Alameel, Fjetland, Scherr appear together in Houston next Monday

(Ed. note: Early Voting Ballot Board service to commence in short order, so posts will be lacking some of the usual strident advocacy.  Hopefully not boring.)

Three of the four Democratic candidates for the the US Senate will be in Houston next Monday, February 17, as the Meyerland Democratic Club hosts them for a question-and-answer forum. 

For some reason I'm thinking the fourth candidate is likely to make an uninvited appearance, as she did a few weeks ago in College Station.  I hope club president Art Pronin has a contingency plan in place for that.

As is typically the case, there will be dozens of Harris County Democratic hopefuls working the room, so this is a great opportunity to meet and greet several of the folks -- Congressionals, judicials, countywide offices, Austin representatives -- that will appear on the primary ballot.

-- Agriculture Commission candidate Hugh Fitzsimons is also in town tomorrow night at Hughes Hangar for a fundraiser.  The Chron has endorsed him, and he recently got favorably Politifact-checked with regard to the matriarchal society that is a bison herd.  Seriously.

-- MSNBC's Krystal Ball (a person, not a thing) has implored Hillary Clinton not to run for president.  Egberto Willies with more on that.

Nothing here has really changed in the past year.  If she runs, she wins.  If she picks a Texas Latino to run with, Texas turns blue in 2016 and never goes red again for a long, long time.

-- Ted Cruz is helping Democrats in Texas every time he opens his mouth.

On a conference call with reporters today, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) hinted that he may filibuster the House passed debt ceiling suspension in the Senate....

Cruz broke out the same rhetoric that he used before the government shutdown, and hinted at blocking the debt limit bill, “If you get outside Washington, D.C., this issue is practically a no-brainer. President Obama is asking Congress for a blank check. …Under no circumstances will I consent to the debt ceiling being raised with only a 50-vote threshold. I think Senate Republicans should stand united and insist upon a 60-vote threshold. And that is my intention.”

The 'stand united' language was the same point that he made before the government shutdown. 

He also launched the torpedo that sank immigration reform.  God bless that sorry bastard.  Run, Ted, run! (Warning: Breitbart.)

-- One funny thing and one serious thing to finish: Jon Stewart tore both Republicans and Democrats a new one last night on the failure of CIR (comprehensive immigration reform), and Robert Reich helpfully explains why so many people vote against their own economic self-interest: fear.

People are so desperate for jobs they don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want rules and regulations enforced that might cost them their livelihoods. For them, a job is precious — sometimes even more precious than a safe workplace or safe drinking water.

This is especially true in poorer regions of the country like West Virginia and through much of the South and rural America — so-called “red” states where the old working class has been voting Republican. Guns, abortion, and race are part of the explanation. But don’t overlook economic anxieties that translate into a willingness to vote for whatever it is that industry wants. 

We see this again with Keystone XL as the unions line up behind it, mumbling "jobs".  There won't be any jobs to speak of, naturally.  After three decades of trickle-down economics, some people just can't wake up and smell the coffee.  The "job creators" aren't going to create any, because increasing demand for employees raises wages, and nobody in charge wants that.  Why do you think Republicans won't raise the minimum wage, for Pete's sake?  Because that would give poor people greater power over the lives.  And the corporatists certainly can't have that.

Update: As if on cue, here's the most recent example of the incrementalism Rall refers to in the lower left panel.

This is the same reason they oppose Obamacare, and try to twist the meaning of its implementation through the media.  Because, in addition to keeping the center of control in the hands of the corporations, these lies help them with the poor, scared rubes on Election Day.

A 30-second ad is the perfect vehicle for a visceral lie. It's a lot easier to scream "job killer" than it is to explain the CBO's carefully hedged nuances. Typically in politics, when you're explaining, you're losing.

And most importantly, the Republican lie is red meat for the ravenous conservative base that delights in hate-feasting on the health law. Those voters are conditioned to believe the worst; passion drives turnout, which means they're likely to dominate midterm balloting in November. They've already swallowed a slew of lies - from "death panels" to "rationed care" - so why would factual reality enlighten them now?

