Harris County Voting Machine Inferno: Arson Not Ruled Out

Last month when 10,000 Harris County voting machines went up in flames, along with all the ancillary equipment needed to run an eSlate polling place, my first suspicion was that someone wanted to discourage voters from casting their ballots in the mid-term elections, and torched the warehouse.

And now, nearly a month later, it seems that Harris County arson investigators have failed to find an accelerant. An accelerant is any trace of a substance, like gasoline or other flammable substances that could rapidly spread a set fire at a rate that would overwhelm any automatic fire extinguishing measures present in the building.

From KPRC:

“On Thursday, Arson Chief Gabe Cortez said they have found no evidence an accelerant, such as gasoline, was used in the fire.”

“‘We will examine some of the items recovered microscopically and with X-rays, and have electrical engineers look at those,’ Cortez said.”

Now in my brief research on the subject I have found that in any given arson investigation, when no trace of an accelerant is found at the site of a fire, the immediate diagnosis is that the fire was caused either by an electrical fault, a leak in a gas line, or “spontaneous combustion” – the latter being the rare case of combustion of a pile of organic material which is undergoing decomposition.

So absent an accelerant or multiple points of ignition, investigation of the cause of a fire shifts toward accidental.

Except in this case. In this case no accelerant has been found, yet arson has not yet been ruled out. And I have to wonder why.

Could it be the thing that keeps nagging at me? That the timing and opportunity is such an obvious factor? That who stands the most to gain in an “accident” of this nature foils any conclusion? And more to the point, if there is a rush to judgment on the cause of the fire, that it was simply an accident caused by an electrical fault, will that not raise some eyebrows in the Justice Department?

That is, if at this point the cause of a fire at a warehouse containing parts for Toyota automobiles has not yet been determined as being set deliberately with an accelerant, my guess is that the whole investigation would lead to conclude that the fault was in the wiring and the case is closed.

But burning up water pumps and ignition coils doesn’t affect an entire statewide election, does it? Harris County contains the highest number of voters, Democratic leaning voters, in the state. A fire at the warehouse containing all voting machines in the county is just a little bit more suspicious.

And really, absent the finding of the presence of an accelerant does not alone mean that the fire was due to an electrical fault. That only means that the accelerant could not be detected.

In truth, even if someone comes up with a blackened electrical junction box with melted wires in it, given the “external evidence” of motive, who stands most to gain from this fire, you will never be able to convince me that this wasn’t a purposefully set fire.

Never.

A River in Egypt Dogs Rick Perry at Every Turn

A new Bill White campaign video claims that Texas governor Rick Perry is in denial about the projected $18 billion shortfall in next year’s budget. This video has Rick Perry interacting with a television reporter with Perry saying that these people in the Bloomberg news organization “don’t know what the budget is in the state of Texas” and that no one does. When it is brought up that AP reporters are also saying this Perry reiterates his point, this time that Bloomberg and AP reporters “are not the experts in the state of Texas.”

And clearly, Rick Perry is in denial that he is in denial.

So if that’s true, maybe instead of being “in denial,” maybe it’s the case that Rick Perry is in “The Nile” as in that river that courses through Egypt. And we’re not talking Egypt, Texas.

Yeah, that’s the ticket . . .

Where does Bloomberg and AP get off claiming that they know about the Texas state budget better than Rick Perry?

Could it be Texas State House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio):

“Like you, we will have to make some very tough choices next session," he said. "I've asked members of the House to keep that in mind as they work on developing a balanced, no-new-taxes budget -- especially as we contemplate how to bridge a budget gap at the state level that is projected by the House to be at least $18 billion.”

Or could it be Texas State House Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Jim Pitts (R-Waxahatchie):

“Pitts' original discussion with aide Wayne Pulver went as follows: Pitts asked, ‘So that could add up to between $15 billion and $18 billion?’ Pulver called that range reasonable.’”

I have to ask myself, whose party does this governor ally himself with? Surely it’s not with Republicans who want fiscal responsibility, nor is it with Democrats who demand the same along with a little social justice on the side.

And the Libertarians have their own candidate. So then, I have to wonder whether the party that Rick Perry allies himself with is the Party of Perry.

You know how this is playing to me? If this were playing out in Washington DC and the Republicans controlled the house, it would resemble Republican House Members’ talking points mounted against a Democratic President who wants to operate a budget deficit, maybe paying for a few unfunded things like tax cuts for the rich and two wars. And the Democratic president launching a fit of pique back at them.

And Rick Perry is in it for himself.

Travis County Risks Lines at the Polls for Harris County

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, a Democrat like all the rest of the county-wide elected officials there, has issued a warning to county voters that they should expect longer lines at the polls this upcoming election.

The reason being that Travis County went ahead and loaned Harris County some of its eSlate voting machines so that they could hold an election this fall. Because someone burned up each and every one of Harris County’s 10,000 paperless voting machines.

Now I have no problem with jumping in and sharing when a fellow County Clerk finds herself with no voting machines, because Travis County is heavily Democratic these days and Harris County is still infected with Republicans who are strongly anti-voter. Maybe they can take a slight hit in voter numbers because of their sheer numbers.

