Valerie Plame Interviewed For the First Time

It has been 4 years since Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative, was outted by high ranking officials in the Executive Branch of Bush’s regime. And she has been silent until now. But at long last she tells (some of) her story to Katie Couric on the CBS’s 60 Minutes news magazine broadcast on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Some of her story because there is at least one person who still believes in keeping these things a secret.

Now all you have to do is watch the You Tube clip embedded below, it’s a teaser that reveals how the CIA was working to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of “the bad guys”. How all of that was nullified by Plame’s outing.



And then compare that to Bush’s claims about how he is keeping us safe. Safe from Al-Qaeda and safe from Islamofascists in Iran who want to build nuclear weapons.



What is really alarming to me is that this is the lame duck president who wants to stay relevant. Well how relevant can you be when on the one hand you destroy the covert ops that were working to nullify Iran nuclear program, and on the other hand "keep everything on the table".

Watts a NO SHOW at the Johnson-Rayburn-Richardson Dinner

I just want to say up front that I was not an attendee at this dinner so this is all second or even third hand. But what I heard is that Mikal Watts, who bought a $10 thousand table at this evening’s event in Houston, Texas, that he bought a table that entitled him to introduce the evening’s keynote speaker, Congressman Rahm Emmanuel, who commands the DCCC, failed to show up. No one on his staff did either. His table was filled by a bunch of Young Democrats (more power to them).

Was it a slight of the D-triple-C against too Red Texas? Was it a scheduling problem? Was it the fact that Rahm Emmanuel needs to distance himself from the guy who bought the introduction?

We will never know.

What we do know is that when Rick Noriega was introduced to the attendees at the Johnson-Rayburn-Richardson Dinner, the house arose with a roar of approval.

I am prevented by prior agreement, about relaying just what specifically happened, just let’s say it was amazing. Rick Noriega is the clear choice of Democrats across the state.

Help out. Sign his petition. Join his campaign. Donate.

So much to do. So little time.

Giuliani Walks Into the Lion’s Den and Pulls a Rabbit Out of a Hat

A miracle occurred today in Washington that makes the miracle of the loaves and fishes pale in comparison. Rudy Giuliani not only came away from the Family Research Council’s Values Voters convention in DC with his skin still attached, but he turned the tide of religious fanaticism toward him.

Evangelical Christians loves them some Rudy Giuliani.

Or at least two of them do, from what I read in this New York Times article on Giuliani’s speech before them early Saturday.

How he did it is nothing less than genius. He basically said “This is the way I am, take it or leave it, just know that I will never lie to you. Just know that you can trust me.” Religious conservatives are really big on candidates who say they won’t lie to them. You know, like the previous presidential candidate that they supported in droves.

The Times article went on to say that he just may have derailed the 3rd party candidate option that was brought up late last month at a Salt Lake City meeting of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.

I am characteristically unhopeful that these people will actually carry through with their plan to unearth and vote for a 3rd party candidate – one who more closely matches their own social conservative values. It’s just TOO off the wall for them. And now maybe Rudy speech has set then to filling in that hole.

I think maybe some have come over to Giuliani Girl’s point of view.

Nick Lampson on the SCHIP Vote

I, and a bunch of other people, got this message from our Texas CD-22 Congressman Nick Lampson on the SCHIP vote. I wanted to post it to my blog to give credit where credit is due. Nick doesn't always vote my way. But on SCHIP he voted for the kids. For us.

Only two Democrats voted against the kids and may they truly burn in H-E-double hockey sticks. But not our Nick. Nick wanted our kids to have health coverage. Uncompassionate Conservatives denied them the front door to health care, relegating them to the Emergency Room.

Here is my congressman's statement on his vote.

"Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted unsuccessfully to override President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bipartisan SCHIP bill would have provided health care to 10 million children, including 500,000 here in Texas."

"I want you to know that I strongly support SCHIP and will continue the fight for America's children. I believe that turning SCHIP into a partisan political football is wrong, especially since so many people favor this vital program. National polling indicated that over 70% of Americans supported our SCHIP legislation, including 61% of Republicans. Many Democrats and Republicans, including Senator Hutchison, joined me in casting a vote for this children's health program."

"Our efforts to protect children will continue, because this issue is about so much more than politics. SCHIP is about caring for kids and doing the right thing.

Rest assured, we will keep working for America's children. "

"I appreciate your support."

Nick, here are my instructions. Keep voting for SCHIP until it becomes a national embarrassment for the Republican Party. It will. Don't give way. Way has been given. Our kids deserve nothing less than our best efforts..

Evangelicals Stumped On Who to Support For President? I Have a Suggestion

There is a good analysis article in the Washington Post today. I first heard about the conservative evangelicals’ problem first last May, when conservative evangelical and founder of “Focus on the Family”, James Dobson said he would stay home and not vote rather than cast his vote for Rudy Giuliani, and then a couple of weeks ago when Dobson was threatening to support a third party candidate if Giuliani is nominated by the Republicans.

Democrats collectively drew in their breaths for a second at that announcement. By a best guestimate, the conservative evangelicals in the Republican Party count for about 25% of the total. Some say 27%. No matter. That’s a lot of 3rd party votes that guarantees a Democratic shoe-in, in November. Oh, I love me the Electoral College.

This is huge. These voters, these conservative evangelicals are faithful primary voters. On primary election day, they show up at the polls in great numbers. They are probably the number one reason why George Bush is in the White House today as they presented a huge bloc of votes at the primaries in 2000, and saw to it that Bush’s challengers were defeated.

But as of today, not one of the Republican candidates appeal to these people.

In today’s piece, not one of the leading Christian evangelicals has a clear choice, and today, one who might have had half a chance at their votes, Sam Brownback, announced his departure from the presidential race.

Of all the various candidates, only Mitt Romney has picked up an evangelical endorsement from Bob Jones III. But most evangelicals have a problem with Romney because of his former pro-choice stance, and his belief in what they, in their view, consider an extra-Christian religion.

Perhaps summing it all up for these Christian conservatives is this from Bill Stephens, the executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida:

“Our voters would rather stay home than vote for half a loaf of bread. They either want the whole loaf, or they'll wait for next time.”

Now that is a very good idea. Very out of the box. Why vote for half a loaf? I have an even better solution for their woes that almost worked here in the CD 22 elections here in Texas.

A write-in!

And a write-in candidate that I think they can all get behind like nobody’s business:

Jesus Christ for President!

Think of it. No one would have to ask the question anymore: ”What would Jesus do?” They’d have the Guy right there. Okay, so he died 1,974 years ago. When Reagan was in office no one made that point back then, did they? And they could put Rudy Giuliani on the ticket for Veep to smooth the ruffled feathers of the party centrists.

Jesus and Giuliani, the ticket made in heaven.

And just to prove that I don’t have an original bone in my body, Google “Jesus for President” and you get this site.

A Baker’s Dozen Short, HR 986 (SCHIP) Fails to Pass on Override

If we had 13 more congressmen vote for SCHIP 10 million more children would have had health insurance. Ten Million. Hundreds of thousands in Texas.

We needed 13 and 11 Republicans and two Democrats failed to come through. The only good news here is that we now have an issue, supported by 75-80 percent of Americans, according to some polls, that we can use in swing districts to remove these uncompassionate conservatives.

The two Democrats who need to reconsider their party affiliations are Gene Taylor (MS-4) and Jim Marshall (GA-8). Taylor, the little weasel, didn’t even issue a statement on his congressional website explaining his vote. Marshall issued a statement that included this, by way of explanation.

