Matt Taibbi: Maybe up to half right this time

Sometimes, Matt Taibbi is still half right. This is in a piece of his talking about YouTube banning #StartTheSteal videos and similiar.

The half right?

Hey Democrats, how many of you remember protestors storming the official Wisconsin electoral college vote and protesting after the 10 electors officially voted for Trump?

That said, he is no more than half right, this is the most right he's been since going to Substack and he, like the other alleged outside the box stenos, continues to throw babies out with bathwater and apparently believes no Russian meddling at all happened and that Guccifer 2.0 doesn't exist. Beyond that, no electoral voters needed a police escort to cast their votes, unlike in Michigan this year.

 

NOR did Democrats have "alternative electors" cast their own pseudo-electoral votes in Wisconsin.

Plus, Taibbi is also half nutbar.

So, I asked him on Twitter, as I've asked Aaron Maté more than once, if he's a Seth Rich conspiracy theorist. Per this piece, he's at least a fellow traveler. 

So, Matt, I slapped the "no follow" on your piece. No clicks from me. 

Now, shut up and work on getting to be more than half right. And, like Aaron, if you are a Seth Rich conspiracy theorist, at least be honest about it.

Assange, Seth Rich, Russian election meddling and other whataboutism gap, part 2

I'm sure that, even with the Mueller collapse before Congress, some of the usual whataboutism folks on Seth Rich in particular and Assange's connections with Russia, more broadly, and Russian general interference in 2016 elections, most broadly, will bray from the rooftops that this is all a fake.

That would be, per Jeff St. Clair of Counterpunch, the "more credulous precincts of the Left."

To which, I quoted from the Tweeting of Jeff St. Clair I had done earlier in the day, starting with the background of and link to what St. Clair said:

For the Seth Rich conspiracy theorists who vote left of center? Jeff St. Clair of Counterpunch also thinks you're fucking nuts AND that Assange's spreading of this was one of his lowest points. https://t.co/3YaguDwARg

— reallyDonaldTrump  🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) July 15, 2019

Followed by this quote, which I later sent to the "more credulous precincts of the Left":

.@JSCCounterPunch nails it on Seth Rich conspiracy theorists:

"I think Julian Assange’s lowest moment was his inculcation of the Seth Rich conspiracy in some of the more credulous precincts of the Left." 1/2

— reallyDonaldTrump  🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) July 15, 2019

Followed by the other half of the quote:

.@JSCCounterPunch nails it on Seth Rich conspiracy theorists 2/3:
"The strangest part of the affair is that if the preposterous Rich conspiracy had proved true, it meant that Assange would have outed his source."

— reallyDonaldTrump  🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) July 15, 2019

There you go.

 

(Sadly, St. Clair, along with managing editor Joshua Frank, have crappy editorial control in general over free[lance] submissions that they publish, as he's let his own site fuel this bullshit.)

The "more credulous precincts" of the left is delusional indeed if they're citing Ty Clevenger, and saying that Isikoff was trying to get out in front of him. But they are:

So...this happened. Guess this is why Michael Isikoff wrote that staggeringly transparent piece of fiction last week. Had to get out in front of this. h/t @nashville_brook for hipping me.@Grimerica @TinFoilHatCast @AndrewZigmund @nikoCSFB https://t.co/GWrxrjHtlQ

— SlowNewsDay (@SlowNewsDayShow) July 15, 2019

And, if just 1/10th of this CNN exclusive about Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy is true, even though it doesn't mention Seth Rich, the "more credulous precincts" will have to double or triple down on that.

First, the timetable issues. Assange receiving new computer equipment shortly before the original, early 2016 hacks from the DNC.

Second, the fact the embassy gave Assange power to censor names from visit logs would explain why at least one visitor wore a bag over his head.

I have noticed that more credulous precincts of the left haven't talked much about the CNN piece, at least not on my Twitter.

Is there anything illegal with wearing a bag over one's head to visit the embassy? Of course not. But in London, the world's capital of government surveillance video, it's surely being done for a reason.

And, as I have said before, the RNC reported a mix of successful and unsuccessful hacks against its computers in 2016. GOP Congresscritter Michael McCaul publicly admitted it until the RNC hauled him on the carpet. Comey publicly discussed it. The Seth Rich conspiracy theorists, and the Assange whatabouters who try to avoid going explicitly down that road, generally maintain tight radio silence on this issue. (And, by this point? Ignorance is no excuse. Others besides me have mentioned this, too.

IF (and this is a big if), Assange had ties to Russian intelligence, when did they start? IF 1/10th of the information at the CNN piece is true, how much did it connect to the Assange indictment? Was that behind the pending indictment six months ago on initial leak?

Removing 100 hard drives, with the help of persons who Assange had gotten the Embassy to guarantee could not be searched, doesn't look good either.

If 1/10th of this is true ...

As for claims (yes, affecting the case, but legally unsubstantiated one way or the other) that the Internet Research Agency isn't directly connected to Russia? Aaron Mate waved this like a flag.

And Big Fucking Deal. China's Red Army makes the same claim all the time about its hackers. Do you believe that, too, Aaron? If you really do, I've got beachfront property in Wyoming to sell you.