But what if this whole thing backfires? What if long lines in Travis County, a blue county, depresses turnout, and long lines in Harris County does the same? These are two of the most populous counties in Texas. I would sure hate to see that this hateful act perpetrated on Harris County voters by a vote suppression terrorist affects the Democratic turnout of not just one Democratic county, but two.

It’s a little risky, all I’m sayin’.

I. AM. SPARTACUS. (er . . . Rick Perry)

Fun from elementary schoolers who have only known one Texas governor.

And Then There Were Nine

I haven’t been keeping a really accurate count, but from what I can see we now have nine Tea Party candidates vying against Democrats in the November election in either gubernatorial contests or for seats in the US Senate.

Tea Party crazy woman Sharron Angle beat mainstream Republican Sue Lowden mainly because of Lowden’s off-the-wall remark about paying your doctor bill with chickens – and not backing down on it. Apparently she was trying to out-crazy Sharron Angle, and it worked.

So now the contest that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was slated to lose, and lose big, is now a toss-up.

Then what about Colorado where we had a two-fer in Ken Buck and Dan Maes who vied for the US Senate nomination and the Republican nomination for governor, respectively. They both beat out their moderate Republican opponents, former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton and former Congressman Scott McInnis. McInnis, recall was his own worst enemy when he was caught plagiarizing the written work of others – for money – twice. McInnis thought the voters wouldn’t mind because they were interested in jobs and the economy. And he obviously underestimated Coloradans’ sense of integrity and fair play.

So both Teabagger candidates will face much better off Democratic candidates in Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper who is mayor of Colorado’s biggest city, Denver, and Democratic Senate candidate Mike Bennett who was appointed to take Ken Salazar’s seat when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior. Anti-incumbent fever or no, Ken Buck is a conservative reactionary who was also identified as having ethics problems and was actually ordered by Colorado’s AG to attend ethics classes.

Or South Carolina, where Nikki Haley took Sarah Palin’s endorsement and turned it into an upset over mainstream Republican candidate Congressman Gresham Barrett in the state’s gubernatorial primary. South Carolina Bubbas will now have to decide between a Democratic candidate, Vincent Sheheen, and Haley, daughter of Indian Sikh immigrants. Haley has already been labeled a “raghead” by one classless Republican state senator. Haley is still ahead in the polls, but you can always count on southern white rednecks to do the “right” thing and vote for the white man or not vote at all.

Tea Partier Rand Paul, in his victory over establishment Republican candidate Trey Grayson for a vacant Kentucky US Senate seat has evened up the chances of Democratic candidate Jack Conway, especially now that Paul has come out against the Civil Right Act. His board certification as an ophthalmologist, by the way, was revealed to have been rendered by Paul’s own organization the National Board of Ophthalmologists. Another ethically challenged Republican Senate candidate.

Mike Lee, a Tea Party candidate for Utah’s US Senate seat, is highly likely to take the spot in November. The DC Republicans will have to deal with Lee’s unconventional wisdom in his fractured interpretation of the US Constitution and his desire to abolish whole departments, Education, Energy and the like.

Then when Alaska’s Joe Miller beat Senate incumbent Lisa Murkowsky, You do have to wonder if he is so ideologically challenged that even Alaskans will have trouble deciding between him and the underdog Democratic candidate. His plan to decrease the amount of tax dollars that Alaska disproportionately receives from the feds may just create a small tickle in their wallet pockets.

Then what about last night? Carl “Pornographic Racist” Paladino won against establishment candidate Fazio and will face New York AG Andrew Cuomo in November for Governor of New York.

But the icing on the cake goes to Delaware which just handed the Democrats Joe Biden’s senate seat when its Republican primary voters nominated Christine O’Donnell, another Palin-backed constant candidate who beat out 30 year veteran Mike Castle. Castle, had he won the primary was a cinch to become the next senator from Delaware. But O’Donnell essentially pulled a Nikki Haley and came from behind with Palin’s endorsement. O’Donnell is so sexually repressed that she opposes all loving except that between a heterosexual couple – married, naturally. And that means ALL loving. Even self-loving.

And now tonight I am hearing that the RSCC is running for cover on O'Donnell's candidacy.

Good for you Delaware Republicans.

Nice job.

Fort Bend Blue by 2016 Latest

I have been saying this for some time now and now it’s good to see that the Houston Chronicle has picked up on the news that Fort Bend County will once again be a Democratic-dominated county.

By 2016 at the very latest.

The article is centered on University of Houston demographer Richard Murray’s work in this suburban area southwest of Houston and is worth a read. Murray has noted that when this sleepy rural community experienced moderate growth, the political landscape changed from dominant Democratic to dominant Republican.

From the Chronicle:

“These days, though, the county is experiencing what Murray calls ‘the second wave of change in modern times.’ Recently arrived black, Asian and Hispanic residents not only are helping make the county one of the most diverse in Texas, but they're also changing the political equation. The gap between the Republican and Democratic votes is down to single digits. Murray predicts the county will revert to Democratic dominance by 2016 at the latest”

At this point, 27 of the 31 elected officials are Republicans in Fort Bend County. But even Republican county chair Rick Miller admits that his party has been losing ground, having been taken by surprise in 2008 when McCain/Palin won the county vote by a mere 4,838 votes – this from the Secretary of State website.

“The election was a lot closer than we thought it was going to be. Fort Bend went for McCain, but it was really pretty close.”