“There’s no question that I support expanding SCHIP. But I also have an obligation to the citizens of Middle Georgia to do everything possible to make sure that the program in its final form fairly distributes the burden and fairly distributes the benefits.”

Can't have it both ways congressman. That’s Southerner codespeak for they’re taxing our poor tobacco industry unfairly. Yeah, that’s right Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road is sited in Georgia.

Dennis Kucinich, by the way, came through and realized that voting to get health benefits for children was more important than making a political point.

Now the wrangling begins anew, and aptly named Charlie Rangel says that no substantive changes will be made. Quoting from the Washington Post:

“Democratic leaders were leaning toward a new version that would give Republicans face-saving alterations but no substantive change. Pelosi said she is determined to provide the resources to ensure that 10 million more children would be added to the rolls.”

The new version will never get the vote of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) who charged that “SCHIP stands for Socialized, Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents.”

Cute.

It is reported though, that simply by closing a loophole that would have allowed 174,000 non-citizens to gain health insurance in this program, more fanatically anti-immigrant Republicans would be willing to come on over to the bright and sunny side of this issue. And this, apparently is the most substantive change that will be made in the new version of SCHIP.

In yesterday’s post, I asked why Bush vetoed this worthy bi-partisan bill and it came back that he needed to feel relevant again. Relevant, much like a bully feels when he kicks sand in your face at the beach. Relevant like how an unsavory person feels when he snitches on you for a minor infraction and you lose your job.

That will be Bush’s legacy.

SCHIP Vote Is In Da House Tomorrow

When you vote for passage of SCHIP tomorrow, you are not only in the House, but you are “In da House!”.

SCHIP will provide health care benefits to millions throughout the nation, and a few hundred thousand kids in Texas. It’s an expansion of the previous law, bringing more children in out of cold.

Bush’s veto of the bill was heartless and shameful, and it needs to be overturned. There are enough votes in the Senate to overturn his veto, as the bill passed the senate on a heavily bipartisan vote. The House, though, did not pass the bill with a 2/3s majority and will need more Democratic votes, and some more Republican votes as well.

And there’s the rub.

Apparently, according the the WaPo article linked here, only one Democrat who voted against the bill says that she will change her vote. Said Kathy Castor, D-Fla, the bill didn’t contain as much finding as she wished

“I registered my protest then, but when it comes down to tomorrow, it's whose side are we going to be on?" I'm going to be on the side of America's families and America's children.”

Some Democratic congressmen are expected to follow Castor’s lead. Dennis Kucinich will not be one of them. Kucinich refuses to vote for a bill that specifically denies coverage to immigrant children.

I agree with Kucinich’s opinion, but not with his vote. There is no way on God’s blue-green orb that a bill that includes immigrant children will pass. Not when the anti-immigrant flames are fanned so hotly by Republican fearmongerers.

Also, according to the WaPo, no Republican has announced a change in their vote. Not one.

In doing so, these people are willing to risk losing more independent voters. A recently released CNN poll showed that 61% of Americans support an SCHIP expansion. My estimate is that this represents every Democratie and every independent voter. And maybe even a few who call themselves Republican.

I’ve wondered over the last couple of weeks what Bush had to gain in his veto? The expansion was not that great. Not when compared to what we are spending to wage an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. No, I don’t think it was necessarily about the money. I think it has to do with Bush being a lame duck and not liking it very much at all. This was given away in the Post article as well:

“That's one way to ensure that I am relevant. That's one way to ensure that I am in the process.”

Awwww. Poahh Bushie not feeowing welevant? Poahh, poahh Bushie.

So if SCHIP fails tomorrow, we are back to square one.

And Bush regains his relevance.

Herr Noriega geht nach Washington

OK, does someone want to explain to me why a German translation of my posting of Rick Noriega’s email message about his trip to DC wound up on a German language blogger site? I know that Rick’s story and Texas Senate campaign is getting wide coverage, but Germany?

Kilonoriegas and Megawatts: But Dollars Can’t Vote

Last time I looked only people could vote.

Third quarter reports have come out and the Texas Senate race is looking as interesting as ever. According to yesterday’s FEC reports, Rick Noriega out-performed his Democratic rival for US Senate nominee quite substantially.

Electronic filings came screaming in on the deadline, and now that the dust has settled, it looks like Rick Noriega’s campaign pulled in 508 kilodollars to Watts’ 443. That’s a very nearly 13% margin.

Now that’s saying something. That’s saying something that a lot of people thought would ever be said. Watts claimed that he was the candidate who could pull in the necessary contributions needed to defeat Cornyn in ’08, what with his 30-day $1.1 million blitz, implying that “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet”.

Exactly.

He said this:

“People are investing in our campaign because they are demanding change and they know that I am someone who will fight for our interests here in Texas and not the special interests in Washington.”

My thought on his 30-day blitz? A one-off deal. Watts didn’t have the legs to keep up the pace. He peaked early by dunning all of his lawyer friends and those that he hit up for contributions out of the very campaign funds he had donated to. One hand washes the other.

But that’s chump change according to this Chron article, which reminds us again that Watts’ campaign is largely self-funded, and that he has kicked in $7.5 million of his own hard-won contingency fees. As far as money on hand, Watts even bests John Cornyn.

According to this Chron article, apparently, who has the dough gets the go (ahead).

But then, wait, RG Ratcliffe has finally realized what we Noriega bloggers have all come to know and love for some time now. It’s not about who’s got the most money, it’s about who will get the most primary voters.

Ratcliffe finally looked at what we are all seeing, and wrote an article titled “Wealth May Not Be Enough for Watts in Senate Race”.

Rick Noriega, believe it or not, has an Hispanic surname. Hispanics tend to vote for their own, and Hispanics tend to vote in primaries disproportionate to their numbers. While only 15% of your average Texan voter shows up to vote at the primaries, 35% of Hispanics do.

Here’s the thing that Ratcliffe wrote that I cannot accept, because I hear that Rick’s name is being spread far and wide in the Hispanic community.

“Hispanic voting expert Andy Hernandez said few voters currently know anything about either Noriega or Watts. As a consequence, Hispanic voters will first look at Noriega as a candidate they can identify with, he said.”

Like I said, I think Rick Noriega is getting a little more attention in the Hispanic community than Ratcliffe will allow, but let’s say some don’t hear the good word about Rick Noriega. Let’s say that they work at 3 jobs and don’t have time to catch up on this stuff. One glance at a friendly name that ends in a vowel may be all the convincing that they need.

Fine, Watts people will say (and I hear that DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer may agree to). Democrats again vote the unelectable opponent to oppose an otherwise embattled John Cornyn. We can defeat Cornyn, Rick Noriega can’t. For the same reasons he wins the primary, he loses in the November election: he’s Hispanic. Texans don’t vote for Hispanics.

That may have been true in the past, but you really have to think about this now. The face of the Texas voter has started to change. First, Texas didn’t become the 2nd most populous state in the nation because Texans know how to have children faster and better than anyone else. Texas’ population growth is by and large by migration and immigration. Second, the old prejudices of past generations don’t necessarily get handed down.

And I have also said this before: I think Rick Noriega will get bi-partisan support. Yes he may be a progressive, but his record of service is unassailable. He has served his nation in the armed forces, Cornyn has limited his military service to visiting and photo ops. Noriega actively worked to aid Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Cornyn got his photo taken with a FEMA director. Noriega worked on the border to staunch the flow of drugs and illegal aliens. Cornyn wants (and then doesn’t want) to build a wall.

Rick’s story is huge and will attract votes from the Right. Why? Even those across the aisle are getting tired of being lied to by liars. Deceived by deceivers.