As my friend Neil says often, this stuff is all connected.

No Fags League?

Is that really where Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, Bob McNair, et. al. want to be standing?

The best defensive player in college football's best conference only a third to fifth round NFL pick? Really? That is shocking, and I guess that other thing is, too.

Michael Sam would be the first openly gay player in the NFL; says he knows there will be problems... and they've already started.

Several NFL officials are telling Sports Illustrated it will hurt him on draft day because a gay player wouldn't be welcome in an NFL locker room. It would be uncomfortable, because that's a man's world.

There's no more prolific whisper network than the college of NFL scouts, coaches, owners, former players, etc.  The Brotherhood of Manly Men.  And the white noise is like a loud ringing in American society's ear right now. 

You beat a woman and drag her down a flight of stairs, pulling her hair out by the roots? You're the fourth guy taken in the NFL draft.

You kill people while driving drunk? That guy's welcome.

Players caught in hotel rooms with illegal drugs and prostitutes? We know they're welcome.

Players accused of rape and pay the woman to go away?  You lie to police trying to cover up a murder? We're comfortable with that.

You love another man? Well, now you've gone too far!

I'll add: you can run a 4.4 forty?  You can shut down your corner?  You got a 'high motor' and you're a 'character guy'?  Congratulations, son.  Welcome to the NFL.  Try to keep your nose clean, but don't worry too much if you can't.  Just don't ever lose that quick first step.

It wasn't that long ago when we were being told that black players couldn't play in "our" games because it would be "uncomfortable." And even when they finally could, it took several more years before a black man played quarterback. Because we weren't "comfortable" with that, either.

So many of the same people who used to make that argument (and the many who still do) are the same people who say government should stay out of our lives. But then want government in our bedrooms.

I've never understood how they feel "comfortable" laying claim to both sides of that argument.

Yeah, those poor Republican conservatives.  Always getting something they don't like "shoved down their throats".  This is going to be some fun to watch, as Michael Sam transforms into Jackie Robinson, and the taboos start crashing to the ground.  Lots of opportunities for satire.

Update: Astros pitcher Jarrod Cosart picked a bad day to Tweet about Justin Bieber.

Update II: Fifteen reasons why Michael Sam matters, and why football is ready for him, even if some in the NFL aren't quite.

In the final minutes of the Cotton Bowl, with Missouri clinging to a three point lead, their opponent, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, were driving deep into Tigers territory. A field goal would have tied it for the Cowboys, a touchdown would probably have won it. On third down, inside the thirty, the Cowboys quarterback dropped back to pass. Sam, in a wondrous combination of power and speed, shot past his blocker on the outside. As the quarterback was flushed from the pocket, Sam sacked him, knocking the ball loose. His teammate scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown. Sam’s play helped seal the victory, and it was obvious to anyone watching just what kind of player he was: a real man’s man.

No matter what happens next, Sam has proven what we already knew: that football, or any sport, isn’t somehow in itself hostile to the breadth of human sexuality. At Outsports, in a great behind-the-scenes explanation of how Sam’s announcement was planned and timed, Cyd Zeigler writes that Sam has no plans to become an activist anytime soon: “His role in the movement toward LGBT equality in sports will be simply playing the sport as an out gay man.” He’s done it before.

"When you're explaining, you're losing"

Could someone please text that to Matt Angle, stat?

Sen. Wendy Davis got some criticism from her own party when she came out for open carry of handguns, but she emphasized Monday there are some caveats in her position.

The Fort Worth Democrat said that entities including cities should be able to make their own decisions not only on any proposed open-carry law but on the existing law allowing licensed people to carry concealed handguns.

“Obviously in Texas we have a culture that respects the Second Amendment right and privilege of owning and carrying guns — but we also, of course, have respect and understand a the rights and privileges of property owners to make decisions about what’s right for them,” said Davis, who is expected to face Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott in the general-election in the race for governor.