Yeah, like less than 2% close.

The vote has been going that way steadily since 2004, the last time that Republicans finished very strong in Fort Bend County, when W beat Kerry by a margin of 57.37% to 42.11%. This trend is mimicked in the judicial races that pretty much go down party lines.

In 2006 the poll results tightened with Republicans losing 2-3% of the vote and Democrats gaining a like amount.

Then the tight race in 2008 marked by record turnouts of first-time Democratic voters where McCain/Palin edged Obama/Biden by 50.88% (103,206 votes) to 38.48% (98,368 votes).

Democratic Party county chair Steve Brown is hopeful that the dominance shift will occur in the upcoming election.

“In 2004, only 11,000 people voted in Fort Bend County's Democratic presidential primary. Four years later, that number jumped to 68,517. Brown's job is to get the newcomers out to vote and to reignite the 2008 momentum. His goal for November is 70,000 Democratic voters”

Rick Miller is also optimistic but doesn’t have the facts and figures to point to. He bases his optimism on a perceived energy.

“I have never seen people as stirred up as they are now," he said after a recent meeting at party headquarters to plan a Rick Perry visit to Fort Bend. "They've been awakened, and people are getting up and taking action.”

This from a county chair that has only lived in the county for 11 years, and been involved in politics only since 2006. Yeah, “never seen” goes back just four years. This is just part of the hype that Republicans are picking up from the national news pundits who point to an anti-incumbent trend nationally.

In Fort Bend, the incumbents are all Republicans. So are the statewide candidates. Republicans have a problem at the top of their ticket: Rick Perry is seen as a governor who has enriched himself and his cronies at the expense of Texas and Texans. This is what I am hearing from Republicans as well.

So if it’s not this year, it will definitely be next year. But a sea change in Fort Bend County is all but inevitable.

Signs of the Times

I love it when the campaign signs come out on the lawns . You can see how people like to vote. But this year there is an extra added attraction.


Take for instance this supporter of Jeff McMeans. McMeans is running for County Court at Law No. 2, a court whose current judge is retiring. McMeans, daddy. Note how McMeans’s supporter has positioned his sign in front of his house.


On the parkway.

Now McMeans’ supporter may cut that grass but the land is in the public right-of-way and as such is being used illegally by this person who supports a guy running to uphold the law.

Irony is sweet sometimes.

Then there is this one that I have seen in a few places around the county now. It is being distributed by the local county Republican Party, but it is actually a product of a PAC. The Fort Bend County Women’s Club PAC to be specific, a group that actually does not exist. Try it.

What draws my attention is the glaring spelling error on the sign.

“We can’t afford anymore change.”

“Anymore” spelled as one word, is an adverb that means “presently” or “nowadays.”

As in “We can’t afford change anymore.”

But the way the ladies have positioned the word, and if it is truly mis-spelled, they apparently mean to say that additional change cannot be afforded. Two words, “any” and “more” means “additional.”

When I pointed this out to an English teacher today she just rolled her eyes and said “why do we try?”

And truly, I have asked myself this question time and time again. It’s like the local women’s PAC is channeling Teabagger spelling that we see on their hand-lettered signs.

But when we break sign posting laws to support a judicial candidate, or we break the rules of spelling and grammar to make a political point, when it is the Republicans doing it, it’s all good.

At the Fort Bend County LGBT Caucus Inaugural

I just came back from an event where there were gay people there.

Now in truth, every event that I have ever attended has had some gay people in attendance as well, but this was a singular event in that it was by and for the gay community of Fort Bend County.

And their straight friends and supporters.

Being of the latter persuasion, I found myself woefully ignorant of the fact that their keynote speaker, Houston Mayor Anise Parker, found her political beginnings and her political voice in the Houston gay movement. Her ability to remain calm in what would ordinarily be a contentious meeting extends from her experiences and actions within the movement.

Now in total, I recorded about 20 minutes of speechifying by Ms. Dawson and Mayor Parker and while I know maybe some of you will want to see all of it, I also know that many can’t take much of that. So I have been selective and include what I consider to be the high points of both deliveries. It still runs over 11 minutes so bear with me.

Rick Perry Opines on Burning Qur’ans and Building Mosques

Incredibly, as his own state verges on a budgetary crisis that makes the one in California look trivial, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, has held forth on the wisdom and the right to burn al-Qur’an in Gainesville, Florida and build an Islamic community center/mosque two blocks from “Ground Zero” in New York, New York.

Two places that Perry has little or nothing to do with except for the fact that his former boss’ brother used to be governor of the former, and is a former political supporter of another who was once mayor of the latter.

But inexplicably, Perry was freely dealing out his opinion at a local fire station in Austin yesterday. An opinion one would imagine, that his base might have objection to.

He said:

“Listen, I don't condone those types of activities, whether it's burning an American flag or burning a Bible, or burning a Quran, but the fact of the matter is, Americans have a First Amendment right. In a civil society, my read on that is that is a very objectionable act and should not be done.”

You know, in Israel it is a crime to burn a Qur’an. You can get up to three years in the slammer for doing that. And it’s not that Israel isn’t a free and civil society, for the most part they are. But in Israel, a country surrounded by Muslims, and indeed is home to millions of them, they are willing to concede the point that burning a Qur’an might lead to some very bad things.

