Can You Spell Karma?

Now I am not superstitious by nature, but I have a penchant to look askance at coincidence. When there is such an obvious confluence of time and events I have to wonder whether there are forces unbeknownst to science at work.

Call it karma, or call it God’s Wrath, there is a hurricane churning in the Antilles that promises to close in on the west coast of Florida next week, on Monday, August 27th by 2 PM Monday afternoon.

The west coast of Florida, right smack dab on top of the city of Tampa Bay, the venue selected by the Republican National Committee for its national convention to convene on Monday, August 27^th 2012.

At 2 O’clock PM.

Here is the probable hurricane track for this storm, dubbed Hurricane Isaac.

Now, I may be a little hazy on my history, but I swear I have never ever heard of a hurricane striking a city at the same moment as the convening of a presidential year national party convention.

Never.

Ever.

And now I have to wonder about the coincidence of names as well as times, dates and places.

They named it Isaac (and not Todd Akin) because Isaac is the 9^th named storm of the season, and the list that they are using this year, one of six lists, contains that name.

It is, in short, a huge coincidence that Hurricane Isaac should aim directly at the RNC’s national convention at the precise day and time of its convening, AND that it is named after Isaac, the Promised Son of Abraham, the father of the Jewish Nation whose offspring are all known as the Chosen People of the God of Israel.

No, I am not especially religious, but when there is such a convergence of events, coupled with the fact that the Republican Party, and its TEA Party Crazies have been doing and saying some really really bad things about the poor, children, women and other targets of their disdain, let’s just say I won’t be totally surprised if, in addition to the hurricane, frogs fall from the skies, fire erupts from brimstone or a few people turn into pillars of salt.

Todd Akin: Crazy or Ingenious Idiot?

Congressman Todd Akin (R – Bat$&!+ Crazy) has his heels dug firmly into Missouri soil today as he firmly refused to honor my prediction of yesterday to quit his race for US Senate.

Here is his You Tube video that spells out the deep remorse of the would-be senator, and his plea to his would-be constituents to forgive him his ill-conceived remarks.

So I can just hear the GOP rank and file as they weigh their mainstream ideals that would prompt them to say “We forgive you Todd, now GTHO and STFU” with the batguano crazy Uberconservatives that are applauding his mightily ignorant remarks from Monday. Clearly, what Akin is counting on is a huge rightwing backlash against the mainstreamer’s criticism against a notion that is not so crackpot in their warped minds.

Does that make Todd Akin an idiot as I heard this morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe?”

Or does that make Akin an evil genius who simply wants a little favor or two as he leaves his sinking political career?

Maybe it’s the latter. Maybe Todd Akin has weighed it all out and decided to become a thorn in the Establishment GOP, thus becoming a darling of TEA Partiers across his state.

Whichever it is, I’ll just bet that Claire McCaskill is calling the thousands of dollars that her campaign threw at Akin’s primary campaign money that was very well-spent.

Todd Akin: Something Akin to an Idiot

Congressman Todd Akin presents a small problem to the Republican Party. Like his compatriates, Akin believes that God has given woman a magic bullet to kill the sperm of a "legitimate" rapist, while at the same time letting less offensive sperm of a husband, friend or "illegitimate" rapist go by unharmed.

This is is, and as it turns out, other Republican officeholders' notion of why it is perfectly OK to force women who were raped to bear the children of their rapists. If they were pregnant, so they say, they weren't really "forcibly raped" but were somewhat compliant during the act in something calling back to Claytie Williams' idea that women who are raped should just "relax and enjoy it".

But Republicans are just about as outraged as the Democrats, moreso even, because of what this could mean for votes in a presidential year.

And why is that? First, not only is Todd Aiken now unelectable as a US Senator, he is probably unelectable back into his own House seat. Second, Todd Aiken is famously allied with Vice Presidential nominee-apparent Paul Ryan, who is not so famously associated with HR 3, which he co-sponsors, which would outlaw abortion even for rape victims (presumably along the same lines of logic that haunts the mind of Aiken).

Nope, Aiken is an albatross now. He is a giant millstone around the GOP and needs to be shoved under the bus quickly. At this typing, Aiken is still living in his self-constructed dreamland and is in it to win it. Prediction: before the sun sets tomorrow, Aiken will withdraw.