Stolen from by stealers.

Classroom Management: It's All About Respect

I know teachers like this.

Take a look at this You Tube video embed that a student made of his teacher blowing his stack. What you don’t get to see is the series of circumstances over the course of the year that led to these kids’ stunt.

Kids these days know how to press your buttons and elicit an expected response. They obviously set their teacher up to act like this so they could catch him swearing.

There is no respect in this classroom, none for the teacher because he hasn’t earned the trust and respect of his students.



He, in turn, has no respect for his students and this has probably been the case since day 1.

This is very sad.

You would not believe how many videos students have taken of their teachers expressing their disdain for their students.

Texas Progressive Alliance Round Up For the Ides Of October

It's Monday, and that means it is time again for the Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round Up. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

Barney Frank responds to GLBT activists: "Now, this is the issue: Does a political party say to its most militant, committed, ideologically driven believers in purity that they have a veto over what the party does?" Evan at The Caucus Blog responds.

BossKitty at Bluebloggin asks why are so many Texans still illiterate?

The Texas Cloverleaf endorses Karen Guerra for 16th District Court Judge in Denton County.

Burnt Orange Report highlights the hard work being done across the nation. A broad coalition has launched a campaign to override President Bush's SCHIP veto and Kay Granger is public enemy number 1 in Texas. Ads, analysis, polls, and outrage... BOR has it all.

North Texas Liberal asks, "Could Congress override Bush's veto?" Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Kennedy seem to think that SCHIP is worth fighting for. So do we.

Vince from Capitol Annex notes that Kay Granger should have known better when it comes to her recent "no" vote on the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP.

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News cannot stop writing about conservative bloggers repeatedly attacking a family who were in a terrible automobile accident and received government health care and liked it. Maybe next time your kids are in the hospitable you'll be attacked by right-wing idiots and more slime in the right-wing noise machine.

McBlogger has a story up about a State Representative you should know.

A supervisor for CPS Energy in San Antonio has a hangman's noose displayed in his cubicle. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posts the details, including a photo.

Muse notes that Kay Bailey Hutchinson is trying out harder helmet hair styles so that the words of mean bloggers will bounce right off her in her imaginary (or not) run for governor in 2010.

Warning from TXsharon: Calibrate your outrage meter before visiting Bluedaze to read how Bush policies have weakened the Clean Water Act so Texas water is no longer fit for drinking, swimming or fishing.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme notes that Presidential Candidate Tom Tancredo wants to build that d*mn fence north of Brownsville. Either you're with the fence or he'll move the boundaries so your town's part of Mexico.

Unsurprised at Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize, nor at his acceptance speech, Hal at Half Empty surprises everyone with the Moonwalking Mannequin Bird.

Rattlebrain Randy prefers a little bit of disaster - sure it may hurt his constituents, but it helps his friends in the insurance industry, notes Blue 19th.
At Texas Kaos, diarist persiancowboy invites members of the general public to sign on to the complaint against rogue Judge Sharon Keller for her callous use of judicial power.

Off the Kuff reports that State Rep. Garnet Coleman is urging AG Greg Abbott to sue to block a recent Center for Medicaid and State Operations directive that will result in the loss of CHIP coverage for thousands of children.

Stop Cornyn is fuming about Cornyn's vote against children. After voting against Texas children twice, now Junior John wants a watered down version to save face. It is time to fully fund children's health insurance.

Been in Town Long, Sailor?

Ever heard of Congresspedia? I was just recently notified that the Half Empty blog was added to their Texas Portal. Lots of my lefty blogger associates are listed there as well. I scrolled through the list of Texas congressional races and was struck by the fact that there are so many uncontested congressional races in Texas. Twenty-two out of thirty-two congressional races have no declared challengers, unless Congresspedia needs to check again and update the website.

This is astonishing.

There are 13 Republican congressmen who are listed as not being challenged, a bad thing, and 9 Democrats listed – a seriously good thing. Tom DeLay’s twice in a decade redistricting has had its toll. Except in his own old district, CD-22.

But here, in what Republicans call the “Fighting 22nd”, the opposite is the case. Not only is the race not going uncontested in ’08, Congresspedia’s own reporting shows what I have mentioned before: not only is the CD-22 race contested, but it is contested with a vengeance. They only list 5 Republicans who are in this race. Somehow they missed Pete Olson, but they also missed “The Kid”: Alan Steinberg.

Now I can completely understand about how they forgot about Alan. I personally suspect Alan is running for congress so he can date hot chicks. But what’s with omitting Pete Olson? This, guy, I think, is going to be a player. I think there are huge money guys betting on this horse. Money guys who don’t want to see another disaster in Shelley Sekula (define me . . . define me) Gibbs, and money guys who don’t want to see another neoconservative fanatic take this office - we’ve all watched “Mean Dean” try and make Swiss cheese out of his own party chairman with his neocon henchmen.

And why do I think this? Two things. One, the guy raised $211,000 in 45 days in the 3rd quarter FEC reporting period. Much of this is from out of district. Bad news for Pete because they can’t vote for him. But the good news is that he can use that cash to introduce himself to the CD-22 voters. Bringing me to thing two. Two, guess what just appeared on my front door? A Pete Olson brochure. Door drops in February of ’08 is reasonable. But October of ’07?

This guy is a player.

It was designed as a mailer, but this piece is a 5 panel heavy cardstock slick foldable with the rightmost panel a poke out reply mail campaign contribution card. They ask for contributions, never mind that it’s a prepaid card – how the H-E-double hockey sticks can anyone send in a contribution in a card?

He is prominently displayed on the outer panel wearing his sailor suit. He was in the Navy for 9 years. So he’s been out of district for awhile, but graduated from Clear Lake High School – yep, another one NOT from Sugar Land.

And apparently he has a huge fan in former Senator Phil Gramm who he is using like a heroin user uses methadone: often and whenever he can get it for free.

But the guy has been in the military and we tend to like that in our congresspeople. They will tend not to vote to put our soldiers in harm’s way needlessly and for trumped up reasons.

Right?

Well . . . . maybe.

Here is what I found out about Pete Olson’s view of “The War on Terror” in particular. No, you be the judge. I quote:

“I proudly served in the defense of America. Those years taught me this is still a dangerous world for those who love freedom.”

“We are in a war that we didn’t ask for and didn’t provoke, but it’s one we must win. As Congressman I will support the troops and their mission [emphasis his] – to kill or capture terrorists wherever they may be hiding, training, or plotting attacks.”

Is that slick or what? Iraq? What War in Iraq? It’s a war on terror and we are fighting the people who attacked us. Never mind that we are spending billions on Iraq. It’s classic Republican bait and switch. Hey-presto no war in Iraq. No mention of this war means he doesn’t want this to be a campaign issue. In that he is dead wrong. This will be an issue and I think as a former military officer, he has some viewpoints that may not ring with the conservatives in the district. In other words, in the parlance of my guy, Rick Noriega, he talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk.

On immigration? He wants a fence. He asks the question that they all ask when the people want to know why Republicans hate “The Messicans” so much: “If we don’t know who is coming into our country, how will we know they don’t want to destroy us?”

Oh, that’s right. It’s not about illegal immigrants; it’s about keeping out the terrorists. It that’s the case, then where is the talk about a fence on our northern border? That’s the border our 9-11 terrorists crossed, not our southern border with Mexico.

So Pete Olson has an uphill battle getting some name recognition, but he’s had a couple of breaks and once wore a sailor suit. That will play well against Crazy Bob, Silly Shelley, and Mean Dean.

Alan Steinberg? ROFLMAO.

