Madame Mayor's re-election chances

They're pretty good. It really doesn't have all that much to do with Ben Hall, either.

"Hall is a formidable challenger but is a long shot to unseat the mayor," University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said in an email.

Rottinghaus noted Hall's funding capability, his vision and his qualifications but suggested that "with Parker's nationalizing profile and perceptions of her doing a good job, it is a more uphill fight."

Rottinghaus added that Parker's most formidable challenge may not be Hall, per se, but a crowded primary field that could squeeze her out of a runoff. "In a runoff, a well-funded candidate like Hall that can put the right coalition together could have a chance," he said. "This may be the model -- almost successful for Gene Locke -- that Hall is looking to create."

Uh, no. Charles is correct. The Chron could not write this story, though, without kissing the ring of the Quitter. Just. Like. Always.

Former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said he and (HCRP chair Jared) Woodfill discussed the possibility of him running for mayor but said his interest was predicated on the possibility that Parker may leave office early to take a position in the Obama administration, thus necessitating a special election.

"In a special election, I could see what the party chairman is pitching, because that's a low-turnout scenario that would be favorable to Republicans," he said.

Bettencourt also suggested that Hall's candidacy was based, at least initially, on the possibility that the mayor would leave office early.

"The glacier's moving," he said. "The question is, where is it going to stop?"

Quittencourt gets one thing right here: he cannot beat Annise Parker.

In fact, Parker doesn't lose unless she gets a medium-strength challenger from her left. And then a conservative, pro-business, religious African American like Hall has a chance -- but not in a head-to-head runoff against the mayor; her ground game is too strong.

See, Annise Parker is really the moderate Republicans' best choice. The only people who have supported the mayor in her previous two races that will not do so again are whatever exists of a progressive voting bloc. It might be enough of the electorate -- 10 to 15% -- to be a factor in the open primary... but it might not.

Oh, there will be one or two fringe Republican options -- a Christianist and a cut-taxes corporatist -- but neither will be named Bettencourt. It wouldn't be close; she'd whip his ass.

The rumor-mongering about Parker taking a job in the Obama administration is nothing but that. Nobody except a handful of Republicans are saying it, and they don't know what they are talking about.

The early line is on the mayor. But her odds were much better two years ago, and she nearly coughed up a big lead then. Expect there to be some kind of a Green Party/Kubosh brothers alliance as there has been over a few policy disagreements, like with the food-sharing ordinance and Parker's handling of the Occupy Houston ejection.

At this point the mayor's chances are good, but they decrease a little every day.

MLK and Inauguration Day Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes President Obama all the best at the start of his second term as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at the January finance reports for SD06 candidates.

Out of fairness alone, the areas that had to sacrifice during the bad times should be taken care of first, once good times return. But as WCNews at Eye on Williamson points out, that's unlikely to change without a lot of public pressure: The budget, fear, and ideology.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that Blake Farenthold and his fellow Congressional Republicans voted against hurricane Sandy relief. Do hurricanes or tornadoes ever hit Texas? Too bad for us.

The Asshats on Parade, sponsored by PDiddie's Brains and Eggs, included Lance Armstrong, Dick Cheney, Manti Te'o, and Ed Emmett.  

BossKitty at TruthHugger almost decided to skip writing an article this week, but the number of exploiters in high places is just too overwhelming: America’s Disappointing Role Models.

Secession fun for everyone this week at McBlogger!

Neil at Texas Liberal posted his 6th annual updated Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. It is the best such resource on the web.

Viva Houston has the SD-6 candidates on this morning, and more Texas news

-- Be sure and tune in immediately after This Weak with George Snufflelufagus -- or Press the Meat or Facepalm the Nation or whichever panel of Talking Heads you have been listening to. Among the few policy questions that get asked, you'll get to hear Susan Delgado say that she is qualified to serve as a Texas Senator because she slept with Mario Gallegos.

Seriously.



-- Jack Christie goes all Todd Akin on influenza.

An attack on flu vaccinations by a Houston City Council member has drawn fire from medical officials, as patients with influenza symptoms continue to fill emergency rooms across the country.

As the council considered a proposal Wednesday to accept $3.1 million in federal funding for childhood immunizations, Councilman Jack Christie voiced his opposition to the measure, apparently conflating it with flu vaccinations.

