Texas Supreme Court Modifies Open Beaches Act

So when Hurricane Rita hit the beaches in Galveston, tearing them up one side and down the other, eroding the coastline to the extent that beach front private property became public lands according to the Open Beaches Act, people got distraught. They even tried to plant salt grass on the beaches to reclaim their property.

Grass that promptly died because they were too close to the ocean.

So they filed suit to regain their property, this despite the fact that it is right in there on their deeds that there could be no guarantee that the property that they bought would remain in their hands. It seems that there are rules you follow, and rules that you can ignore.

It’s Texas, after all.

So today the Texas State Supreme Court – nine Republican justices, ruled that these unfortunate property owners were perfectly correct in objecting to the loss of property, and awarded them their original property lines, lines that now extend onto public beaches.

The thing is this: the barrier island system on the Gulf Coast is slowly receding. Has been since the end of the Ice Age 10 thousand years ago. As sea level has risen, as it continues to do courtesy of the man-made greenhouse effect, the beaches on our barrier island system have receded. Soon, these property owners will come to realize that there are two definitions to the concept of a house being “under water.”

In short, what the Supreme Court just did was to codify into law the habit of selling land to people sight unseen as they did in the 1920’s in the Florida land boom. Land that was literally, under water.

(Affordable) Healthcare Hump Day Humor

I have zero faith in the Supreme Court to see its way clear to let millions of Americans, including yours truly, to enjoy affordable healthcare. On the third day of hearings in this Republican effort to undo decades of work to bring the United States into something near what most other countries take for granted, the Supremes seem to be lining up along political party lines.

Quelle suprise. (What a surprise).

So when I see the looming end to dashing my hopes for healthcare independence on the rocks of Republican disinformation, I must retreat to cynicism. Cynicism, is after all the final refuge of the eternal pessimist.

Cartoons follow with thanks to the artists for sharing their very clever thoughts.

National Hoodie Day March 30th 2012.

I know.

There was a Hoodie Day on Monday. But the facts keep coming out on the Trayvon Martin shooting. The latest being a series of disingenuous leaks from the Sanford Florida Police Department that seemed to absolve George Zimmerman of all guilt in the vile racially inspired murder of a black teenaged boy.

George Zimmerman still remains free. Unarrested. This despite the fact that today, it was revealed that Sanford PD investigator Chris Serino, the lead investigator in the Trayvon Martin shooting, doubted Zimmerman’s story, and filed an affidavit  that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter.

The State Attorney’s office, however, instructed Serino to lay off, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to lead to a conviction.

Evidence that keeps mounting with each passing hour, need I say.

I am now convinced that former live human being Trayvon Martin was racially profiled and shot to death by a trigger-happy neighborhood vigilante who was impelled by his racial prejudices.

The KKK used to do this.

Now the act seems to be protected by an ill-conceived Florida law. A law that needs to be repealed. Seriously repealed. This law legitimizes the acts of the Ku Klux Klan during the years between 1865 and 1965.

So on Friday, March 30^th, 2012, The Citizens for Legitimate Government are calling for yet another National Hoodie Day, where American s will show up at their places of work, or their schools, with a hoodie. With the hood worn. I don’t know about you, but I will wear my hoodie on Friday.

I will wear it proudly, in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, his family, and with all people who are suspects because of the clothes and the skin that they wear.

Will Supremes Kill Obamacare?

The day has finally come when the US Supreme Court will rule on a couple of issues that have been raised against the 2010 Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. The Supremes have set aside 3 full days to hear the case. Day One being whether there is any standing to bring suit that no one has actually been harmed yet, Day Two on the critical individual mandate – the center ring if you will – of this 3 ring circus.  Day 3 will concentrate on what should happen to the rest of the law if the individual mandate is struck down.

How will the Supremes vote? I think we are all in for a surprise. With a 5-4 majority courtesy of Dubya, one would think it is a no-brainer and they will skewer the Affordable Care Act. Not so, not so.

Remember this is the most political Supreme Court in history. They vote their politics, not principle. They vote along party lines, not along the lines of what is fair and right.

