Sunday Funnies

Waiting for the skinny kid to fight back against the bullies. Still waiting.

The Audacity of Weakness.

So, (capitulating on the the day of his jobs program speech to Boehner) leads to the eternal question of whether Obama is just weak or if he is a brilliant strategist who has been playing rope-a-dope all along. I am so silly that I still had hope. My hope this morning was that Obama was laying a trap for the Republicans. He picks a day for his speech that is the same as the GOP debate. Then if Boehner says he won't let him give the speech on that day, he seems so petty and harsh.

That way, either the president gives his big speech on jobs and bigfoots the Republican contenders or the Republicans look disrespectful and petulant for turning down the president. Well, if you're playing rope-a-dope, that's not a bad maneuver. But it turns out that's not what he was doing at all. He just stumbled into this problem and then stumbled out when he let Boehner dictate when he could and could not have his speech. That looks so sad.

You see, if you're playing rope-a-dope, at some point you have to actually swing. When your opponent has worn himself out knocking you around the ring, you counter-attack. But that counter-attack is never coming. We're holding our collective breaths in vain.

Really, I go back all the way to the second debate with John McCain (the one where they stood at lecterns, not the first one where they sat on stools and walked around, or the third one where they sat at the 'newsdesk'). I watched it at a public venue, the Cotton Exchange bar in downtown Houston. Peter Brown sat right beside me. I was literally screaming "punch back!" at the television.

This must be how parents feel when they have a child who keeps getting bullied at school.

I long ago realized that Obama just wasn't a fighter. And the problem with that is -- see, people understand this instinctively -- if you won't fight back for yourself, you sure as hell won't fight for anybody else.

Why is this definitely not rope-a-dope? Because Obama hates risk. Even his most ardent supporters will tell you that he does not like to take big risks. He thinks it is imprudent. They see that as one of his strengths. McCain was a wild gambler, Obama was a cautious and smart poker player. That's why he won the election.

But would a man who dislikes risk that much risk his entire presidency on a strategy where he gets pummeled for three straight years and then finally comes out swinging at the very end? No way. That's a tremendous amount of risk. I don't mind taking plenty of risks, and I wouldn't do anything half that crazy.

No, the answer is much simpler. He doesn't realize he's getting pummeled. He thinks this is all still a genius strategy to capture centrists by compromising on every single little thing. He is not trying to put on an appearance of weakness to lull his opponent into a false sense of complacency. He doesn't even realize he is being weak. He's the one with the false sense of complacency. As he's getting knocked around the ring, he thinks he's winning.

These guys in the Obama camp are in for a horrible, rude awakening. Sometime in the next year, they are going to blink and realize they are lying flat on their back on the canvas. Then as they finally stumble up, they'll realize they should have started fighting 11 rounds ago. Then a panic will set in, but I'm afraid it will be too late by then.

I feel like I'm watching that movie Million Dollar Baby, and the fight scenes where she gets mortally wounded are in slow motion. We still have over a year to go of this scene.

Here is what all voters, and especially independents, despise and disdain in a politician -- weakness. Nobody wants to see their leader get beat to a pulp every night and then bow his head again.

There is no secret, brilliant strategy. This White House is in a bubble. They think they're winning when the roof is about to cave in. 

Did I forget to mention that since he caved on his jobs speech, he also caved to the Republicans and the oil companies on EPA regulations?

But nothing tops the quarrel our nation's leaders had over a speech about jobs for America conflicting with a primary debate. And now that speech conflicts with the opening game of the NFL season. Thank goodness the NFL isn't whining about that.

Update: Oops. They did.

The Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints kick off at 8:30. Would the president mind too terribly much speaking before the game so as not to interfere? Once again, Obama obliged.

I suppose conflicting with the pre-game is no problem. The president should just be thankful he's not going up against American Idol. Or Dancing With the Stars.

We're all the way to Idiocracy now.

I think we're done. I know I am.

Update: Susan still holds a flicker of hope.

Amy Price for Houston City Council

I'm delighted to be assisting Ms. Price -- in an unpaid capacity -- with her campaign for the At Large #4 position on council. From the press release (prepared in part by yours truly):

"I’m proud of every hot, muggy, mosquito-infested, unique, culturally rich mile of this city. And it’s the people who make it special," said Price.

"We are able and resourceful, determined and compassionate. And I know that if we work together, we can continue to keep Houston an example that will lead Texas and the nation out of these difficult times. 

"Houston has very fortunately avoided many of the challenges our state and country faces, but we haven't been immune to budget cuts, furloughed employees, and an uncertain forecast. It almost seems we’re watching from a far shore as our middle class shrinks, social services disappear, and our children face a future of fewer opportunities. It’s tempting to give up on fixing -- much less healing -- our society and just settle for holding our ground. But trying to hold ground is exactly how we’ve lost ground. It’s time to bridge the gulf between public policy and the democratic ideals that shaped this country, state and city, and our City Council needs someone who will represent the working class people of Houston. The wealthy special interests already are well-represented."

