Sunday Holiday Funnies

I pity the fool who shows this to Megyn Kelly.

While you were quarreling about Duck Dynasty, the Senate passed NDAA

It still includes the indefinite-detention-for-Americans provision, and omits Sen. Gillibrand's clause on prosecutions of military sexual assaults.

Yesterday the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act was fast-tracked through the Senate, with no time for discussion or amendments. And you know, it's Christmastime, so they just passed it so that they could recess for the holidays. The new version of the NDAA has already been quietly passed by the House of Representatives.

It authorizes massive spending, including $527 billion in base defense spending for the current fiscal year, funding for the war in Afghanistan, and funding for nuclear weapons programs.

The indefinite detention allowed by the original NDAA is still there, and it’s actually worse now, because there are provisions that will make it easier for the government to target those who disagree. Section 1071 outlines the creation of the “Conflict Records Research Center”, where the unconstitutionally obtained information that the NSA has collected is compiled and shared with the Department of Defense. The information, called in the wording “captured records,” can be anything from your phone records, emails, browsing history or posts on social media sites.

I see on my Facebook wall this morning that people are still staking claims to righteousness, for and against the Duck Commander and his God-fearing brood.

Personally, I have had my fill of that "controversy".  If Americans left and right cannot pull their heads out of their asses and start talking -- and doing something -- about the things that will make an actual difference in their lives, then there's no hope for this nation.

None.  It's only Idiocracy that lies ahead.

Texas Greens release full 2014 candidate list

The statewide top-of-the-ballot was previously revealed; this latest list contains statewide judicials and downballot Congressional and local races.  A press release is forthcoming, but for now the spreadsheet has the names, offices, and contact data.  Some of the highlights...

-- As surmised, the Greens filed for three statewide judicial slots left unfilled by the Texas Democratic Party. Those are...

• Jim Chisholm of Houston, for Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, Place 8.
• Judith Sanders-Castro of San Antonio, for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4.
• George Joseph Altgelt of Laredo, for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9.

In addition, Charles E. Waterbury of Dallas is running for Place 7 on the Texas Supreme Court.  Waterbury and Chisholm stood for office in 2012; I wrote about them both, and those SCOTX races, in this post.

-- The Congressional Greens include -- as I was tipped -- Remington Alessi, who is challenging Sheila Jackson Lee in CD-18.  (Jackson-Lee has also drawn a repeat Democratic  primary foe.  Update: He's not actually a Democrat, which you can verify if you click that link and listen to him being interviewed by Michael Berry.)  Mark Roberts will again run against Ted Poe in CD-2.  George Reiter, the co-chair of the Harris County Green Party and a UH professor (he also has a radio show on KPFT) will take on Congressman Al Green.  Don Cook, fresh off his bid for Houston mayor, submits his name in CD-13, where the incumbent Mac Thornberry has two Republican primary challengers, and then a Democrat and a Libertarian in the fall of 2014.  And kat swift of San Antonio, the GPTX's matriarch, filed against Lloyd Doggett in CD-35.  The Greens will also have a candidate in the race to replace Steve Stockman in CD-36; he is Hal J. Ridley Jr. of Bridge City.

-- Austin legislative candidates include, for District 10 of the Texas state Senate (the one being vacated by Wendy Davis), John Tunmire of Fort Worth.  David Courtney, the husband of the Green Party's lieutenant governor nominee, will run once more against Joan Huffman in SD-17.

State representative challengers are eight in number across the state and include Art Browning, again challenging Republican Allen Fletcher  in HD-130, and Morgan Bradford, the only opponent to Rep. Borris Miles in HD-146.

-- There are four Green candidates for County Judge across the state: David Collins in Harris (Ed Emmett, incumbent), Paul Pipkin in Bexar (Nelson Wolff, inc.); Jeff Questad in Travis (Samuel Biscoe, inc., retiring) and Frank Cortez in Webb (Danny Valdez, inc.).