Apparently, Missouri has some statutes on the books that will allow this, and from what I am hearing, there could be an appointed nominee to replace him on the ballot if he withdraws, a wholly undemocratic process, but there it is.

My advice to Akin at this juncture is not to mention to anyone that he doesn't know where he will be living on Election Day. Tom DeLay couldn't resist saying that 6 years ago and look where he wound up.

Legitimate Rape as a Test of Witchcraft

Ho boy, now I know why Senator Claire McCaskill (D - MO) poured so much of her own campaign cash into seeing that her present Republican opponent, Rep. Todd Akin, became her present Republican opponent: he’s a total whackjob.

Rep. Akin claims, as we have learned from the Maleus Malificarum (translation Witch’s Hammer), that there are certain tests to finding out whether someone has really, really been raped or not. Really, really raped is the long form appellation of “legitimately raped”.

Some women, Atkin would claim, are illegitimately raped. Illegitimately in that they “asked for it” in some way. When they ask for it, it seems, according to Akin, they get impregnated. However, when the woman is really and truly sexually attacked and is most unwilling in the attack, well not only is that a legitimate rape, but also, she will not get pregnant from the rape.

Therefore, according to the logic of Akin, there are no women on Earth who need an abortion on account of being raped. If they need an abortion, obviously they were not legitimately raped, but were “askin’ fer it.”

Burn a witch. If she burns, she must be a witch. Throw a witch into a lake. If she floats, she must be a witch.

Rape a woman. If she conceives, that wasn’t really a rape.

Here is yet another example of Republicans making it too easy. Claire McCaskill had some potentially harmful opponents in the Republican Party primary, but she drew this little gem.

I don’t know about you, but I am positively achin’ for a few more Akins for Democrats to run against.

Ryan Brings Mama

Hoping to deflect Democratic claims that Mitt Romney, and his budgetary policy wonk VP nominee, Paul Ryan, the GOP had Ryan bring his mama to his Florida rallies yesterday. His 78-year old mother, Betty, was there to help illustrate their claim that Ryan actually was born of a woman – and incidentally, that woman is enrolled in the Medicare program.

 

Her presence was necessary for him to point out to senior retirees that he was not out to gut their Medicare policies. No, not at all. He was, however, out to gut the Medicare of those who will retire in 13 years.

Why worry about them, after all. The dire consequences of the massive cuts in healthcare benefits will only be made known in an election cycle that is over a decade away.

No one cares about that.

Democrats, on the other hand, were quick to point out that not only will the advent of a Romney Administration spell the end of Medicare as we know it, but also that Romney’s policy wonk, Ryan, would have things go a little differently if his policies were passed in some sort of Ayn Randian future.

Said Obama spokesman Danny Kanner:

“Congressman Ryan didn’t tell seniors in Florida today that if he had his way, seniors would face higher Medicare premiums and prescription drug costs, and would be forced to pay out of pocket for preventive care. He didn’t say that if he had his way, Medicare would be bankrupt in just four years, or that he would give $150 billion taxpayer dollars back to private insurance companies, which raises costs for everyone.”

Yes, Paul Ryan has a mother he can trot out for the masses of gray-headed retirees to clap and cheer for, and yes, Barack Obama has no such mother because she died of ovarian cancer years ago due to a lack of healthcare insurance.

Yes to all of that.

The disingenuousness of it all, however, still amazes me. How do they do it? How do they attract these throngs given that this is the best that the Republicans can do?

Here is the secret recipe:

Winning in 2012

• Chop a pound of BS in a bowl
• Sprinkle with lies
• Stir in a dollop of bat guano crazy TEA Party rhetoric
• Add Mama
• Mix well, serve steaming in huge dripping gobs

Come and Take It

Sorry, I couldn’t help using the war cry of the Heroes of Gonzalez in response to the bit of news that the Obama Administration has $31 million in federal highway funds designated for Texas, if only if they would come on down and ask for it.

That’s all they have to do, ask for it.

$31 million in “free money.”

That’s a lot of pot holes.

Yes, here and now, when our infrastructure is starting to crack and crumble, we have been given the option of collecting $31 million in federal dollars to be used to fix our roads…or not. It is, after all, an option, and one that our governor has been known not to exercise from time to time.

