of the "family values" we have lost in this country includes our corporations treating all of their people -- not just the executives -- like members of its family. Perhaps Congressman Culberson could use his influence with business leaders to remind them of Henry Ford's words:

"There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible."

A far cry from exporting jobs overseas, to be certain.

The Weekly Wrangle

The thoughts and prayers of the Texas Progressive Alliance are with the people of Norway as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff has an update on redistricting litigation that's being filed.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the Lite Gov.'s latest move: Dewhurst announces for Senate, commits to gutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

A couple of Republican bloggers thought they were breaking news with murmurings of a Texas Senate Demoratic primary challenge by Sylvia Garcia to Mario Gallegos. By the end of the day the senator, the former county commissioner, and their shared political consultant shot the rumor down in flames. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs reminds you why you just shouldn't believe anything posted on conservative blogs.

Lightseeker at Texas Kaos takes a shot at connecting some sad dots in Republican Lies, their connection to our looming doctor shortage and corporate power. It turns out that making public policy by using the repeated Big Lie will come back to bite you in the ass after all.

Neil at Texas Liberal has begun to read Rick Perry's book "Fed Up!" Neil is finding this great work to be very enjoyable so far.

At WhosPlayin, Regina responds to all those forwarded emails, and gives a dozen good reasons why she can't support Rick Perry for President.

Sunday Funnies

Cenk Uygur explains why he parted company with MSNBC

Link this video to the definition of integrity in the dictionary.

Speaking on his "Young Turks" show, Uygur said that, though the ratings for his show had been satisfying MSNBC executives, his "tone" had not. According to his version of events, his departure from the network was the culmination of a lengthy struggle with MSNBC management who wanted him to be more buttoned down.

Uygur said that, in April, MSNBC president Phil Griffin called him in for a talk. Griffin allegedly told him that "people in Washington" were concerned with his tone on the show.

"'Outsiders are cool, but we're the establishment,'" Griffin said, according to Uygur, who said he was also told to book more Republicans on the show. He claimed to have been stunned by the conversation, and said he ignored Griffin's advice.

Though his ratings increased, Uygur said that, a couple of weeks ago, he was informed that he would not be getting the permanent slot at 6 PM, but was instead offered a smaller contributor role for twice the salary. He said he turned it down because, in his words, he did not want to work at a place "that didn't want to challenge power."

See you on Current, Cenk.

Update: More Cenk, from the Sunday 7/24 edition of CNN's Reliable Sources ...

Sylvia Garcia v. Mario Gallegos

It doesn't quite crackle like Castro versus Doggett, but it would be a significant development all the same. Republican handicapper Robert Miller:

Former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia is quietly mulling whether to run against Sen. Mario Gallegos, although no decision has been made or is necessarily imminent. Garcia reported $751,601 cash on hand as of June 30; Gallegos reported $71,190 cash on hand. They both use Robert Jara as their consultant, so it will be interesting to watch this unfold.

Mike Hailey's Capitol Inside scored Jara's Campaign Strategies Inc. as the most influential Democratic political consultant in the state in 2008. (2010? Not so much.) Jara was also the fellow who drew the 2011 Houston city council map for district J, an Hispanic pickup opportunity district. And speaking of Hailey and CI (subs. req.) with respect to Gallegos and Garcia ...

Two longtime friends and allies could become adversaries if former Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia decides to challenge State Senator Mario Gallegos in the Democratic primary election in 2012.

Garcia - the first woman ever elected to the commissioners court in the state's largest county - has been weighing a possible bid for the Texas Senate but keeping the deliberations under wraps on what could turn out to be a very touchy subject in Hispanic political circles from Houston to Austin.

While Senate incumbents are usually big favorites in re-election campaigns, Garcia has the potential to be Gallegos' worst nightmare from a political perspective if she runs against him in next year's primary.

Garcia and Gallegos have been two of the most prominent forces in Latino politics in the state's largest metropolitan area for much of the past two decades. They've also been good friends as evidenced when the veteran legislator was sworn in by Garcia as "governor for the day" in 2007 when Gallegos had been serving as Senate pro tem.

And there's that troublesome money race mentioned again, the one that Sylvia leads 10-1.