"I'm going to vote against this," Christie said before the 15-1 vote. "You don't die from the flu." 

Naturally, the Republican chiropractor made things worse when he tried to explain.

Christie backed down somewhat from his comment on Friday. What he meant to say, he said, was that "People should not die from the flu."

"First of all, that's $3 million that the federal government doesn't really have," Christie said of the funding proposal. "It's borrowed money we eventually have to pay back. But more important is the media's embellishment of the extreme fear of encouraging flu vaccinations.

"Every year there's going to be a flu," he said, "and vaccines create synthetic immunity, which does not trump natural immunity to disease."

People might have forgotten that Christie was once the chair of the Texas State Board of Education not so long ago. Charles breaks it down, but you should be reminded that Christie is the guy that Bill White endorsed over the incumbent progressive Democrat, Jolanda Jones, in 2011 for this at-large council seat. There were quite a few blog posts around town -- and out of town -- regarding that.

The White/Christie alliance is a nearly perfect microcosm of everything that is wrong with Houston municipal politics (and two-party politics generally).

--- John Cornyn and Ted Cruz listen closely as the architect of three Texas counties' initiative in opting out of Social Security explains how he did it. No excerpt; you need to go read (and listen) to it. And then Google the name Rick Gornto. Or read this.

Let's get clear: Republicans are going to take away your Social Security long before Obama takes away anybody's gun. Or bullets. Or clips or magazines.

Sunday Funnies

Finally... don't shoot the messenger, my Democratic friends...

The East End Leaders sign their letter

So I asked a few questions and, yesterday evening in my inbox, received a response.

The following are East End Civic/Community Leaders responded to Council Member James Rodriguez's January 8, 2013 statement:

Robert Gallegos

Elisa Gonzales

Angie Martinez

Steve Parker

Gloria Moreno

Victor Villarreal

Sylvia Medina

Julio Del Carpio

James Dinkins

We stand on our response. This is a big deal to us because there is a bigger issue here. Thanks again to Mayor Parker’s leadership for approving the underpass and the new Metro, and numerous Council Members who were also instrumental in securing the required funding for the underpass in 2011.   

As active East End Civic/Community Leaders, we are continuously seeking transparency, honesty, and integrity from our elected officials.

Thank you for that, folks. I have, however, some more questions.

-- What is the bigger issue to which you refer?

-- Why is the underpass still a big issue in 2013?

-- Why are you picking old battles to re-fight? You have a transcontinental oil pipeline about to deliver the world's dirtiest oil right to your doorstep, which will poison your children even worse than they are already being poisoned, and you choose instead to quarrel about a highway underpass... that was resolved in 2011?

If the bigger issue is "transparency, honesty, and integrity", then I don't see why that very valid concern isn't being applied to the current challenges facing SD-6, like funding public schools or increasing voter turnout from last in the state among Senate districts. Or perhaps even the vast sums of money being raised and spent by the two front-runners in the open primary -- since that's pretty much the only thing the rest of the media writing about this race seem interested in reporting.

(Since you didn't mention 'jobs' -- as someone barked out at a recent forum when the pipeline topic came up -- I will assume that's not a top concern of yours.)

I must be missing something here. Sorry; still don't get it. Help me out.

Asshats on Parade

No locals. Not even Marc Campos. But plenty of Texans.

Lance Armstrong might be the world's most massive asshat...

This was a glimmer of the true Lance Armstrong coming out. No Nike commercial edits. No press conference sound bites. No glowing magazine profiles. This was the guy who left scores and scores of people cursing that their paths ever crossed.

It's not about the bike, indeed. This was about Lance's sociopathic spectacle.

At one point during the interview, he couldn't recall how many people he'd sued. Really. He not only didn't know the number, he couldn't even be sure when asked about specific individuals that his mighty, powerful legal team relentlessly tried to bury.

It's worth noting that many of the people he's sued through the years in an effort to protect his lies and glory were one-time close friends, roommates, teammates, business partners and associates.

Is there another person in America who has sued so many people he once liked – for telling the truth, mind you – that he can't remember all of them? Anyone?

... were it not for Dick Cheney.

