So how about those Russians?

Toldja it would break open, and I toldja it wouldn't be about hacking the election.

Fake news alert: Neither Reagan nor Nixon are actually in Heaven.

Collusion is a pretty huge deal, as most of us know, but not if you're Sean Hannity or the millions of MAGAs who refuse to accept the truth being told elsewhere on teevee.  But the White House knew it was time for an intervention, so they called in the God Squad.

Such an honor to pray within the Oval Office for @POTUS & @VP . pic.twitter.com/JrDOSJyFeN

— Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) July 12, 2017

Evangelical leaders laid hands and prayed over President Trump in the Oval Office on Monday, and discussed several policy issues, the Washington Post reports.

Pastors at the meeting told The Post that the group discussed issues such as religious freedom, judicial nominees, criminal justice reform and the Affordable Care Act. Vice President Pence and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were also present at the prayer gathering.

The group included megachurch pastors Paula White of Florida and Mark Burns of South Carolina, former Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and three Southern Baptist pastors.

Presumably the laying of hands did not involve former Rep. Bachmann's nether region.  One question: if the pastors discuss judicial candidates with the president, then has the wall between church and state been torn down (to be shipped to the southern border)?

The laying of hands is a symbol of God's authority, practiced in many evangelical denominations. Jesus and his apostles used the sign throughout the New Testament to bless and heal people and to commission messengers of the gospel.

Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne posted photos of the meeting on Facebook, and said he prayed for "supernatural wisdom, guidance and protection" for Trump. "Wow — we are going to see another great spiritual awakening," he said in the post.

Trump, who enjoyed wide support from evangelicals in the presidential election, is a self-described Presbyterian but does not attend church regularly. In January of 2016, Trump drew criticism from many evangelical Christians for his pronunciation of the Biblical book 2 Corinthians as "two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians".

Trump in fact received more than 4 out of every 5 votes from white evangelical Christians, despite the pussy-grabbing and the Two Corinthians and all the rest of his failings as a Christian.  His religion, as practiced on Sundays, is the Church of Golf.  But his God is money.

This is going so bad so fast that Paddy Power has changed its odds of impeachment.

PaddyPower, an Ireland-based betting site, has seen more users placing bets on President Trump being impeached before the end of his first term, bringing the site's total odds of the President being shuffled out of the White House by 2021 up to 60%—the highest it’s ever been, according to company spokesperson Lee Price.

"[President Donald Trump] had gone quiet over the last month, and we were starting to wonder if he might have ridden out the initial controversies – but he’s back with a bang today,” Price wrote in an email to Fortune Wednesday.

Not only are PaddyPower bettors increasingly putting their money on Trump being impeached before his first term is over, but they are also betting on him being impeached as soon as this year, bringing those odds up to 33.3%. That's despite the fact that impeachment proceedings are usually lengthy.

"Everyone is betting on the 'yes' side of impeachment," Price said, saying hundreds of thousands of pounds had been placed on that bet.

This is your clue that the Euros gambling on this outcome have no idea what they are doing.  Use that conclusion as you like; I'm not giving any financial advice here. 

That said, PaddyPower is hardly a foolproof predictor. Another betting website called Predict-It sees just a 9% chance of Trump being impeached this year, down from the 30% chance it saw after then-FBI Director James Comey was fired in May.

So the euphoria of a potential windfall may be short lived for those PaddyPower bettors, most of whom are unlikely to be Americans. Although it's not just betting sites weighing Trump’s odds of impeachment since news of Trump Jr.'s Russia meeting.

"We believe the risk of impeachment proceedings is now higher than before," CitiBank’s Tina Fordham wrote in a note on Wednesday, though she added that impeachment is still unlikely. "It would be highly unusual and indeed likely politically costly to the party's electoral prospects to pursue impeachment proceedings against a president of their own party, particularly with Midterm elections a little over a year away."

Meanwhile, California Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman placed a different kind of bet when he filed an article of impeachment against President Trump Wednesday.

Trump won't be impeached by a Republican Congress.  Trump may be forced to resign at some point sooner than later, and the GOP would just be thrilled with Mike Pence.

