What's Wrong with US Media, Part 5,439,826

Just now on HuffPo...

Says all that needs saying, doesn't it?

Update: The humiliation of a journalistic reputation...

Wednesday afternoon has seen a flurry of contradictory reports about the status of an alleged suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, but for the past hour or so, CNN has been going all-in with sources that said an arrest had already been made. A few minutes ago, though, CNN’s chyron went from “Sources: Arrest In Boston Bombing” to “Defcon: Oh, Crap,” as CNN contributor Tom Fuentes came on the air to tell Anderson Cooper that two “highly-placed sources” say there has been no arrest, followed by Fran Townsend reporting that “two administration officials” have confirmed that there has been no arrest.

[...]

It’s still possible that CNN’s first source was correct, but if their reporting on the arrest turns out to have been positively wrong, it will be a black eye that makes their SCOTUS decision flub feel like a backrub. With the Boston Police Dept. now refuting even CNN’s local sources, that appears likely now.

Update II: The excruciating play-by-play.

For Boston

First, the Dropkick Murphys...



Beantown will be just fine. It's America I'm worried about.

Our United States always seems to screw these things up. I'm talking about the present and future overreaction, no matter who the perpetrators turn out to be. Our wonderful social media, the driver now of all things buzzworthy, opened the bidding yesterday afternoon.

"When tragedy strikes America, Twitter remembers bad reporting." Yes it does. There was Ari Fleischer, Bush's Baghdad Bob, reminding everyone how to conduct themselves during these moments. Gratefully, there also was TBogg of firedoglake...

.‏@arifleischer is advising people to NOT report rumors as fact.Unless, of course, they are about WMDs in Iraq ...in which case it's cool
— TBogg (@tbogg) April 15, 2013

If you click on the Slate link above, you'll see that one of the morons continuing to Tweet out their auto-propaganda was our very own Rick Perry...

You don’t want to be tweeting about the tax benefits of the state of Texas while limbs are being amputated in Boston if you’re @GovPerry ...

Eh, he's too stupid to know and too obnoxious to give a shit anyway.

And wading through the bramble of prayers, statements of solidarity, updates from friends who had family members at or near the scene and the like, the casual observer struggled to find a kernel of wheat amidst all that chaff. One did not turn out to be the Murdoch-owned New York Post, which is still reporting the death toll as "12" and said that initially there was a "Saudi national" in custody, and then "a person of interest under guard at the hospital" after the Boston PD knocked that down.

Update: The Onion skewered the NYP over their "reporting". And Media Matters wonders if this is the end of the line for the ailing paper.

And let's ignore -- well, let's try to, anyway - the conspiracy theories blooming like 'shrooms in bullshit.

Fox News contributor Erik Rush tweeted, then deleted: “Everybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Let’s bring more Saudis in without screening them! C’mon! #bostonmarathon,” then responded to a tweet asking if he was “already blaming Muslims”: “Yes, they’re evil. Kill them all.”

You can see screenshots of his tweets here.

It got worse than that. Hard to believe, right? Then there were the local news outlets left to trolling Twitter for news.

(I)nstead of doing the traditional leg-work that, you know, delineates the media's responsibilities and activities, a handful of local news outlets have outsourced their work to the readership that is attempting to turn to them for a fuller perspective on the story. Over a half-dozen outlets across the state have decided that now was the right time to turn over their reportage to their reader- and viewership, instead of, or at least in addition to, attempting to flesh out something carrying the dimensions of a terrorist attack.

It's one thing to crowd-source, guys. It's one thing to ask what your audience's "worst pet peeves!" or "favorite kind of ice cream!" or "all-time best Astrodome memories!" are. There's a time and place for all of that. But this -- with the dead, and the wounded, and the blood and viscera and video still redounding on each and every channel and feed across the nation -- this isn't the time. This is the time to do some damn work on your own.