For Cheney’s critics, the (forthcoming biographical) film is unlikely to change their opinions.

From its opening moments, Cheney seems as defiant as ever about criticism that he went too far in the policies he pushed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“The ones that spend all their time trying to be loved by everybody probably aren’t doing much. If you aren’t prepared to have critics, to be subject to criticism, you’re in the wrong line of work,” Cheney bluntly declares in the film. “ If you want to be loved, go be a movie star.”

The former vice president ... speaks at length about the controversies that embroiled his vice presidency. He continues to defend the Bush administration’s embrace of enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, which is widely considered a form of torture. President Barack Obama banned the use of waterboarding when he took office in 2009.

"Are you going to trade the lives of other people because you want to preserve your honor?" Cheney replies when asked about waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques. "You do what’s required. That’s not a close call for me."

And Cheney continues to deflect criticism that his office exaggerated intelligence findings that claimed Iraq President Saddam Hussein’s was pursuing weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaida—claims that later turned out to be false.

There's an important distinction between these sociopaths: while Armstrong merely destroyed other people's lives, Cheney had them killed. In every conceivable fashion -- men, women, children; blown up, shot, tortured, drowned, poisoned. You have to sit in awe of a man so consumed with evil he ruined his own heart... then received another by the grace of America's taxpayers. What a country!

I am being as kind as can be in calling Dick Cheney a sociopath, when in fact he meets all the qualifications of a psychopath.

While it's impossible to top those two men, Manti Te'o is doing his best from his small perch.

Not once but twice after he supposedly discovered his online girlfriend of three years never even existed, Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o perpetuated the heartbreaking story about her death.

An Associated Press review of news coverage found that the Heisman Trophy runner-up talked about his doomed love in a Web interview on Dec. 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10. He and the university said Wednesday that he learned on Dec. 6 that it was all a hoax, that not only wasn't she dead, she wasn't real.

Yeah, nobody died except for his imaginary girlfriend, and nobody is actually getting destroyed except for him and a few journalists' reputations. Lance thanks you, Manti, for breaking your news this week. Once again, one has to be awestruck by the fact that the University of Notre Dame made a bigger deal of the nonexistent dead girl than they did the real one who killed herself after being raped by a Notre Dame football player.

Speaking of damaging one's future prospects, Chris Christie seems to be taking himself out of the running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Blunt-speaking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, thought to be eyeing a 2016 run for the Republican presidential nomination, blasted an NRA ad that mentions President Barack Obama's daughters as "reprehensible" and warned it "demeans" the powerful gun-rights group.

"To talk about the president’s children, or any public officer’s children, who have—not by their own choice, but by requirement—to have protection, and to use that somehow to try to make a political point is reprehensible," Christie said.

Christie is far from being an asshat in this regard. But his political future in the GOP seems extremely limited at this point. The GOTeaP just will not tolerate this kind of dissension in the ranks. What is he thinking?!

And from the "if-you-can't-win-playing-by-the-rules-then-change-the-rules" department:

From Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, GOP officials who control legislatures in states that supported President Barack Obama are considering changing state laws that give the winner of a state's popular vote all of its Electoral College votes, too. Instead, these officials want Electoral College votes to be divided proportionally, a move that could transform the way the country elects its president.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus endorsed the idea this week, and other Republican leaders support it, too, suggesting that the effort may be gaining momentum. There are other signs that Republican state legislators, governors and veteran political strategists are seriously considering making the shift as the GOP looks to rebound from presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Electoral College shellacking and the demographic changes that threaten the party's long-term political prospects.

Expect this to happen. But not in Texas; they don't need the help.

Finally... I lied; one local asshat.

New freeways are few and far between in Harris County – and may one day be a thing of the past, according to Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

“No one likes to pay a toll but many would rather pay a toll to get a road than not have anything to drive on,” he said. “What’s interesting is that people love to talk about free roads and toll roads, when never there was such a thing as a free road. It was all built with tax dollars. It just so happens you can drive on it for free.”

This is what passes for moderate conservative logic these days. That's not to say that a blind hog can't occasionally find an acorn.

The county is also working to decentralize hospitals, bringing more clinics throughout unincorporated areas to meet demand, said Emmett.