So why will the Supremes uphold the Affordable Care Act? Why give Democrats and President Obama an October surprise? With all of the rhetoric about how this Republican or that Republican will work to overturn Obamacare in their first minutes in office, what happens to that? Obamacare is the only hot button issue that Republicans have to run against Barack Obama. Without that they have nearly nothing to run on.

Just this: “It could be better.”

Just about as potent an argument as “It could be worse.”

No, the Supremes, well 5 of them anyway, are in no way going to give President Obama the gift of jerking the critical issue of Republicans out from under them in the General Election.

That would be a catastrophic mistake.

Americans Hate Muslims. Leave No Doubt.

When the movie “Borat” hit the theaters I stayed away in droves. I knew from the trailers that this was going to be offensive to Muslims. Borat, who was from Kazakhstan comes to America and cultures clash.

In it somewhere is a parody of the Kazakhstan national anthem. A song that was mistakenly played over the loud speakers recently to honor Mariya Dmitriyenko, the winner of the gold medal in the 75 target event at the 10th Arab Shooting Championship in Kuwait. They played the parody, obviously not being able to understand the lyrics, spoken in English.

So “Borat” keeps on delivering insults beyond its run in the theaters. And here is a video of Ms. Dmitriyenko taking it on the chin. She is better than the Muslim haters, that is for sure.

Rick Perry Gets Permission to Shortchange Texas

A while ago, after he withdrew from the Republican race for the presidential nomination, Rick Perry applied to the Federal Ethics Commission for permission to use his remaining presidential campaign funds either to fund a presidential PAC or to fund his own gubernatorial re-election campaign.

And today he got the nod to do either of those things. I saw it here. 

But perhaps the FEC has overstepped its bounds here. Giving Rick Perry permission to use his remaining funds in the two ways he wanted to instead of using them in the way that he should, ethically.

He should use the remaining funds to reimburse the State of Texas, and its tax payers, for footing the  bill for the giant security force that he used while traveling out of state. A security force that a remaining presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul, calls welfare. 

This is the right thing to do. It is the ethical thing to do.

So naturally, Rick Perry, true to form, won’t do it.

Etch-A-Mitt

This had to come out, but most unexpectedly, it came out from the mouth of Mitt Romney’s own campaign advisor. Mitt Romney has no personal convictions but simply wants to be whatever the current voter pool wants him to be.

Right now Mitt Romney is Mr. Uber-Conservative. A conservative’s conservative that can out-conservative Rick Santorum, who, quite frankly, IS an Uber-Conservative. But as Romney’s advisor indicated in his very frank interview, all of that rhetoric can be retooled in the fall election so as to attract the much-needed moderate conservatives and independents.

Mitt Romney’s advisor used an Etch-a-Sketch, a toy from my childhood, as an analogy to how you can simply erase what has been chiseled in stone by turning the iconic writing pad over and shaking it a little.

Thence to write a new script for a less conservative audience.

So people have been having fun with this, as you might expect. Not just Santorum and The Newt, Democrats are glorying in the utter disingenuousness of  what is the probable Republican candidate to run in the fall against President Obama. A president who makes no bones about what he thinks.

So I went out and harvested the artwork that is being posted on various websites. It’s a scream and a half.

Enjoy.

Atheists with Christian Donors.

It’s a kind of man bites dog headline, don’t you think? Avowed atheist Patrick Greene recently found out that he had contracted a disease that could leave him blind. Some would call it the Hand of God, others would call it karma, and others would shrug their shoulders and say “tough luck.”

But Greene recently learned that the Christian group that he openly opposed in Henderson County, Texas, a group that wanted to put up a nativity display on government property, had taken up a collection among the members and donated $400 toward his healthcare costs to treat his condition.

A Christian Act if ever there was one.

An act that belies the baser intents of “Christians” who want to dominate the lives of non-believers and use laws to regulate morality along strictly Christian religious beliefs.

This is special. This is different. This is truly Christian.

And despite the fact that the atheist group that Patrick Greene represents donated $500 toward his treatment, edging out the Christian donation by $100, I still see the meaning and intent of these good people to turn the other cheek and to love their enemy.