"Tweet us your details because we just don't know how to do journalism any more". There, fixed it for ya, Chron.

This ought to be completely embarrassing, but it won't be. Our media's disgraceful conduct at times like these is nothing short of atrocious. I won't even go into what was talked about on the teevee, because I never turned it on. Teevee news accounts during these events are even worse, as you already know. Oh wait; yes, I will, because somebody else watched it for me.

(This is) cable news (doing) what it does best: Shift the narrative from straight news (what happened, how many were killed and injured, possible suspects, etc) to shameless, unfounded, ludicrous blame (President Obama, Congress, sequester cuts, the NRA, the Tea Party, foreign policy…you name it).

In fact, New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof is already leader of the idiot pack, blaming the attack on Senate Republicans on blocking the appointment of an ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) Director in the tweet below.

All class… and, of course, having an ATF director in place absolutely would have prevented these attacks in Boston — right, Nicolas? (He has since walked back that Tweet, but some myopic ideologues just can’t seem to put their hatred aside even for five minutes during a time we should be unified as a nation). And winners like Kristof won’t be the last. On cue, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen told host Jake Tapper that the attack was either the work of al Qaeda or “right-wing extremists,” while sitting in a studio 1,000 miles away just hours after the attack. And NBC’s Luke Russert took to Twitter to speculate about a “possible” connection to the ATF deadly siege on Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas…which happened 20 years ago and 2,000 miles away. FOX and CNN also wondered about that possible (flimsy) connection. 

Bombs in Boston on Tax Day, April 15, Patriots Day -- which used to be celebrated on April 19 but is now the third Monday in April -- the same day the Oklahoma City federal building was destroyed by a fertilizer bomb, because Timothy McVeigh was angered by the fed's involvement in the Waco/Branch Davidian compound invasion which ended in flames on April 19. Oh, and also Columbine, which happened the day after...

Yes, a thick juicy stew for the conspiracy theorists. My advice? Keep calm and carry on.

Update: Cong. Michael McCaul's ignorance is not helping. 

Bob Perry dead

It's just a slow Swift Boat ride down the River Styx, made faster by the fact that there will be no pause in Purgatory.

Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, a major Republican campaign contributor and a leader of the successful drive to limit lawsuit awards in Texas, has died, a spokesman confirmed late Sunday.

He was 80.

There really isn't a single solitary thing about Republican politics in Texas over the past ten or twenty years -- and for a while there, the entire country -- that Perry did not have a hand (read: his money) in. The TXGOP, several sessions' worth of conservative legislators, and even the US presidency bear the mark of his financial legacy: $32 million to candidates and causes since 2000.

Update: I thought that sounded low. "Since 2004, Perry has given a total of at least $45 million in federal contributions — excluding direct donations to candidates, according to Federal Elections Commission records, a 2012 AP analysis and figures tabulated by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics."

The Center for Public Integrity ranked Perry third in its list of super donors, noting he contributed $23.5 million to Super PACs in 2011 and 2012. In the 2004 presidential campaign, he was a top donor to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, which fervently questioned the accuracy of John Kerry's description of his military service in Vietnam.

Perry was a pragmatic Republican who became a kingmaker as "the most prolific political donor in the state of Texas," said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones, who predicted Perry's death "is going to have a profound impact on Texas politics."

"Pragmatic" is definitely not the word I would choose. But Jones is, after all, a big fan of the man. (Jones is also credited with the underestimate of Perry's spending; the $32 million figure above is now attributed to Perry's donations statewide.)

He did sometimes donate to Democrats - like state representatives Eddie Lucio of Brownsville and Mike Villarreal of San Antonio - so long as they championed "education, economic liberty and tort reform," (spokesman Anthony) Holm told the Dallas Morning News last fall.

[...]

For example, he bankrolled the successful 2005 effort to pass a state constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage but stunted a 2011 effort to expand the authority of police inquiring about the immigration status of people they detain.