“People got used to the idea that poor people and indigents lived in certain areas,” he said. “Well they don’t. They live all over the county. One of the arguments we’re having with the hospital district is we’re trying to get them out of brick and mortar and into neighborhood clinics because we’ve got to do a better job of providing for the many indigents.”

Having clinics throughout the area would give lower income people better access to preventative care. The health care crisis has forced many of the uninsured to seek the most expensive, least effective form of health care— in emergency rooms.

“The bottom line is the counties need to define how to best provide preventative health services,” said Emmett.

Deinstitutionalization has also shifted the mentally ill population from asylums to jails, said Emmett. “It’s amazing the Harris County jail is one of the largest mental health facilities in Texas,” said Emmett. “That’s fundamentally wrong. We've got to do better at delivering mental health services.”

This is surprisingly thoughtful and empathetic, two qualities in short supply -- and in danger of being rejected -- by Republicans local, statewide, and nationwide. Like Christie in the previous, this isn't conducive to long-term political viability.

Nowhere, however, does Emmett mention the real solution: raising taxes. That's the asshat part. Let's wrap this up, Ed...

Harris County’s non-attainment designation by the EPA, which is given to areas that persistently exceed federal air quality standards, has threatened industry, said Emmett. The Environmental Protection Agency reports vehicles using natural gas emit 25 percent less greenhouse gases than diesel-powered vehicles.

“If an industry wants to build a new facility they’re going to be restricted unless they find a way to come under EPA guidelines,” he said.

According to Emmett, local trucking companies were some of the first to switch to natural gas for its economic benefits, paying $1.50 to $2 less per gallon than gasoline. Now, he hopes other car manufacturers and companies will get on board.

It should be noted -- not by the county judge, of course -- that Harris County has not attained the EPA ozone emission guidelines established during the Carter administration. And here comes Keystone XL down the pipeline.

But that ain't the moneyshot. This is.

“The most important thing is to switch many vehicles to natural gas,” said Emmett. "Natural gas we have in abundance. The most important thing is it’s non-polluting.”

So in Hunker-Down World, "25 percent less" = "non-polluting".

I knew you wouldn't let me down, Judge.

Dear Abby, dear Abby

Dear Abby, dear Abby:

My feet are too long
My hair's falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that I've no friends at all
Won't you write me a letter, won't you give me a call
Signed... Bewildered

Bewildered, bewildered:

You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

Dear Abby, dear Abby:

My fountain pen leaks
My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks
Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed
If it weren't so expensive I'd wish I were dead
Signed ...Unhappy

Unhappy, unhappy:

You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

Dear Abby, dear Abby:

You won't believe this
But my stomach makes noises whenever I kiss
My girlfriend tells me it's all in my head
But my stomach tells me to write you instead
Signed ...Noisemaker

Noisemaker, noisemaker:

You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

 Dear Abby, dear Abby:

Well I never thought
That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught
We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze
With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees
Signed... Just Married

Just Married, just married:

You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

Signed... Dear Abby.

RIP, Pauline/Abigail.

The Texas crazy got a little worse this week.

Juanita's been documenting the contagion, so I'm just gravy-training.

Let's open with the AG.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has a message for New Yorkers who don’t like their state’s new gun-control measures. Move to Texas.

On Wednesday, New Yorkers in Manhattan and Albany began seeing two web ads, paid for with Abbott campaign funds, and designed to tug on their holster strings. According to The Austin American-Statesman, the text of one ad reads: “Is Gov. Cuomo looking to take your guns? Sick of the media outing law abiding gun owners? Are you a lawful NY gun owner seeking lower taxes?” The second ad reads: “Wanted: Law abiding New York gun owners looking for lower taxes and greater opportunity.”

His gubernatorial campaign is under way, ladies and gentlemen. Hey, he's gotta spend that $18 million on something, and I can think of a lot worse things than online advertising.

Let's double down with the governor.

Gov. Rick Perry recommended prayer rather than changes in gun laws to combat violence in society, following President Obama’s call for increased gun control and enforcement.

“There is evil prowling in the world – it shows up in our movies, video games and online fascinations, and finds its way into vulnerable hearts and minds,” Perry said in a statement issued after the president’s Washington, D.C., news conference on gun violence. “As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.”