“My position on open carry reflects my respect for both of those principles, and I believe that municipalities, school districts, hospitals, private property owners should be the ones that ultimately have a say as to whether this is right for them and their facilities,” she said.

Davis, pointing to her time as a city official, said, “My position on that is consistent both on open and concealed carry. I do believe that municipalities should be able to make that decision for themselves. I sat on the City Council in Fort Worth when that decision was made for us.

“I believe that local control means local control, and we should respect municipalities’ positions and opinions in these matters and we shouldn’t make the decision for them,” she said.

So then... everyone could have predicted this.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who championed the concealed-carry law as a state senator, called Davis’ position “absurd.”

“It’s a constitutional right,” Patterson said. “There is no such thing as local control of constitutional rights.” State law spells out places at which handguns are barred.

And this.

Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch said, “Greg Abbott believes that Texans’ constitutional rights don’t stop at the city limits.”

I suggested she just stop talking about guns.  But noooo...

That’s fine as it goes, but local gun carry restrictions are the precise thing the most passionate parts of the open carry movement are mobilizing against. Increasingly agitated open carry protesters aren’t looking for the right to carry guns openly in some places, they want that right in all places—so what, exactly, is the political utility of this argument? Who is it supposed to win over, and at what cost to the small number of Democrats in Texas for whom gun control is a primary issue?

It's just getting embarrassing for Davis at this point.  Don't know what else can be said.

Update: It's valuable to take note that at a moment when her opponent is stepping in rolling through his own crap, she is too busy explaining something else to hit back.

Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott made no apologies Monday for his statements comparing public corruption on the border to conditions in third-world countries. Instead, he accused critics of his border policy of having their “heads in the sand,” and said such corruption isn't unique to the border.

In his brief campaign stop at a warehousing business that facilitates cross border commerce and trade, Abbott said that corruption is a problem statewide.

“It doesn’t matter where you are in the state of Texas, public corruption does mimic third-world” practices, he said. 

Who would know any better than Greg Abbott about widespread corruption throughout the state of Texas, after all?  Who besides the attorney general of Texas would be responsible over the past twelve years for doing something about it, if it were truly a concern of his?  It's not like he was busy suing Barack Obama for the fortieth time, was it?

Yes, Davis had this over the weekend, and thanks to Abbott doubling down on the stupid, she has another shot she can take tomorrow, or maybe the next day (this is what I meant back here about the lack of rapid response).  But please, Senator: no more about guns.

John Coby has your comic relief.

Update II: And Socratic Gadfly has some direct advice for the incognito Green gubernatorial candidate, Brandon Parmer, who is squandering his own opportunity at this moment.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is still learning the rules of team figure skating as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff published interviews with US Senate candidates Mike Fjetland and Maxey Scherr.

Horwitz at Texpatriate expresses shock and anger over Wendy Davis' new positions on guns.

House Republican leadership finally announced last week that the chances for comprehensive immigration reform are "in serious jeopardy." But thanks to the great people at Houston Matters, Texas Leftist was able to discover that there was never a real chance to pass it in the first place. The only way it's going to happen is if Democrats take control the House and the Senate.

The news of the week was Wendy Davis coming out in favor of open carry, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs fears that might be a fatal error.

Eye On Williamson observes that Texans and their families that are purposefully being left without health care because of a cruel right wing ideology: Perry and the Texas GOP Left Me Out.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants everyone to know that Greg Abbott insulted the entire Rio Grande Valley. Way to reach out, Bucko!

Neil at All People Have Value said Wendy Davis announcing support for open carry of guns, as in the times of Wyatt Earp, recalls for us all yet again that the work of freedom is up to each of us and not politicians. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

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

The Feminist Justice League does the math on the declining abortion rate nationally and in Texas.

The TSTA blog laments that self-styled education reformers are often part of the problem.

BOR highlights another example of the Texas Medical Association endorsing candidates that work against their own stated interests.