Yeah, Swift Boat Bob earned the enmity from the Xenophobe Caucus for his lasting support of cheap labor, but not for the same reasons others would (like refusing to raise the minimum wage, for example).

I think there is something serendipitous about the timing: Perry, and the generation of Texas Republicans who rose to power in the Reagan years, are being carried now to the cemetery just as the children of all those day laborers come of voting age, and the Democrats in Texas poise themselves for a renaissance. The locals sure are scared; there are at least two different reports of Battleground Texas meetings in Houston that Republicans have attended and reported on. And in reading that, the sheep seem real nervous.

Rest without peace, Bob.  Your epitaph is what it is. Nobody will actually miss you that wasn't depositing your checks.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is settling in for another long hurricane season as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff offered his thoughts on the Battleground Texas kickoff meeting in Houston.  

WCNews at Eye on Williamson says the cheaters are winning: Wage theft in Texas.

Republicans have kind of a fetish thing going on with hangman's nooses, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has noticed.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw explains the 24/7 embrassment that Ted Carnival Cruz is by exploring his latest foray into the "outer limits" of sanity. Check it out: TX U.S. Senator Carnival Cruz Gets FiliBusted.

This week at McBlogger, we take a look at the state of transportation funding in the Legislature (with the help of the Texas Tribune) as well as a stunning turnaround for Governor Perry.

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And here are some blog posts of interest from elsewhere in Texas.

Empower The Vote warns that the RNC is seeking to get out from under the consent decree that has limited their ability to engage in voter suppression.

Texas Clean Air Matters explains what ozone action days are all about.

Texas Watch reports on a poll that says Texas voters – across all geographic, partisan, and political lines – want stronger legal protections from rogue insurance companies.

Lone Star Ma reminds us that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Jeff Balke clues you in on how to be a journalist.

Jason Stanford mocks the idea that Big John Cornyn has been nudged even farther to the right by his junior Senate colleague.

Nonsequiteuse recaps the most gruesome moments from the testimony on the so-called "fetal pain" bill.

Equality Texas has some tips for homophobic lobbyists.

Juanita Jean wonders what Smokey Joe Barton is smoking.

Texpatriate is perplexed by the state Senate's passage of the drug testing for unemployment benefits bill.

And finally, BeyondBones sings the praises of the iguana that came to them after hitching a ride to the United States.

Sunday Funnies

Republicans and hangman's nooses

Your first question might be "Why does the head of the Texas Railroad Commission -- the state agency responsible for monitoring the oil and gas industry -- have an opinion on a gun bill in the US Senate?", or "Why would it be treasonous and lynch-worthy to vote in favor of allowing debate on gun safety legislation?", but neither of those would be my first question.

My first and everlasting question remains: "WTF is it with Republicans and their noose fetish?", and my second question would be: Are they erotic asphyxiation freaks or what?

Here's the TexTrib.

Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman weighed in on the gun-control developments in Washington on Thursday, retweeting an image that showed a noose beside the names of Republican U.S. senators who had voted down a filibuster.

On Twitter, Smitherman re-posted an image and message from a user with the handle @PsychScriv, who had posted: “Make sure none of these people have seats in 2014.” The accompanying image showed a list of the 16 Republican senators whose vote had broken the filibuster that would have kept the gun-control bill off the U.S. Senate floor. A noose dangled beside the names, topped by a single word: “Treason.”

Smitherman added his own commentary, tweeting: "We are in trouble when these Rs side w/ Sen Reid." The list included Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Republican party's 2008 presidential nominee.

Texas Sharon at BlueDaze had it first (see the screen capture of the Tweet there), followed closely by Progress Texas.

"Barry Smitherman's reprehensible action is disturbing, disgusting, and has absolutely no place in our political discourse," said Matt Glazer, Executive Director of Progress Texas.

