Dick's Signs

This Dick is going to get what he wants; a lot of free publicity. First, Greg:

Houston City Council candidate Eric Dick gets busted for his illegally-placed signs. Gotta love the “overzealous volunteer” excuse. If you ever see an overzealous volunteer of his, let me know. And if you see any more of his 20-foot high yard signs, feel free to submit them to the Empty Lot Primary. Here’s the collection of 30 Eric Dick signs posted around town posted there already, some illegally placed on utility poles and some merely posted on empty lots reflecting not one bit of human endorsement (save for the gaggle of six signs placed on a relative’s property). 

And Doug Miller, one of the best in the business:



Not cool, indeed. After I saw several of these in my neighborhood, I called Centerpoint Energy to ask about their policy. Here that is.

Let's review: an attorney who claims full knowledge of the city ordinance regarding campaign signs refuses to take responsibility for "overzealous volunteers" who have placed hundreds of his campaign signs so high off the ground that it will require a bucket truck to remove them.

Let's send a message: don't vote for this guy. Don't we have enough dicks on city council as it is?

Funeral held for Good Jobs outside Culberson's Houston office

Via Marie Diamond at Think Progress:

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Staffers at the Houston office of GOP Rep. John Culberson (R) must have gotten quite a surprise on Thursday when they looked outside to see more than 100 constituents gathered for a funeral. But this wasn’t a typical funeral — these Texans were gathered to mourn the loss of good, high-wage jobs in their state.

Mourners circled around a mock casket for “Good Jobs,” and Taps played in the background while Rev. Louis Dorsey eulogized. “I used to be middle class!” One woman cried out during the ceremony. Constituents also chanted “Hey, hey, what do you say? How many jobs have you killed today?”

DORSEY: My brothers and my sisters, we are assembled here today to mourn the passing of Good Jobs in Texas. Jobs died because of a steady influx of minimum wage jobs, tax breaks for corporations and the super-rich, and the policies of politicians like Rep. John Culberson.

Watch it:



Dorsey continued: “Good Jobs were much loved and appreciated by all here today. This loss is tragic because it is the result of reckless greed on Wall Street and in Congress. While the grief we endure for the loss of Good Jobs is great, we must not let this tragedy continue to happen.” A longer version of the video is available here.

The rally was organized by Good Jobs = Great Houston, and was intended to illustrate “how politicians like Culberson are deliberately pursuing policies that are killing jobs across Texas.” The constituents at Culberson’s office included unemployed workers who want the congressman to start prioritizing their needs over corporate balance sheets.

According to the organization, they seek to hold Culberson accountable “for voting for legislation that could kill 1.8 million jobs nationwide and over 200,000 in Texas.” Texas is currently tied with Mississippi for the highest percentage of minimum wage jobs in the nation, while “the median hourly earnings for all Texas workers was $11.20 per hour in 2010, compared to the national median of $12.50 per hour.”

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John Cumbersome is such a malodorous sack of excrement that, should he have noticed this protest at all, probably reacted first with the usual contempt he displays for his constituents and then with surprise that he had any black ones in his district. The one good thing I can say about the man is that at least he's not barnstorming Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina bragging about all the minimum wage jobs he's created.

I met the candidate last night that plans to challenge Culberson next year, and she is a real firecracker. Thank goodness he won't get another free pass.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that the Texas Democratic Women of Harris County are sponsoring a Blogger's Panel, featuring several Houston members tonight, as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff has one piece of advice for President Obama regarding Rick Perry's presidential ambitions.

The already-existing field of Republican presidential candidates -- along with former Bush administration officials and even the current occupants of the White House -- reacted to Rick Perry's entry into the race, and Letters from Texas reacted to their reaction. The conclusion: they're all screwing this up.

Bay Area Houston says that fact-checking Rick Perry is not for the ignorant.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is amazed that the always-crazy Congressman Peter King wants Rick Perry to tone it down. No doubt that today's republican is looking to nominate the mayor of crazy town.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the horror that often is the Williamson County justice and DA John Bradley. A man has spent 24 years in jail for a crime he did not commit -- truly a tragic story.