Sometimes he gives the reason that there are too many strings attached to collection of the federal dollars, strings that tens of other states don’t mind tying themselves to. This time, there doesn’t seem to be any strings at all outside of the fact that the money must be spent on highways.

And must be applied for.

And must be applied for just weeks short of the General Election.

Strings, in other words.

But in this case, it isn’t money Texas can simply blow off and no one is the wiser. In this case, should Texas not participate in this nearly half a billion dollar government giveaway, other states will get to slice up the pie into larger and fewer pieces.

In other words, no grandstanding on TEA Party principles of opposition to government handouts. The money is going to be spent irregardless of what Texas does.

Now the point is, does Texas go for its slice of the pie or does it end up with egg on its face again?

It's a Ryan Cartoon Round-Up

I've been having fun with Paul Ryan these past few days.

I have not been alone in this.

Texas District Judge Bucks the Trend

Depend on Texas to buck the national trend of voter suppression.

In Ohio it is becoming fashionable to deny Democrats, only Democrats, the ability to vote at an Early Voting location during non-business hours, while at the same time offering Republicans the convenience of going to the polls after work to cast their ballots.

And in state after state we are seeing the growth in the requirement for a photo ID at polling places. True, most people have photo IDs, but elderly and poor people – also known as Democratic Voters – generally lack this thing.

Voter Suppression, that is, Democratic Voter Suppression, is the rule, not the exception these days.

But depend on Texas to buck this trend.

In Galveston, a federal district judge refused to grant a stay that would have allowed State Attorney General Greg Abbott to enforce newly-passed Texas voter registration laws, laws that would have seriously restricted the ability of people to register to vote, and to register others to vote.

Taken together, these laws would “prohibit completed voter applications from being mailed to county offices; prohibit deputy voter registrars from registering voters in counties where they don’t live; prohibit the photocopying of voter registration cards; require voter registrars to be Texas residents; and prohibit registration drives from firing deputy registrars based on their performance. Some of the blocked provisions specifically address “volunteer deputy registrars,” the canvassers who, by law, must be appointed to take applications from prospective voters.”

So now, instead of allowing Republicans free reign to keep growing numbers of Texas Democrats from registering to vote, this Texas federal judge seems to be bucking the trend, and seems to be backhandedly allowing Texas voters to vote for Democratic candidates.

But leave it to Greg Abbott, he’ll find a way to keep Democrats away from the polls somehow. This is after all a national movement and one thing Texas Attorneys General are good at is going along with national trends.

Republicans Fall in Line…

I once heard a pol characterize the difference between Republicans and Democrats this way (and I think he was quoting Bill Clinton): “Democrats want to fall in love, Republicans want to fall in line.”

It is an often-quoted axiom of modern American politics that got another boost in credibility this morning as I viewed (again) the poll results at a local Fort Bend County newspaper’s online edition.

The poll asked the newspaper’s readers “Who would be your number one choice for Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential running mate?” Local readers all chimed in and by the weekend I could see that the poll results were going to be a little at variance to the desires of the local Republican electorate.

It’s gone now, and I regretfully have no screen shots, but if memory serves, on the morning that Romney announced that Paul Ryan was to be his running mate in the 2012 General Election, the locals in Fort Bend County had Marco Rubio as their number one choice with over 30%.

Now that’s what I call a consensus. These days you can’t get a third of Republicans to agree on anything so one candidate getting that many votes is tantamount to a landslide victory.

The number two choice? General David Petraeus pulling in 18%.

Now call me ignorant, but General Petraeus was way below my radar, but maybe that’s because I don’t watch Fox and Friends or listen to local AM talk show radio. So I Googled it and all I could come up with was categorical denials that General Petraeus was remotely interested in the job.

Then in order followed Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, Condi Rice/Tim Pawlenty (tied) and then the Fat Man, Governor Chris Christie.

THEN came Paul Ryan with about 4 percent of the vote.

But what a difference a day makes, or 3 days in this case.

Three days later, on Tuesday morning August 14^th, Congressman Paul Ryan has climbed in the polling from 4% to 16% and is currently tied with General Petraeus (as Pawlenty is with Rice, but apparently Paul Ryan’s 16% outranks Petraeus’) as seen on the screen capture at right.

