Did Karl Rove help steal an election in 2002? Probably not

The original Turd Blossom, Karl Rove, actually talked some sense when discussing GOP responsibility for Jan. 6. OTOH, since his actions way back in 2002, or actions of those connected to him, may have led to an actual #StartTheSteal, he's a fucking hypocrite. 

But, did he actually help challenger Bob Riley steal the 2002 Alabama gubernatorial race from incumbent Don Siegelman?

First, contra the end of the piece at the second link, I've seen no evidence that Ohio 2004 was hacked, and have written about this and more here, and above all here, where I linked to Mark Hertsgaard CRUSHING "Chemtrails Bob" Fitrakis' BS claims on Ohio 2004. This includes arguing with Brains, and behind him, his co-conspirator Brad Friedman, or I should say, conspiracy theorist Brad Friedman, over this. And, contra the middle of the piece, per Wiki, there's controversy over whether a #StartTheSteal even happened in Alabama 2002. Per one claim, the explanation of how the original reported vote total in Baldwin County became the final number is convoluted at scale fully matching conspiratorial thought. Supposably, whoever was genyus enough to hack into Baldwin County's system was at the same time initially stupid enough to give votes to both Riley AND Siegelman, and then had to rehack to fix that!

The AP story, linked off Wiki, notes that, if it were a glitch, it was a big one, BUT, that Siegelman's original vote total was way overblown vs Alabama state average. Occam's Razor, per which had historic background, and is simpler, per the end of the paragraph above.

Beyond that, the author of the second link, Jennifer Cohn, seems somewhat given to conspiracy theorizing. Take Georgia's 2002 Senate race. Max Cleland got hardballed and smeared, but no hacking of anything happened.

The real issue that Cohn gets right is Rove and BushCo later prosecuting Siegelman for allegedly taking a bribe. The biggest subissue on that is that "look forward" Dear Leader Obama and his AG Eric Holder refused to look at the case again and Obama refused to give clemency, let alone a pardon.

CRT and GCRF as essentialist theories

CRT, as many people know, is Critical Race Theory. GCRF? Gender Critical Radical Feminism.

They're both essentialist theories in the roots of their identity. I believe that this is in part due to their roots in critical theory, which itself has roots in Marxism, an absolutist Continental European philosophy.

But, there, the parallels end, because the essentialism has different bases.

I don't fully reject either one. Between reading Derrick Bell's "Silent Covenents" and being involved with the Dialogue not Expulsion group of Georgia ex-Green Party leadership and allies, I have familiarity with CRT on the former and GCRF on the latter.

But, I believe both go overboard, and I think it's the absolutism from Marxism, and the essentialism related to that, that is a key issue.

With GCRF,  it's genomic, two sex chromosomes, to be precise. Another word for it, besides an acronym I won't use, is Sex Essential Radical Feminism. And, this essentialism is purely genomic. No room is allowed for inadequate or mistimed maternal sex-related developmental hormones, or fetal insensitivity or oversensitivity to those hormones, even though we know this can cause tendencies to homosexuality on the issue of sexual attachment orientation, or intersexuality, or sexual "misidenfication," etc. Nor is any room allowed for "XO" fetuses who may be intersex because of that.

CRT has the opposite issue. None of its espousers hold to a genetics-based theory of race, at least as far as I know in modern America. (I'm setting aside people like Marcus Garvey, who flourished before CRT developed, if he or his likes DID have such holdings.)

So, especially if CRT theorists recognize that skin color is only skin color, and controlled by many genes, and ditto for hair curliness etc., they have to become, in essence, phenotypic essentialists. Of course, the likes of Blake Griffin and his twin brother show the folly of that in action, while adopting one's racist adversaries' definition of race comes off as Br'er Rabbit and Tar Baby.

Texas Progressives take first look at 2022

Welcome to the first Roundup of this year by Texas Progressives, with a mix of members' blogging from last week and the best of news from around the state and beyond.

Texas school districts are rethinking dress codes as gender issues lead to discrimination questions. And, note to some gender-critical radical feminists and fellow travelers, as I also distinguish gender and sex but don't go down your road? This is an issue where "gender" not "sex" is the appropriate discussion.

The Monthly has a roundup of Texas stories it didn't run last year but wish it had written itself.

At the Observer, Justin Miller talks about how retirements in the Lege will likely push it even redder, especially in the House. Unanswered: How will Rethugs that are wingnuts, but not Dan Patrick or even further right wingnuts squared, lament the loss of a state House quasi-cushion?

The first phase of Secretary of State John Scott's much-hyped election audit in four urban counties has found few problems and none even close to serious. Now, let's see if he, Strangeabbott et al, in the next round of audits, do as promised and look at other counties, including smaller red ones.

Off the Kuff looked at the motion filed by Harris County to stop the part of the voter suppression law that criminalizes the encouragement of voting by mail.

Well, the lights have "stayed on," it seems, through the first really big norther; will they do so again after today's Round 2? We'll see how Abbott's boast, and yes, it's election-driven, play out. (We'll also see how much, in addition to his "Abbott tax," Beto says that the only reason ERCOT and PUC pushed for weatherization is that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dropped hints of banhammers if the state didn't adopt policies FERC suggested after a 2009 storm.)

