The Weekly Wrangle

(Satirical news item: "Trump to give rally attendees 'Freedom Bats'")

The Texas Progressive Alliance is enjoying spring training baseball and also ready to fill out a bracket as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff analyzed the Democratic and Republican presidential primary returns in Harris County.

Libby Shaw, contributing to Daily Kos, learned that residents in the Houston, Clear Lake City and Galveston areas are sitting ducks. Why? Because our area politicians and local leadership has done jack, zip, nada to address the region’s storm and flood infrastructure. Not a thing has been done since Hurricane Ike in 2008. Nothing but talk and finger pointing. Wake up Texas, Houston. It'ss not a question of if, but when.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is appalled at John Cornyn's threat to ruin the career of any potential Supreme Court nominee. Just when you think a Republican can't sink any lower, John Cornyn does.

Hillary Clinton's braincramp about Nancy Reagan's contributions in the 1980s during the AIDS crisis won her the WTF of the Week, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

SocraticGadfly looked at that statement, and also the one about Bernie Sanders -- who allegedly "wasn't with her" on healthcare reform in 1993 -- and wonders if we're in dogwhistle season.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston celebrated the arrival of spring's Political Cicadas.

The Lewisville Texan Journal updated their story on a drug-related double shooting with the announcement of an arrest being made.

Neil at All People Have Value commended the local National Weather Service for offering a clear and intelligent explanation to the general public for a missed forecast. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

President Obama made an appearance at this year's South by Southwest Interactive, and the Texas Election Law Blog reported that he encouraged civic engagement in technological innovation, including electronic voter registration.

Also from SXSW, the Texas Observer attended the Open Carry Texas march down Congress Avenue, which included a topless woman and a "Cocks Not Glocks" counter-protester.

Grits for Breakfast assembles a compendium of motives for the shooting at Sen. John Whitmire's office.

Houston Matters previews the Galveston municipal elections.

Lone Star Ma focuses on the eighth of the United Nations' new Sustainable Development Goals: "Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all."

Harold Cook tries to make sense of the ever-murky Republican presidential primary, and Prairie Weather observes that the party of personal responsibility is running away from its irresponsible behavior.

Politifact Texas checked on Trump's claim that he was rushed onstage by an a member of ISIS, and ... you can probably guess the answer.

Somervell County Salon cringed at Hillary Clinton's insinuation that "melted hearts" would fix institutional racism.

Newsdesk gives a primer on Robert Morrow, the Travis County GOP's wacky new chair.

The TSTA Blog decries the rising cost of public universities in Texas and the effort to dodge responsibility for it in the Legislature.

Christopher Andrews examines the social life of small urban spaces.

Save Buffalo Bayou sees no change in the release of water behind dams, despite their leaks, in light of recent heavy rains.

And the Houston Press covers the worst road trips from Houston (with tongue-in-cheek, we think).

Sunday Funnies

Hillary's braincramp about the Reagans and AIDS

I think 'brainfart' is about as kind a description as can be.

In an appearance on MSNBC Friday afternoon, Hillary Clinton found herself in a situation that called for her to say some nice things about the recently deceased former first lady Nancy Reagan, and she made the somewhat odd choice to highlight HIV/AIDS advocacy. According to Clinton, "Because of both President and Mrs. Reagan — in particular Mrs. Reagan — we started a national conversation. When before nobody would talk about it, nobody wanted to do anything about it." 

Clinton described Reagan's role as "very effective low-key advocacy" and "something that I really appreciated."

Oops.

This observation of one first lady by another must have occurred in some alternate universe, because here on Earth -- in the United States, "in the '80's", as Clinton noted -- what she said happened actually did not happen.  Quite the opposite.

It's not another one of Clinton's lies and it doesn't make sense as a pander (why would any Republican be drawn to her campaign by her sympathizing with the plight of gay men with a deathly illness?  When in all of the history of the HIV in the USA has that ever been the case?).  Could it have been some desire to say something nice about someone on the day of her burial?  If so, she could have simply stated, "She looked good in red," and left it at that.

I'm going to give Hillary the benefit of the doubt here and say that she confused "Just Say No" with the AIDS crisis.  As comedienne Lizz Winstead observed, she couldn't have gotten it mixed up with Alzheimer's, because the Reagans didn't acknowledge that either until long after they were out of the White House.

I misspoke. Turns out Nancy Reagan was the WORST on HIV/AIDS. Sorry for the confusion. Oh and Reagan Vetoed Stem cell research also. kbye

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 11, 2016

I don't think people making lame excuses for her is what she needs.  Apologies are cool, but it's still difficult to comprehend the thought process behind the 'misspeaking'.  Lacking any better or more coherent explanation however, let's just mark it down as the most recent in a litany of bad judgements and move on.

Update: NO, German Lopez and Garance Franke-Rute, this is not 'the best explanation', or even a good one.  Only if your thought process just stopped working in the '80s would this be even slightly plausible.

4) What Clinton said perfectly encapsulated the viewpoint of mainstream Democrats in the 1980s, before the party became gay friendly

— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) March 11, 2016

And if Franke-Rute is correct that establishment Democrats beyond Hillary Clinton believed that the Reagans were AIDS advocates, low-key or otherwise ... what does that say about the Democratic establishment?

It's obvious with a cursory Google search that non-establishment liberal politicians -- not the same as mainstream Democrats, mind you -- were not thinking this.

Update II: Some people believe Clinton should do more than apologize.  And more from What Would Jack Do? with the harshest response of all, Dan Savage's, linked.