Garcia would arguably be the toughest foe that Gallegos has faced at the polls in a 20-year legislative career. Garcia would not only match the incumbent in name ID, she'd enter a primary fight with a substantial edge in funding. The ex-commissioner had a $750,000 surplus in her campaign account at the end of last month while Gallegos reported cash on hand of $72,000 on June 30 - the lowest amount for a state senator in Texas.

My opinion? Best of good health in your retirement, Mario.

Update: Dan McClung, Jara's partner at Campaign Strategies, issued the following denial this afternoon.

Senator Mario Gallegos and former Commissioner Sylvia Garcia are longtime friends and strong political allies. They are also both decades-long clients and friends of this firm, and as its Senior Partner, I have spoken with both this morning and each has asked me to say to you and others that a race between them is not a possibility.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance congratulates Japan for its hard-earned victory in the women's World Cup championship as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff wonders how big the next state deficit will be. Because we're surely going to have one.

McBlogger takes a look at the Republicans' most recent effort to give us RyanFraud.

As rumors of a Rick Perry presidential bid grow stronger, brace yourself for the Perry propaganda. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme has officially warned you.

With Ron Paul's declination to run again for Congress, a muddy scrum broke out for the vacancy he leaves in CD-14. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs collects the names of some of the rumored entrants.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson shows us that the GOP's governing scheme continues: preach fiscal conservatism all the while running up debt to historic levels. Texas' debt has exploded under Perry.

Neil at Texas Liberal notes that Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner and lt. governor wannabe Todd Staples loves federal money. Neil also observed that Texas counties that voted strongly Republican in 2010 also love federal money.

Sunday Funnies

On loyalty

Greg and I are having a little digression about who's better and who's worse than whom when it comes to God in a prior post. Matt's chiming in. I wrote the following elsewhere this morning, inspired by the photo there, and thought I'd bring it back over here and expand on it some.

Loyalty -- patriotism and pride and its other synonyms -- and the corresponding boost it gives to one's self-respect is inculcated from early age, certainly in the US, perhaps in other countries. The first complete sentence most of us learn as children is the Pledge of Allegiance, because we recited it each morning from first grade (kindergarten?) forward. "Be true to your school". "Texas Pride" (there used to be a beer named this). Lee Greenwood's song.

There once was a distinct separation of Godliness from patriotism in American public schools; there was when I came through, anyway. Yes, the Pledge added "under God" in 1954 and that development was about ten years old when I began school, but the first time I can recall the two intersecting -- 'colliding' is probably better -- was when I caught myself staring at two Jehovah's Witnesses in my (new school to me) third grade class who stayed in their seats for the Pledge. But today loyalty is increasingly intertwined with religiosity in American public life.

It may be the seed that grows into the conservative notion of American exceptionalism. "God Bless America" in the seventh inning stretch of MLB games now gets the same treatment as the National Anthem: players, umpires, fans remove caps, stand at attention, place hands over hearts. Football players point at the sky after scoring touchdowns, baseball players regularly thank God for their home run right off the bat (pun) in postgame interviews, nearly every public gathering of any kind opens with the Pledge or a prayer or both.

This sort of public, prominent  demonstration of the depth of one's faith used to be met with mild scorn. "Jesus freaks", they were called. Today that gets met with an aggressive victimology by Christians. "How dare these Godless heathens criticize our right to pray in public?!"

A much more unfortunate development is the advance of Christianism into the political realm. Our most recent example is, of course, Rick Perry's "Response". A sitting governor organizes a prayer event in a football stadium ... and oddly chooses to exclude from it religions that aren't Christian, that did not immigrate to North America with Caucasians.

And it is increasingly part of the premise that not comporting oneself in this new tradition leaves one open to be criticized as disloyal -- unpatriotic, un-American, anti-American. Dare not even suggest that this trend might be inappropriate for the health of our republican democracy.

I'd rather write more exclusively about politics but for a moment it'll be about my religious experience growing up, so my own motivations might be better understood..

The concept of one Christian denomination being better than another was also introduced to me early on, in my father's failed attempts to indoctrinate me into his Church of Christ. The preachers (they never called them pastors) and the church elders and deacons regularly assailed the Catholic church for its false god, the Baptists and the Methodists for using musical accompaniment, and the Pentecostals and Jehovahs for just being plain crazy. I was as appalled at this behavior as I was at the notion that there was an invisible man in the clouds who could see everything I had ever done, hear and remember everything I ever said, kept a ledger of it all and was prepared at any moment to pass judgment on me with it (along with everybody else in the world).