Texas Redistricting examines the components of Texas' population growth.

Grits for Breakfast cheers a report showing that Texas led the nation in exonerations in 2013.

Molly Cox details how the Affordable Care Act would have saved her a lot of trouble and worry if it had been the law when she first got sick.

Texas Vox notes the Texas House interim charges to watch.

PTA mom Kim Burkett informs teachers they've received a wake up call.

Cody Pogue gives his perspective on Wendy Davis and open carry.

Rand Paul gives clue to Harris GOP, but they may not be listening

Politico first.

Sen. Rand Paul on Saturday predicted that Texas would turn blue within a decade if the Republican Party doesn’t become more inclusive.

“What I do believe is Texas is going to be a Democrat state within 10 years if we don’t change,” Paul (R-Ky.), who grew up in Texas, said at a dinner held by the Harris County GOP. “That means we evolve, it doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a welcoming party.”

Paul, who is heavily weighing a presidential bid, noted that his assessment was shared by the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. The Lone Star state, currently the largest Republican bastion in the country, is nearly 40 percent Hispanic — a demographic that has overwhelmingly supported Democrats in recent elections.

The senator, whose father was a longtime congressman from Texas, acknowledged that immigration reform is a “touchy” subject before offering his vision for people who want to come to the United States.

“We won’t all agree on it,” he said. “But I’ll tell you, what I will say and what I’ll continue to say, and it’s not an exact policy prescription … but if you want to work and you want a job and you want to be part of America, we’ll find a place for you.”

There was some quiet applause in the massive hotel ballroom, in which hundreds of Republicans — a mix of high-dollar donors, activists and state officials — were gathered. But Paul remarked that the response was “kind of tepid.”

There's all you need to know about how things are going for Jared Woodfill.  Scott Braddock's subhead: "Resistance to change bodes well for Woodfill's reelect"...

Against the backdrop of a fierce struggle for leadership of their party and a fundamental argument about which direction it should be led, the largest county GOP in America largely came together Saturday night in Houston for their annual Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner. By any measure, the fundraiser itself was a success. It was a sellout which drew about 800 of the party faithful and netted about $200,000 for the Harris County GOP, organizers said.

But, there were several key moments scattered throughout the evening that embodied the larger internal struggle the Republican Party is having nationally to retain relevance and locally to do likewise.

The longtime Party Chairman, Jared Woodfill, faces his most serious challenge to date because some key Republican power players in Houston now believe it is time for a change. Dick Weekley, John O’Neil, and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett are among those who have now donated about $133,000 to Woodfill’s challenger, Paul Simpson. This of course is much more money than is usually seen in a local party chairman’s race. At last check Woodfill had about $10,000 on hand. “They’re spending all this money against me,” Woodfill said. “What does that tell you? That I’m effective and I’m doing things they don’t like.” 

I can't wait for Big Jolly's take and his photos from the event last night.  His latest seems a little... well, unenthusiastic about both the incumbent and his challenger, Simpson.  Greg seems conflicted as well; he doesn't have anything lately but this post a month ago reveals a preference (Simpson), as do his more recent comments posted to Jolly's blog.  But this from the blog's Facebook page reveals some measure of not receiving Sen. Paul's message.

Out of town, there's Laura Ingraham from the Sunday Talking heads this very morning.

Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham battled the rest of the Fox News Sunday panel over immigration, arguing that immigration reform and current enforcement of immigration laws were weakening the American workforce, even as her fellow panelists countered that reform would bolster the economy.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a split inside the Republican Party between two staunch conservatives,” host Chris Wallace said, going on to ply Ingraham with a Wall Street Journal editorial that called flinching on reform “de facto amnesty.”

“As far as I can tell, the Wall Street Journal is on the side of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Pat Leahy and La Raza,” Ingraham said. “I think they should put down their dogeared copy of Fountainhead and live in the real world…Do we care about American workers at all?”