It’s nice to see the teachings of Jesus, as told to us by the Apostles, still have an impact on actual human conduct, rather than what you typically see.

Blind hypocrisy.

The Mitt By 14 Points

The amazingly accurate prediction of the polls, Romney held sway today in the Illinois primary. With 55% of Illinois polls reporting, Romney commanded the lead with 48.3% of the vote to second place Rick Santorum with 34%. The polls had Romney by 14%.

Santorum suffered by not being qualified in several congressional districts. He automatically gave up 10 delegates to Romney. His candidacy further showed its lack of preparation and lack of seriousness.

Rick Santorum as the runner up, is, in short, a joke. A cosmic joke.

A cosmic joke that threatens to throw the GOP convention into chaos. Sarah Palin was the cosmic joke that the GOP presented to the American electorate in 2008, and we all know what happened there. Rick Santorum is the savior of the Democratic Party.

Jesus is a Democrat.

Must be.

Still Not Mad at Anyone

Day Two of not being angry at anyone or anything.

Well, OK, this really pisses me off, but Nick Anderson summarizes it so well. A picture is worth 10,000 words.

See, Texas has discrimminated against a women's health care provider. You know, the people who provide free services to women who can't afford our high-priced medical care - the highest priced medical care in the world. Cancer screenings. Contraception. Counseling.

Things that prevent abortions from happening.

Oh and they also provide abortion services, but these are taken care of on a different set of books. Totally unrelated to the other services.

Nevertheless, the Texas Legislature, in its infinite stupidity, has written Planned Parenthood out of the equation, violating federal rules. You can't discrimminate between these healthcare providers. So Texas has lost all federal funding for women's healthcare. No funding, no women's healthcare.

The GOP is in open warfare against women. Open warfare. Not only do they demand that women not use contraception to avoid getting pregnant, but to use it solely for the other benefits that are known to exist, but they also demand that women submit to sexual congress only when they want to conceive a child. I think that women should comply with that latter wish, if her significant other holds to that belief.

Want to see GOP-Crazy? Withhold sex from these sex-possessed people.

A Moment of Sanity and Love

OK I have to apologize to those of you who tune in to this blog to watch my rant. I am not angry at anything just now. I’ve had one of those epiphanies. My life was not meant to be spent in solitude and now I have found my soul mate.

Rediscovered, actually.

This is for you, Twila.

Rick Santorum is Becoming a Fly in Romney’s Ointment

Well the 3^rd primary day that includes one or more Southern states has ended badly for Mitt Romney, and badlier for Newt Gingrich.

Rick Santorum swept the South in his bid to unseat Newt Gingrich as the conservative of choice to lead the Southern conservative march on DC. Rick Santorum an Pennsylvanian Yankee romped yesterday topping The Newt by 5% in Alabama and edging Gingrich by 2% in Mississippi.

And it was the Evangelical conservatives who were most responsible for Santorum’s Southern Sweep.

From The Boston Globe:

In Mississippi and Alabama, 80 percent or more of voters leaving their polling places said they were born again Christians or evangelical. Those voters have been reluctant to rally to Romney's side in the primaries and caucuses to date. Among them, Santorum bested Romney by 9 points in Alabama and 4 points in Mississippi.

All of which must be bad news for Romney and the establishment Republicans.

My conclusion: The expected Great Rift in the Republican Party is on with a vengeance.

But wait, there’s more.

In Texas Rick Santorum is polling 8% ahead of Mitt Romney, and 15% ahead of The Newtster.

From The Chron:

“Fresh off wins in Alabama and Mississippi, Rick Santorum got some good news from the Lone Star State today.” 

“A new survey by the the GOP polling firm of Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research gave him an 8 percentage point lead over Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney in Texas.”

In other words, not only is Newt Gingrich in trouble with his Great Southern Strategy, which is now south of Tierra del Fuego, it seems like Rick Santorum is poised to deny Mitt Romney of his 1144 delegates needed for the nomination.

A brokered convention with infighting between the Tea Party and the Establishment Republicans? Are we witnessing the true hand of God playing a role in this year’s presidential election?  

And Now a Short Break with a Message from Our Sponsors...