There are also four Greens running for County Clerk: Earl Lyons in Bexar (Gerry Rickhoff, incumbent); Bill Stout in Travis (Dana DeBeauvoir, inc.); Matthew Hanson in Comal (Joy Streater, inc.); and Schyler Butler in Denton (Cynthia Mitchell, inc.).

-- Houston attorney Clint Davidson is a candidate for for Harris County Court of Criminal Law #13.  He has a blog titled "Trouble is My Business".

-- All of the 51 Texas Green Party candidates on the 2014 ballot can be found here.

What the Duck?

-- As far as Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty goes... well, God has spoken.

The Duck Dynasty guy who likened homosexuality to bestiality makes a living helping people trick ducks into thinking they want to fuck them.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) December 19, 2013

Robertson is a run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen Southern fried bigot and Bible thumper, but he also has a master's degree in education.  If you don't think he is manipulating the gulliblemics who watch his show in order to get more money from whichever broadcast outfit picks it up when they all quit A&E... then you might not have all the facts.

Republicans slobber all over themselves when these culture "wars" break out.  It's yet another opportunity to distract their base from the screwing they're being given by the likes of Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, and all the rest.  The best thing that can be said about this latest eruption is that there will be fewer Fox News "exposayz" on the "War on Christmas".

The best thing the rest of us can do is to stop responding with anything but ridicule to these obvious distractions.  If it's not handshakes, it's selfies.  Last week it was Megyn Kelly, this week it's Robertson.  There will be something and someone new next week too, because stubborn ignorance never takes a holiday.

Republicans won't have a chance of winning any contested elections next year unless they can sustain the Tea Party outrage for the next twelve months.  Let's stop letting the morons and bigots set the ground rules for 'discussion'.  And the best way to do that is to just laugh at them.

Really.

When some conservative brags about how strong Fox News' ratings are, remind them that a great deal of that audience is liberals tuning in for the comedic value.  When they post pictures of Obama bowing, remind them that it was W who kissed the Saudi leader, King Abdullah, on the mouth and held his hand.  (Sure, W is gay, everybody knows it except him, but the King isn't.  You can bank that.)

And when they scream that suspending Robertson is a violation of his First Amendment rights, just remind them that A&E -- and parent companies Hearst and Disney -- are not the federal government. Tell them to pull out their pocket copy of the US Constitution and read it, for God's sake.

And last, when they call Robertson a God-fearing Christian, show them this.

Mrs. Michael Berry now Texas Secretary of State

Congratulations on the appointment, and let's expect things to work out for the best.

Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday appointed Houston lawyer Nandita Berry to be secretary of state, succeeding John Steen Jr. of San Antonio, who announced his resignation this month.

Berry's appointment, effective Jan. 7, will make her the first Indian-American to hold the position of chief elections officer for Texas, Perry said.

"Nandita Berry personifies what is possible through hard work and dedication in the state of Texas," Perry said in a statement announcing the appointment. She was 21 when she arrived from India "with nothing but $200 to her name" and has become "one of the most accomplished attorneys in the state."

"I am truly humbled to follow in the footsteps of Stephen F. Austin, Texas' first secretary of state," Berry said in a statement. "Like him, I came to Texas in search of a better life and the limitless opportunities to be found across our great state."

Berry has been on the University of Houston board of regents as a Perry appointee but resigned that post to become secretary of state, according to the governor's office. She is senior counsel at Locke Lord LLP, a position the firm said she also will resign.

Mrs. Berry will be the state's 107th SoS.  In years past it was a springboard to statewide elective office, with people like John Hill, Martin Dies, Bob Bullock, and Mark White serving in the post.  George W. Bush's appointees included Alberto Gonzales.  Rick Perry has appointed eight different men and women to the position in his 13 years as governor; they have been less than stellar individuals, as he has used the office -- like all the rest of his appointments -- to reward loyal cronies.  Perry's most infamous SoS to date was his first: Geoff Connor, a man around whom the governor's own homosexuality controversy has swirled.

The problem with all the turnover is that it is a tough and controversial job, and those who serve in the position seem to tire quickly of it and quit.