Now I can’t figure out which one of these scenarios is the most proper way to characterize the course of events described above. I guess I want to keep with the whole “fall in line” meme because it seems to be what has happened, but then I am also aware of the fact, especially now that I have seen the nominee-apparent in action over the past few weeks, that there is this irresistible pull toward the desire to change history.

I guess I need to stay tuned and see how the vote eventually settles out. Will Paul Ryan eventually outpoll Marco Rubio? Will Fort Bend County conservatives be the “retroactive bellwether" of the Republican Party?

UPDATE: As of this morning, 7 days after Mitt Romney made his VP announcement, Paul Ryan's surge in the Republican poll has continued. This morning Ryan has gained his place permanently at the top of the poll, outstripping his nearest rival, former front-runner Marco Rubio by 5 points. It is now Ryan 27%, Rubio 22%. More fun in Red Red Texas where, contrary to popular belief, the politics of falling in line is alive and well.

Cutting Those Arrow Shaft Excise Taxes

I have come to the conclusion that the Obama campaign must have done all of the Oppo Research on each and every possible Republican VP candidate weeks ago. How else does all this good stuff come out on Paul Ryan within 48 hours of his being named Romney’s running mate?

Like how, in his 1988 high school yearbook, Paul Ryan was named the school’s “Biggest Brown Noser.”

Or how, with his widow’s peak, Paul Ryan bears an uncanny resemblance to Eddie Munster.

But today I got knocked back by the revelation that in his 13 years in the hallowed halls of Congress, Paul Ryan was successful in getting a grand total of two, count ‘em, two of his bills passed into law.

One of them was a “gimme” as they say, a bill to rename a Post Office building in a Wisconsin town. Those generally reach the floor and get passed without objection.

The other though, the other one was a true study in what makes Paul Ryan tick.

It was an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 39-cent tax per arrow shaft, instead of a 12.4 percent tax on the sales price.

Arrow shafts as in bows and arrows.

So I asked myself, was this a move to raise the tax on arrow shafts and raise revenues, or decrease them? I really didn’t know how much arrow shafts cost, and didn’t know that they came sold separately from arrow tips, but apparently they do.

You see, the tax code in 2008 had the tax as a percentage of the sales price, but Ryan’s amendment made it a flat rate. So I had to investigate.

Now, according to the Eagle Archery price page for gold-tip arrow shafts these sell individually for somewhere between $4.50 and $6.50 each, or a $5.50 average price.

12.4 percent of $5.50 is $0.682.

So true to form, Paul Ryan’s one and only budgetary bill passed into law was a bill to save bow and arrow sportspersons an average of 29 cents per arrow shaft.

Imagine the total loss in overall revenues for this one thing. Let’s use the Minnesota Bowhunter’s, Inc. figure that 3,324,187 Americans are licensed bow hunters and let’s say that on average they buy 2 dozen arrows per year. That fellow Americans, is an overall revenue loss of over $23 million per year.

Nice job. Paul Ryan saved the bowhunters of America millions of dollars every year, but voted against Pell Grants and Medicaid.

Paul Ryan really knows how to lead the charge toward fiscal responsibility, doesn’t he?

On Ownership

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are big on ownership.

Mitt Romney owns a lot of stuff. The main problem with owning a lot of stuff is that you want to own a lot more stuff. That’s just a fact of existence among the rich and super-rich. That will be Romney’s continuing problem as we go on toward November, that he owns a lot, and wants to own a lot more.

Paul Ryan is going to be having a different kind of ownership though. Paul Ryan, because he is now the Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party is going to have to take ownership of his past and his past statements. His past statements rendered on video no less.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and a bunch of nuns on abus have taken Ryan to task because of his budget plan which runs counter to the teachings of Jesus, whose teachings Ryan professes to follow. Where does the budget come from then, one would ask. What or who is the inspiration that led Paul Ryan to formulate this anti-scriptural budgetary policy?

To answer that question one should look no further than the American authoress Ayn Rand, whose book Atlas Shrugged, with others, has inspired generations of teenagers in the ways of “objectivism” (aka self-interest) versus “collectivism” (Jesus’ notions). And it appears, from the video which is embedded below, that Paul Ryan has yet to be cured of Ayn Rand’s ideas, which form the core of Libertarian beliefs.

Now to be fair, the video was shot in 2009 and that gives Ryan over 3 years to back-peddle over this issue, which I assume he has or soon will.

