Sunday Funnies

Scott Prouty's "47%" video blackballed by Kossacks

So if you watched "The Ed Show" last night, you saw the bartender who recorded Mitt Romney's loose lips that sank his own ship. It was a Hall-of-Fame moment in populist political activism.

Prouty, a Midwest native, took his Canon camera to the fundraiser, thinking Romney might pose for photos with the event staff. Instead, he captured Romney speaking about "the 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing."

The bartender said in a series of embargoed phone and in-person interviews with The Huffington Post that he decided to make the video public and posted clips online, hoping they would go viral.

There's more at this HuffPo link about Prouty, who is about as unlikely a progressive patriot as we are likely to get in the Social Media Golden Age. He could have made an enormous amount of money long ago (still might, hope he does), but he was motivated by things other than that after he left the Boca Raton fundraiser that mid-May, 2012 evening. The timeline of how the momentum was slow to build is here. But the most interesting thing to me is that the denizens of the alleged progressive community Daily Kos got Prouty blocked after just a few snips of his video were uploaded to the site.

"There was some pushback from people you wouldn't expect to push back," he told The Huffington Post. "To be banned from Daily Kos -- I had been a longtime reader. ... That was maybe the biggest surprise."

His profile is still accessible on Daily Kos, but individual items have been taken down.

The man said that other Daily Kos community members accused him of posting fake videos and didn't believe his protestations to the contrary. "They later apologized. Kos chastised the community," the man said.

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas explained in an email to HuffPost that the filmmaker had "posted 6-second clips of audio, without offering any proof or further authentication. The Daily Kos community is hyper-sensitive to people trying to play them for fools, and his claims weren't borne out by the audio clips he was posting." (The clips can be found here.)

That is one big black eye for the Great Orange Satan. Some Kos diarists still seem to be insistent on killing the messenger in order to feel righteous about having stifled the message and thus protected the website's, ah, reputation.

I have a lot of appreciation for what DK does generally, but this episode highlights one of the worst things about online fora ('communities', they prefer): this incestuous tendency to refuse, even blackball, those who don't buy into the groupthink. It's why I have moved to reading them to see what's being disseminated and not what's being discussed -- same as with places like Democratic Underground, and even the Chron.com comments underneath the stories there. I sill like to play in those sandboxes, but spend a lot less time there than I used to. It had the end result of simply being a massive waste of time and effort.

It's not just that those opportunities for self-expression can result in a reader losing faith in the human race (they can); it's that they are no longer populated by people with whom you want to have a conversation, civil or otherwise. There's some wheat there, but you have to wade through too much chaff to get to it. If you have more than 1000 people in your Twitter or Facebook feed, you know what I'm talking about: too many rants, too many comedians, too much bragging about what's being seen, done, and eaten; too many prayers and prayer solicitations... you get the idea. And culling the narcissists and publicity hounds is not enough. You have to defuse the urge in yourself to follow the herd in "building your brand".

So now I just concentrate on my little shop here and if people want to read what I write, fine. I'm well off the beaten path anyway and certainly not everybody's cup of tea. The problem, as Prouty has learned, is that even when you know you've got something newsworthy, it's difficult to get noticed.

"It was harder than you imagine to get the story out there," (Prouty) said.

Maybe this is a good thing for the left: some self-vetting. We have always been less likely to advance things like "Friends of Hamas", for example.

Anyway, the moral of the story remains 'be careful about what you read on the Internet'. Even here. ;^)

Pontificating

To pontificate is to talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner. To pontificate properly, you need to be a know-it-all with very strong opinions and the urge to share them.

I obviously fit the bill.

As the Cardinals go on techno-lockdown to pick from amongst themselves a leader to guide the Church away from the shoals of misfortune, bad judgment, and pertinacious thinking that brought them to this moment in history, I have to say that I will be marginally encouraged if they choose a non-European (but not an American. That would demonstrate more enabling behavior, IMO).

Try out the Pontifficator here, before we get the holy smoke. I couldn't find this guy among the photos, spring break or otherwise. And I'm thinking this guy deserves to win on the strength of his headgear alone.

Update (3/13/13): Habemus Papam Franciscum.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is a little groggy and stumbling in the dark as it springs forward to bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff wrapped up his analysis of 2012 election returns versus 2008 returns with a look at the Congressional districts, and a suggestion for where Democrats should look next.

The prognosis for Medicaid expansion in Texas -- after a huge rally at the Capitol and many committee meetings and statements from legislators -- still appears to be guarded, observes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.  

WCNews at Eye on Williamson believes there's no other conclusion to be drawn from SCOTX Justice Wallace Jefferson's State of the Judiciary speech this week: The Texas justice system is broken.

From McBlogger's Please God, Make It Stop! file comes Kinky Friedman 2014.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes that John Cornyn, one of 22 Republican men in the Senate who voted against the Violence Against Women Act, is now claiming credit. Cornyn was one of 30 Senate Republican men who voted against the Franken anti-rape amendment in 2010. What a prince Cornyn is.