Sort of like we discussed here when General Petraeus mentioned the fact that holding a Qur’an bonfire party just might get some soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Israelis live with being surrounded by Jew haters every day. Their laws reflect the eggshells that they have to walk on from time to time in order to survive. And sometimes it is interpretations of our laws that permits American society to do so as well.

You see, I think Rick Perry is dead wrong on this one. As a commenter to my blog posting on General Petraeus’ weighing in on the cancelled Gainesville act of terror suggests, this is not especially a First Amendment right.

It’s not a right to have the poor judgment to burn al-Qur’an when it gives followers of Islam the motive to kill Americans in their country, just as it is not a right to have the poor judgment to yell “Fire” in a crowded theater. Not when it results in death and injury.

That’s just common sense.

Something that escapes Rick Perry everywhere he turns.

On Shooting Straight in Texas

Last April when Governor Rick Perry murdered a coyote while on his morning jog, a jog entirely within Austin’s city limits, last April when Rick Perry aimed his 9 mm handgun that he was carrying on his belt while exercising and killed that innocent beast, it could be said that Rick Perry’s aim was true and his shot was sure.

As far as discharging firearms within Austin’s city limits, that is.

But now, when questioned about the looming budget crisis and all of the issues surrounding it, Rick Perry is firing away at just about every other thing but the one thing that has been behind the budget crisis: his habit of over-spending.

Rick Perry claims that he is an “expert” in all things budgetary. He claims this because he is Texas’ only 10-year governor. Indeed, all that proves is that Rick Perry is a poster child for term limits. But he is right in one way: having to face a budget crisis is not a new thing for him. As Texas’ only 10-year governor, this is Rick Perry’s second budget crisis, the first one having taken place in 2003. You know, the one that occurred back when the economy was singing along unaware of the upcoming and inevitable Republican-inspired economic collapse of 2008.

So this is Perry’s 2nd budget crisis. Amazing how those things just follow him around, isn’t it.

And back then, if memory serves, Perry’s state comptroller, Carol Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn was openly feuding with Perry who she called a “weak leadin', ethics ignorin', pointin' the finger at everyone blamin', special session callin', public school slashin', slush fund spendin', toll road buildin', special interest panderin', rainy day fund raidin', fee increasin', no property tax cuttin', promise breakin', do nothin' phony conservative.” Strayhorn kept the state’s dire straits from him making him look like the idiot that he really is.

So now that State Senator Kirk Watson has rightfully asked the present state comptroller for information on the state’s finances so that he and his colleagues could make informed decisions in next year’s budgeting process, Perry calls that “bizarre.” It seems he has learned his lesson from “Grandma” that keeping a tight lid on finance facts serves one politically very well.

But again, he shoots himself in the foot for looking every bit like the opaque truth smotherer that he is.

All of this is neatly summed up in a just-released video on Rick Perry’s press conference where he wildly shoots in all directions, leaving the best for the end, blaming all of his financial woes on that black president, Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic-led US Congress.

I tell you, if it weren’t for the fact that Rick Perry makes decisions that affects the lives of millions of Texans, I would be holding my sides in from laughter.

But this isn’t funny. Rick Perry needs a permanent vacation.

Rick Perry’s Plan to Rescue Texas Schools

It’s a rather simple plan that costs Rick Perry nothing but makes for him lots of political hay: Do Nothing.

Do nothing to help Texas schools as they struggle to educate a growing population of school children with less and less funding. Less funding because property values are falling, and in Texas school districts depend on a levy on the value of property. Less funding because sales are down and state coffers depend on the a 6% tax on the sales of a whole bunch of retail items.

And do nothing to ensure that Texas receives the federal funds that it deserves from the recently passed $10 billion appropriation to help states to retain their teacher employee rolls.

It’s true. When Texas filed its application at the Department of Education to receive their share of the $10 billion, roughly $830 million, Governor Perry failed to submit the assurance that the law required of him. And the Department of Education denied their request for funds.

From the Austin American-Statesman:

“The denial of Texas' application, which came via a letter to the state that was released Thursday, had been telegraphed by Education Department officials because the governor would not — or could not — provide the required assurance. Instead, Perry committed to prioritizing public education”

Just what was that assurance? I mentioned it before here, that the bill passed into law and signed by President Obama required the governor of Texas to assure the Department of Education that it would maintain or increase its level of funding for education for three years. Perry failed to provide that assurance.

All he committed to was “to prioritizing public education.”

Empty words when the governor is guilty as charged of taking $3.25 billion in federal funds meant to enhance education in Texas and putting it in the education fund while at the same time withdrawing a like amount of state funding so that he could balance the state’s budget.

In other words, Perry used the federal dollars meant to enhance education in Texas to balance his budget instead of using them as they were meant to be used.

Perry is the only governor to do that, so Texas is the only state that has to provide this assurance before it will receive any more funds from the feds for education.

So because Perry refuses to comply, Texas is out $830 million in funds to help our schools. He scores big points among his base for fighting the DC insiders, as he wants people to believe, but Texas loses.

Texas’ teachers lose their jobs.

Texas’ children receive a less than quality education.

But Rick Perry really doesn’t care, because Rick Perry is in it for himself.

