Texas progressives read Iowa tea leaves

Texas Progressives this week ponder the Iowa caucus tea leaves and look ahead to the New Hampshire along with other events.

And, speaking of, those tea leaves, per the Old Gray Lady, seem to indicate Sanders and Buttigieg battling it out. Even more, they show that Klobberer Klobuchar actually slipped from Round 1 to Round 2, meaning that she didn't pick up hardly anybody from the first-cut candidates' support. Lizzie Warren didn't do much better. Nor did Sanders. Mayo Pete, at least in the earlier going, looked like the major "backup plan" candidate.

Unfortunately, the tea leaves took an extra-long time to steep. Reportedly, that was due in part to problems with a vote-counting app. Said app was created by Robby Mook. I'm sure you #StillWithering Clintonistas know him. If not, let me remind you:

Robby Mook trying to pull some votes for Joe Biden, aka Hillary's third term, from "out of his app"?#ISeeWhatIDid#IowaCaucuses

— reallyDonaldTrump 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) February 4, 2020

After much more clusterfuckery and things like #CIAPete and #MayorCheat trending on Twitter, Sanders eventually appeared to have won. But we don't really know, and in that opening, the DNC lost, and Donald Trump is trying to exploit a win for himself.

Now we can get to the rest of the roundup.

Texas politics

Paging Robert Francis O'Rourke, I mean Bob on a Knob, I mean Beto. The Texas Observer reviews a new book talking about how old white families control El Paso politics.  To be fair to Beto's background and real estate grifting, the book does note most of these old white families are Republicans. But to be honest about Bob on a Knob, former El Paso City Council member, the book also notes that council members (including him in the past) have gone along with these old, money-endowed Republicans — or at least, non-Hispanic members have.

Even though Dennis Bonnen is going away from the state House and Speakership, he's still intervening in GOP primaries. The recipients of his largesse are a mixed bag on their past relationships to Bonnen.

Beto's new money and PAC couldn't help flip HD 28 to Dems in a special election. The spinners are already saying don't blame him.

Off the Kuff analyzes the latest poll of Texas, which is also the first poll we've gotten for the state in 2020.

Mustafa Tameez says the road to the majority in the Texas House goes through the middle of the electorate.

Robert Rivard notes that SBOE member Ken Mercer (who represents a district Hillary Clinton carried in 2016) is big ol' peddler of wingnut dishonesty.


Texana

Could the push for full-blown online voter registration lead to a lawsuit, if motor voter in Texas isn't improved?

Google's parent wants to bring self-driving semis to Texas. Texas Monthly looks at the risks to both driving and jobs.

Renters continue to gouge Texans.

Is illegal duck hunting driving down bald eagle numbers at Lake Buchanan, a top roosting site?


Dallas

A civil judge wants to add implicit bias instructions to jurors to civil cases. Her pilot project has been OKed for Round 2.

Dallas County Community College District wants to merge its seven campuses into one college — not one physical space, but one college — to make it easier to get those AA degrees.

Jim Schutze once again calls out former Observer peer and now Dallas Snooze flunky Robert Wilonsky. Schutze actually has several good recent columns, and has gotten away from fellating the police.

But, speaking of? The Snooze reports on the Dallas PD disciplining a number of cops for racist and other bad comments on social media. Let's see if Jim's doppelgänger and Amber Guyger lover, #OKJim, writes about this.

That said, contra #OKJim, I'm sure the Snooze's local editorials suck just as much as state and national level ones.

The DMA is one of several museums with allegedly stolen Nepalese art.


Houston

A state district judge says Harris County's suit against Exxon can proceed, thus cutting one round of Kenny Boy Paxton grifting off at the pass.

A Twitter type on a smartphone, almost surely. But Kim Off is much better for Harris DA than Kim Ogg.

Houston Justice Coalition shows how they're registering voters who are currently in county jail.

Justin Miller analyzes the HD 28 special election runoff.


National

SocraticGadfly saw the Chomskyites ask likely Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins to run a "safe states" strategery, and he loudly applauded when Hawkins essentially told them to STFU.

Brains offered his run-up to Iowa take on Dems 2020.

Carl Beijer says its time for progressive Democrats to get behind Sanders and avoid the risk of a brokered convention and the possibility of Joe Biden. (The brokered convention, especially with hints of desires for rule-changing on superdelegates, is a possibility. The likelihood that Democrats would rally behind Biden rather than either pseudoprogressive Elizabeth Warren or Daddy Warbucks Mike Bloomberg seems slim, though.)

Texas Monthly interviews new FDA head Stephen Hahn, former chief medical guy at MD Anderson, who offers political weasel answers to the tougher questions.

A friendly sports world reminder that Kobe Bryant wasn't quite as nice as his hagiographic fellators claim, and also that management at the Bezos Post sux.

A friendly non-sports world reminder that Rush Limbaugh, if a god existed, would need prayers for contrition and repentance more than for his lung cancer.

Nonsequiteuse thanks the Houston GLBT Political Caucus for listening to members who asked them to hold lawmakers who have been credibly accused of sexual harassment to account.