Global Warming and the Moonwalking Mannequin Bird

There’s lots going on today, lots going on this past week. Al Gore is going to get his Nobel Peace Prize. This puts him in a very exclusive club that includes Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter. The only difference between them is that while all four of these awardees were elected President of the US, only Al Gore had his office taken away from him by the US Supreme Court.

How do you recover? What do you do after that? Make a very convincing movie about global warming and sea level rise and receive the world’s most respected prize, I guess. Well, respected nearly everywhere but these places.

So there, I commented on Al Gore’s prize. I even viewed a video clip of his acceptance speech taken in Palo Alto, Ca yesterday. It’s on YouTube. But I am going to forego embedding it here because there is nothing surprising in what he said.

The world is too unsurprising today and I want to be surprised, and I want the same for readers of this.

That’s why, instead of embedding Al Gore’s acceptance speech, I am going to put up a clip of the Moonwalking Mannequin bird. It is the most bizarre animal behavior I think I have ever seen.

One asks oneself, why is this bird doing this? What need is he fulfilling? The answer is in the clip, but I’ll give you a hint. It’s for the same reason that ANYthing acts bizarrely.

Texas CD-22 Voters: Vote in Nick Lampson’s Poll on Iraq

I get hits from all over America with occasional hits from Europe, Asia and the Middle East. But this posting is for my fellow voters in Texas CD 22. Nick Lampson, our congressman, has a poll up on his website. It’s here.

Anyone who votes in Texas CD 22 needs to go to that website and vote. It’s not a real scientific poll, but hey, the man wants to know. He also wants to send you his newsletter so just know that when you do go and vote you are also subscribing to his newsletter that they will send to your email address. How they get that address from your IP address is left to those who know more about this than I.

One thing I do know is that if you subscribe and don’t really want to see the newsletter, you can unsubscribe if you wish, when they send one.

Right now, the vote is going slightly in favor of phased or immediate withdrawal and about 40% saying no withdrawal, so we have our work cut out for us.

Git ‘er done.

Mr. Noriega Goes to Washington

I had an email forwarded to me today from Rick Noriega. Rick Noriega, running for US Senator from Texas, is in Washington, DC this week This man appears to be busier than a one-armed paper hanger as he goes from meeting to meeting, gala to gala. Too bad he didn’t have time to stop by his future opponent’s office at the Hart Senate Building to take a look at his future office suite, get some decorating ideas.

I thought about excerpting some of the email to this blog so people can see what he’s doing, how busy he is, and how dad gummed successful this trip is turning out to be, but when I read the message again and again, I couldn’t figure out what should be included and what should not. That’s one thing you have to know about Rick: there’s no pocket fluff with what the man says, nor with what he writes. It is all USDA prime food for thought.

So I decided not to decide. You get to see it all.

Here’s what Rick wrote to Sue Schechter, his campaign manager, this morning. I think he won’t mind me sharing this, from the look of it, I think it has “share me” written all over it.

From: "Rick Noriega"
Date: Thurs, 11 Oct 2007 09:40:48
To: "Sue Schechter"
Subject: Mr. Noriega Goes to Washington

I want to share a quick note with you about some of the key events that occurred during our trip to Washington, D.C. this past week. First, let me tell you that there is tremendous buzz surrounding our campaign and the politicos in D.C. are well aware and impressed by our collective efforts, including the money we were able to raise last quarter.

Here is a tremendously exciting development: Our fellow Texans and friends former Congressmen Charlie Stenholm, Mike Andrews and Max Sandlin endorsed our candidacy. They have graciously offered their support and we are proud to move forward with them on our team!

Sue Schechter, our campaign manager and dear friend, did a fantastic job of scheduling multiple meetings and events throughout the trip. Thanks to great Texan Congressman Gene Green, we began our trip by visiting with multiple congressional leaders. During the week, our meetings ranged from advocacy groups like the Migration Policy Institute and the AAJ, to labor officials such as Kirk Adams at SEIU to great Texans who are now working in DC like John Michael Gonzales, Adrian Saenz, energy experts John Northington and Kyle Simpson to former Democratic head Joe Andrew to my close friends Gilberto Ocanas, Henry Munoz, and Jose Villareal and many, many other policy makers.

We attended the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute evening gala and met with 3000 of our closest friends! Fortunately, 300 Hispanic Broadcast Journalists were in for dinner on Thursday night and another 3000 friends were in town for the Human RightsCampaign Gala on Saturday night. It was great spreading the call to service among so many great Americans.

I also had positive meetings with Senators Ken Salazar and John Kerry. They were both especially welcoming and generous. Senator Chuck Schumer was cautious about the Democratic Senatorial Committee's participationin Texas, but took the time to meetwith us. Senator Schumer is known for his straight talk but he is also known for never missing an opportunity. I look forward to working with him in the future: on the campaign next year and later in the U.S. Senate!

A lot of fundraising opportunities presented themselves while we were in Washington and you can bet that we are following up. We will continue to work hard as we continue to build our team during this next phase. You can rest assured that we are runninga lean and mean operation that will thoughtfully come together this fall.

We will be working just as hard in this 4th quarter. We hope to equal or surpass our 3rd quarter efforts and continue the struggle to move Texas in a new direction.

Thanks to your help we are off to a fantastic start, but there is still much to do. Your support is invaluable to our campaign. That is why I ask for your continuing support through a campaign donation. Together, we will win in '08.

Please call us if you have any questions or we can be of any service at(713)921-7425. Your trust and faith in our effort to get our state and country back on the right track is humbling.

Thank you all and God Bless Texas.

-Rick

So? What are you waiting for? The 4th quarter has begun in earnest and it's time to cough up some more dead presidents for Rick Noriega. Click on the Join Team Noriega banner over there on the left. Or just . . . click . . . HERE.

Another Democrat Announces Candidacy for Texas Supreme Court

2008 is going to be a great year to be a Democrat on the downballot. They will benefit from the growing number of straight ticket voters who will turn out in droves to put Republican officeholders of all levels in the unemployment lines.

Texas attorney Sam Houston, not the Hero of San Jacinto, mind you, but the successful medical malpractice attorney, is filing treasurer papers today to run for Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. He will be running as a Democrat against Republican Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright.

Earlier this year, Judge Susan Criss announced her candidacy in the Place 8 race for Texas Supreme Court. Criss has a primary opponent, but when she wins the primary, she will face Justice Phil Johnson in November.

Houston’s opponent, Justice Wainwright, was fast tracked to the Supreme Court. He was first appointed to a judicial bench, the 334th Civil District Court in Harris County by then Governor Dubya. Three years later he ran for his present job.

Houston will announce a list of his supporters very soon, but the short list is a list of heavy hitter attorneys: John Beckworth, Curry Cooksey, Sam Cruse, Craig Lewis, Nancy J. Locke, Dave Matthiesen, Steve McConnico, Enrique Moreno, and Michael Solar,
Also supporting Houston (so far) are State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and attorney Hartley Hampson.

There is no website up yet, but it’s early.

NCLB and High Stakes Testing: The Flim Behind the Flam

A friend sent this link today. It’s a New York Times Op/Ed piece which does two things: 1) it underlines the failings of No Child Left Behind just as congress takes up the reauthorization of same, 2) it refers to a Fordham Institute study that you can read online. It has analysis specific to Texas and how Texas’s testing expectations rate next to those of 25 other states.

The Op/Ed piece was written by Bob Herbert, but the opinions are those Harvard of School of Education professor Daniel Koretz. Koretz’ opinions are more analytical than the Fordham study. Koretz draws conclusions from the study. Conclusions that everyone already suspected, but up to now were unproven.