Obama’s Speech to Schoolchildren: Here We Go Again

On Tuesday, September 14th President Barack Obama will address the nation’s school children now that just about all of them are back in school about the importance of trying hard. The importance of succeeding.

The importance of a good education.

And in a school district near my abode, the Fort Bend Independent School District, it will be decided on a campus-by-campus basis whether to allow their students to view the president’s speech.

And parents of children at campuses that decide to show the speech, in their social studies classes, who do not wish their children to hear the speech will be given the opportunity to turn in an “opt out” form.

This I found out from FortBendNow:

“Fort Bend Independent Schools will decide on a campus-basis if they will show President Barack Obama’s “Back to School Speech” on Sept. 14. All principals will be sending home a parent letter with students to let them know about the decision of their child’s campus either today or tomorrow.”

“For those campuses that choose to show the President’s speech, they will show the speech during their Social Studies classes.”

“If any parents or students request to be excused from viewing the message, the campus will provide an opportunity for those students to engage in another “constructive activity” on the campus during the speech broadcast.”

Now I thought that we were done with this kind of stuff. A year ago there was such a hew and cry over the political indoctrination of our schoolchildren by a Kenyan-born, Nazi, socialistic communist that when the speech was eventually delivered, and it turned out to be uplifting and all about doing well in school, that there were a few shame-faced people running around in the anti-climax that followed the speech’s delivery.

But now, apparently, we still can’t cede legitimacy to our president, and I have to wonder why.

And here is what I have come up with.

We are now entering the campaign season and Republicans are chomping at the bit to get the Democrats out of power like they did in the 1994 mid-term election. Republicans have so thoroughly swallowed the Kool-Aid that their hypemeisters have served that giving our president any opportunity to speak is a major blow to their plans.

This is a purely political move in my humble opinion.

A purely political move to counter what is most arguably a very apolitical effort to encourage our nation’s students to succeed in school.

This is exactly what the president should be doing. He is the epitome of what can happen to a person of modest beginnings if he or she simply apply themselves and get the best education that they can.

But sadly, Fort Bend ISD lies almost entirely within the congressional boundaries of CD-22, a district currently occupied by a Republican neoconservative parrot, and previously occupied by Tom “The Hammer” DeLay. The people who live in that district are vocal and political hardliners. And because of that, individual campuses have the right to censor the words of our Democratic president.

And that’s just a crying shame.

Rick Perry’s High Homeowner’s Insurance Premiums

Yes, when you pay your homeowner’s insurance, if you are like me, you pay it through your mortgage company in monthly installments.

That way you don’t really see the bill. You see it once a year. But because you pay it in 12 monthly installments along with interest, taxes and pay down of the principle, you don’t realize that the amounts you are paying for homeowner’s insurance are among the highest in the nation.

But this installment option keeps it all nearly invisible unless you are willing to dissect your yearly mortgage statement.

Yes, here in Texas where our homes are mainly built by immigrant labor and we have among the lowest $ per square footage building costs as a result, we pay the highest premiums and most people are unaware of that.

Thank your governor, Rick Perry for that.

Back to Basics has a new video that exposes Rick Perry and his campaign contributors for letting the home insurance industry become virtual kleptomaniacs on the legit.

Texans can’t afford high insurance rates. Texas can’t afford Rick Perry.

Bill White for Texas.

Bill White for Governor.

Petraeus: Qur'an Burning Puts Soldiers at Risk

This is not a reach. When Americans announce that they will commemorate 9/11 this weekend by hosting a Qu’ran bonfire, Muslims are going to be a little offended.

Muslim extremists, being extremists, will go to extreme means to lodge their protests. And this gives General Petraeus, commander of American troops in Afghanistan, troops that are presently in harm’s way, good reason to be concerned.

So concerned that he would personally take this otherwise innocuous Christian group’s planned activity to task from half a world away and suggest that in carrying out their promise, American troops could be targeted for retaliation.

So what do we get in response to the general’s concern?

They’ll “pray on it.”

Pray on it to what end, I ask. If it wasn’t clear to them that Jesus wouldn’t want His flock to defile the holy scriptures of an organized religion before Petraeus made his opinion known, how will they understand His wishes after?

Former Governor Howard Dean was on “Countdown” tonight discussing this, and I heard him say that America is a great country that does not lower itself to mimic the actions of religious extremists. And to that I call BS.

Because some of us do mimic the actions of religious extremists. The only difference is in the “lowering” aspect of this. You know, these Islamophobic Christians down there in Florida (why, O God, did You give us Florida?) are not lowering themselves to the level of the terrorists who destroyed buildings and erased lives.

They are already there.

It’s Labor Day

On Labor Day we celebrate the social achievements of workers. Not how many cars they built, certainly not how many bushels of grapes they picked. But how many rights they have won through the Labor Movement.

Because of the Labor Movement we have the 8-hour day, the 40-hour work week. We have overtime. We have healthcare benefits through our employers. We have those things and so much more.

All of this because of that dreaded concept here in Texas: labor unions.

Texas, like other socially repressive states, is a “right to work” state. This is a euphemism for a “right to fire you” state. Because in Texas, like all “right to work” states, workers have fewer rights and no power to fight for them.