And, are you also pretending that Russia's extended cyberwar against Estonia a decade didn't happen? Or are you going to claim Russia didn't do that?

The one possible alternative that I would accept as credible is that the IRA is connected to Russian organized crime, not the government, per Sy Hersh's theory on the Skripal poisonings.

==

Meanwhile, it appears that a high percentage of Seth Rich conspiracy theorists are also TulsiTwerkers.

Update, Dec. 9, 2020: The fact that RNC computers as well as DNC ones were hacked undercuts the Seth Rich leaker thing right there. Unfortunately, for a while, I listened too much to bullshit artists like Aaron Maté (you ARE, on this, Aaron, shut up!) who said "cloud computing" and "mirrors" etc. were no substitute for the real thing. Well, when you use cloud servers, Aaron, that IS the real thing. If you're that much of a gasligher, you too can go fuck yourself along with Clevenger. If you're that much of an idiot, again, shut up. Ditto for anybody else repeating that nonsense.

Green Party post-mortem and look ahead

Unfortunately, the Green Party came nowhere near 5 percent nationally and won't get national campaign money from the government guaranteed in the next election cycle.

More unfortunately, due to the conniving Texas Democratic Party recruiting the unqualified Betsy Johnson to run for Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5, folks like me and Brains will be out in the spring of 2018 (if we both remain in Texas) signing Green Party ballot access petitions instead of voting in the state Democratic primary, where we might weed out the worse of two options.

(Given that state Dems keep having the likes of a Grady Yarbrough getting nominated, followed by state Dem leadership being so apoplectic that it then backs a Libertarian [rather than a Green] for the position, I guess you don't want folks like me and Brains participating?)

That said, beyond the outside issues, at both the state and national levels, the Greens have various ways the party needs to up its game.

(Update, Aug. 6, 2017: Recent events, including a national-level double pants-crapping shortly before this year's national convention, and a state-level Texas Greens crack-up a month earlier, leave me skeptical on how well the check-list items below, or the footnote at the end, will be addressed.)

Among the things that needs to continue to improve is:

1. Recruiting more, and better, candidates. Example No. 1 in Texas? Brandon Parmer, 2014 gubernatorial candidate.

2. Candidate campaign training. Train people on writing press releases to traditional mainstream media and offbeat alike. Train them on public presentation and presence. Train them on a modicum of professional candidacy.

And, train them on taking every opportunity they can. If the Morning News or Chronicle asks you to drop by for a candidate endorsement interview, do it. Work with rearranging your schedule (I know, the typical Green is working a regular day job, but so are many Libertarians) while getting them to work with you.

3. Better Internet presence. Martina Salinas, Texas Railroad Commission candidate, said in early September that she would have a website within a month. She never did. Facebook pages aren't a replacement for a true website presence. (Parmer was worse, not even updating his Facebook page, and also letting it look unprofessional.)

What you can present on FB is limited. Detailed campaign policy statements can't be placed there. PayPal or other campaign donation links can't be placed on a Facebook page, either.

It looks unprofessional in general, if not always as rankly unprofessional as Parmer. It looks cheap along with that.

WordPress websites aren't THAT hard to create. And, they're not THAT expensive to host for a few months. I used to be on the board of directors of a nonprofit social services organization that is 1/100th the size, if that, of its much better known competitor. We have a website with one, half-time paid, executive director the only paid position in the organization.

Yes, she was running for U.S. Senate, not a state-level office, but the website of Maryland's Margarat Flowers, which is a basic template-type setup, is an illustration. I'll contribute to GPTX, and publicize it, if it will just get state candidates to do this here in Texas.

Greens, take note. And I am deliberately highlighting this.

I will seriously look at "undervoting" on your races if you won't address this point at a minimum. (I undervoted Parmer in the 2014 gubernatorial race for Reason No. 1.

4. Other professionalism needs to improve. I'm glad Jill Stein worked hard on her campaign. But, it's simply not cool to send mass blast emails to media outlets that include financial solicitations as part of the email, as she did. (And yes, this was done.) It's certainly not cool for other candidates to do that, if they did.

(Update: Per his link in comments, go read David Bruce Collins, both that post and one or two before it about election results as well. We're in broad agreement on these "professionalism" issues and related ones. He approaches this from a more insider angle to complement what I've written. On a couple of those posts, he tackles some of he issues in points 5-6.)

5. Accept the science on the safety of GMOs just like accepting the science on the reality, and severity, of climate change. If anything, science is even more settled on GMO issues.

6. Get a better presidential candidate. From 2000, the party has gone from a hypocrite on owning Big Oil and Defense stocks (Ralph Nader) to a nice guy who ran too safe of a safe states strategy (David Cobb — note, you run to win, even as a third party) to an anti-Semite and worse who hid it during the election (Cynthia McKinney), to another hypocrite on Big Oil and Defense, etc. (Jill Stein). Green candidates also need to get scrappier with each other to bring these things out, in the case of Nader, then Stein, before the national convention. (They need to do this instead of launching conspiracy theories at the national convention, as Sedinam Moyowasifa-Curry did.)