In a nutshell: here is why Bush’s NCLB isn’t doing what it was supposed to do, and why it is actually damaging education in America.

It was designed to make schools accountable for the education of the children. To do that schools are rated by student performance on standardized tests, in Texas, this is the TAKS test. The thought was according to Koretz, was that by having schools all give the same test, this provides an incentive for schools, administrators and teachers to work harder and give their students a better education. A viewpoint that holds little reality.

This is what actually happened:

“The problem is that you can raise scores the hard way by teaching more effectively and getting the students to work harder, or you can take shortcuts and start figuring out ways, as Dr. Koretz put it, to ‘game’ the system”.

"Gaming the system" occurs at all levels. It is done at the instructional level by teaching only TAKS objectives, and drilling only on those to the exclusion of other areas of the curriculum as well as enrichment activities that might actually help a student understand something. It is done at the administrative level by encouraging these teaching practices. It is done at the legislative and district level by voting for incredibly stupid “teacher incentive pay” packages to reward teachers whose students improve on their test scores. It leads to poorer teaching as in the above. It’s done at the state school board level by leaving it to the states what constitutes “proficient” and whether or not to adjust what is proficient from one year to the next to improve performance figures.

Yes, it is left to each individual state to decide what level of performance is considered proficient. That’s like leaving it up to each state how much a dollar will buy.

This last bit is like adding insult to injury. There is no consistent national rating system of proficiency even though NCLB is a federal program. The Fordham Institute Study, aptly entitled The Proficiency Illusion, exposes this in their 26-state study that compared the proficiency ratings of each state against a national standard, finding wide variation from one state to another. Texas, to no one’s surprise, has proficiency below the median – that is, proficiency expectations are low in Texas as opposed to other states. This is especially true in the lower grades where Texas’ mastery level is below the median of the entire 26-state population. This is especially true in reading expectations in 3rd and 6th grades. Math expectations are higher and most grades approach the median - but are still lower. However, while most states have been adjusting their proficiency expectations downward from one year to the next, Texas has been raising expectations. This was engineered from the beginning to have a gradual rise in mastery levels as students and educators got used to a new text.

So eventually, if this madness continues, the median will fall and other states will have the same proficiency expectations as Texas.

The time has come to take a hard look at the data coming out now, and finally decide if high stakes testing including Texas’s new EOC system, is really going to serve us. If in the end, it all comes down to cooking the books and punishing the schools and teachers who are too slow on the uptake about how to cut corners, then maybe it’s time to rethink this.

I have a humble Half Empty suggestion. Instead of posting expectations, then testing whether students achieve those expectations (followed by rewarding the guilty and punishing the innocent) wouldn’t it be nice if schools could attract talented, motivated educators through

Incentives like a living wage and benefits that are meaningful

Respect from the community and administration

Real support from the above

Real investment in the school infrastructure including technology

A peer review system where teachers evaluate other teachers.

Allowing teachers time to confer with other teachers rather than baby sit students in a study hall or during lunch. We hire crossing guards, don’t we?

What are the chances that these things (any one of them) will happen? I am characteristically pessimistic.

KHOU Questions the Integrity of the Justice System in Fort Bend County

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Houston, Texas’ KHOU’s news program. In particular, I don’t like it when they go after a private citizen with premature as well as flimsy evidence and destroy his life. But in this case, it is just the opposite.

KHOU aired a story that is well past due and seems to have solid basis.

I’m writing of their recent story on the racketeering and money laundering charges filed against eight Rosenberg roofers by their former boss and friend, Brett Holden, owner of Holden Roofing Company in Fort Bend County.

According to the story, Holden, with the help of his friend, Assistant District Attorney, Mike Elliott, filed criminal charges against his former employees, charging that they over-ordered roofing materials and withheld some of the fees that they charged their clients. Skimming, they say, money laundering, or such the like. Holden felt that they did this to have funds in order start up their own roofing company, something the 8 roofers hotly deny.

The story also mentions the fact that days earlier, Holden made a $1000 donation to the campaign of Annie Elliott, Mike Elliott’s wife. Something that defense attorney Don Bankston says is a conflict of interest: “It’s enough of a conflict of interest that [District Attorney] John Healey recognized it . . . “.

But here’s the thing that is new to me, at least. The Rosenberg Police Department do not appear to be very supportive of the DA’s office. Rosenberg Police Lieutenant said it this way:

“I think that, and this has been stated before, that the indictments were premature I think that additional work could have been done, questions could have been asked.”

Further investigations by a new prosecutor has revealed that there was no evidence of money laundering. Some of the evidence was not a theft as originally presented. And that the defendant was correct. Yet still, the indictments still stand and the DA’s office have not moved forward on this case after almost 2 years.

If all of this is true, then it is really disheartening. As someone who lives in Fort Bend County, it is disheartening to see that justice can be twisted and perverted to fulfill the needs of personal friends, indeed to cause harm to those whose only crime appears to be wanting to go into business for themselves.

Texas Progressive Round Up: YEEE-HAWWW!

It's Monday, and that means it is time again for the Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Round Up. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

YEEE- Hawwww !!!

TXsharon says, "YOU SUCK AT&T" and she can only say that because she doesn't use AT&T. Over at Bluedaze she tells why, if you use AT&T for your Internets, you can't say they suck.

Stace at Dos Centavos reports on racism and bigotry committed by a corporation and a UT fraternity.

What's really going on in Irving? Xanthippas at Three Wise Men notes there's more going on in the immigration crackdown than possible profiling and arrests.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes that NOW wants to know why U.S. District Judge Judge Samuel Kent was 'punished' with a 4 month vacation after the investigation into sexual harassment charges concluded.

Criticism of Hillary Clinton's laugh is no laughing matter, so says PDiddie at Brains and Eggs in HRC:LOL.

Might be time for a bit of horsetrading on the floor of the Senate, and one of Texas Kaos' regular diarists, Fake Consultant, has a bit of advice on the subject for Majority Leader Harry Reid in On Larry Craig, And Filibusters or Wanna Make a Trade?

Truth, it has been said, is the first casualty of war. The Republican-Media coalition must have declared war on Social Security, and Blue 19th exposes their lies.

Human rights advocates cheered the Williamson County Commission's vote to sever ties with the operator of the T. Don Hutto holding facility for undocumented immigrants, but Eye On Williamson's wcnews wonders if a battle within the Republican party over the county's share of the profits may have driven their decision.

McBlogger at McBlogger speculates as to the reasons Sharon Keller (Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) needed to get out of work at 5 on Sept. 25th.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells us about the Texas Conservative Coalition's new Election Integrity Task Force, its new Chairwoman and its likely recommendations.

Peter at B and B writes about the quixotic attempts by a group of environmentally-conscious Republicans to get their chosen political party to care about conservation and stewardship: Republicans for Environmental Protection, all 70 of them, meet in San Antonio.

Off the Kuff looks at the ongoing dispute between the Harris County Appraisal District and the State Comptroller over how commercial properties are taxed.

In Texas Kaos dairy, Dallas and Denton drinking water at risk by TxDOT's route selection choice for FM299, Faith Chatham's shares a letter from Highland Village Parents Group activist/homeowner Susie Venable to Mayor Tom Leppert of Dallas regarding the City Water Department's failure to monitor possible MTBE contamination issues. Despite cries of running out of money, TxDOT selected the only route (of 8) which would double project costs by requiring bridges to be built across three tributaries to Lake Lewisville (drinking water source for Denton and Dallas Counties) in the area of the lake already contaminated by MTBE.