“You’re the one who’s arguing the AFL-CIO argument,” Will said, noting that the “economic dynamism” aided by immigrants would help sustain the American workforce.

“So why have a border at all?” Ingraham said. “There is no will to enforce the border. There is no faith in this administration to do it. The Republican elites and the Democratic elites agree, and the people are revolting across this country.”

So Rand Paul is a Republican elitist, eh?

I'll keep watching these developments, and with plenty of popcorn on hand, but the Republican civil war just isn't claiming enough casualties fast enough to flip Texas in 2014, and that has nothing to do with Wendy Davis' identity crisis.  The path to 50%-plus-1 was almost too steep for her anyway, and that was before she started blasting shotgun holes in both running shoes.

There remain, however, good opportunities for a breakthrough elsewhere on the ballot.  Specifically in the lieutenant governor's race and the comptroller's contest, as Leticia Van de Putte ("Momma ain't happy") and Mike Collier ("accounting, not abortion") adeptly draw the proper distinctions between themselves and any one of the Republican reactionaries they are likely to  face in November.

That's how you run against the fruitcake conservatives, folks.

Update: More -- mostly skepticism -- from Booman and his commenters with regard to Texas turning blue any time soon. And Bay Area Houston and Juanita Jean pick at Woodfill's scabs.

Sunday Funnies

Curtains

So... I was wrong about Keystone XL being dead.  Charles Pierce, with some additional links I embedded beyond his:

The ducks are lining up in a very pretty row regarding our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline, the proposed continent-spanning death funnel that would bring the world's dirtiest fossil fuel from the environmental hellscape of northern Alberta down through the richest farmlands on the planet all the way to refineries in Texas, and thence to the world. Ed Schultz is running the bullshi...er...ball on liberal MSNBC. Progressive champion Brian Schweizer is on board; what the hell, they're not going to take his land to build it. The State Department's cheesecloth "environmental" study is being treated as dispositive, not least by former Energy Secretary Ken Salazar, and AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka's on board as well, guaranteeing that the stupid stand-off within progressive politics between organized labor and the environmental movement will go on for another decade, because we all know how helpful that has been. And just for entertainment's sake, here's Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post being baffled by the jobs numbers, which all have been fake from the beginning because TransCanada, the company that wants to build the pipeline, cannot be trusted. And the State Department's numbers, as the National Resources Defense Council makes clear, are one big ball of fudge. You simply cannot make the case for this monstrosity on the basis of economic stimulus unless you count the strippers. Are we counting strippers?

Yes, exotic dancer jobs should be counted in the economic impact study.

I think the deal has gone down. Some late Friday afternoon, the president and John Kerry are going to stick their heads out the window and whisper, "We gonna build this sucker," and then blow town. This is what will happen next. There will be massive civil disobedience all along the length of the pipeline. It will get built. TransCanada, as is its historic pattern, will then neglect to maintain it and it will leak, badly. The environmental damage will be massive and lasting. All over western Canada, which has stood firm against running this creature through its territories, people will chuckle wisely at what suckers we all were. And important pundits -- and fact checkers -- will tell us nobody could have predicted this.

It'll happen like Pierce says, probably about a year from now, once 2014's election is in the books, irrespective of whether the US Senate flips or a Democrat gets elected to something statewide in Texas.  But I'll let David Nangle, the top FB commenter to Pierce's article, finish.

... and we will pay dearly in tax money for an inadequate cleanup that makes the perpetrators even wealthier, somehow. The perpetrators will pay less in taxes from their profits than I will from my job. Obama will be blamed (correctly), and socialism will be blamed (insanely.) Liberals will be blamed. The victims all along the pipeline will fiercely vote Republican in response. Cancer rates will soar along the path of death. Firebrands will stand very, very far away from each disaster and proclaim that government regulations caused the mess. Freedom will be mentioned. Rights will be mentioned. Solar power will be declared more dangerous, as will wind power. None of this is avoidable.

Don't blame me; I voted for Jill Stein.