"To suggest that any American, let alone a U.S. Senator, deserves to be hung for a democratically cast vote is absolutely unacceptable." "A Senator's job is to debate, discuss and vote on issues of importance to our country. Obstructionism shouldn't be upheld as a priority option for doing the people's work, and when violent rhetoric and imagery is used as a tool of obstructionism, it has gone too far. Smitherman's actions call into question whether or not his job can and should be terminated.

"Progress Texas calls on Smitherman to immediately apologize, and for Governor Perry and all of Texas' Congressional delegation to admonish Smitherman for his deplorable action." 

It's fairly easy to muster the outrage on this one.

Long ago this blog broke the story of hangman's nooses in bosses' offices. A cursory Google search turns up all kinds of repetitive instances, including the prevalence of this sort of thing across the country.

Now before Matt and Greg stumble in to the comments and bluster that private and public supervisors aren't necessarily Republicans, let's establish that at least since Robert Byrd dropped out of the Klan (this shibboleth is a favorite of race-sensitive TeaBaggers, and by 'race-sensitive' I mean TeaBaggers who don't like being called out on their racism) and up through the David Duke-for-whatever years, one cannot intelligently call Klansmen Democrats. See Thurmond, Strom. And there was also this whole Southern Strategy thing that Richard Nixon developed as a result of LBJ's civil rights advances...

Anyway, Barry Smitherman. He's a Rick Perry crony from way back. But in terms of any state position for which the governor can make an appointment, though, who isn't? The sad part is that Smitherman won his election in 2012 with plenty of donations from oil and gas companies and without a Democratic opponent. You may also recall that Smitherman's middle-school-aged daughter -- and her junior-high-aged brother -- maxed out their federal contributions to Rick Perry's presidential campaign in 2011.

Barry Smitherman, among his many other faults, probably pays his children too much in allowance. Or something. But there's no doubt that he needs to find a real job, as the TRC simply doesn't execute the one job it has to any significant degree. From the Texas Observer...

In a state where property rights are considered to be on par with the right to breathe, pipeline companies can seize private land by invoking the power of eminent domain. ... (C)ommon carrier status, which means the company is carrying competitors’ products as well as its own to serve the public good, grants companies the right to take land without getting landowners’ consent. ...

In Texas, there is currently no process to verify whether a company is actually carrying competitors’ products. All a company has to do is check a box on its permit application to the Texas Railroad Commission.

The commission doesn’t have the authority to ensure the company can claim the status. It does not ask for evidence or otherwise monitor the pipeline. This leaves the door open for companies that want the power of eminent domain free to do so without any oversight. The practice has resulted in a number of lawsuits across the state. Landowners who feel their land was taken unfairly (and sometimes without notice), have sued pipeline companies, and in at least one case the courts have determined that some pipeline companies “game the permitting process” to get eminent domain powers.

Yes, Barry Smitherman is a TeaBagging douchewad... but really, what Texas Republican isn't? It's really just a matter of degree, despite the smackdowns the freshman crop of crazy in the Lege keep taking at the hands of their elders. Ultimately, Republicans exactly like Smitherman are what Texas is, elects, and deserves, at least until Battleground Texas starts making a difference.

Or the Republicans in Texas come out from under the ether. I hope I live long enough to get to see one or the other (or both).

Update: Smitherman has apologized. Aware of both the media attention Smitherman's Tweet received and a desire to out-Gohmert Joe Barton from earlier this week, Steve Stockman has come up with a new bumper sticker slogan. He means 'fetuses' of course, but they don't have fingers. Or central nervous systems, or brains, or eyes.  "Babies", in other words (using Stockman's vocabulary).

A few guns, some butter

The week before the tax deadline is always the busiest for me. Here we go with some snips...

“We want to make sure … (chained CPI) is dead on arrival,” Democracy for American chairman Jim Dean told ABC News.

Dean’s organization is one of the many progressive groups that are part of the coalition to deliver the petition to the White House. Dean said that although he and his organization appreciate the president’s “forceful leadership” on issues like gun violence prevention, the CPI proposal is one that has caused them to be extremely disappointed in him.