You know, because praying worked so well with ending the statewide drought a couple of summers ago. And finally, let's push all in with Steve Stockman...

U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, said in a statement today that he would “thwart” any executive action by Obama “by any means necessary including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House and even filing articles of impeachment.”

Stockman has a history of fighting gun control. He ran for Congress in 1994 and defeated veteran Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont, who had sponsored legislation to ban the sale of automatic assault  weapons.

... and Ted Poe:

Gun control measures discussed in Washington, D.C. are ‘hypocrisy at its highest,” claimed Rep. Ted Poe, recently in speech on the floor of the House. The Texas Republican argued that it’s easy for lawmakers to advocate gun control when they are surrounded by armed officers of the Capitol Police.

The Republican from Humble said:

“As I speak on the House floor, there are guns by the doors, to the North, to the South, to the East, to the West. On the roof, on all of the entrances and by the steps. The excellent armed guards of the excellent Capitol police protecting us. But most of the citizens don’t have government guards protecting them twenty-four/seven. Many people feel defenseless. Some people of this Chamber want protection for themselves, while advocating more restrictions on guns for the people of America. Hypocrisy at its highest.”

According to Poe, some of his colleagues want to keep special protection for themselves while “red-lining Second Amendment.”

“They say protection for me, but not for thee,” Poe said.

You don't have to be batshit insane to live in Texas. But you certainly are if you voted for any of these wads.

Update: Jon Stewart, as he usually does, speaks for me.

Update II: I'm also going to work a little harder at taking Rachel's advice and stop feeding the trolls.

Garcia surrogates push back against Rodriguez, Alvarado

From the inbox this morning (the address is eastendleaders@gmail.com, which is meant to camouflage the real source). If you're scoring, it's in response to CM James Rodriguez last week.

As East End Community Leaders, we have come together to show that we have always been opposed to an overpass during the leadership of the old METRO in 2008.

The documents linked to this statement show evidence that Council Member Rodriguez is misleading voters in his recent January 8, 2013 statement trying to defend State Representative’s Carol Alvarado’s conflict of interest as a paid consultant (attached) to the old METRO leadership. State Representative Alvarado was being paid by the old METRO leadership to advocate for an overpass at Harrisburg while her constituents in the east end opposed it.

 In January of 2009, METRO sent a letter to CM Rodriguez stating that a commitment was made by Council Member Rodriguez to build an overpass.

We have 8 different letters from East End civic groups and business leaders written in December 2008 and January of 2009 showing that the residents and businesses of the east end support an underpass rather than an overpass. While Council Member Rodriguez was committed to an overpass, State Representative Alvarado was employed by METRO as a consultant; therefore disappointing her constituents for not advocating an underpass.

Commissioner Sylvia Garcia has stood with the merchants and civic leaders in the east end saying she would join our rallying shout “it’s not over, until it is under.”

We want to acknowledge Mayor Annise Parker’s leadership for approving the underpass and the new METRO, and numerous council members who were also instrumental in securing the required funding for the underpass in 2011.

As active East End Community Leaders, we are continuously seeking transparency, honesty, and integrity from our elected officials. 

Emphasis on the words "underpass" and "overpass" in the above is theirs. No 'East End Leader' signed this letter, so unless someone(s) claims it, I'll call it as belonging to the Garcia campaign.

Is this a big deal to the residents of SD-6? I will admit that I just don't see how pivotal this spat is in the grand scheme. Bu then I'm not a resident of the district.

Anyone want to weigh in on this? Anyone not connected to a campaign, that is; just a voter in SD-6 with some knowledge of the issue. Help me understand why this disagreement is so pivotal now.

Stace had a report earlier today on the financials -- who's got it and how they spent it. The most interesting development in that disclosure is how Alvarado seems to be attracting the Republican money. Stace also has the vote total at about 3,400 (mail and in-person) as of yesterday. That's about 12% or so of Mark Jones' projection.

There have been reasonably good turnouts at the various community fora that have been held, but I have to be candid; I simply don't have any idea what to think about how this race will go at this point. If Garcia and Alvarado emerge as the top two (as both Kuffner and Jones have forecast), are they going to keep quarreling about underpass/overpass in the runoff?

Like there aren't more pressing issues to talk about?