But to be equally fair, the video accurately presents the state of the man when he formulated his budgetary policies, ones that have now been fully embraced by Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney likes to own stuff, now he must take ownership of Paul Ryan’s Rand-inspired budgetary policies.

And keep your damn hands off my medicare.

Another Gift? Why…Thank You

Remember back around this time 4 years ago when we were all wondering who John McCain was going to pick for his running mate? He had so many different choices to make, many of whom would have added to his campaign in some unique way or other. I won’t go into all of that, though, because the final pick was such a surprise, and a boon for Democrats, that all previous thoughts of the other possibilities have since fled my brain forever.

Historical documents reveal that John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate, but when I heard that news back then, I sat across a table full of Chinese food, staring at a fellow Democratic activist all slack-jawed at the news: John McCain, with that one decision, had just delivered the Presidency to Barack Obama.

And you know, history has a habit of repeating itself.

This morning I woke up to the news that GOP nominee-apparent Mitt Romney has just named Congressman Paul Ryan (R – STFU, Old Geezers) as his running mate.

Paul Ryan. He of the “Ryan Budget” no less. He of the congress that has a sub-freezing public approval rating.

That Paul Ryan.

Remember how I thought that Romney wouldn’t repeat the past mistakes and nominate a more colorful or controversial person than himself? Never mind.

What, another gift, GOP? Why…thank you.

But wait, I am being unfair. This is a partnership made in GOP heaven. Where Mitt Romney has no moral, ethical or political ideals at all, we have in Paul Ryan an abundance of each. And where all we have in Mitt Romney is an animal instinct about which political wind to break to at a given moment, all we have in Paul Ryan is an ideology that would make Ayn Rand absolutely blush with pride but no political instincts at all.

Back in 2008 I predicted that conservative moderates and Independents would have major problems with Palin’s quirky politics and philosophies, and this time, there is more of the same albeit coming from a much calmer and less shrill voice.

But the big effect is going to be in an age group that may surprisethe GOP. Last time McCain took the senior vote by 4 points over Barack Obama. This time, with Paul Ryan, his anti-senior anti-medicare budget, and Mitt Romney’s acquiescence to it we might just see a huge backlash from that demographic group that the GOP has depended on for decades now.

Seniors are self-interested. Seniors vote.

Take your damn hands off my Medicare.

When An American isn’t an American

This week, we learned that Senate candidate Ted Cruz has gotten the nod to speak at the GOP national convention this year, with a tip of the hat toward not only the TEA Party but Hispanic voters. And we have also learned that TEA Partiers have begun a whisper campaign that Cruz could just possibly be their standard bearer in 2016 since Mitt Romney is arguably the weakest GOP presidential candidate since Bob Dole.

Ted Cruz 2016.

Then someone checked, and oops, Cruz was born in Canada.

Canada, as well as Kenya, both qualify as foreign soil.

But wait, there’s more. Not only was Ted Cruz born in Canada, his father was a former Cuban Freedom Fighter for Fidel Castro. A Cuban and a Communist.

Hmmm. Not only a foreigner, but the son of a Communist Castroite.

Seems unlikely then.

Oh, but wait. Guess what? According to the research, Ted Cruz’ mother was born in Delaware and therefore qualifies as a US citizen.

And that, friends and neighbors, makes Ted Cruz eligible as a “natural born” US citizen because his mother was a citizen, and besides that, Cruz was never naturalized – a key point in deciding if one is a “natural born” citizen,

So the TEA Party heaved a collective sigh of relief and went back to their whisper campaign.

And there you have it: a complete double standard.

Give it all to the Birthers. Give it to them that Barack Hussein Obama was born in Kenya. Or Indonesia. Give it to them that he was adopted by his mother’s second husband and his real name is Barry Soetoro. Give it to them that his father and step father were Muslims, and neither of them citizens of the United States. Give it all to them.

Give all that up and it still remains that Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas. His mother, born in Kansas, was a full citizen of the United States.

Now Delaware may have been a state before Kansas was, but last I looked both were states in the past century when both mothers were born.

So here’s the thing. How is it that TEA Partiers can undergo such mental gymnastics to verify that their favorite son is a natural born citizen of the United States, but the same set of conclusions cannot be applicable to the sitting president?  How is that?