“People understand that we are not getting everything out of this person,” Dean said. “This was never our way or the highway — even when he was elected in 2008. He’s crossed a line here.”

That was not unpleasant.

Look, it's time to end this ridiculous charade. The White House is proposing what's in the White House budget because that's what the White House wants. They'll fight just as hard to cut Social Security as they will for any of its other provisions. And that's because the White House, let's just face facts, isn't on the side of the American people. They should simply come out and speak with conviction: They don't give a shit about Social Security or anybody who is on it because they want a balanced budget with low taxes. That's the only explanation for passing another $3.4 trillion round of Bush Tax Cuts while cutting Social Security.

Chain, chain, chained...

They know it’s a loser and yet they persist.  That’s nothing I or most Democrats voted for in 2012.  There is a potential “right” way for chained CPI to be done, but there are so many caveats that it could never be done right in our current political system.

The truly stupid part is that we’re talking about debt when we’re still in a massive unemployment crisis. With the 78th anniversary of the WPA this week, that should remind us that we should be talking about jobs and not the deficit. 

Seriously, WTF?

But as always Obama negotiated against himself, made concessions without corresponding Republican ones, became the only elected official in Washington, D.C., to put Social Security benefits cuts in a formal proposal (thus owning them), and then ... what?

Republicans dismissed everything out of hand, progressive groups went to war against the White House, Congressional Democrats distanced themselves from the proposal save for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (ever the loyal lieutenant), and seniors certainly weren't impressed.

If Obama's goal was to look weak and isolate himself, generating bipartisan scorn and ridicule while giving Republicans a chance to claim Democrats want to cut Social Security during 2014 elections, then sure, mission accomplished.

If he actually thought he was accomplishing something useful, however ... the mind reels.

Maybe Democrats could stop quarreling about whether Obama is a putz or not, and perhaps get Hillary Clinton on the record about where she stands on chained CPI. I'm guessing that she won't hold a presser put up a YouTube coming out in favor.

Okay, enough of that.

-- Look, somebody borrowed my headline. Meh. It's not like I had it trade-marked or anything.

-- Maybe some action on the gun safety bill today or tomorrow.

The U.S. Senate will take up gun control starting on Thursday, with a filibuster from Republicans the first order of business before weeks of debates over background checks and other measures begin.

Majority Leader Harry Reid had asked for a compromise on background checks from two senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, by Tuesday night. Manchin and Toomey will announce the bipartisan deal on Wednesday morning.

The approval of at least eight Republicans is crucial because Reid will need 60 votes in the Senate on Thursday to have a successful cloture vote to avoid a filibuster. So far, eight Republican senators say they will not vote to support a filibuster.

A group of Republican senators including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Jim Inhofe have said they will filibuster “any legislation that infringe[s] on the American people’s constitutional right to bear arms.” 

Carnival Cruz canceled his presser this morning, whatever that means.

Back to work.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates bluebonnets, mudbugs, and the first week of the baseball season in bringing you this week's blog post roundup.

Off the Kuff takes a look back at the Democrats in the Legislature who voted for the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment of 2005 and follows up to see where they stand on it now.  

WCNews at Eye on Williamson posts on the budget debate in the House this week, and the fact that there was little discussion of what Texans really need, in Still trying to find a way in...the budget version.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw explains why Senator Cruz Brings Plenty of Spite But No Bacon. Check it out.

The Republicans in the Texas House passed an amendment that kinda sorta endorsed the spirit of Medicaid expansion, but within a few hours got 'corrected' by their lobbyists and rescinded it. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs kind sorta expected that.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that Rick Perry implies Mexicans shot the Texas DAs. Didn't Perry get the Reince Priebus memo about gratuitous racist eruptions?

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And here are some blog posts of interest from elsewhere in Texas.