Do you remember that one? If you do you also remember television in black and white. It was their way of saying that you were about to experience a hiatus in the show you were watching because they needed to let the people who were actually paying for the television show's cast and production to actually occur, hawk their wares. We Americans were new to that and it had to be explained to us.

But here it is. It's SPRING BREAK!!!!!

SPRING BREAK!!!!!

Spring break cannot be written without all caps and spam-sized exclamation marks.I am on spring break and having the time of my life. I have reunited with a person that I haven't seen in nearly 46 years and we are having a great time together. Such a great time that I am not angry at anyone right now.

Sarah Palin? Such a nice woman (especially when McCain picked her for the Veep spot, and in doing so elected Barack Obama).

The Newt? What can I say about The Newt? Nice conniseur in helmet hair. Calista will make a remarkable First Ho.

Rick Sanitarium? Thank you Rick Sanitarium for driving half the female voters away from any Republican support. Did you know, for instance, Rick, that conservative women want their daughters not to get pregnant? Because that is better than committing murder. Did you know that? You didn't? Perfect!

Mitt? Oh, Mitt. Can you say "Asphinctersayswhat?" You can? Perfect!

You see, I am in a very good mood tonight.

So maybe you, my 6 readers, might not be too alarmed or too offended if I neglect to post something here every day this week. It is, after all SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

Oh, and remember to set your clocks 1 hour forward tonight.

Texas Voter ID Law May Get the Thumbs Up/Down on Monday

In a series of exchanges between the federal Department of Justice, the Texas Secretary of State, and the Texas Attorney General, we have witnessed an historic fight for the right to vote in Texas.

The Voter ID Law, passed overwhelmingly by a Republican super-majority in the Texas legislature, practically guarantees the disenfranchisement of the elderly, because they have no drivers’ licenses, the poor and minorities.

You know. Democrats.

Based on the false notion that there is widespread voter fraud in the state, Republicans sought to seal their majority for all time by denying traditional Democratic voting blocs of their constitutional right to vote.

Or let me correct myself. Yes there is voter fraud in the state of Texas, but it isn’t being perpetrated by illegal aliens. It is being perpetrated by officials in county elections offices.

The DOJ has had a back and forth with the state for awhile now since the state filed for preclearance per its mandate under the Voting Rights Act, an act that singled out 11 southern states for their past transgressions in denying minorities of their right to vote. And the state keeps shrugging its shoulders saying that they don’t keep the kind of records that the DOJ is asking for. Yes, that and filing suit against the DOJ for denying the state of Texas its sovereign right to conduct its own elections.

Something that as demonstrated in the past that they are singularly unable to do because of past discriminatory policies.

Anyway, another deadline is fast-approaching and on Monday we can finally see the DOJ tell Texas to go to freaking H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks.

Any state that asks as a proof of citizenship that a person produce a conceal-carry gun permit in order to vote is a state that has stacked the deck on the side of the conservative cause, and has done so with a very cavalier attitude. In short, the reason the Voting Rights Act should still be in place today is self-evident in Texas.

They are unremorseful. Reconstruction ended too soon in Texas.

Who Is Joseph Kony and Why Does He Still Exist?

A big hat tip to my friend Twila for making me aware of this monster. I had no idea and I consider myself an informed individual. Joseph Kony is a scourge on the African continent. A scourge not seen since the Matabele Wars inspired by Shaka Zulu.

Guys brace yourself. This is a 30 minute You Tube video but completely worth the time to watch it. I just spent that time and also time researching Joseph Kony online.

I have just 3 words.

SEAL Team Six.

It's Super Tuesday!!!

At long last we are finally at Super Tuesday, the day when 10 states hold their primaries. The day when, quite typically, the nominees are decided.

The day that Texas didn't vote.

Yes, Texas is a Super Tuesday state. But all because of the conservative US Supreme Court, Texas can't hold its primary on its traditional day the first Tuesday in March. Thanks to the US Supreme Court Texas has to wait until late May... or even June.

When the nominee has typically been decided for a couple of months.

