"Killer Boobs" and other short takes

-- Resist the double entendre'.

As previously mentioned in yesterday's Texas Progressive roundup, and particularly in light of Angelina Jolie's disclosure, I thought I would point again to Amy Valentine's blog-to-book on the topic of surviving breast cancer. My friend Karen Derr did something about it -- she walked 26 miles a few weekends ago; you can too (if you're in Boston this weekend, or Chicago in June.)

If we strongly support women who make the same choice as Jolie -- women who must summon the physical and emotional strength to fight their disease and who must at the same time disregard our society's opinion, evaluation, or judgment of their choice -- then we perhaps change society just a little.

Which is way overdue with respect to women's choices as it is.

-- This is another brick in the wall against conservatism. Of any nationality.

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle.

The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and that have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities.

Toru Hashimoto, the young, brash mayor of Osaka who is also co-leader of an emerging conservative political party (emphasis mine), also told reporters that there wasn't clear evidence that the Japanese military coerced women to become what are euphemistically called "comfort women."

"To maintain discipline in the military, it must have been necessary at that time," said Hashimoto. "For soldiers who risked their lives in circumstances where bullets are flying around like rain and wind, if you want them to get some rest, a comfort women system was necessary. That's clear to anyone."

Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels.

It's no different in Europe, or Afghanistan, or the United States. Conservatives. Blow. Goats.

-- In reference to the Zombie Apocalypse that is the Texas Legislature at the end of every session (I'm speaking here more of bills than I am sleep-deprived lawmakers), Charles thinks there might be a flicker of hope for Medicaid expansion. As I posted in the comments there, I do not. Paul Burka is right on all counts here. Joe Straus is weak tea, everybody knows it, and those drinking a stronger brew have all but nailed him to a cross.

I'm not surprised and I'm not sorry, as least as it concerns the Speaker. But the real problem for Straus and his long-term prospects as leader of the Texas House -- just as it was when we traded Kay Bailey for Ted Cruz, just as it will be when we eventually trade Rick Perry for Greg Abbott -- is that a replacement only makes it worse for Texas going forward. In the short term, anyway. (Hurry up, Battleground Texas.) More about this in the next...

-- Ted Cruz is probably hurting the Republican party more than he is his presidential aspirations with his TeaBagging platitudes and fomenting the rage of the Freak Right Wing. This ignores both historical precedent (see: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and ultimately Mitt Romney) and popular opinion. While the public is still yawning about Benghazi and the IRS, Republicans who think the Libyan embassy attack is a worse scandal that Watergate cannot find the city on a world map. Even Dick Armey mistook Benghazi for Bangladesh.

If the GOP House indeed wants to take us back to the late '90's and relive Bill Clinton's second term, so be it. That seems to be a tremendous price for them to pay, but they appear not to have learned any lessons from the first go-round. I don't believe the "scandals" they've whipped up have impacted Hilary Clinton's 2016 prospects one iota. 

I further don't think that they will.

If Clinton runs for president and picks a Latino/a running mate -- consider the prospects of what a Castro might mean to turning Texas bluer faster -- then (absent unknowable future events) I seriously doubt whether the Republicans get a chance to sniff the White House until 2032. As ignorant as they are, I believe even the GOP understands this... which is why they are screaming so loudly now. That party is right on the verge of going extinct, and instead of grabbing a life preserver, they grasp at straws.

Once more: not surprised and not sorry.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is thankful for the mothers in their lives as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff has a Q&A with Robert Ryland, the founder of the Texas County Democratic Campaign Committee, whose mission is to help get more Democrats elected to county offices in Texas.

As the end of the legislative session draws near the threat of a special session looms. WCNews at Eye on Williamson tries to discern what it all might mean, in The special dance begins and "conservative" confusion.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes John Cornyn is caught in his own obvious hypocrisy. In the Cornyn whacko stupid party world, up is down and down is up. In reality, John Cornyn is a liar.

George P. Bush, Republican candidate for Texas Land Commissioner, has a quasi-rap sheet in Florida. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes that the heir to the Bush dynasty is either a creepy ex-boyfriend or a stalker. It's difficult to tell from just the police report.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw explains that the Texas GOP Lawmkers Walk Back Its War on Women. For now. Give it a read.

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

And here are some more posts of interest from Texas blogs.

Brewed and Never Battered assures us that the craft beer bills are still on track in the Lege.

BOR reminds us that Texas' Senators are a big part of the reason why Texas has so many federal judicial vacancies.

TFN Insider notes that despite some recent bursts of sanity, our State Board of Education still has a lot of loons on it.

Concerned Citizens laments the anemic turnout in the San Antonio municipal elections.

Nonsequiteuse discusses the Streisand effect and how it relates to a kerfuffle involving a Planned Parenthood event in Houston.