Gary at Easter Lemming updates the Pasadena Mayor Manlove resignation and his running for Lampson's seat. There are a lot of happy faces at city hall. Easter Lemming broke the story back on the 22nd.

Trinity Trickey strikes again at The Texas Cloverleaf. This time pro toll road literature features the war on trees and the fight against Angela Hunt by the powers that be. Only in Dallas.

This week's installment of GLBTube at the Houston GLBT Political Caucus Blog is a double feature: first, a sampling of clips related to ENDA; then gay republicans are running ads in order to sabotage hypocritical presidential candidates!

WhosPlayin hammers away on GOP Congressman Michael Burgess for dissing Muslims and being one of 30 boneheads to vote for giving mercenary firms like Blackwater a license to kill.

The Texas Blue looks at how the evangelical social movement isn't playing nice-nice with the Republican Party any longer, and why that is good for America.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author, syndicated columnist, political analyst and commentator, who is on a virtual book tour will stop by Para Justicia y Libertad on Oct 11 to discuss his new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African-Americans and Hispanics.

Hal at Half Empty counted a Lucky Seven congressional candidates that want to run against Nick Lampson in Texas CD 22. He ROFLs and LMAOs.

So I Saw Lucy This Weekend

I also learned what was the difference between “homonid” and “homonoid”.

It’s huge.

As I reported here a couple of months back, the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas is the first stop of a world tour of Lucy, known in the Anharic language as dinqneš. Lucy, it turns out is a bunch of petrified bones that were found in the Afar province of Ethiopia in 1974.

It’s in an upstairs gallery behind a series of glassed in dioramas of animals frozen in time attacking each other. The ticket taker told the couple in front of us that there was no photography and to turn off their cell phones, also.

Cell phones? No microwaves allowed?

Well the woman did not mention any of this to me so she must have assumed I overheard what she said, and in that she was right. Where she was wrong was in her assumption that the person I was with heard her warnings as well.

She didn’t.

And when we inevitably split up, she was presented with a choice to take, or not to take a photo of Lucy. She took. And it was good because she didn’t use a flash. She has a low lux camera.

Photographs on the internet are better though. They are better illuminated. Lucy’s bones are arranged on a flat environmentally controlled case behnd bullet-proof glass. The room was dimly lit. A security guard stood right next to it.

I asked her about the security guard and she said she didn't know if he saw her take the photo but he didn’t say a thing.

MY plan was to pick up the exhibit brochure in the museum’s gift shop, scan that and post it here. That plan crashed and burned. There IS no exhibit brochure to buy. Just a bunch of over priced books.

So the heck with it. Here is the photograph that was taken today.

Compare it to the one I had in the other posting. It’s a lot more clearer and brighter.

And here is a photograph of the paleoanthropologists’ idea of how she must have appeared in the flesh.

They also had a display of reproductions of Lucy’s bones, that represented about 40% of her total skeletal frame, placed the way they were in 3-D space, with wires holding them in place. That makes more sense than seeing her flattened in 2-D. But do I have a photo of that?

No.

It’s a good exhibit overall, and has much more than Lucy. Scattered about the rooms in cases are ancient pottery from the 1st and 2nd century, some old qu’rans, some religious Christian relics, processional crucifixes mainly. I was struck by the prevalence of the equant crucifixes (like on the Swiss flag) as opposed to the Roman cross. This is much the same, I am told, as the crosses in the Coptic church. There were several movie displays that described ancient Abyssinia as well as 19th and 20th century Ethiopia. One thing that was emphasized over and over again, was that Emperor Haile Selassie, force out in 1974, was lineally descended from the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.

Haile Selassie was the last of a 2000 year plus dynasty.

They say.

Yes, I came away with a lot of gossip, speculation, and rumor which is epidemic in Abyssinia’s history.

Getting back to the anthropology, what I think they really did a good job on was tying global climate changes – as a result of the opening, closing, and partitioning of oceanic basins – with the evolution of homonoids. They drove home the point that homonoid evolution was driven by climatic change.

Another thing that struck me was what a lucky find Lucy is. Donald Johanson describes his discovery in a short film. He was going back to a site to take measurements at a locality where a “nearly perfect pig skull” had been collected earlier. As he walked up the wash, he said, he looked over his shoulder to the right and saw something glint in the sun. It was Lucy’s elbow. That day they found many more pieces strewn up a hill and eventually located the sandstone layer that encased her skeleton. Had he not found her on that day, the next torrential rainstorm would have taken those specimens and washed them over a cliff, destroying them forever.

Getting me back to the difference between hominid and homonoid. A hominid is a descendent from primates who has a genus name “Homo”. Homo erectus, Homo habilis, Homo sapiens are homonids. Homonoids are the whole group that separated from a common ancestor that we have with chimpanzees. Australopithecus afarensis, of which Lucy is a specimen, is a homonoid. But she is not a hominid.

Class dismissed.

Worldwide Protests Against Crackdown in Myanmar Ring Out Today

The Myanmar ruling junta continues to crack down on protesters within its borders, but outside Myanmar, protests over the cruel and violent suppression of the Burmese people by their own army continues unabated.

Protests were held in London, Paris, Vienna, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, New Delhi, Bangkok and even in Singapore. Burma is a former British colony, so it stands to good reason that British citizens have a certain feeling of concern, even 60 years after Burma won its independence from the UK, largely through the efforts of U Aung San, Suu Kyi's martyred father.

I especially appreciate the Belgian union tract that calls for a boycott of Total, the French national oil company which continues to deal with the corrupt Myanmar government. I think I mentioned before that I spent a month in Myanmar in my other life as an explorationist for oil and gas. At the time I was deeply torn at having anything to do with oil exploration in Myanmar, and the idea of actually going in country to interact with my peers in the MOGE (Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise).

I mentioned then that I had some photographs that I took during my stay there and I finally managed to get scans of some of them.

I want to show you what it's really like in Myanmar in words and pictures. Mainly to show you what a peace loving people the people of Myanmar truly are. And how truly heartbreaking it is to see them being crushed under the iron fist that is called The Tatmadaw, the army lead by the corrupt generals in the government.

This first one is the government or customs house in downtown Yangon. It was built by the British in the 1880's. Classic Victorian colonial architecture.

I took several photos outside and inside the Shwedagon Pagoda. It's a Buddhist temple whose construction was begun in the 14th century. Its main feature consists of a stupa that is covered with 24 carat gold. They say that a 76 carat diamond is housed at the top of the stupa. Or at least it was there the last time anyone looked.

This was taken inside the Shwedagon Pagoda. There are all sorts of shrines strewn about. It seems chaotic there but everyone seems to know what they are doing. The umbrellas in the distance is from a family procession. Their son, maybe 8 or 9 years old, had just been inducted into a monastery and they were celebrating. No one can wear shoes at the pagoda. You store your shoes in racks that are provided, but since Myanmar is a poor country, and I wanted to wear them the next day, my shoes went into my backpack. At the Sule Pagoda, downtown, there is a hand-painted sign at the entrance, in English, that reads "No footwearing allowed".

This is a banyan tree, a sacred tree to Buddhists. Buddha is said to have sat under one of these until he gained enlightenment. This one is planted near the Shwedagon's outer wall and is nearly the same age as the pagoda itself.

This is the south entrance to the Shwedagon. My favorite entrance. You walk up several flights of stairs in this dimly lit arcade. There are booths on each side where vendors are selling all kinds of religious things. The twin guards are called Chinthes, and pronounced Chin-dits. They guard the Shwedagon about as jealously as the Tatmadaw guards the wealth of the generals.