I cannot BELIEVE I have to protest this Net Neutrality shit again

Whatever issues you are interested in depend on keeping the Internet free and open. ~ Lo

From Battle For The Net

July 12th: Internet-Wide Day Of Action To Save Net Neutrality

WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY?

Net neutrality is the basic principle that protects our free speech on the Internet. “Title II” of the Communications Act is what provides the legal foundation for net neutrality and prevents Internet Service Providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from slowing down, blocking, or charging websites an additional fee to reach their audience (which they would then be forced to pass along to consumers).

WHY IS NET NEUTRALITY IMPORTANT?

The Internet has thrived precisely because of net neutrality. It’s what makes it so vibrant and innovative—a place for creativity, free expression, and exchange of ideas. Without net neutrality, the Internet will become more like cable TV, where the content you see is what your provider puts in front of you.

FCC Chairman and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai has a plan to destroy net neutrality and give big companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T immense control over what we can see and do on the Internet, with the power to slow down or block websites, and charge others extra to reach an audience.

If we lose net neutrality, we could soon face an Internet where some of your favorite websites are forced into a slow lane online, while deep-pocketed companies who can afford expensive new “prioritization” fees have special fast lane access to Internet users – tilting the playing field in their favor.

On July 12th, the Internet will come together to stop them.  Blogs, websites, Internet users, and online communities will sound the alarm about the FCC’s attack on net neutrality.

Got any Democrats in mind for governor in 2018?

Because it sure doesn't seem like the Texas Democratic Party does.  The most recent post on the topic that Google returns for me (if you don't count the Castros' turndowns in May) is dated February 9 of this year -- five months ago -- and is a bit of rumor and off-the-record chat collected by the TexTrib about a private meeting at the end of the previous month.

In late January, a high-profile forum for candidates vying to be the next Democratic National Committee chair brought hordes of Democrats to Houston ready to plot the party’s national future. But for Texans in the party, the more consequential meeting may have occurred the day before in Austin.

A tight-knit group of Texas Democratic leaders traveled to the state capital that day to begin preliminary conversations about the 2018 midterm races.

According to over a dozen interviews with Texas Democratic insiders and national Democrats with ties to the state, the meeting included some of the party's most well-known figures from Texas including former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, his twin brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Texas Democratic Party Finance Chairman Mike Collier, former state Sen. Wendy Davis, state Democratic Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and state Reps. Rafael Anchia of Dallas and Chris Turner of Grand Prairie.

Their main agenda: mapping out a strategy for the 2018 midterm elections.

You should already know what Collier and O'Rourke have decided to do.  It's highly doubtful Davis (who lives in Austin now) will make another bid for the Mansion, and Anchia and Turner have 'special session' on the brain.  Parker wants to run for Harris County Judge, but not if Ed Emmett is still there, and he's still going to be there in 2018.  Of these, perhaps Turner or Anchia will be so frustrated after the special and Abbott's heavy hand that they'll throw their hat in.  Some things haven't changed in the last six months, however.

The expectations in the room were not soaring but were cautiously hopeful. That optimism was mostly rooted around one person: President Donald Trump.

Uh huh.  Maybe Cliff Walker can find Betsy Johnson, clean off her combat boots, and keep the Greens from getting to 5% again.  (The GP already has to petition for ballot access next year, thanks to the two afore-mentioned in 2016.)  In similar vein, the two most vulnerable statewide Republican incumbents have also drawn no challengers to this point.

Party insiders are also coveting two other statewide offices: attorney general and agriculture commissioner. The two Republican incumbents, Ken Paxton and Sid Miller, respectively, have faced a series of political struggles that could complicate their re-election campaigns.

So here's my prediction: as in 2006, there will be a few populist figures with little to no experience in elective office step up; the party won't find any money or other support for them, and ... you can probably guess what will happen.  Then in December of 2018, as all eyes turn to the presidential tilt in two years, the chairman of the TDP will stand up at a meeting of the SDEC and say, "It was a tough year; we focused on a few targeted races".