If you believe that the services city government provides, such as ...

• policemen and firemen having all the resources they need to do their jobs effectively;
• fixing potholes;
• picking up your garbage;
• and providing clean, safe, drinking water

... are not the kind of things that should be on a P/L statement, then Houstonians finally have that candidate. And her name is Amy Price.

That last part is the most important part of her campaign. Amy's opponents for At Large #4 are incumbent C.O. Bradford and Louis Molnar. Bradford, a former HPD chief, narrowly missed getting elected Harris County district attorney in 2008 before backing up and getting elected to the AL#4 slot in 2009. Here's a snip from the front page of Bradford's website:

Houston is about BUSINESS! A great number of people come here to start businesses, invest in businesses, and advance their careers.

What can and should the City be doing now? Tighten its belt, reduce spending, and provide relief for businesses and citizens. Businesses tend to flourish and citizens do better when they have as much free reign to operate legally and ethically as possible. Reducing some of the business burdens, especially while our local economy is sagging, is an incentive to reinvest, expand, and grow businesses when possible. In my view, this is how we help create more jobs, boost our local economy, and increase revenues.

Sounds almost like a Tea Partier talking, doesn't it? Since Bradford ran for DA as a Democrat in '08, he's been busy consorting with every manner of Republican as he eyes higher office (mayor in '13 against Annise Parker?). Rumors earlier this year were hot and heavy that he was going to take a shot this cycle, but Parker's war chest -- among other things -- must have scared him off.

Bradford wears the long-running scandals of the HPD crime lab around his neck like an albatross, yet that hasn't slowed his political career much. Do Houston voters just look over it or do they even know?

Here's a bit from Molnar's website:

Houstonians need City Council to use their tax dollars efficiently and wisely. This means we need to look for new ways to stretch our budget dollars. We need innovation to make our money go further, and we should encourage a culture of cost-savings. Our economy is not the same as it was a few years ago. Doing more with less is the new way of doing things, and it’s time we take a hard-line approach to the reality of today’s Houston.

Ah, an austerity lecture. The only thing that's missing is a few Teabaggers yelling "cut, cut, cut" in the background.

These two men are the living embodiment of "business as usual" at City Hall. They wear expensive suits, have already spent large amounts of money on their campaigns -- Bradford allegedly invested $5,000 in a campaign song -- and seem to be relishing the opportunity to continue cutting essential city services.

Price, a psychotherapist by profession and a violin teacher by vocation, is NOT going to be "business as usual". That much is certain.

Find Amy on Facebook here and follow Amy on Twitter here.

The Weekly 'Good Night Irene' Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance, which has some experience in these matters, extends best wishes to the east coast as it recovers from Hurricane Irene. Here now is the roundup ...

Off the Kuff notes that Texas' unemployment rate is at its highest level since the days of the oil bust. Maybe firing thousands of teachers and other public employees isn't such a hot idea.

Bay Area Houston picks up and posts the video of the Sanger ISD administrators who poked fun at Rick Perry in a Hee Haw sing-along skit.

A Houston city council candidate has affixed hundreds of his campaign signs to utility poles -- in violation of both city ordinance and the utility company's rules -- throughout the city, many of them 20- and 30-feet off the ground. This candidate, an attorney, blames "overzealous volunteers" and makes no promise to remove them. This candidate's name is Eric Dick. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs asks the (hopefully obvious) question: does Houston really need another dick on city council?

How can you tell that republicans are batsh*t crazy? Rick Perry has jumped to the top of the polls. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme has warned you for years.

Libby Shaw at TexasKaos has a roundup of Rick Perry's vast network of crony capitalists for inquiring minds. See Icky Ricky Perry, the Master of Pay to Play Politics.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson shows that state Sen. Steve Ogden needs to check his facts about who's to blame for the budget impasse last session: Ogden's false equivalency.

This week on Left of College Station Teddy continues to look at Rick Perry's Texas. From tort reform that doesn't deliver on promises to water infrastructure neglect that has left Texas a dry state; from crony capitalism that benefits Perry's campaign contributors to the fact that the Lone Star State has the highest percentage of uninsured in the nation. It's hard to mess with Texas when Perry already has.

Neil at Texas Liberal will be taking part in a spoken-word event and concert in Cincinnati on Saturday, September 3 to mark the release of the Aurore Press book Living In The Lap Of Labor. This book is a collection of essays about working in America. Neil has an essay in the book and will be reading from that essay. While it is unlikely you will be in Cincinnati in the week ahead, Neil asks you to stop on by and say hello if you are in fact in town.

Happy 175th birthday, Big Greasy

An outstanding essay by Lisa Gray.

In 1836, the place that would become Houston wasn't much of a place. The land was swampy, flat grassland, part of the low-lying Fever Coast. Buffalo Bayou wasn't deep enough to handle big steamships. And the parcel of raw land along its banks wasn't even the founders' first choice for the town they intended to develop. But the land was available immediately, and brothers John Kirby and Augustus Chapman Allen were in a hurry to start making their fortunes.