But here we are in Texas, on Labor Day with the flags flying (even the Teabaggers down the street have their flag out) and barbecues fired up. Because here in Texas, Labor Day has lost its original meaning everywhere but at the union picnics that are taking place today. In Texas, like most other parts of America, Labor Day has come to mean these things:

The end of summer (although Earth has not yet reached equinox)

The beginning of school (although it has been in session for 2 weeks now)

The day when sailors exchange their white uniform for their blue uniform.

I think that last one actually does take place.

Anyway, in honor of Labor Day and the state of the labor movement here in the United States, I give you the unique wit and talent of Stuart Carson.

The Politics of Burned Up Voting Machines

It takes a one-off event like burning up every eSlate voting machine in Harris County to reveal how Republicans and Democrats differ in the whole issue of voter fraud and voter suppression.

As it turns out if you are a Republican, you are in favor of voter fraud despite the length of time you take wailing about it, and you are also in favor of vote suppression – something that they don’t really strive to deny to any real extent.

If you are a Democrat, you are against both voter fraud and vote suppression.

Nothing could be more clear after reading this article in the Houston Chronicle about the measures being taken to avoid complete chaos in the November election.

Harris County, as it turns out, will be able to replace 2,325 of its 10,000 burned up eSlate voting machines, and will be able to have 4 of them in operation at each and every one of its 736 polling places.

Anyone who has voted with eSlate knows that 4 per polling place is not enough. So as a result, Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, a Republican by the way, has adopted a “hybrid system” wherein a voter who wishes to use a voting machine will have to stand in line for that, but voters will also have the option of using a paper ballot.

They plan on printing up 1.4 million paper ballots.

“I don't think we need to be stingy with them,” Kaufman is quoted as having said.

Now come to find out, this does not sit well with Republican County Chair Jared Woodfill. Woodfill, as it turns out would have preferred to stay with a 100% voting machine system because of voter fraud.

I kid you not.

“It prevents fraud at the ballot box," Woodfill said. "If you revert back to paper, you have a lot of the issues involving voter fraud.”

County Democratic Party Chair Jerry Birnberg, by contrast, couldn’t be happier with the hybrid system, and paper ballots.

“Paper ballots are less vulnerable to fraud, Birnberg said.”

“‘In a paper ballot situation, you can always go back and manually recount,’ Birnberg said. ‘How do you recount an electronic voting machine?’”

How indeed?Like say, not being able to change the vote numbers in the little cartridges that are loaded into the vote counter. Like having a “paper trail.”

The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Republicans prefer voting machines because paper ballots are more vulnerable to voter fraud. Democrats prefer paper ballots because voting machines are more vulnerable to voter fraud.

That and the fact that a 100% voting machine environment in Harris County would mean long lines and frustrated voters all across Harris County, something that Republicans not only look forward to, but actually count on.

The verdict is still not in on how the fire at the Harris County warehouse got started. I have my suspicions, but that is neither here nor there. What is important now is to realize that whoever conceived of this failed to realize that when news hits the streets that Harris County, the most populous voter concentration in the state lost each and every one of their voting machines in a fire at a warehouse where a Republican was responsible for their storage – keeping all of their eggs in one basket, as it were – it is obvious that the Republican County Clerk will bend over backwards to alleviate the situation That she will go into panic mode to do it. And in doing so, go against the express wishes of her party chair.

Because not to do this practically invites the Justice Department to take over the whole election process in Harris County.

I guess they should have thought of that before striking that match.

State Board of Ed.: Why Republicans Take Cover

The League of Women Voters have invited local (to Austin) candidates for all levels of state office to debate the issues. A debate that will be aired from the studios of KLRU on the UT campus.

Judy Jennings

Both Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Judy Jennings, candidates for State Board of Education seats in District 5 and 10, respectively, have accepted their invitation to debate.

Rebecca Bell-Metereau

As they should. All candidates for public office owe their participation in debate to the voters so they can make informed decisions on the issues and the candidates they have before them in the November election. The League of Women Voters, an organization founded in 1920 to allow newly enfranchised American women to make more educated decisions on their newly won responsibility, has always been, to my mind, a group that has always produced impartial political forums for the candidates.

No one, up to now that is, has ever questioned the integrity of this organization.

But now the integrity of the Austin-area LWV has been questioned, no really the word is indicted, by Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri.

From the Austin American-Statesman:

“In Austin, the League of Women Voters should really be called the 'League of Women Democrats,'" Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri said, explaining why he advised Ken Mercer and Marsha Farney — Republican candidates for the State Board of Education in Districts 5 and 10, respectively — to skip the debate, which is scheduled to be taped Sept. 28 at KLRU studios at the University of Texas.” 

“Munisteri said the league's leaders have ties to the Democratic Party, and he provided a list showing that all six of the league's elected officers have voted in Democratic primaries in recent years and other leaders have contributed money to Democrats, including the ones in the debate. (In Texas, voters do not register a party affiliation but indicate it when they vote in a party's primary.)”

Now granted the data that Munisteri had was no doubt true, that is all in records that anyone with access to the databases can access. And frankly, it does not surprise me that the Austin-area leaders have Democratic leanings simply because they are interested in hearing both sides and letting both sides show the true differences between them.

It doesn’t surprise me because this year more than anything else it will be up to Republicans to keep voters in the dark over their positions and simply use the smoke and mirrors that have become their trademark to deflect attention away from themselves. Directing attention instead toward that Black, racist Nazi, communist, Kenyan Muslim sleeping in a bed in the White House that only white men should sleep in.