The Lunch Tray is a food blogger against hunger.

Bob Cavnar explains some lesser known dangers of fracking.  And Texas Vox says that the pipeline spill in Arkansas calls into question the viability of converting other older pipelines for transporting tar sands, while the Tar Sands Blockade posted a dispatch from ExxonMobil's spill zone, including a WTF picture of a pipeline repair.

Juanita Jean has a question for the queen of True The Vote.

Equality Texas reminds us that it's always a good idea to get to know your legislator.

Jason Stanford has a strategy for coping with the STAAR tests, while Raise Your Hand Texas outlines an agenda for real school reform. 

Austin Contrarian publishes a response from Sen. Kirk Watson to an earlier post about one of his bills.
  
Texas Leftist talks to the city of Houston about plans to overhaul its development and density ordinances.

Harold Cook channels William Travis.

And finally, we wish fellow blogger Katy Anders a peaceful and short sabbatical.

Sunday Funnies

Obama drops his pants before GOP again

I am so sick of this shit.

President Obama will release a budget next week that proposes significant cuts to Medicare and Social Security and fewer tax hikes than in the past, a conciliatory approach that he hopes will convince Republicans to sign onto a grand bargain that would curb government borrowing and replace deep spending cuts that took effect March 1.

When he unveils the budget on Wednesday, Obama will break with the tradition of providing a sweeping vision of his ideal spending priorities, untethered from political realities. Instead, the document will incorporate the compromise offer Obama made to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last December in the discussions over the so-called “fiscal cliff” – which included $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction through spending cuts and tax increases.

Now it's up to the Republicans in Congress to save us by saying 'no'.

While Republicans are certain to be skeptical of Obama’s call for more taxes, the president also is likely to face immediate heat over his budget proposal from some Democrats and liberal supporters. Obama proposes, for instance, to change the cost-of-living calculation for Social Security in a way that will reduce benefits for most beneficiaries, a key Republican request that he had earlier embraced only as part of a compromise. Many Democrats say they are opposed to any Social Security cuts and are likely to be furious that such cuts are now being proposed as official administration policy.

Obama isn't playing 3-D chess here with the Enterprise crew Congress members wearing red shirts. If they call his bluff, everybody that voted for him five months ago -- and some of us who did not -- are well and truly fucked.

Neither the president nor senior aides privately hold much hope that Republican leaders — Mr. Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader — will compromise. So Mr. Obama’s strategy of reaching out to other Senate Republicans reflects a calculation that enough of them might cut a budget deal with the Democratic Senate majority. If that happens, the reasoning goes, a Senate-passed compromise would put pressure on the House to go along. 

That account suggests nothing significant is likely to happen, and places faith in the president's ability to outmaneuver the dim-witted conservatives by getting them to swallow a poison pill. I don't have that much faith in the president's ability, needless to say.

To me it seems as dangerous as flying planes over South Korea in order to help the North Koreans thoughtfully arrive at a decision to tone down their hysteria. What happens if the bad guys don't get the message? What if there are enough Republicans who decide to take the Faustian bargain of tax increases for social program cuts? Is Obama's Plan B to renege on the offer?

The president is too persistent in applying cosmetics to the swine.

I'm sick and tired of being sold down the river by Democrats trying to reason with Republicans. The pigs are annoyed with your effort, Mr. President, and so are a wide swath of your fellow travelers. Cut. it. out.

Update:

Now that Obama has fully embraced the cuts, no amount of White House spin is going to be able to permanently pin the chained CPI on Republicans, as the administration official is trying to do. Republicans have been demanding for months that Obama specifically spell out the cuts to social insurance programs he would accept; now he's done so, they will make sure he owns them.

The White House seems to believe that this will show the American public that he is Very Serious about both deficit reduction and working with Republicans, that "he is willing to compromise and do tough things to reduce the deficit,” in the words of a senior administration official. Because of course a willingness to compromise is all that it takes to make the Republicans come around. That and his charm offensive.