But I still don't know. There is still enough fluidity in the Republican races that we could see this go on for awhile. The "anyone but Mitt" crowd keeps going strong. Keeps going strong all except for the fact that they can't agree on if not Mitt, then who? I think that in the end, Mitt is going to be Itt, but it is going to take a little time, Newt seems to have just won Georgia - his home state - go figure.

And in the meantime, Mitt Romney is going to continue to claw apart his opponents, making him look like the highbrow brute that he most definitely is.

All Hail the Texas Navy

Bet you didn’t know that the Free State of Texas, as it should be called, has its own navy. It has a fleet of gunboats. Gunboats armed to the teeth with fully automatic machine guns.

Six of them to a boat.

These boats patrol the border waters, three in the Rio Grande River to interdict drug smuggling operations, and three of them in the intracoastal waterway. A channel that allows ship traffic to safely traverse the Gulf coast barrier island system.

Lots of people see this as typical Texas grandstanding, stepping up, so to say, where the federal government has gone all lax and lackadaisical.

But who knows what these gunboats can be used for. Given the Republican rhetoric in this election year, why not turn these machine guns on those who cross the Rio Grande in hopes of getting a minimum wage job washing dishes in any given restaurant in Texas? Why not?

These people are taking jobs away from our youth after all. You know, the ones who spend all their time texting each other on their $300.00 phones. Know why they do that? Because they cannot get those highly desirable jobs washing dishes, harvesting produce and hosing down slaughter houses.

Best to just turn these 50 cals on all these people when they are most helpless. Mid-river.

But you know, Texas isn’t the first state to launch a fleet of border patrol boats. When I was growing up in California I got to experience first hand the launching of the country’s first state navy. The world famous Baywatch lifeguard boats.

Boats that made Pamela Anderson possible.

Sledgehammer

Oh it just gets better and better. Rush Limbaugh has been dealt some serious setbacks as a result of his attacks on a well-meaning Georgetown law student last week as he called her “a slut” and demanded to see naked videos of her posted online.

The first was unforgivable. The second was just icky coming from a fat bald old white guy.

His program has lost some serious advertisers, most recently AOL.

Rock artist Peter Gabriel, upon hearing that Limbaugh used his hit single “Sledgehammer” to accompany his attacks on this young earnest woman, was horrified. He has directed his representatives to demand that Rush Limbaugh never use any of his music in his hateful radio broadcasts.

This might just be the worst blow to the Limbaugh hate-mongering radio program ever. After all, I have to ask myself which ISP does his audience subscribe to. And the answer is the ISP that makes it so easy to be online that you need no brains at all.

Because his listeners have that tendency.

Like Taking Candy from a Baby

The ultimate in cowardly acts is to filch candy from a toddlers hands and run off with it. You think was the ultimate cowardly act. But it isn’t. Here in Fort Bend County, Texas we have reinvented what a true coward is.

Someone who would steal the cash box from a Girl Scout Cookie sales booth in front of a store in broad daylight.

Now I as a rule stay away from buying Girl Scout Cookies because I can’t work off the calories. Pounding a keyboard in my spare time is a poor form of exercise. But today, upon exiting my market, I bought two boxes just to make a point that these creepoids cannot kick a Girl Scout when she is down.

So Fort Bendites, keep an eye out for a beat up black Camry. And go buy some Girl Scout Cookies. Thin Mints and Caramel Delites have my full endorsement.

Poor John Cornyn

According to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, my senator, John “Box Turtle” Cornyn had himself the worst week in Washington this past week. Now considering what we know about all the bad news being handed Republicans this week as the national economy seems to be picking up steam again, much to their consternation, this came as somewhat of a surprise to me. What, I asked myself, had he done?

Well, it’s not so much what he did, but what was done to him. His job, as the National Republican Senatorial Committee leader just became harder. In 2010 Cornyn cruised in a downhill run picking up six senate seats and closing the door on the progress of any decent legislation in the senate. He had done his job. But in retrospect, in 2010 a 2 year old could have done a pretty decent job.

This year all eyes will be on Cornyn to close the deal and regain the senate majority. And what the heck, with 23 Democratic senators up for re-election compared to a mere 10 Republicans, Cornyn must have been feeling pretty good about his chances of becoming the next Republican hero.