So it makes sense to me that the forum organizers be Democrats. What doesn’t make sense to me is that in being Democrats these people then by definition possess such a low degree of integrity that they will fashion a forum for debate exclusively in order to ambush the Republican debaters.

Munisteri provided ample evidence that they are Democrats, but not one shred of evidence that the debate organizers are artful, deceiving liars.

My guess, therefore, is that he arrived at this rather unearned accusation because he knows that if Republicans were organizing a debate forum like this, that this is exactly what they would do: lay an ambush for the Democrats.

There is no other explanation.

Either that, or Munisteri is simply conjuring up a reason for Republican SBOE candidates not to debate because to do so allows Texans to make informed decisions on Republican candidates, and that, in the end, is the last thing he wants them to do.

Michelle Bachmann is on the Ropes

Teabagger caucus leader Congresscreep Michelle Bachmann is in deep, deep trouble. The news finally got through to her when Howard Dean’s Democracy for America announced that it had collected $22,000 in donations to the campaign of Democratic opponent Minnesota State Senator Tarryl Clark.

In twenty-four hours.

In the middle of the slow recovery from the Recession of 2008-09.

When the unemployment rate hit 9.6%, Tarryl Clark’s campaign got a cash infusion from an internet-based fundraiser.

People are sick and tired of seeing the crazed face of Michelle Bachmann. Sick of hearing her crazed rants.

Sick to death of Michelle Bachmann.

Minnesotans, I hear, are becoming very disenchanted with their congressperson. Someone who is all about getting her face on the national scene. Someone who sees herself as another Sarah Palin.

So Bachmann is using the DFA to get more money out of her Teabagger base, not realizing that getting money from Teabaggers, people who are notorious for not wanting to give their money to anyone, is very much like trying to get blood out of a turnip.

From her latest fundraiser letter:

“His [Howard Dean’s] far-left liberal organization, "Democracy for America" raised $22,000 in 24 hours to defeat me and have bragged about it to media outlets. They're using this as an example of how much liberals like Dean want to see me defeated. Let's show them we're not going anywhere. I need your immediate support to fight back against this liberal surge of money in my race.”

I never thought I’d ever say this, but poor Michelle Bachmann. A woman so deluded as to ask a bunch of overweight, deluded, old white people (aka her base) for more money.

Shouldn’t she, at this point, be turning her face upward to Jesus? Jesus, to her mind, would never allow Tarryl Clark to usurp her from her congressional seat. So maybe she should just go “all in” as we say in Texas Hold-Em, and stop the whining. And for heaven’s sake, stop asking Teabaggers for more money.

That’s just embarrassing.

Hawking: God Is Not a Factor

I am a noncombatant in this battle between science and religion. As such I think I can be fair-minded and not hold a biased view in the relationship that each has to mankind.

For this reason, I am somewhat struck by Stephen Hawking’s latest assertion in a new book to be released next week, “The Grand Design,” not that God doesn’t exist, but that God was not a factor in the creation of the universe.

I guess by that line of thinking, though, one could argue that if God had nothing to do with the creation of the universe, that God is indeed not The Creator, then what role does God play in the scheme of things?

Hawking relies on a unification of four superstring theories, that they are simply dualities of each other, a theory called M-theory (the M stands for Membrane) for making his bold assertion that given the very existence of the field force known as gravity

“…the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe going.”

The universe, and existence, Hawking says, are inevitable consequences of the laws of physics.

As a noncombatant I was interested to see what the religious community would say about Hawking’s assertion and they did not fail to react.

Said Fraser Watts, an Anglican priest:

“A creator God provides a reasonable and credible explanation of why there is a universe, and ... it is somewhat more likely that there is a God than that there is not. That view is not undermined by what Hawking has said.”

Said Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion:

“Science provides us with a wonderful narrative as to how [existence] may happen, but theology addresses the meaning of the narrative.”

Said Imam Ibrahim Mogra, committee chairman at the Muslim Council of Britain

“If we look at the Universe and all that has been created, it indicates that somebody has been here to bring it into existence. That somebody is the almighty conqueror.”

And finally, said Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:

“Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation ... The Bible simply isn't interested in how the Universe came into being.”

Interesting, huh?

It seems that religion cedes to science every aspect of explanation but one: why do we exist? Hawking seems to be saying that there isn’t a “why.” There is no “why do we exist,” we simply are.

But really that question is one of the first ones that pops into the head of a sentient being: why am I here?

And then all of a sudden it dawned on me that religion occupies that niche rather well. The one burning question that science cannot deliver on is handled very nicely by religion thank you very much.

And then I realized that this is a matter upon which money is a huge factor. Religion in all of its incarnations is worth trillions worldwide. What Stephen Hawking seems to be saying is that all of these trillions of dollars are being mis-spent.

What a calamity. If what Stephen Hawking asserts is true, that there is no grand design and no creator, that there is no “why,” only an “is” then what are we going to do with all of those out of work clerics? What happens to all of the churches, mosques, synogogues and temples? All of the artwork? All of the literature?

That’s right. Stephen Hawking’s idea hasn’t a snowball’s chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks of general acceptance now or in the immediate future.