From the very beginning, in other words, Houston was the city we know today: an unlikely place; a city created as much by accident as by planning; a city in a hurry.

Somehow John Kirby Allen persuaded the young Republic of Texas to make Houston its capital. (It helped that the Allens had been clever enough to name the place after Sam Houston, the hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, soon to be elected president of the Republic.) But the little boomtown didn't last long as the republic's capital: Even by the standards of the Texas frontier, Houston was too raw, too muddy, too prone to mosquito-borne plagues. Disgusted, the legislators packed up and moved in 1839. And thus was established another of Houston's patterns: In the blink of an eye, it went from boom to bust.

Over the next 60 years, Houston fashioned itself as an agricultural center, a place where cotton was processed and shipped, a Southern town not unlike other sleepy little places that peppered the state. When Houstonians hungered for culture and urban life, they traveled to Galveston, a bigger city with a bigger port.

But at the turn of the century, again more by chance than by planning, two world-shaking events in other places changed everything about Houston. First came the Great Storm of 1900, the hurricane that struck Galveston, killing an estimated 8,000 people; it is still the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Businesses grew leery of shipping into Galveston.

And there, Houston saw its chance. Houston's businessmen had already made sure the city was crisscrossed by railroads, and now they hurried to make it an even greater business hub, to dredge out Buffalo Bayou on a grander scale, to make Houston into that strangest of things: an inland port.

The second world-shaking event came only a few months later, in 1901, when oil was struck in Beaumont, at Spindletop -- a gusher like nothing the world had seen before. Suddenly oil seemed plentiful, a fuel not just for lamps but for cars. Suddenly Texans were rich. And suddenly Houston -- with its railroads and growing port -- was an oil town, hub of a brand-new industry.

And that's how we acquired another of our habits: We began seeing the town as a connection, not a destination. The city proclaimed itself "where 17 railroads meet the sea." From Houston, you could go anywhere. It wasn't a town where people sat still.

By 1930, Houston was Texas' biggest city. And after World War II, fed by demand for all things petrochemical, it grew even faster.

Unlike older cities, it was a place shaped largely by cars - a spread-out, sprawling megalopolis, full of single-family ranch houses with big grassy yards, not tight-squeezed apartment buildings. The roads were wide and smooth; sidewalks, when they happened, were an afterthought. When a brand-new highway (like U.S. 59), plowed through a long-established neighborhood (like the Fifth Ward), that was counted as the price of progress. Speed and movement were everything.

The city continued to defy the elements. Houston prided itself on vanquishing nature, in triumphing over actual conditions on the ground. Bayous were channelized and paved, the twisty, slow-moving rivers turned into fast-moving drainage ditches. The city air-conditioned itself on a scale that amazed the rest of the world -- most gloriously, in the Astrodome, the world's first domed stadium, a place where even the grass was synthesized from petrochemicals. We called it the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

Read the rest here.

Sunday Funnies

Stephen King's Maine radio station will "burn some feet"

Outstanding news:

BANGOR, Maine — Horror novelist and Bangor radio station owner Stephen King announced on Tuesday a new talk radio show featuring a former vice presidential candidate and a former Maine secretary of state’s communications director.

“We wanted to shake things up a little bit in the market,” King said.

King, the owner of Zone Radio Corp, said WZON 103.1 FM and 620 AM will launch “The Pulse Morning Show” on Sept. 12. The show will air 6-10 a.m. on weekdays and online at www.zoneradio.com. The station also is expanding its news department.

King said he was thrilled his station could grow at a time when others have had to cut staff and decrease the amount of programming and production.

Former journalist, Bangor Daily News columnist, and gubernatorial candidate Pat LaMarche will be joined on the show by Don Cookson, a former reporter and communications director under Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

LaMarche was also the Green Party's vice-presidential candidate, with Ralph Nader at the top, in 2004.

LaMarche ... said the show would target politicians and public officials in Augusta and Washington, D.C., who push around Maine residents, especially those struggling with the welfare system.

“Nothing is more fun than standing up to a bully,” LaMarche said. “There’s an awful lot of bullying going on out there right now.”

What's great about this news -- besides King being a "job creator", that is -- is that the progressive media infrastructure continues to flourish, even at the local level.

Keith Olbermann and the new head of Current TV will be fleshing out the news division and filling the network with additional programming over the next year. Cenk Uygur left MSNBC and went back to his one-million-views-a-day online TV show "The Young Turks", and was replaced by the provocative Al Sharpton there permanently this week. Chris Hayes of The Nation has also picked up a weekend gig at MSNBC. The progressive blogosphere, which has always had the upper hand nationally and in Texas -- and even here in Houston -- is blossoming.

“We’d like to burn some feet once in a while — make some people a little bit angry,” King said. “There are some people who deserve to be taken to the woodshed from time to time.”

Yes, liberals who fight back simply enrage the Right even more. Judging solely from the responses I get here -- most of which, sadly, are so obnoxious that they never get published -- the pushback we perform has the same result.

Heh.