Republicans aren't going to come around, and now have a weapon. And what the American people will probably remember is that in 2008 candidate Obama promised that as president, he would not cut Social Security, a promise reiterated by Vice President Biden in 2012. In fact, we're probably not going to be allowed to forget that, once the Republicans get their ads running in congressional districts around the country saying that Barack Obama broke his promise and wants to cut your Social Security.

Update II: Boehner rejects president's proposal. Moneyshot...

A senior Senate GOP aide said Republicans are translating the White House budget proposal as a signal to Senate Democrats that they must accept benefit cuts.

“The fact that chained CPI is in there, Republicans will take that as a signal that the White House is willing to use chained CPI as an offset,” the aide said. “It seems to me that the White House is sort of telling Senate Democrats to get used to it.”

Texas House head-fakes on Medicaid expansion

Buried in the good news about the death of school vouchers coming out of yesterday evening's state budget marathon is the sad fact that House members passed -- and later rescinded -- consideration of a discussion about the possibility of Medicaid expansion.

If that description sounds convoluted, it's because the debate in Austin was also. To Olivia Messer of the Observer...

For a brief few hours on Thursday, members of the Texas House endorsed a version of Medicaid expansion—or at least some parameters for it—but then changed their minds.

The title of that piece has the words "flip-flop" in it. Which is an appropriate description of what happened.

As Becca Aaronson of the Texas Tribune reported, the amendment wouldn’t have even directed HHSC to expand Medicaid. Rather if the state negotiated with the Obama administration to expand eligibility, the amendment said, Texas would’ve had to reduce “uncompensated care costs, [promote] the use of private insurance plans and health savings accounts, and [establish] wellness, cost-sharing and pay-for-performance initiatives. It also called for creating customized benefit plans for different Medicaid populations. The Legislative Budget Board would have been charged with determining whether such a deal addresses those reforms.”

The House initially approved the amendment Thursday afternoon. But just a few short hours after the amendment passed, Rep. Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria) proposed that the House reconsider the vote. Though Morrison initially voted in favor, she later argued vehemently that she hadn’t been “clear on what the amendment does” and that other Republicans had been similarly confused. “I want to have a discussion and then make the decision.”

The amendment was sponsored by Burnham, the lower chamber's most progressive member, and supported by Republican John Zerwas, whom I have written about previously.

House Democrats and Republicans both rose to defend the measure and to prevent reconsideration—the parliamentary version of a do-over. Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) said, “What we’re doing here might be the most we’re ever going to do on [Medicaid].” Burnam pointed out that the measure was actually quite similar to language  Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) had proposed for the Senate version of the budget (and which was approved) two weeks ago. Rep. John Zerwas (R-Simonton), who collaborated with Burnam on the amendment, took to the microphone to clarify that “it’s really not a Medicaid expansion at all.”

Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Galveston) said that the amendment would certainly not ensure passage of Medicaid expansion, since Gov. Perry has so clearly opposed it anyway. “The governor has stated quite clearly that there will be no Medicaid expansion as is proposed,” he said. “If he ever tells you that he will veto something, it’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”

Even still, the floor voted 93-54 to reconsider the amendment.

I'd really like to know the backstory here. I'm going to speculate that somebody (-bodies) got bum-rushed by the governor or some of his hoods at the right-wing think tanks. I can't tell from the coverage how many members voted to approve the amendment initially and then switched their vote, but that will eventually be revealed.

As Burnam notes, the proposal remains in the Senate's version.

“It’s still in the Senate amendment,” Burnam said. “It’ll go to conference and people will talk about whether we remain open-minded and try and figure out a way to work with the national government that’s throwing out some of this money or do we just kiss it off?”

But the stench of ignorance hangs in the air like a... well, you know.