Is it that an American is not an American when the TEA Party decides? Or is it just the case that when a black man is in this position it becomes political fodder for those who want to whip up the historical racial suspicions and prejudices that still haunt our nation?

Either way it goes is unsettling to me.

Ted Cruz a GOP Convention Speaker!

Well now, among the 5 newly announced speakers at the GOP convention next month in Tampa Bay are none other than our newly nominated US Senator from Texas Republican nominee, Ted Cruz and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.

Cruz will represent the burgeoning Hispanic voter population of the southwestern states, and Walker will represent the UberRight White People of the Great North.

Sarah Palin, who worked so hard to stump for this TEA Party darling over the “more moderate” David Dewhurst (and I am kicking myself writing this) has still gotten the big snub.

Nope, imagine that, Sarah Palin, representing 900,000 Alaskans, will not get the nod to speak at the convention.

My guess, though, is that Cruz will not be given a prime time spot in this three-day America-Hating Love Fest. My guess is that the prime speaking times will be allocated to the best and brightest of the party – all twenty watts of them. This is because, according to my understanding, the big 3 broadcast networks have allocated only one hour per night to the Republican Convention. A total of three hours.

In the end, this will probably only serve to help the party of the eternally out-of-touch, because it will severely curtail appearances by the lunatic fringe of the party, which are more numerous than ever. What the casual American observer of the political scene will see, therefore, will in no way resemble what has become the norm in this election cycle.

And that can’t be all bad for Republicans.

It’s Gonna Be T-Paw

Here is my prediction for the next GOP Vice Presidential nominee:  Tim Pawlenty.

And no, it’s not because MSNBC’s  Lawrence O’Donnell has made no bones about the fact that he is his number one VP choice for several months now. I’m not as smart as he his. It’s because of two things that have become obvious to me.

One, Tim Pawlenty is noticeably absent from the elevenspeakers that have been announced for the GOP national convention next month. Indeed, of his former opponents for the nomination,  only Rick Santorum, who was unceremoniously booted out of his Senate seat a few years ago, has been given the nod to give a speech.

And yes, it must be said that those who are speakers will not be VP nominees so that also means Condi Rice and Jeb Bush are off the table.

So it must be T-Paw, right?

Wait, what about Chris Christie. What about Marco Rubio. Nope, these guys will be warming their seats along with the other delegates. Not this year for the large one. Not this year for the Cuban Freedom Fighter.

And why not? Why not have a colorful one to offset the stiff one?

Could it be lessons learned from the past?

Last time a presidential campaign recruited a colorful veep candidate they got a little bit more than they could handle. Sarah Palin lost it for McCain even more than McCain lost it for McCain. Sarah Palin scared the bejesus out of moderates and Independents.

Nope, no colorful candidates need apply this time.

So who can we look for other than Mr. Flavorless himself? What Romney needs is someone that makes HIM look like the colorful personality. And in Tim Pawlenty I think we have the guy.

OK, all of that and who the H-E-double hockey sticks has heard of Ron Portman anyway?

Er…Rob Portman.

Rob.

Sikhs Killed Worshipping in their Temple

What an act so illustrative of our country and the utter ignorance of some of the people who live within our borders.

As I type this news is breaking of a single white man, 40-ish, who reportedly sports “9-11” ink work on his body, having murdered 6 men observing religious rites in a Sikh temple, and wounding 3 others, including the police officer who killed him.

Tragically, though, if the shooter wanted some pay back for 9-11, as it appears right now he does, he couldn’t have chosen a more unworthy target, if we are to rate religious Muslim targets that is.

Because in the scheme of things, while Sikhs are a peaceful sect, this much is true, their own brand of religion is one of non-violence, peace, and tenderness. Sikhs are the last people that could be targeted as terrorists. Yes they wear turbans, and Osama bin Laden wore a turban, and yes they wear beards, and Osama bin Laden wore a beard, but that is just about the end of it.

But the tragedy is, to Americans, one size fits all, and to this poor example of a human, the shooter, this error may just have been the one that led him to his terrible crimes. Instead of striking a blow for mom, America and apple pie, this individual brings out the utter worst of us, the ignorant vigilante with a gun.