I took this from a main drag on the west side of the Shwedagon. That park with no one in it, because no one is allowed in it, is dedicated to the people of Myanmar. See the light standards? More than one person has commented that these light poles make Yangon look a little like Disneyland.

This is the place I stayed at while there. It was simply called "Staff House" and it housed workers who were in transit, and people like me who were temporary workers in country. My company leased it from one of the generals. It was cheaper than putting everyone up at the hotel the Russians built in the 1960's, and leasing it from him probably kept the wheels greased

Speaking of hotels, this is The Strand Hotel. A British Colonial classic. It stands opposite the harbor. Cameras are not allowed here, I was told, because the harbor was a military operation. I took this photo very surreptitiously. Rudyard Kipling was one of those British expatriates who stayed there on a regular basis. Kipling wrote the famous poem, Gunga Din about a Burmese who was a water bearer for a British soldier. Gunga Din's great grandson is Aung Din, a geologist who used to work for the MOGE. He's retired now.

I had to work on a Saturday one day and that meant that my host had to come in to the lab as well. He agreed to come as long as I gave him a lift home after work. My host lived in a "suburban development" well south of Yangon, called, for want of a better name "New City". The main transport between New City and Yangon was the city bus system. As you can see, there is a need for more buses. This was a typical sight.

Getting close to New City now, here is one of those Red Signs I told you about earlier. They're everywhere and the propaganda they spew runs the gamut from the ridiculuous to the mundane to the ominous. This one says "Build the nation through successive diligent efforts".

See?

Here is my host's development. New City. It looks dismal but I really think my host was happy to be living out there. It took an hour to drive here directly from the office. It took him twice that time to commute via the bus, and walking.

This is another Red Sign that I found in Yangon. It reads "The Tatmadaw shall never betray the national cause". A bit more ominous, this one. It essentially says don't rely on the army coming over to your side, they will shoot you before doing that.

This Red Sign I found on one of my walks around the city. It reads "Down with the minions of colonialism". They didn't really like being a British colony, so you would think that this was a sign placed within view of something British, wouldn't you? Nope. This is the view you get when you walk out of the main entrance to the American Embassy in Yangon.

And finally, this one. A photograph of some street urchins playing soccer on a Saturday afternoon. All of these children are in their 20's now. Either in the army or on the other side trying to gain their long lost freedom.

Myanmar has one of the poorest populations in the world. Ironically, the country is one of the richest in south asia, with an incredible mineral wealth. The generals suppress these people for one reason and one reason only: they get to have all the stuff. They get the money, the posessions, the power and all that those things bring.

What do the people get?

They get killed.

Mikal Watts Accepts $4600 From The Great Impostor

Remember the old 1961 film “The Great Impostor”? It chronicled the life of Fred Demara, a guy who changed names and occupations like others change their bed sheets. A man with no degree in anything, Demara managed to pose, and get paid for being a surgeon, a monk and a prison warden among others.

Well, apparently we have another “Great Impostor” in Corpus Christi, Texas. This one poses as an attorney and as a sheriff’s deputy.

And he also gave Mikal Watts the maximum campaign contribution of $4600 to his Senatorial campaign.

It’s all spelled out in this fascinating article at the San Antonio Express-News.

Mauricio Celis, owner of CGT Law Group International apparently has no law degree from anywhere, and is not licensed to practice law. Celis was exposed as an impostor by Corpus Christi attorney Thomas Henry, who appeared on a paid advertisement on local television to denounce Celis.

Further down in the story, Celis is tied to Mikal Watts in two ways. Watts’ law firm accepted cases that Celis’ firm farmed out. Celis also made the maximum donation allowed by federal law to Watts’ senatorial campaign.

But the event that may have sparked the whole thing? It occurred in the wee hours of the morning of September 17th. A young woman ran into a convenience store near Celis’ house dressed in her birthday suit. She first alleged that she had been sexually attacked. Who should appear a few minutes later but Mauricio Celis, dressed in a bath robe and a deputy sheriff’s badge. Flashing the badge he told responding officers that he would take custody of the woman.

Watts with that?

Guilt by association with a known impostor. Taking campaign contributions from a known impostor.

Can anyone spell S-W-I-F-T-B-O-A-T?

Mikal Watts, and Mikal Watts trolls should realize that unless their own house is in order, they shouldn’t go casting aspersions on their senatorial race opponent. It is well-known that trial lawyers, like policemen, do not always get to associate with upstanding citizens.

Should Mikal Watts return the $4600 to Celis? No way. No more than Rich Noriega must return his $7000 donation from Bob Perry. Who gives money to your campaign, who associates himself with you does not personally reflect upon you.

That’s just common sense.

But politics is another animal.

Will John Cornyn be able to level an accusatory finger at Rick Noriega for accepting campaign donations from ultra-conservative home builder “Swiftboat Bob” Perry? Where is the sense in that? Cornyn would be playing right into Noriega’s hand.

On the other hand, will John Cornyn be able to level an accusatory finger at Mikal Watts for his association with a known impostor, and his acceptance of a campaign contribution from same?

Is the pope German?

A Lucky 7 Republicans Want to Run Against Nick Lampson

This is pretty comical.

Last June the newspapers carried stories of which Republican politician was not going to run in the Texas March primary for Republican nominee to face Nick Lampson in the ’08 election. There were 5 as I recall:

David Wallace

Paul Bettencourt
John Zerwas
Charlie Howard
Larry Taylor

Charlie Howard, by the way, was rewarded for not running for congress this past week with an announcement that he will be opposed in the Republican primary.

Then in August, we had 6 throw their hats in the ring (one for every vulture feeding on the carcass of a squirrel in front of my house).

Robert “Crazy Bob” Talton
Dr. Shelley Sekula (no hyphen anymore) Gibbs, M.D.
Judge James “Reverend Jim” Squier
John Manlove
Pete Olsen
Dean Hrbacek

Hrbacek, by the way, made it official this past week, elevating his candidacy from an “exploratory committee” to announced candidate.

So Hrbacek is in the race. FortBendNow carries the story and his first official dig at Nick Lampson, a former Tax Collector Assessor in Jefferson County. An odd dig at that.

“‘As a committed conservative with a record of reducing taxes, the voters’ choice for district 22 is clear – a tax cutter vs. a tax collector,’ Hrbacek said.”

Other than the fact that both nouns begin with the letter “c” I don’t really see his point. Tax assessors don’t have anything to do with deciding how much to collect, they just enforce what others have decided. This is akin, I think, to shooting the messenger.

Hrbacek maybe didn’t see the movie, so maybe he wouldn’t get this:

Dean: asphinctersayswhat?

But get ready CD 22 Republican voters. Someone made it Lucky Seven this past week.

Alan Steinberg

Or as I like to call him, “The Kid”. Alan is 25 years old. Isn’t that just the cutest thing? This is the constitutionally enacted minimum age to be a congressman. Alan says he wants to set a new pace for CD 22. I’ll say. Nowhere on his web page could I locate words to the effect that he is a card-carrying member of the NRA.

But I did find this out:

Alan has a MySpace page.

Alan also has a Facebook profile.

LOL

ROFLMAO

American Mercenaries Are Now More Accountable

What we have for a government is one that simply does not make any mistakes, on the one hand, but on the other finds that they now have to make their mercenary forces in Iraq “more accountable”.

That this comes on the heels of a September 16 incident when American-paid mercenaries working for Blackwater USA fired into a crowd of Iraqi civilians while driving through a Baghdad public square, killing 13, makes me more than a little bit suspicious.

Are reins being applied to our trigger happy mercenary cowboys over there, or is this just business as usual?