The House Democratic campaign arm recently announced it was eyeing three GOP-held congressional districts: U.S. Rep. John Culberson's 7th District, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd's 23rd District and U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions' 32nd District. Only the appearance of Hurd's district on the list was unexpected.

Democrats did not spend money in either Culberson's or Sessions' districts in recent cycles, but presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's performance there in 2016 encouraged the party to take a second look.

Yeah, they're swarming into the primaries against Culberson and Sessions.  The money race is already being reported, and thank Jeebus James Cargas isn't winning that, either.

As for the statewide races?  I've seen this all before, and so have you.

Progressives (and Democrats) across Texas answer to the law

-- Facing the law (but not justice):  Shere Dore, Houston's foremost advocate for the homeless, was arrested on an outstanding warrant while she was on her way to a hearing for her felony charges of striking a HPD police horse.

Dore and her partner were driving to the Harris County courthouse for an appearance in the earlier case when officers pulled the pair over and arrested Dore for warrants stemming from a two-year-old speeding charge.

Local activists were quick to cry foul.

"Law enforcement agencies have decided to set Shere up for coming out against them with her activism and various allyship," said Ashton Woods of Black Lives Matter Houston.

"They were on their way to court - the officer was literally staked out waiting for them."

No local person in my memory has been subjected to more continuous, flagrant, and obvious police harassment than Dore.

The 41-year-old was taken to the Fort Bend County jail and held pending payment of her outstanding fees, prompting the Harris County court to revoke her bond when she failed to appear.

"It is interesting that this outstanding warrant did not come up when she was arrested in November of 2016 and more interesting that it would come up the morning of her court date," said Brian Harrison, who has represented her in the Harris County case, along with attorney Jolanda Jones.

It was not immediately clear which law enforcement agency pulled Dore over Thursday.

"I don't know why they were stopped on the morning of her court date, a date which I know a number of people thought was her trial date," Harrison said.

[...]

Local activists, supporters and friends rallied around the well-known advocate for the homeless, chipping in funds to secure Dore's release. But even once she pays the $1,083.10 owed in Fort Bend, she'll still be held until a Harris County judge can reinstate her bond, Harrison said.

The Harris County felony charge - interfering with a police service animal - stems from a spirited November march through downtown Houston.

During the nighttime protest two days after Trump's election, Dore was one of a handful of demonstrators arrested after the gathering spilled out into city streets.

As an officer on a police horse named Astro started to push Dore back onto the sidewalk, Dore allegedly hit the animal with a closed fist, a charge her lawyers have consistently denied.

"I want the world to know that our clients are absolutely innocent. They have a First Amendment right to protest," Jones said after a November court date.

"I think this is one of the first indications of what's going to happen with the new president."

I think it's a clearer indication of what's actually happening with our still-kinda-new police chief and our not so new but extraordinarily weak mayor, but whatever.  This is the kind of repercussion I was anticipating just last week (see the very last sentence).

-- A JP faces justice: the SCOTX suspended controversial (that's an understatement) Harris County Justice of the Peace Hilary Green for ... oh, let's just call it 'conduct unbecoming'.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday issued an order to suspend Harris County Justice of the Peace Hilary Green from office immediately based on allegations that she illegally abused prescription drugs, sent sexually explicit texts to a bailiff while on the bench and paid for sex.

The state supreme court had been asked to take the unusual emergency action by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which in May presented a 316-page document in support of an immediate suspension. That document summarized evidence it had collected in its own investigations of previously secret complaints made against Green from 2012 to 2015.

It's the first time any Texas judge has received a temporary suspension in at least a decade in a contested matter, the commission says.

The commission alleged that in its own closed proceedings, Green already had admitted to many allegations against her, including illegally obtaining prescription drugs and using marijuana and Ecstasy while she was presiding over low-level drug possession cases involving juveniles in her south Houston courtroom. As a justice of the peace for Harris County Precinct 7, Place 1, Green handles thousands of low-level criminal and civil matters a year, including traffic tickets and evictions.

So ends (let's hope) the saga of one of Houston and Harris County's most prominent black Democratic couples.  Their future as political players was once as as bright as the July sun.  Now they'll be lucky if they can avoid the big house themselves.