Texas Vox explores the connection between lax regulations and ghost towns in Texas.

And the TPA congratulates Amy Valentine for successfully turning her blog on surviving breast cancer into a book about surviving breast cancer.

Sunday Funnies

Parker kicks off

(Mayor Annise) Parker greeted, hugged and chatted with many of the more than 100 supporters and volunteers who gathered under the shade of a white tent swollen with the sounds of 1980s dance hits, clicking cameras and intermittent cheers. The mayor even put down a few moves between photos and handshakes.

Former City Attorney Ben Hall has announced his intent to oppose her, but Parker dismissed his campaign at the event.

"I've been asked if I have an opponent," Parker said, members of the crowd yelling back, "No."

"I have an opponent, but I don't have competition," she said to louder cheers.

Just as it was in March, that is precisely where things stand with six months to go before election day. That's also what the polling reflects (such as it is). Update, 5/15: The conserva-freaks circulated that link around and turned the tables on the mayor, and that was after she sent out a blast e-mail asking her supporters to vote. Ya gotta hate it when that happens.

Ben Hall's Gene Locke strategy is still in a holding pattern somewhere over IAH, and Don Cook is ... well, garnering the same amount of attention he traditionally has.

If the mayor only comes in for criticism as harsh as this, then it's going to be smooth sailing for her. The race to replace Helena Brown and the council seats being vacated due to term limits will be more competitive (and interesting). Charles also has a similar take on yesterday's pep rally.

Update: Worthy of note is that a perennial Green candidate for mayor in a large Texas city finished second -- with 13% of the vote and ahead of four others -- to a very popular Democratic incumbent just yesterday. Mr. Cook would exceed conventional expectations if he did half as well.

"Impeach Obama!"

"We're up to at least fifteen good reasons!"

#15.

Just existing: When a man told Rep. Michele Bachmann that President Obama should be impeached just because, Bachmann replied, “Well, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, I agree, I agree.” Texas Republican Michael Burgess told a Tea Party group in 2011 that he would push to impeach Obama for just generally being liberal. When a reporter asked him later what the charges would be, Burgess said he wasn’t sure, but said “it needs to happen” so Republicans can tie up Obama’s legislative agenda.

That right there is the real reason. The only reason.

Gawker explains WTF all this Benghazi shit is about. The big finish...

Okay, so, what's the fucking deal?

As befits a scandal as overdetermined as this one, there are a bunch of fucking deals. There's the deal where the State Department actually did fail to protect its employees, and should be held accountable, and only barely has been.

There's the deal where Republicans are trying to kneecap Hillary Clinton in advance of an anticipated 2016 run ("at the very least, Mrs. Clinton should never hold high office again," Paul writes in the Washington Times yesterday).

There's the deal where this is a sad, late mulligan on Romney's response, a little proto-revisionism to suggest that his doomed and incompetent campaign was defeated through the perfidy of the White House, rather than its own pointlessness and awfulness.

There's the deal where House Republicans and Fox News are trapped in a tight feedback loop, like two best friends with inexplicable inside jokes told in Oppish.

And there's the usual deal where Obama is a Muslim and he did 9/11, or whatever.

Three more years of this. Unless the sane voters can be summoned to the polls to make some changes in the composition of the Congress in 2014, and then just a year and a half.

Immigration bill thwarts conservative amendments

So far.

A landmark bill backed by President Barack Obama to overhaul the nation's immigration system survived unscathed on Thursday during the first day of consideration by a divided Senate Judiciary Committee.

On bipartisan votes, the panel rejected conservatives' attempts to thwart implementation of a centerpiece of the bill - a pathway to U.S. citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
By day's end leading Democratic and Republican senators said the committee had improved the bill.

The panel, composed of 10 Democrats and eight Republicans, accepted 21 relatively modest amendments that focus largely on border security and increased congressional oversight. All but one amendment were agreed to on bipartisan votes.

Eleven other amendments were rejected or withdrawn, many of them Republican bids to bolster border security in ways that went far beyond the steps spelled out in the bill, while also delaying or even killing proposals to legalize undocumented immigrants.

Via jobsanger (more pessimistic than me about the bill's prospects), here's some of those eleven.

