Democrap Congresscritters kiss Henry Cuellar's ass

That's the really bitchful part of the story about Trump pardoning the Valley Congresscritter in the middle of a federal case, after he'd been indicted for bribery and faced trial this coming spring:

Cuellar also on Wednesday filed for reelection as a Democrat, quieting speculation that he planned to switch parties. On the House floor Wednesday afternoon, numerous Democratic colleagues greeted Cuellar warmly, hugging him and shaking his hand.

Yeah, Democrats were so worried that this one congressional seat, if it flipped, would block taking over the House that they kissed the ass of an unconvicted man who's still a felony indictee.

Add this from the House's head Democrap (and head Democrap genocide enabler):

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN he agreed with the president’s pardon, even if he didn’t understand his motivation. “The reality is this indictment was very thin to begin with,” Jeffries said. “I don’t know why the president decided to do this. I think the outcome was exactly the right outcome.” Jeffries will be a special guest at an upcoming virtual fundraiser Cuellar is hosting, according to a source familiar with the event.

Really? If the case is so thin, then why did two Cuellar political advisors already cop pleas? 

That said, why did Trump pardon him? Isn't he doing so well among Hispanics that he thinks the GOP could win Cuellar's seat? 

That's per this:

This cycle, he is facing a serious Republican opponent — Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, a former Democrat, who announced his candidacy Tuesday and noted that Cuellar was facing “serious federal corruption accusations that have shaken the trust of the people he is supposed to serve,” in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Once again, it's all transactional. Cuellar will probably name one of his in-district office locations after Trump. 

Texas' Ten Commandments bill finally faces statewide challenge

We've got the class-action suit we've needed for months. 

Again, this is a class action suit. To quote the ACLU news release:

A group of 18 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families filed a class action lawsuit today to stop all Texas public school districts that are not already involved in active litigation or subject to an injunction from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Even though two federal judges in Texas have ruled that Senate Bill 10 is unconstitutional, school districts across the state continue to display the Ten Commandments. With more than 1,000 school districts in Texas, a class action lawsuit is the most effective way to protect the religious freedom of all Texas public school children and their families

That's the biggie. 

The hoped-for action?

The new Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD case is necessary because — even with two federal court injunctions preventing more than two dozen Texas school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments — public school districts continue to violate the constitutional rights of students and their families. The class action lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop any public school district not already involved in litigation from displaying the Ten Commandments.

Yes. 

For the full filing, see here. 

Allred out, Crockett in on Senate race? Interesting

The former, when I heard about it Monday afternoon, didn't shock me.

The latter? Does Crockett think she can

A. Beat Talarico and

B. If so, go hot-wheeling (I see what I did) past either Big John or Kenny Boy Paxton (and any Green or Libertarian) in the general?

We'll see. I think she has zero chance unless Kenny Boy beats Big John before his divorce details explode, but that they then DO explode, in part from Texas media getting the filing records unsealed. Otherwise, good luck on finding those "Trump-Crockett voters" you insist are out there.

Also of note on the Democrap side? Mark Veasey, rather than seek another term in Congress, is running for Tarrant County Judge. 

As for Allred? His claim he wanted the party to avoid a runoff because that would lessen its general election chances is about as high-grade of bullshit as Joaquin Castro's latest excuse, last month, why he couldn't run for statewide office.

Veasey? His current district had been redistricted by the Rethuglican Lege, but everybody expected him to run for Crockett's vacating seat. And, he's not the only Democrat filed to seek the nomination against GOP incumbent Tim O'Hare. 

Making foreigners pay more for national park visits

That's the story, per the Beeb.

Note that three states will be most hit, because relatively few US national parks are unique.

Europeans can see Yellowstone's geysers in Iceland and bison in the wisent of Poland, for example. They can stay at home for the Alps instead of the Rockies. Chinese and other Asians can do Banff instead of the Rockies, and there are plenty of waterfalls, in a couple of exceptions I'm about to note, in Europe and Asia.

==

There's only one Grand Canyon, and only one saguaro cactus, and both are in Arizona. I'm not sure how much foreign visitation Saguaro NP gets, and Tucson has other attractions, but Tusayan et al losing foreign visitors to the Grand Canyon would be big.

Many canyon visitors also do one or more of Utah's Mighty Five, and like with the Grand Canyon, the small towns in this area might be affected.

In the Pacific Northwest, Olympic's temperate rain forest and Crater Lake's starkness are semi-unique, but not biggies.

Further south? California's Redwoods, in the combined state and national parks, the giant sequoias in that national park, the all-around beauty of Yosemite Valley, and especially for Germans, it seems, the starkness of Death Valley all are special.

The parks that will have a steep hike in per-park fees for foreign visitors without a fee-hiked foreign Parks Pass? Acadia National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Parks, and Zion National Park.

So, we have Grand Canyon, two of the California parks, and two of Utah's Mighty Five. Why Arches isn't on the list I have no idea.

==

That said, just days after The Donald announced this, The Louvre said it was more than doubling the admission cost for non-EU visitors. So, it's not like this is unique, or in terms of Trump-world, that bad. That said, he's just trying to soak visitors. He doesn't actually care about national parks and monuments; we already know that. 

Democrats care about the system somewhat more than Republicans, but not THAT much more. After all, they gave us

AI to help third party and independent candidates?

If only. Color me skeptical of the claims in this NPR story.

Actually, by the end of the piece, I colored myself cynical, not just skeptical, and I'll explain why. 

To start with, I know who the Independent Center targets — people who want a third party because they think that Democrats are too librul as well as Republicans being too wingnut. An academic quoted in the piece notes just that:

"There's a huge chunk of people who for different reasons can't stomach either of the two parties," said David Barker, a professor of government at American University. "It's the first time in a long time where a plurality of Americans are now identifying as independents, and so that does seem to signal a pretty important shift."

In other words, this hope, of the likes of Adam Brandon at the Independent Center, is NOT about helping Greens, Socialists, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, etc.

Worse? Brandon "goes there":

"It's like Uber and taxis. You had a system with an obvious flaw, that had entrenched operators and took a radical change to go completely around it," he told NPR. "And that's what we're feeling now. People are so stuck into 'Republican' and 'Democrat' and we're like, well, there's something else."

Yeah, if you're talking techdudebro "disruption," you just lost me. (It's actually the story's author, in the lead-in to that quote, who uses the d-word of "disrupt.")

Then, there's this:

"We're political fighters," said Brandon, who served as president of FreedomWorks, the conservative grassroots group that helped turn Tea Party activists into a political force before closing its doors last year. "We have built a team of people that know how to do this. We're not going to be pushovers."

Well, if you did want to help third parties, it's not those of the left! 

Finally, since this dude and fellows of his are political consultants, I have zero doubt they're overselling what they and their proprietary AI tool can do because that's how political consultants get paid! 

Their own website doubles down on who I said they are, with this:

An effective government is one that is smaller, focused, and fit-for-purpose. We must move away from an overburdened and overreaching bureaucracy that stifles progress. Addressing our mounting debt and deficit requires bold, strategic reforms to reimagine the role of government programs.

Two words for you, Brandon, and they are: "Fuck.Off." 

Today is "shoot yourself in the ass with ivermectin day!"

That's because, per the Trib, among new Tex-ass laws taking effect over the next two months, you can get ivermectin without a scrip starting today.

That — unsurprisingly — isn't the most loony or wingnut law that will be taking effect over the next month or two.