You know, when you're a 'tween and you're trying to get your rocks off and that idea suddenly enters your head, it's over. (But I never was much for guilt either. No percentage in it for me.) When I got older and thought this out a bit more, one of the conclusions I reached was that there must be a real backlog of cases in that courtroom.

Everybody has probably had, at least once, a tyrant for a boss in their working life -- the closest equivalent to a vengeful, vindictive God, perhaps -- but to choose to live at the tip of that spear for the entirety of one's life on Earth? Under pain of eternal Hell?  Seems like a pretty miserable existence. I always felt a little better about the red print in the New Testament, and the words of Mohandas Gandhi: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

There are a couple of movies which come pretty close to inspiring my current ideas about religion: Defending Your Life, with Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, and Rip Torn; and Dogma with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and George Carlin as a pompous, publicity-seeking Catholic cardinal.

Anywho I need to get some semblance of work done this morning so I'm going to stop here and maybe pick it up again with an update to this or in the comments, depending on what reactions it draws.

Update: Ahh, just the reaction I was expecting. None.

Annie Savoy: I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I've worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring... which makes it like sex. ... I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.

The scrum over CD-14

With this week's news that Dr. No will focus exclusively on his 2012 bid for the White House, a Cat 5 hurricane of speculation has erupted around the matchups for another coveted open seat in the Texas delegation to the US House. (This one, CD-14, hugs the coastline along Brazoria, Galveston, and Jefferson counties. Remember that there are four new ones thanks to the Census, and Republicans are falling over themselves already for them.)

Greg got there first and with the numbers, then posited this:

Put together a candidate that can carry Jefferson, get 45% or more in Galveston, and carry the Dem parts of Brazoria … and you might have a shot. That appears to be the showing that Sam Houston had in the district – also running in a Presidential year, I might add.

But it’ll take some doing and a candidate who can raise money within federal guidelines (ie – $2,500 a clip) and fill a bank account with at least a couple of million bucks.

Dr. Richard Murray concurred.

"A strong Democrat deeply rooted in Jefferson County would have a chance," he said.

Kuffner thirded that as he collected some of the speculation, and more blognostications -- including my own elsewhere on the day the news broke -- popped up like 'shrooms in the cow pasture after a downpour, and with nearly the same psychotropic affect.

(This really is the best part of talking politics; the horse race aspect. Who's in? Who's out? Who's a maybe? Who's got the sand to get it done? Throw some shit up against the wall and see what sticks. I just wish we could gamble on political outcomes with odds like they do in the UK.)

My first handful was hurling Joe Deshotel's name. He shot himself down with a way-over-140-character Tweet, though (here it is, misspellings and all):

New Dist 14 is 55% Republican. If Ron Paul would have been the sure Republican Nominee. I could have beat him because of crossover vote in Jeff County. However I would have been a one termer once a traditional Republican became nominee next time around. So I had decided to stay put, if the good people of District will give me the honor again. I also think there is a significant democratic undercount in Galv County as people continue to move back after Hurrican IKE.

That's a most accurate point: the right Dem can probably win the seat in 2012, but will lose it again in 2014 when Democratic voters go back into hibernation during non-presidential election cycles.

That scenario* has already happened before to some guy named Lampson, in fact. So while Mayor Joe Jaworski and state representative Craig Eiland get honorable mentions, it's important to note that they have an uphill climb even in the best circumstances next year -- Democratic resurgence due to Teabagger overreach, lengthy Obama coattails, GOP disillusion over their presidential options. Jaworski and Eiland have low name recognition outside Galveston County, not much fundraising prowess, and of course the district still leans a little red.

Lampson has the Blue Dog bonafides (sadly, probably an asset here) for independent conservative/crossover appeal, a decade of Congressional experience in two different districts that lap over and around the redrawn 14th, and would likely be a DCCC darling again, as he was when he won CD-22 in 2006. He can win CD-14 in '12. But '14?

The Rethugs, meanwhile, are staging another TeaBagger convention over the vacancy. Larry "Surfer Dude" Taylor, chair of the Texas House GOP caucus - yeah, the same ones that devastated the entire state in the just-concluded legislative session -- has expressed rabid interest to Paul Burka.