From Iowa corn dog porn, to "gaps" in the theory of evolution, to passive-aggressive assaults on Ben Bernanke and from Karl Rove, Rick Perry had a no good, very bad first week on the national stage. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs documents the governor's gaffes, faux pas and self-administered gunshots to both cowboy-booted feet.

This week on Left of College Station Teddy continues the "Rick Perry's Texas" series by looking at innocent executions, college denied, child poverty, and even a chart showing that, despite the governor's belief in the 'free market', Keynes has come to Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal said this week that while circumstance matters, it is best not to let others construct your reality.

Sunday Evening Funnies - Traitorous Treasonous Anti-American edition

TDW Blogger Panel tomorrow evening

Eight of us talking instead of typing ... but not all at once.

Security will be tight. Bags screened and weapons confiscated at the door. (It's to keep out the angry white Republican males like Matt and Greg and their deranged, mad-dog buddies.)

Sunday Funnies - The Gripes of Wrath edition

Rick Perry's no good, very bad week

It's only been a week and a half since Governor Profit was praised to the heavens -- or at least to the inside of Reliant Stadium's roof -- and already Republicans of all stripes seem to be worn out with his Texas charm. Just look at this list of news stories in the days since last Saturday's Iowa straw poll:

The cultural right was miffed that he didn't want to beat the shit out of brown kids, having signed the Texas version of the DREAM Act into law. The Wall Street right, thinking they had their guy, recoiled in horror as Perry boasted of beating the shit out of Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke if he made his way down to Texas.

Suddenly, that GOP establishment isn't looking too favorably on the Texan. The Bush crowd, still a dominant force in the Republican Party, has led the assault. Even the Wall Street Journal got in on the act, running this headline with apparently no intended irony: "Rick Perry's Crony Capitalism Problem".

The WSJ is just now discovering Rick Perry has a crony capitalist problem?! Maybe Rupert Murdoch's cellphone hackers were too busy with other people.

Just today, these items.

-- The governor's theory on the theory of evolution draws scorn in the Granite State.

-- Ron Paul laughingly declares that Perry "makes me look like a moderate", and then proceeds to dynamite his own premise by saying:

"I have never once said that Bernanke has committed treason. But I have suggested very strongly that the Federal Reserve system and all the members have been counterfeiters for a long time."

To wild applause from the assembled Paulites.

-- Perry can’t defend his claim to a woman in a cafe' that Social Security is unconstitutional because he’s ‘got a big mouthful’ of delicious New Hampshire popover. (Forget those nasty veggie corndogs; popovers are the shiznit.)

-- His spokesperson Ray Sullivan denies ever knowing that Perry, in fact, has said that Social Security was unconstitutional.

This on the heels of Karl Rove's broadsides, and the investment the governor made in a porn film distribution business, a story our very own Burnt Orange Report broke in 1995. (It's nice when the media finds what we've been writing for years, isn't it?)

Nothing about secession or Al Gore, but plenty about his record as a twenty-five-year career politician. Ben Sherman has some additional linkage on the governor's week from hell, and Katherine Haenschen notes that The Response attendees are being targeted for voter registration efforts. Additional proof that the prayer event wasn't a political rally, of course.

That kind of assault might ironically help Perry—one of his biggest liabilities is the perception that he's the establishment choice in a decidedly anti-establishment year—but it doesn't solve the problem of those DC and Wall Street Republicans looking for someone electable in the general election.

Now to be clear, that establishment would be happy enough with Mitt Romney. He's a hedge fund manager's wet dream, and party bosses who actually want to beat President Barack Obama in 2012 can point to polling showing Romney giving Obama the toughest challenge (by a long shot). But they all also know Romney ain't getting past the teabagger crowd. So who is that magic person who can win the nomination and still be electable nationally in the general?

Perry ain't it. They've obviously concluded that. Hence the rampant speculation today that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and anti-Medicare jihadist Rep. Paul Ryan might be exploring the race.

Next?