It would cost too much.

Stay Classy Fort Bend Republicans

The Republicans in Fort Bend County seem to be pretty self-assured of a massive victory this fall. They are starting to believe their own hype.

Forget the fact that President Obama’s popularity is flagging of late. Not only has he been crucified by racist neoconservatives, we on the left have lost some of our regard for him because he simply won’t go on the offensive and call their lies . . . well, lies.

Forget that because we have one and only one federal office holder on the ballot here in Fort Bend, Pete Olson. His opponent is a laughable Tinfoil Hat-wearing LaRouche Democrat. Olson’s going to win and win big time.

Olson will win. Period.

The other office holders on the ballot? Republicans, all of them Republicans. Well all Republicans except for Democrats in safe Democratic districts.

Toss out the incumbents is the battle cry of Teabaggers everywhere.

Well, in Texas, the incumbents are Republicans.

But Fort Bend Republicans are very, very primed for victory in November. So primed that some very unsavory types among them have all sent in this flyer to the Fort Bend County Democratic Headquarters in Richmond.

Yes, I had to airbrush out the profanity. This is a PG rated website after all.

So that is what the Republicans are spending their time doing. Sending profane flyers to the Democratic Party.

Not block walking.

Not phone banking.

Not putting out campaign signs.

Not opening up a campaign headquarters.

And that’s all fine with me. And the literature they do send out? Isn’t it nice to see your basest suspicions of the moral compass of these people confirmed in spades?

Stay classy, Fort Bend Republicans.

Brain Fart for Arizona Governor Brewer

The way Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona shoots off her racist neoconservative mouth whenever she is placed in front of a microphone, it is a singular event to see the governor placed in front of a television camera at a formal debate and watch her go through the equivalent of flatulence of the brain. Here is the brain fart at 00:35 that extended to 00:51 but a precursor to the whole thing can be seen at 00:11.

The governor claimed later in an interview that she was “only human,” neglecting to acknowledge that one needs to set one’s humanity on the shelf whilst engaged in a formal televised debate. It absolutely made Gerald Ford’s slowly growing nasal drip pale in comparison.

Remember that? Engaged in formal debate with Jimmy Carter, Ford’s head was in a tight shot as clear fluid appeared below his right nostril and slowly rolled down his upper lip. No one knows what he said just then because everyone was watching the nasal drip wondering what kinds of things were going through his mind as he studiously ignored what everyone in the country was watching with rapt attention.

Likewise Brewer. One wonders what Arizona voters came away with. Surely they spent lots of time mulling over what brought on that 16 second lapse in which she started to sound like Miss Teen South Carolina in her ramble about “the Iraq” and “such as.” Incipient Alzheimer’s? Something she saw on the paper she was reading? Mental shutdown equivalent to when she decided that it was a grand idea to usurp federal authority?

Arizonans will probably send Brewer back to the governor’s office, but now they have to wonder whether the woman possesses all of her mental faculties.

TEA Not Concerned With the Lives of Students

It’s not what you say, but what you do that counts. A friend told me that recently and its truth keeps on echoing around me.

In the last legislative session, the State House and State Senate, in reacting to the tragic loss of life when a Beaumont chartered school bus overturned on the way to a soccer match, passed a law that allocated $10 million to reimburse school districts who pay for the equipping of new school buses with seat belts.

There’s something that I have been wondering about for years. It is state law to belt yourself in, in an automobile, but children are free to bounce off of walls and ceilings when a school bus has an accident. This law was a no-brainer and way past due.

But yesterday the Texas Education Agency pared that $10 million allocation to $3.6 million because they are under a mandate to reduce their budget by 5%.

Now by my math that is a reduction of 64%, not 5%. Obviously they are not going at this budget reduction in a 5% across the board approach.

In other words, in exchange for the health and safety of children who ride the bus every day, the TEA is enabling itself to keep the same funding in other programs. Or maybe even raise the funding.

The TEA spends billions of dollars every year on testing. Billions. Ten million dollars to ensure the safety of our school children is a drop in the bucket in comparison.

Rick Perry’s words when he signed the bill into law included this: “[this law] will not only save lives, it will give parents peace of mind every morning their children leave their home for school and climb aboard a bus.”

Peace of mind? As Rosanne Rosannadanna used to say on SNL, “Never mind.”

Just in Time for Mid-Term Elections

They want your money.

At the box office.

For the cost of just one theater ticket, oh and some popcorn and Coke for 8 bucks, you can go and see I Want Your Money at the picture show this fall.

Just in time for mid-term elections.

Gee, do you think they had that planned?

The movie is written and directed by Ray Griggs, apparently Teabagger’s answer to Michael Moore. Except Moore knows satire and how to spin some irony like no one else. Griggs’ idea of humor is as stale as the moldering sour dough bread in my fridge.

Griggs is also known for making an 8 minute movie short about Satan and his battle with the Archangel Michael.

He also produced the “I must be a racist” ad that ran in the run up to the healthcare reform bill’s passing in the House.

All I can say is, yep.

America’s Got Thinking

Don’t forget about Paris Hilton.

The poor girl got herself locked up in the slammer in Vegas for cocaine possession. Her lawyer even anticipated human interest and advised fans not to jump to conclusions.

Nope, not me. No jumpin’ goin’ on here.