No More Delay for DeLay

My former congressman, Tom DeLay, a convicted felon, will have his day in court minus one Democratic Appeals Court Justice, it seems. According to this American-Statesman article, DeLay’s appeals attorney, Brian Wice, managed to get Justice Diane Henson thrown off the case when he managed to get the Chief Justice of the 3^rd Court of Appeals to bring in a Republican Justice to decide whether Justice Henson’s previous remarks were so prejudicial that she could not fairly decide Tom DeLay’s money laundering appeals case.

Prejudicial because Justice Henson reported to the 2006 convention that DeLay’s appeal would come to her court, a no-brainer, and that Texas courts were “filled…with extremists, with people that are controlled by special interests, big insurance companies and big corporations.”

Another no-brainer and the simple truth to anyone of any political stripe who watches the Texas courts.

So for uttering these two truths, Justice Henson was removed from the case in order to allow another 3^rd justice to hear the appeal, supposedly a Republican one.

This is a court more to Tom DeLay’s liking.

However, DeLay, ever the political animal, has it wrong again.

It’s not about politics anymore. It’s about putting an end to the bad old days of Republican abuse of power that Republicans desperately want to sweep under the rug and forget. Republican justice or no, this case will be decided by the facts, and may be colored by a desire by Republicans to put this all in the past rather than dredge up old wounds and give Democrats more political fodder in the fall.

In short, Tom DeLay delayed his appeals trial to get a “fairer court” and may have just  shot himself in the foot again, as is his habit. No one cares about exonerating Ton DeLay anymore.

Mostly they all just wish he would just go away.

Or go back to Virginia, whatever fits.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Now where the hell is that birth certificate?

­­­­­­­­­­­The Curse of the Brady

When I read this article last month in the Sugar Land Sun, where Republican candidate Craig Brady endorsed the Democratic candidate for County Sheriff, I hardly gave it a thought. Sure the Republican primary race for county sheriff was a hard-fought one, and sure Brady blew an astounding 400 grand to gain an office that pays a quarter of that in a year, but the blowback that occurred after the dust had settled, and Troy Nehls was the county sheriff nominee seemed to me to be in the way of sour grapes: Craig Brady endorsed the Democrat, Michael Elllison, who will face Nehls on November 6^th.

Ellison, it should be noted, welcomed the endorsement, but pointed out that he did not solicit it.

It’s all sour grapes, thought I. What self-respecting Republican, especially one in Fort Bend County, where Republicans wear their politics and their religion on their sleeves, would vote for the Democrat.

Then today I got a shock.

Today, driving to my usual market to pick up some viands, I espied an Ellison campaign sign firmly driven into a lawn on a block that, in times past, has been laced with Republican campaign signs.

Laced.

So, OK, you say, how do I know that the sign in question wasn’t placed on the lawn by a Democrat? Easy. Look at the calendar. It is by my count 96 days until the November election yet here is the Ellison sign for all to see. By law, 90 days is the absolute maximum time window for campaign signs to go up, and in some municipalities the limit is 60 days.

The only people I know who violate that ordinance are Republicans.

Now the only thing I am wondering is whether there will be more Brady supporters out there who will follow this neighbor’s lead. Or more pointedly, I am wondering how many Republicans will see, as I see, the gross conflict of interest in having one Nehls brother as County Sheriff, and another as a County Constable. Is there anyone else out there besides me and Karen Pearson that see this conflict?

Reason Number 742 Why We Need a Border Wall

Once you let one in, others will follow as they say. Texas shares the longest international border with Mexico, and Texans are among the most vocal opponents to illegal border crossings as a net result.

And now their worst fears have come to fruition.

Taking a cue from its Homo sapiens compadres, El Oso Negro has boldly and brashly crossed the Rio Grande in southwest Texas and has taken up residence near the Big Bend National Park.

And not only that, this illegal immigrant black bear is grabbing hold of local resources that local Texans can use and keeping them to itself. This illegal alien bear has been caught on camera stealing American resources out of the mouths of American (and Texan) babies. See for yourself.

See? The bear is shamelessly gorging on the delectable fruit of the prickly pear cactus.

I was wondering why all of our prickly pear cactus fruit is disappearing from the shelves of my local grocery store, and now I have the answer: illegal ursine usurpation.

And I’ll bet Obama is going to let this continue unabated. And you know why? Well isn’t it obvious? Obama is black. The bear is black. Obama is always sticking up for blacks.