When asked if he bought the argument that Republicans truly didn’t understand what the amendment was about, Burnam said, “Unfortunately, that’s right. Unfortunately, they’re so closed-minded and bigoted and so not understanding about Obamacare that they just went along because the leadership was for it.”

So it seems that what we have here is legislators taking a vote on something that they apparently didn't fully understand. And when they got whipped by the "Obamacare is eee-vil" thugs, then they suddenly got themselves back in the far right line. So now, Medicaid expansion will probably die a slow death in some back committee room. That's a metaphor for what's going to happen to the poor, ill Texans who can't afford to get healthcare as it stands. This is the outcome I both dreaded and predicted.

Congratulations to the advocates of Texas education on finding some sanity in the Texas House with respect to vouchers. But as for the po' folks... too bad for you.

I suppose they should hire better lobbyists in the next session.

Because no person is illegal

Another conservative meme falls down.

Starting now, you will never see the "lazy" words "illegal immigrant" in another AP story unless they're quoting someone important saying it. That faint sound you hear is Senate reporters from the AP, The New York Times, and beyond smacking their delete keys, rethinking their agenda setting aloud, and figuring out how we talk now, amidst a serious legislative discussion, about the millions of illegal immigrants people living in the U.S. without legal permission. AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explains the timely style change: 

The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term "illegal immigrant" or the use of "illegal" to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that "illegal" should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally.

Coe-rrectamundo. Adverbs shouldn't be nouns. Verbs increasingly become nouns, but not descriptors. This is important.

The caterwauling about Ill Eagles was nothing but a racist diatribe when it was birthed years ago by old, angry white Republicans. But they kept screeching about it until they finally got some media attention, and then it became part of the American discussion. But once "illegal" became people -- men, women, and children -- that's when the xenophobes oops, people with xenophobia lost the battle. Now they are losing the war.

The stricken phrase, as the AP's Carroll explained to Poynter, "ends up pigeonholing people or creating long descriptive titles where you use some main event in someone’s life to become the modifier before their name." She added that the use was a "lazy device."

Just as there are no longer schizophrenics or diabetics, but people with diabetes and schizophrenia. What, you didn't know that either?

Yes, we'll have to endure the whining and moaning of those who are outraged at the PC encroaching on their freedumb of speech. They'll point to George Carlin, alleged liberal icon, as evidence that political correctness has, like socialism, run amuck across this great land.

"Political correctness is America's newest form of intolerance, and it's especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance. It presents itself as fairness, yet attempts to restrict and control people's language with strict codes and rigid rules. I'm not sure that's the way to fight discrimination. I'm not sure silencing people or forcing them to alter their speech is the best method for solving problems that go much deeper than speech."

Rest in peace, George. I'm still a big fan, even though you're wrong in this case.

At least in the documented and official history, the USA will no longer stigmatize economic refugees with a word that refers to criminal behavior. Will people without citizen status commit crimes? I feel certain they will, just as US citizens do every day. And like the Republicans who violated the speed limit on their way to work this morning, or tear the tags off their pillows, or cheat on their taxes, we won't be calling them "illegals". They're just people who violated the law. Some got caught and some got convicted, and some did not. They're all still innocent until proven guilty.

No person is illegal. Not in God's eyes, and now, not by the judgment of the Associated Press.

Regular folks -- along with the differently-abled people who can do so -- are standing and applauding.

Related: The only thing Republicans have to fear about immigration reform is the GOP itself.

Only 35 percent of Republicans support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. Among conservative Republicans, only 30 percent support it. Despite, say, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio doing a tour of conservative talk radio to pitch his immigration proposal, support among Republicans has actually declined since February. But Republicans don't just have to win over the Republican base. There are many groups within the GOP that are fighting immigration reform, or are ambivalent about it.

What the poll numbers reveal about immigration reform all depends on how the questions get asked. And while it is true that some in the GOP have sobered up about their chances of winning future elections and are coming around to the light, it's also true that some never will.