The rest of the crowded Republican field looks more like a jailbreak. Harvey Kronberg reports that SREC member and attorney Michael Truncale of Beaumont has already formed an exploratory committee -- listing supporters that include state Sen. Tommy Williams, Democrat-turned-Republican state Rep. Allan Ritter, and former Beaumont-area state representative Mark Stiles, yet another one-time Democrat. In the '90's he was one of Speaker Pete Laney's top lieutenants in the Texas House, but today Stiles is known primarily as a man whose work in the Lege was rewarded by having a men's prison facility named after him. A facility that houses mostly HIV-positive incarcerated people.

The sick, sad irony of that is only exceeded by former Congressman Steve Stockman -- best known for holding Lampson's spot in the old CD-9 while ending the political career of the legendary Jack Brooks --  throwing his feces at the sheetrock hat into the ring. From Stockman's Wikipedia entry:

In June 1996, Stockman and his campaign alleged that Houston Press reporter Tim Fleck trespassed in Stockman's campaign headquarters, which was also his home, and terrorized his wife. Fleck countered with a lawsuit alleging libel and slander. Both the charges and lawsuit were later dropped.^[1][2]

On April 19, 1995, Stockman's office received a fax "at about the same time" touting the bombing in Oklahoma City, which was initially discarded. Stockman later turned that fax over to the FBI.^[3] Following false news reports that the fax had been sent in advance,^[4] federal officials later determined the fax was sent about 50 minutes after the bombing.^[5] He was never implicated in any way in the bombing itself, but his critics said the reason that the militia movement trusted him was due to an article in Guns and Ammo Magazine proclaiming that the Waco Siege was a government conspiracy to “prove the need for a ban on so called assault weapons”.^[6]

You just canNOT make this up. Stockman was batshit crazy before BSC renamed itself the Tea Party.

*Well, kinda. Lampson won in an off-presidential year with Republicans in CD-22 in complete and total disarray (Tom Delay's resignation/voter registration fuck-up, Shelley "Dracula Cunt" Sekula-Gibbs' short tenure) and then lost it back to Pete Olson in Obama's '08.

Atheists sue Rick Perry over "The Response"

Pastafarians are encouraged to congregate at the Olive Garden of their choosing -- there's one near Reliant Stadium -- and worship in their normal fashion.

A group that has already criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his involvement with a Christian prayer rally scheduled for Reliant Stadium next month went a step further Wednesday and filed a federal lawsuit in Houston to stop him from promoting it.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation claims Perry's association with the "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a National in Crisis" breaches the separation of church and state.

The complaint, filed in the Southern District on behalf of five named individuals who live in Houston, notes the plaintiffs are "nonbelievers who support the free exercise of religion, but strongly oppose the governmental establishment and endorsement of religion ...."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Perry's official involvement. A Perry spokesman said he won't back away from the event.

"Gov. Perry believes the prayer event will serve as an opportunity for Americans to pray together for our nation," said spokesman Mark Miner. "This lawsuit does not affect plans for the event, and it will proceed as scheduled."

Last month, Perry proclaimed Aug. 6 as a day of prayer and fasting and invited fellow governors and citizens to join him for "The Response," which his office called "a nondenominational, apolitical Christian prayer meeting."

IANAL, but I believe the Freedom from Religion Foundation's lawsuit has no merit from the standpoint of the conflation of church and state argument.

My point would instead be that the irony of 'nondenominational' and 'Christian' in the same sentence describing the event seems lost on the organizers. One of many ironies, of course.

Here's another one: what do you suppose would be the response -- from just Christians, mind you -- if this event was organized not by the American Family Association but by an association of devout Muslims, or Buddhists or Hindus or Sikhs? Besides the governor of Texas not attending it, that is?

I considered opening a chicken-fried-steak-on-a-stick stand along Kirby near the entrance to the stadium, but am choosing instead to attend a simultaneous event (Day of Debauchery and Gluttony) in response to the "Day of Prayer and Fasting".

You are all welcome to worship or not, as always and forever, in your own humble way.

Update: Specifically directed at Greg, who manages to harangue this blog every couple of days.

Governor Perry is using Texas money, the Texas Seal, his government website and government time to promote the American Family Association's extremely intolerant agenda. Is the AFA really a Christian organization with a track record like this?

True Christians would -- and should -- reject and denounce them, and Rick Perry's involvement with them.