As secretary of state, Nandita Berry will be the state's chief elections officer as well as the governor's liaison on border and Mexican affairs and the state's chief protocol officer for state and international matters. The secretary of state's office also is the repository for business records, among other responsibilities.

Yeah, that elections oversight thing.  Kind of a biggie.  Mrs. Berry will be working with county elections officials like Harris County tax assessor/collector Mike Sullivan next year on things like interpreting and applying the photo ID statutes, a contentious enough task in its execution in 2013.  That probably won't be her biggest immediate kerfuffle, however.

She is married to radio talk-show host and former Houston City Councilman Michael Berry, who drew attention in 2010 for saying on his show he hoped that if a mosque were built near the New York City site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that it would be blown up. He later apologized for his words but maintained that the mosque should not be built. He also has referred to Houston Mayor Annise Parker as Annise "Porker," and refers to liberals as "libtards."

In 2012, Berry -- a one-time candidate for mayor of Houston -- struck another vehicle as he was leaving a gay bar.  HPD investigated the incident as a hit-and-run, but the Harris County DA's office declined to press a charge.  Video cameras in the bar caught Berry on his way in to watch a drag show.  (I blogged about the incident here; that post is among the top ten most-clicked in Brains' ten-plus-year history.)

That's not the only dirt one can find on Mr. and Mrs. Berry, however.  Here's a link from 1992 and the archives of the Daily Cougar, the University of Houston's newspaper, about Michael and Nandy when they were students there.  (The formatting on the web page has all but collapsed; scroll to the end and then up to the headline "SA CANDIDATES TRADE BARBS, CLAIM 1991 ISSUES FORGOTTEN", written by Frank San Miguel.)  I'll just excerpt the relevant portion; you can click over if you want the full context.

Last summer, (SA Vice President Andrew) Monzon accused (SA President Michael) Berry of overpaying executive secretary and girlfriend Nandita Venkateswaran and causing problems with former Administrative Secretary Doris Ayyubi. Monzon told senators that he had written a letter to Dean of Students Willie Munson, SA advisor, that the organization was being "split into two factions of untrusting parties."

Michael Berry is the kind of fellow who creates controversy everywhere he goes.  Has all his life. He thrives on it, in fact.  Will his spouse allow his reputation for antagonism, dissension, strife, and poor judgment affect her administration of one of Texas' most important offices?

We'll just have to wait and see.  Nandita Berry seems to be an accomplished person in her own right; whether she allows or enables her husband to influence her work in the Office of Secretary of State remains to be seen.  If she wants to be in the headlines for something other than running a good, clean election next year... well, some of us will be waiting to write about that.

Republican Senators, the budget deal, and the unemployed

Profiles in Cowardice.

Eleven of the 12 sitting Republican senators facing re-election next year voted against the bipartisan budget agreement, which passed Wednesday with 64 votes. 

The “No” votes included:

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas
Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana
Sen. James Risch of Idaho
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma
Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi

The only Republican senator facing re-election in 2014 who supported the agreement was Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate who will likely not face a serious primary challenge next spring.

The budget deal -- the first one passed by the Senate in over four years in almost nine months -- did not fund benefits for the long-term unemployed, but does blunt the short-term effects of the sequester, particularly for defense contractors.  The conservatives moaned and groaned anyway.

Before the vote, many outside groups on the right, notably the Club for Growth, Heritage Action and FreedomWorks, panned the budget plan and promised to punish lawmakers who supported it. (The bill, which sets spending levels through fiscal year 2015, would replace much of the budget caps instituted in the Budget Control Act. The move would effectively loosen up much of the spending restrictions under “sequestration,” a policy many conservatives generally liked because it reined in federal spending.)

When the attitude of some in the GOP is to put children to work mopping floors at their schools in exchange for lunch, you can understand why the Scrooges and Grinches this holiday season seem even more hard-hearted than usual.

Egberto is much harsher on the Democrats in the budget negotiation than I am.