One thing seems clear: the race certainly is on target for the most expensive dollar-per-vote tally witnessed in recent times.

Update: More on the money from Joe Holley. Because, you know, that's all that matters. Far be it from Charles to let anybody outdo him in this regard, however.

It's as if they don't really understand what the problem is. Truthfully... I think they do; they just don't want to address it. Thank goodness some people do.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is digging in for another long legislative session as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff has interviews with SD06 special election candidates Sylvia Garcia and Carol Alvarado.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is just appalled that the whole story isn't addressed: Of Course It’s Not Just Guns. Cut taxes, create a structural deficit, cut education and the safety net which results in a surplus. Rinse and repeat.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson wants to make sure everyone hasn't forgotten the past. Do you remember how we got here?

As early voting began, Brains and Eggs had the most comprehensive coverage of the special election to replace the late Mario Gallegos in the Texas Senate. A post on the protest at TransCanada, two posts on Sylvia Garcia's aggressive campaign against Carol Alvarado, a post on the candidate who boycotted one of the debates, and a post critical of the exceptionally lame media coverage of the election highlighted a busy week.

Over at Texas Kaos, lightseeker gives you the skivvy on the educational funding issue, including the latest lamebrain schemes from our Republican leaders. Check it out: Texas Education - The Same Old Fools In Charge Part 2.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted that a grave with a view of traffic would be a fitting end to an urban Houston life.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that Rick Perry has doubled down on corporate greed and Tea Party crazy.

Garcia hits Alvarado again and more SD-6

From the Sylvia Garcia campaign, and in my e-mail inbox yesterday morning, with much of the campaign promotion verbiage edited...

One of our opponents in this race, Carol Alvarado, is proudly touting the endorsement and support of Stand for Children, an education advocacy group that supports school voucher programs. This group has earned a reputation for working against the interests of public school teachers across the nation.

Republicans like Sen. Dan Patrick and Gov. Rick Perry have made it clear that they will work to push through school voucher legislation during Session. Sylvia Garcia strongly believes in fully funding our public schools, not using those dollars to help wealthy private schools take money away from our children. 

I should think this charge would be a legitimate concern for SD-6 voters, especially those who are teachers and parents of public school students. Follow the links in the above and you will see why.  I have to say I am surprised that Alvarado -- or any Democrat, for that matter -- would align herself with the allies of Dan Patrick and vouchers.

(And I can't help but think about how nasty a possible runoff between Garcia and Alvarado is going to get.)

I waited until now to post this, thinking the Alvarado campaign would have a reaction. So far, nothing I can find. Marc Campos -- no update since Friday morning -- is exercising a significant amount of caution, limiting much of his babble to the Baseball Hall of Fame developments at the end of the business week. Campaigns obviously don't go dark on the weekends in the middle of early voting, so perhaps they're formulating a response.

If one shows up, I'll amend this post with it. Update (1/14): This morning's post has this...

Carol Alvarado’s opponent sent out another negative mailer Saturday.  That’s three negative mailers in six days.  We expect more.

And that's it.

Elsewhere, Stace's Dos Centavos has a good report on the NHPO candidate forum, also yesterday morning. No mention of the issue by any of the candidates, though. I received the p.r. referenced above about 10 a.m., so the absence of topic discussion may have more to do with that timing than anything else.

And Charles Kuffner has a few very good questions for Maria Selva.

Sunday Funnies

"No one's taking away all the guns. But now I get it... now I see what's happening. So this is what it is: their paranoid fear of a 'possible' dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present. We can't even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually, in reality, happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of Imaginary Hitler." 

-- Jon Stewart

"Chuck Hagel is the new Secretary of Defense nominee. They're saying that he may be reluctant to send troops into a war zone needlessly. What kind of a nutjob is this guy?"

--David Letterman

"Folks, once Jack Lew becomes Secretary of the Treasury, this pubic hair masquerading as an autograph will appear on all our money, making our currency a laughingstock! Our money should have nothing ridiculous on it… just old men in wigs and pyramids with eyes." 

-- Stephen Colbert

"Chris Christie lashed out at Congress for doing nothing for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. But in their defense Congress says, 'Hey, we don't do anything for anybody.'" 

-- Jay Leno