1. Undocumented immigrants can never become citizens. “No person who is or has previously been willfully present in the United States will [sic] not in lawful status…shall be eligible for United States citizenship.” Offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
2. Mandatory DNA testing. Registered provisional immigrant applicants must submit a DNA sample to the Department of Justice to compare against the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) at the FBI. Offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
3. Zero assistance. Would prohibit undocumented immigrants who earn provisional legal status from applying for permanent residence if they qualify for state means-tested assistance, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), the temporary assistance for needy families program (TANF), or supplemental security income benefits (SSI). Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
4. Bans humanitarian travel. Immigrants who are in provisional legal status but have to go back to their home countries for a humanitarian reason (to visit a sick relative, for instance) would be prohibited from re-entering the United States. Currently, the provisional legal status includes an authorization for travel.Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
5. Guts family re-unification. The green card distribution for some foreigners relies on a point allocation system in which a certain number of points must be accumulated before those individuals can qualify for a merit-based visa. This amendment would eliminate points for siblings of U.S. citizens and points for individuals from low-sending countries from counting towards merit-based immigrant visas. Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
6. In-person interviews for 11 million immigrants. Sure to slow down the process time for 11 million immigrants, an in-person interview would be required to determine one’s eligibility requirements for provisional legal status. Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

While the Democrats -- together with Republicans Jeff Flake and Lindsey "Begging for a Primary" Graham -- deflected the worst of it, it looks as if Charles Schumer -- charged with sheperding this legislation through the Judiciary Committee -- is going to let the gays get thrown under the bus in order to get the bill done.

John Aravosis at AMERICAblog has been all over this particular issue. There's going to be some of that "perfect is the enemy of the good" rationalizing once the markup is completed and the bill passes out of committee to the full Senate.

Stace's Two Cents has some good links and a report from his and hermina Toni's Brown Bag conversation yesterday at lunch.

Related reading...

Study: Immigration bill would help Social Security

More Than A Million Additional Latinos Voted In 2012 Than In 2008

'No' means no money for nuthin'

Eye on Williamson caught it last night. Via Trail Blazers...

Gov. Rick Perry, conservative groups and tea party-backed House Republicans forced House leaders Thursday to pull down a bill that would have increased car registration fees to help build more roads.

Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said a vote count showed a compromise version of his bill probably could squeak through in the House.

However, he said, “I didn’t move forward because of the prospects of cutting the members up on a vote [on a bill] that may not become law.”

Though it would pass the Texas House -- that means with Republican endorsement -- Darby withdrew his legislation because the governor Michael Quinn Sullivan did not approve.

On Wednesday, Perry made thinly veiled remarks to reporters in which he said lawmakers will be back in special session this summer if they send him transportation fee increases. As The Dallas Morning News reported in this story in Thursday’s print editions, Perry also summoned to his office House conservatives to urge them to vote against Darby’s bill.

"It sounds like Gov. Perry is serious. Do legislators think 'no' doesn’t mean 'no'?" wrote conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of the group Empower Texans, saying he considered the bill likely to prompt Perry to call a special session. "Time will tell. Lawmakers wanting to play budget-chicken ought to be prepared for a long, hot summer in Austin."

Once more... this is where Texas Republicans find themselves: strait-jacketed by their own demagoguery.

The bill now joins the ranks of many others that dying with (Thursday's) midnight deadline for House bills to pass the lower chamber. Darby’s House Bill 3664 would have tacked on a $15 fee to motor vehicle registrations and raised more out of sales tax revenue. The San Angelo Republican’s proposal pitted GOP members against one another, a day after Gov. Rick Perry’s promised to call a special session if lawmakers tried paying for roads with a fee hike.

Darby told the Observer that Perry, who’s been fairly quiet until now this session, said he would only support covering transportation funding funded completely out of sales tax revenue from cars and trucks.

Sometimes the contortions these conservatives can twist themselves into is beyond mortal men's comprehension.

Asked if House leaders are finished with transportation funding this session, Darby said they’ve completed consideration of new sources of highway money.

“This is the last bill coming out of the House to add transportation infrastructure funding,” he said.

Darby said that’s a shame because Texas has virtually no money for launching new road projects. He said the state has borrowed almost all that it can borrow to build highways. It’s at risk of choking off economic and population growth.

The state hasn’t generally raised vehicle registration fees since 1985, nor the gasoline tax since 1991, he noted. And families bear a $1,500 “hidden tax” each year in car repairs and lost productivity from being stuck on bad roads and in traffic jams, Darby said.

Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, said the bill was a test of seriousness about tackling big problems.

“If we really want to govern, at some point you can’t live on 1991 revenue streams at 2013 prices,” Aycock said.

Darby replied, “A dollar in 1991 is worth 62 cents today.”

You can substitute the word 'transportation' for Medicaid, for education, for water, for a half-dozen other critical legislative priorities. The Lege is punting now at the end of the session because none of the people elected to office wants the process of governing the state of Texas to work as it is designed to, as it is supposed to.

Once again, if you vote for and elect people who tell you government doesn't work... why would you be surprised when it doesn't?

Paul Burka offers the insider's edition on both Mucus and the governor as the kabuki plays out.

Update: And Kuff with some more.