Then came Olympia Snowe’s sandbag job. Just a few hours before announcing that she would not be running for re-election in her fairly liberal state, Snowe informed Cornyn of this. Now New Hampshire, which went for Obama by 58% in 2008, will most certainly go back to the Democratic side of the aisle. Then, Cornyn was rubbing his hands together over the retirement of Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson. Nebraska is as red as can be and this was going to be an easy pick up. But then former senator Bob Kerrey announced he was going to try and get his old seat back. Kerry is most likely the only Democrat in the state with a fighting chance to win says Cillizza.

In short, in the space of just a couple of days, Cornyn got two pretty bad pieces of news over what he was seeing as two easy races.

And the icing on the cake is that they both came about because of all the crazy rightwing rhetoric coming out that is literally chasing centrists and moderates back to the private sector.

My advice to the senator would be for him to read his Bible more often. Here’s one I like:

“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”

Proverbs 11-29.

My Generation’s Music: The Best Ever

Music has always been very important to me. I grew up loving rock and roll. I had a brief foray with Country and Western but have since regained my senses. Today I spent not an insignificant amount of time going through my collection of music, it is vast and diverse. My students sometimes remark on the wide variety of music I play over my classroom’s speaker system.

It was for good reason that I went through it. This summer I will be reuniting with the people I went to junior high school with. And elementary school. Music defined my generation and those tunes will all be played there.

And I keep playing this one over and over. It is by far my most favorite Diana Ross and the Supremes tune ever.

It holds new meaning for me.

Limbaugh Lights the Path of Democratic Victory

I sure am liking Rush Limbaugh these days. Rush Limbaugh is illuminating the conservative wing of the Republican Party like no one since Barry Goldwater. Not only has he found himself on the wrong side of an issue supported by 63% of Americans, but he has verbally assaulted a young woman whose only offense was springing to the defense of a friend who needed birth control to preserve her ability to conceive.

Rush Limbaugh is defining the Republican Party, and defining the 2012 election.

And I could not be happier.

Rush Limbaugh defines the Republican Party as a party of misogynistic old men who lash out on women by attacking their ability to receive health care.  His line of logic is so obtuse that it takes great leaps of logic just to keep up with the fact that he thinks Ms. Fluke’s desire for free contraceptives somehow qualifies her as a floozy.

And the online comments are so full of invective that you have to wonder where it all comes from. I personally think it is payback for young women not really wanting to have anything to do with these old, fat, bald, fluffy white guys.

Because they are kind of…what’s the word…icky.

I think Rush needs to keep up the good work. He is doing more to help Democrats retain the White House, and regain a majority in the House than anything a single Democratic Super PAC can do.

Beelzebub and Breitbart Finally Meet

In a wonderful visitation by the goddess of karma, Andrew Breitbart is now and forever a nutritional source for worms. Early this morning Andrew Breitbart finally met his god.

Beelzebub.

Satan.

But wait it gets better. Today on the House floor, Breitbart’s life was eulogized by none other than Louie Gohmert (R - Krazytown) the wackiest Congressman that the state of Texas has ever sent to DC.

OK, why am I being so unkind to a man who just lost his life well before his time? Well let’s just say payback is a bitch.

Upon hearing the news of Teddy Kennedy’s passing, Breitbart took to his Twitter account and wrote impolite thoughts about the former senator. Breitbart called Kennedy a "villiain," a "prick," "a big ass mothe*******," and a "duplicitous bastard." Breitbart even called Kennedy a "special pile of human excrement."

The rumor has it is that Breitbart suffered from heart problems last year and this is being offered as a probable cause of death. How ironic, First Davey Jones, then Andrew Breitbart, sudden massive heart attacks.

But I really doubt it. The reason I doubt it is that Andrew Breitbart did not actually have a heart. He had something, but a heart? No. Rather he had something akin to that of a spider, something that pumps pure black ichor.

And no, there is no truth to the rumor that Seal Team 6 has been unaccounted for, for the last couple of days. Obama killed Osama, but Breitbart died of suddenly noticing that he had no soul.