Neil at Texas Liberal is in Los Angeles this week. Neil posted a picture of a Los Angeles police helicopter flying over Santa Monica Beach as the sun sets. This type of surveillance is far more picturesque than a drone hovering over you snapping pictures.

=======================

And here are some posts of interest from other blogs around Texas.

Better Texas Blog reminds us that Texas' public pensions are on sound financial footing.

Texas Leftist thinks the "Arkansas option" for Medicaid expansion isn't a good idea for Texas.

Socratic Gadfly notes that legislators tend to vastly overestimate how conservative their districts are.

The Great God Pan Is Dead reports that small press and independent comics are alive and well in Texas.

Burnt Orange Report says that if the Lege truly did give the people what they wanted, they'd restore funding to public education.

Juanita minces no words about Rick Perry.

Letters From Texas uses the math to remind us that John Cornyn is a fool.

The Rev. Beth Ellen Cooper writes about being lectured on morality by a couple of legislative staffers.

Mean Green Cougar Red has a few thoughts on Dubai becoming a hub for international air travel.

Texas Redistricting maps out what might happen to Texas' legislative districts after SCOTUS rules on the Voting Rights Act.

When In Session celebrates the bill filing deadline.

Lone Star Ma commemorates International Women's Day.

And while it doesn't have anything to do with politics, good beer news is always welcome.

Sunday Funnies

Two and a half candidates for mayor

I'll be having lunch today with the incumbent. The Chronic covered the challenger's announcement earlier this week (but put the story behind the paywall)...

Former Houston City Attorney Ben Hall formally launched his mayoral campaign against incumbent Annise Parker Wednesday night, decrying the burden of taxes and fees he said are driving city residents to the suburbs, and saying Houston's mayor must have a grander vision.

Mike Morris has a pretty good summary of the state of play today.

"A mayor must do more than simply balance a budget," he said. "A mayor must do more than simply dream of ways to tax and penalize residents. We need more than just a manager, we need a leader. And we need more than just a leader, we need a leader with vision, someone who sees a way out of this morass. You can continue the strangulation hold on the taxpayers and residents, or we can choose a different way forward … by opening up the city to the international marketplace."

Parker said Hall seemed to be describing "an alternative universe." Parker said she has led the city through a deep recession without raising taxes, and said the major fee imposed under her watch was a voter-approved drainage fee. As for international efforts, Parker said, the city recently has added direct flights to Turkey and China.

"I don't think I've ever heard any political candidate, but most especially a candidate for mayor, imply that it wasn't important to have a balanced budget," Parker said. "He clearly sees a different city than I see. The city of Houston is one of the best cities in America to live and work and raise a family. It is a magnet for the best and brightest from all over the world, and it continues to get better as we pull out of the recession. I see a city of growth and optimism."

Hall, who holds a law degree from Harvard University and master of divinity and doctoral degrees from Duke University, entered the 2009 mayor's race, but withdrew and supported Gene Locke, who lost to Parker in a runoff. Hall also considered running in 2011, when Parker narrowly missed a runoff against a group of unknowns, leading some to speculate she would be likely to draw a challenger this year.

Hall might have been a stronger candidate than Locke in '09, and could very well have prevailed in '11 when Mayor Parker was most vulnerable. Parker is riding the wave of the Houston economic tsunami, however, and has improved her standing in just about every measure. I agree with Bethel Nathan....

Hall has no moment of historic import going for him, Nathan explains.

“What’s the cry going to be? ‘Elect one of us?’” Nathan asked. “We already elected one of us,” Lee Brown, who served as mayor from 1998 to 2003.

[...]

“There’s nothing emotional that’s driving me to turn out in mass numbers for Ben Hall,” Nathan said. “The only thing Ben Hall does is take African-American votes from Annise Parker and make it possible for a white conservative” to win.

... and Mustafa Tameez.

"There's not a case to be made that she's an awful mayor and that if she was around for two more years it would be detrimental to Houston's future. The Houston economy has done well, there have been no major scandals and, for the most part, Houstonians like Annise Parker."

The last line of that Chron article mentions the 'half' candidate.

One other candidate has filed a campaign treasurer form indicating he may run: Green Party candidate Don Cook, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2009 and 2011.

I'll append this post later with any developments from our luncheon today.

Update: Greg adds...

The bigger, tactical mistake is Hall attempting to recreate the “Pincer Strategy” that didn’t work terribly well for it’s (sic) original practitioner, Gene Locke. There’s a big difference between winning broad Anglo GOP support and having a GOP consultant along with a fringe Republican Kubosh brother by your side at one of the way-too-many announcements of your candidacy.

Well, Hall can always hire Marc Campos.

Update: Since I have been a laggard at attending these, it was great to see so many new (to me) faces; Wayne from Texas Leftist and Stephanie TexansChick among others. And Ben Mendez, Rogene Calvert, Jenifer Rene Pool, and Lissa Squiers were just a few of the aspiring politicos. Here's some pics.