SocraticGadfly had a three-parter on coronavirus issues last week. First was that some people's claims that autoimmune disorders preclude vaccination are largely BS. Second was whether Fauci's words about COVID moving from pandemic to endemic will come back to haunt him with wingnuts, and if Biden will face some problems with words and non-actions. Third, he took a nuanced look at vax mandates in the bigger picture of a spectrum of COVID public health actions.

John Coby summarizes 2021.

Juanita scoffs at Alex Jones' latest ravings.

The Dallas Observer introduces us to Ted Cruz's very online daughter

The Current notes that Texas doesn't score all that well on some metrics for personal liberties.

Jef Rouner tells you why you're just wrong.

The year in blogging 2021

Here's the 10 most read posts from the past year. Not all are from 2021, just the 10 most read. The biggest from this year were primarily baseball-related.

No. 1? My old 2014 post about the "debate" between Ken Ham and Bill Nye the Science Guy, aka Bill Nye the Attention Whore, took off midsummer last year and has trended since. With the photoshopping by moi, but of course!

No. 2 is my story about St. Louis Cardinals vice president John Mozeliak rat-fucking manager Mike Schildt for opening his mouth too much.

No. 3 is even older than No. 1. It's about a Google dustup with China, coming even before the rise of Xi Jinping Thought, which makes Google's "do no evil except capitalism" even more relevant today.

No. 4? Shohei Ohtani, indeed I said, until he has a second year of this, is no Babe Ruth.

No. 5? My COVID-related wondering, along with many other skeptical minds, of just what did happen to John Ionannidis.

No. 6? Me calling out the Cooperstown veterans committees for choosing the likes of Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Gil Hodges for the Hall.

No. 7? From 2019, how the Genetic Literacy Project doesn't always get it right, like with the relative UN-healthiness of the Impossible Burger.

No. 8? My thoughts on the retirement of Buster Posey and his shot (and that of Yadier Molina) at the Hall.

No. 9 is also an old one from 2010 — can a college discriminate against a religious group?

No. 10 is from 2018. It's my callout of Marcy Wheeler, aka Emptywheel, for drinking 190 proof Putingate and narcking on someone still unnamed.

Coronavirus Week 91: Omicron hits Tex-ass, Strangeabbott begs Biden help; sports leagues cave

Gov. Abbott wants President Biden to open more federal COVID testing sites in Texas as Omicron surges. Biden has promised more federal sites nationally, but hasn't said where. Another round of hypocrisy by Strangeabbott, as he and Kenny Boy Paxton have battled local mask mandates (not even sure where all those cases by counties and school districts are in our court system right now, as they got forgotten about before the Omicron surge) and other public health measures.

The partial answer is that, as of right now, the mandate bans remain unenforced and, with the return to school, many new districts may adopt them as a part of a suite of policies.

The gap between the serious and the stupid continues to grow: The rate at which the already-vaxxed are getting boosters is outpacing the rate of first shots, though Texas remains low in both. (My county is at 35 percent and 10 percent, respectively.)

Omicron has started hammering the health care industry on cases, but hospitalizations here (contra some northern states) have not surged as much.

Jemele Hill rightly calls out the NBA and NFL, and the NFL especially at playoff time, for caving to players on various issues, including reducing quarantine time equally for the vaxxed and unvaxxed.

Fauci may support a vax-to-fly mandate, but won't say if he officially recommended it to Biden.

RIP E.O. Wilson, great entomologist and naturalist, but controversial proponent of sociobiology, a precursor to ev psych. (And, yes, he WAS "all wet" or close to it on that.)

RIP Sarah Weddington, Roe v. Wade attorney.

Top blogging of December

As normal, not all posts were from last month, just the most popular.

No. 1? Me calling out the Cooperstown veterans committees for choosing the likes of Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva and Gil Hodges for the Hall, among others.

No. 2? My old 2014 post about the "debate" between Ken Ham and Bill Nye the Science Guy, aka Bill Nye the Attention Whore, took off midsummer last year and has trended since.

No. 3? From 2019, how the Genetic Literacy Project doesn't always get it right, certainly when it goes beyond genetic literacy itself, like with the relative UN-healthiness of the Impossible Burger.

No. 4? An old blog post about disgraced and canned Lancaster, Texas, school superintendent Larry D. Lewis sprang to life as neighboring DeSoto ISD named him the interim super. 

No. 5 is even older than No. 2. It's about a Google dustup with China, coming even before the rise of Xi Jinping Thought, which makes Google's "do no evil except capitalism" even more relevant today.

No. 6 is related to No. 1. It's my detailed look at Gil Hodges' lack of a case. 

No. 7? Sorry St. Louis Cardinals "Best Fans in Baseball," but Adam Wainwright was never robbed of a Cy Young and would not be a HOFer even without his injuries. Here's the reality.

No. 8? My detailed take on Tony Oliva's lack of a Hall case.

No. 9? Will Zion Williamson actually play for the Pelicans this year? I lean no.

No. 10? Though not as egregious as Hodges or Oliva, Minnie Miñoso is also not a HOFer.