-- Facing down unjustice: US House candidate Derrick Crowe, a contender for the 2018 Democratic nomination in TX-21 (the incumbent is virulent climate change denialist Lamar Smith), got himself arrested outside John Cornyn's Austin office.

“Demonstrators waved signs, led chants and blocked the sidewalk in opposition to the Senate GOP plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, which would slash coverage for many and the taxes that help pay for it,” the Austin American-Statesman reported.

A coalition of local groups targeted Cornyn because he is a key sponsor of the unpopular Senate health care bill. Mr. Crowe was among a small group that chose to make an even bigger statement against the legislation.

“At about 12:20 p.m., a handful of us blocked the sidewalk,” Crowe explains in a post at Daily Kos. The act of civil disobedience was “a line in the sand against the attack on our families represented by this bill. Blocking pedestrian traffic resulted in our arrest.”

Crowe is one of a half-dozen Dems lining up to challenge Smith.  All across the state, Democrats smell opportunity amidst the overwhelming stench of fear hanging on GOP Congressional incumbents, who are running and hiding from their constituents like roaches when the lights come on.

In contrast to some of my more recent negative postings about their chances, maybe this fierce resistance (and certainly some effective organizing and a positive message) will translate into good news for a few of them.  To boil it down to one sentence: Trump can be neutralized with one chamber of Congress flipped in 2018, and turned out of office in 2020, but Democrats need to get their shit together fast.  And time's a-wastin'.

Update: Somehow I neglected to mention the federal conviction of Houston Community College Trustee Chris Oliver on felony bribery charges.  Oliver has been a candidate for city hall and also Harris County Democratic Party chair in the recent past, while still serving on the school board.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance would like to bottle and sell Angela Merkel's eyerolls as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff comments on the Justice Department's flipflop on voter ID.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks hurricane preparedness is so much more important than building a monument to racism. Today's white nationalist party, the GOP, disagrees.

SocraticGadfly moves from politics to scientific skepticism with an anniversary-based look at one of the most famous events in the UFO world.

The Russians tried to hack our election, and they may try again ... but given the effective suppression tactics of voter ID and partisan gerrymandering in Texas and throughout the country, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs asks: shouldn't Democrats be focusing on the voting challenges they can affect, as opposed to the one they can't?

jobsanger wonders if the media is being played by Trump's Tweetstorms.

The Lewisville Texan Journal was on the scene in McKinney, as Ted Cruz talked veterans' support but avoided questions about Trumpcare.

Texas Leftist took note of Houston mayor Sylvester Turner's abandonment of one of his core issues: removing the city's revenue cap.

Texas Vox decries Greg Abbott's rejection of clean air for Austin.

Neil at All People Have Value posted that freedom-loving Texans showed up at the office of wicked-doing Senator John Cornyn even on the Fourth of July. You can't take a holiday from the work freedom. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

More left-of-Texas news and blog posts!

The Austin American Statesman previews the legal challenge to the state's Congressional and statehouse maps, drawn by the GOP, as they go on trial in federal court this morning.

"Don't miss with Texas Pets" is the message sent in the law signed by Governor Abbott criminalizing the abuse of animals in the state, in a roundup of North Texas news posted at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's PoliTex.

Rivard Report has an early advance on the coming special legislative session.

Grits for Breakfast muses on the future of non-profit journalism.

RG Ratcliffe at Burkablog writes about the TXGOP's long winning streak and how it has created an entirely different set of problems than the more obvious ones posed to Texas Democrats.

The San Antonio Current reported on the state Commission on Environmental Quality's seeming ignorance of 97% of all polluting violations by oil and gas industry.  And Mark Collette at the Houston Chronicle explains how industry gets away with it.

Better Texas Blog runs the numbers on how Trumpcare would screw our state, Bonddad has a thought on Trump voters and the peasant mentality, and Therese Odell takes another dive into the Trump Twitter cesspool.

Saadia Faruqi explains why she wears a hijab.

And CultureMap Houston suggests four Hill Country places to get your grub on after you've floated the Guadalupe or the Comal.

Sunday Funnies