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack puts it this way: actually what we are doing is “putting in place more robust assets to make sure that the management, reporting and accountability function works as best as it possibly can”.

Just the usual tune-up.

Nothing special.

That the new accountability, which includes installation of video cameras in Blackwater vehicles, and recorded radio conversations between operators, does not apply to two other security companies being used by Bush to protect diplomats in Iraq - only to Blackwater, and only in Baghdad – is also a little telling.

Bush makes no mistakes.

That is saying something for someone who can’t seem to do anything right.

But that’s just because I don’t (can’t really) see the world through Bush’s eyes. To his mind everything he does is correct and proper.

The world according to Bush:

Kids don’t want to have health insurance because that’s too much like socialized medicine, and sweet Jesus knows we don’t want that. It would degrade our health care systems to something like they have in, say, France. And we hate France.

We need to stay in Iraq for scores of years because Satan himself is in this up to his elbows stirring up the Islamic fascists. And someday we ARE going to find those WMDs. And getting us some more oil isn’t a bad thing either. Nor is tearing up a country so we can pay our friends to put it back together. Or at least say that they are doing it, but not really.

And we all know that the reason Bush’s government didn’t respond to the Katrina disaster quicker was because of all the people shooting at rescue workers and because the Democratic state government has let all their roads go bad and because we need those national guard units and their helicopters in Iraq fighting the Islamofascists.

So, yeah, this Blackwell accountability thing was just a change in course. We call it continuous improvement

Larry Craig: Not Gay, Gonna Stay

In what is turning out to be a very odd turn of events, Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho now says that he is going to serve out his term in the Senate. This came as some surprise to his Republican colleagues who were quietly holding the door open for him on September 30th, his announced resignation day.

It also probably surprised Idaho governor C.L. "Butch" Otter who recently announced that he had found a replacement for Craig when he steps down.

Forever changing his mind on this thing, Craig now says that he wants to stay and plead his case in the Senate Ethics Committee, which will hold hearings on Craig’s guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a restroom at the Minneapolis airport.

The hearings promise to be live on TV.

You have to wonder about this guy and his desire to immolate himself (figuratively, naturally) on nationally televised hearings. What is behind this extreme change of heart?

My speculation is this: why did he so quickly decide just to plead guilty to the Hennepin County DA’s office? Answer: He thought it would go away and no one would ever pursue it. Well, denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, and Larry Craig seems to be full of denial. Of course it was going to get out. Another gay Republican legislator?

Come on.

But now that it is all just out there for anyone to read about or watch You Tube videos about, why not try to have your guilty plea taken back? Let’s go to trial, here. Again. Denial sets in. Is it just me or does anyone else out there get it that a judge will never allow someone to take back a guilty plea – a settled deal – so he can add another case to an already crowded docket?

So now that it’s out, I can see his point. Why not try the case in public?

Here’s why not: it doesn’t matter now whether Larry Craig is gay or just has “a wide stance”. It’s all about perception and perception is everything. It is unfortunate that it has to be over something like being or not being gay, because the last time I looked there was no law against being gay. But what it is about is hypocrisy, and Republican hypocrisy at that. If he’s not gay as he says, then, OK, he’s not gay. But he will always be perceived as gay and there’s the rub. It’s been in the news too much and that alone makes it true, whether it is or not.

People in the news media just love two things and I really can’t say why. They love to report on Republican legislators as being gay, and they love to report on any teacher of any political stripe to be gay.

Perception is everything.

Bush Vetoes SCHIP As Expected; Override Campaign Begins

It was expected. Bush said he would do it. Now the children in Texas who had no health insurance until the Texas Legislature reauthorized and expanded the plan, have no health insurance once more. Texas’ Legislature giveth, and Bush taketh away.

Compassionate Conservatism at its absolute worst.

No surprise because Bush is cutting spending everywhere. Everywhere that is, but Iraq. Bush is trashing out all our good federal programs to keep fighting his illegal and immoral war.

So now the campaign to override the veto begins in earnest. A bipartisan override will be necessary. Democrats, by themselves, with Republicans who have already voted in favor of the bill can rack up more votes to override, but only to bring the total up to 270 in favor. But with 287 votes out of 431 needed (two congressmen are ill and two seats are unfilled), That means Democrats are going to have to look for 9 Republicans to flip their votes. With Bush’s approval ratings right now, there just might be 9 moderate conservatives out there who don’t want their names associated with their presidents.

Maybe.

And if that happens, the 8 Democrats who voted against S-CHIP might be persuaded to flip as well. Kucinnich is among them. I don’t know what the H-E-double hockey sticks he is doing just now.

Since the bill originated in the House the vote to override will occur there. In the Senate, there already are 67 Aye votes so this is a horserace in the House only.

I am pessimistic on the outcome, but wouldn’t it be sweet if we can get this one bill through by override?

The one for the children?

Half Empty Lite: The Bush Drunk Videos

Have you seen the “Bush Drunk” videos? Videos both old and new with Bush slurring his words. Some are fakes (but hilarious), but there are some where he appears either to have had a few or to be speaking with his mouth full of marbles (or maybe just out of the dentist chair where he had 5 cavities filled – and over novocained). The first one is a pre-public service video at a Texas wedding and he has obviously had a few.

The rest? Who knows?

Noriega Exploratory Committee Posts a Whopping $570,000 Quarterly FEC Report

In a news release this afternoon, the Rick Noriega for US Senate exploratory committee announced that the campaign will post total donations for the 2008 3rd quarter campaign contributions report of over $570,000.

Previously, Rick Noriega established himself as the “people powered grassroots candidate” for this US Senator from Texas seat. He is also the candidate of choice among the vast majority of statewide and national political bloggers. He undisputedly has the greatest amount of legislative experience having served 5 terms in the Texas House. His record of leadership extends from a leadership position in Afghanistan, to Incident Commander at the George R. Brown Convention center as Houston became a refuge for Hurricane Katrina evacuees, and then as leader in drug interdiction efforts along the Mexican border.

All of these were previous plusses that have been spread far and wide.

And now, Rick Noriega has established himself as a candidate who has fundraising appeal, and can attract campaign contributions from a wide network of donors. Now we can close that door – the door held open by his primary opponent – the one that says he doesn’t have the appeal to attract enough campaign contributions.

He has that appeal.

“Rick Noriega’s strength is his story,” noted his campaign manager Sue Schechter, referring to his long history of service, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan, playing a leading role in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Houston, commanding troops and serving five terms as a State Representative. “As our very first FEC report makes clear, Rick has the fundraising appeal and a growing network of supporters to ensure we’ll have the resources to communicate his story to the voters.”

Where this is significant is that of the 5 winning Democratic challengers in the 2006 campaign, only two Democratic candidates outperformed Rick Noriega. The campaigns of John Tester, Jim Webb and Sherrod Brown brought in smaller contribution totals than Noriega in their October 15, 2006 filings. Only the campaigns of Claire McCaskill and Bob Casey did better. And even then, both McCaskill and Casey had already established state-wide name recognition, both of them having run in previous state-wide races.

Mikal Watts campaign supporters will point at their candidate’s deep pockets and his $7 million gift/loan to himself and say how can you compare a few hundred thousand dollars to millions?

This is how. This is not a race to match Watts’ war chest dollar for dollar. This isn’t about traveling around the state buying everyone a roast beef dinner, either. This is about having the funding necessary to carry to the voters the best story in this race. Every time I tell his story to someone for the first time the usual reaction is raised eyebrows and words to the effect that this is too good to be true. Rick Noriega has been there and done that. He has walked the walk.

Mikal Watts sues people.