7. Meanwhile, as noted above, looking to 2018, thanks to Texas Dems recruiting (and they did recruit) a barely functioning, barely competent attorney to run for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5, people like me and Brains will have to be signing Green Party ballot access petitions, which means we can't vote in the Dem primary and possibly keep you from choosing the worse candidates in contested primary races.

Texas Dems, you just disincentivized me from protecting you from some of your own bad candidate issues ... Grady Yarbrough come to mind? Or the aforehinted Betsy Johnson of CCA Place 5?

8. I'm not buying the Hillbot line that Greens don't run any local or regional candidates. It was an sneering insult to the party. But, there's plenty of room for more in the way of county commission, state representative, state boards and similar candidacies.

==

Greens in Texas, as part of a national party, also need to do their part in making sure the party remains a relevant, viable option on the left, per Mark Lause and my take on him. Related to this, as part of a national-level tussle, they need to address the apparent accommodationism with Democrats that Jill Stein, David Cobb and others are showing.

TX Progressives offer a post-election roundup

Yes, Carrot Head is now president, and the Texas Progressives address that and more:

Off the Kuff reminds us again that climate change is not going to be kind to Houston.

Socratic Gadfly analyzes the election and offers up a Clinton post-mortem, along with one for the Democratic Party. (He'll have a Green Party post-morten later this week.)

South Texas Chisme passes along the news that a Border Patrol agent has been caught lying about narcotics confiscation. The war on drugs leads to public corruption.

A post-election to-do-list was posted on Election Day by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, and one item on it -- stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- has already been checked off.

Neil at All People Have Value points out the distinctions between Trump's voters and Trump with respect to racism. AHPV is a part of NeilAquino.com.

The Lewisville Texan Journal editorialized against the Electoral College.

jobsanger says that the onus to fix the US economy is now squarely on the GOP.

And John Coby at Bay Area Houston is still a little sore at people who voted for Trump, and Egberto Willies is only slightly recovered from an election result nobody saw coming. 

===============

More Texas news for columnists and bloggers from around the state! 

The Dallas News notes Trump's stated intent to overturn the Supreme Court's long-established precedent on a woman's right to choose, and the Austin American Statesman sees the widening rural/urban divide exposed by the 2016 election.

The San Antonio Express-News finds a bright spot: after years of flux, the city's statehouse delegation is finally set for 2017's legislative session.

Better Texas Blog wonders what's next for Obamacare.

Texans for Public Justice has a new report (.pdf) about the Texas Railroad Commissioners and candidates who are awash in cash from the oil and gas industry.

Grits for Breakfast also shares a fresh synopsis from the Texas Public Policy Foundation abut more reforms still needed in the grand jury system.

The Texas Observer went to a rally for Austin's immigrant rights activists, and the message was "Don't Mess with Texas' families."

The Digital Heretic finds that liberals slamming evangelical support of Trump are exercising another shameful and myopic attempt to set themselves above those who elected him.

The Somervell County Salon found her county's election results and noted that she was one of 23 who voted for Jill Stein.  And DBC Green has some interesting statistics that compare TXRRC candidate Martina Salinas' votes with Stein's from various Texas counties.

Zachery Taylor thought Donna Brazile's lapses in ethics and integrity were problematic, but trivial in the grand scheme.

And in a show of post-election bipartisan magnanimity, CultureMap Houston was on the scene as Vice President Joe Biden spoke at MD Anderson's glittering 75th anniversary fete, and warmly praised former president George HW Bush.

Electoral vote projection — Hillary no worse than 308-230 (update)

Earlier this year, using a tool from NPR, I predicted that the "worst" outcome (worst used relatively and from the duopoly point of view only) that was realistic was Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton 286-252 in the Electoral College.

Now, with a new tool from Five Thirty Eight, unless I'm underestimating any possible reverse Bradley Effect, I don't see any realistic way for Trump to win. The "worst" I see is Clinton, 308-230. Under that worst, the Senate would probably be no better than a 50-50 tie, but that's all Dems need on paper, excluding the problem of such nominal "Democrats" as Joe Manchin.

(Update: If non-college white resentment runs a bit higher, it could be ... 303-235. That's exactly where Brains has it; he also sees 50-50 on the Senate.)

In my first prediction, I said a tight guess was 294-244 Clinton. (Update: And a retweak of the parameters on that gives me the same.)

Of course, this was before the bombshell that FBI Director James Comey was reopening his probe into her emails. (Update: And that's now been closed again.)

So, no, she doesn't need my vote. Still doesn't.

UPDATE: As for the popular vote? Expect a plurality for Clinton, but I'll give 1-in-3 odds that it's plurality-only, not a majority. She'll probably use that as an excuse to tack right.

TX Progressives' last pre-election thoughts

The Texas Progressive Alliance is happy this election is over as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff offers a modicum of sympathy to Republican women for the plague of Sid Miller.

Libby Shaw at Daily Kos shares her personal observations and polling data from a class she is taking to show how Hillary Clinton could carry Houston/Harris County. Why Hillary will likely carry Houston.

Switching gears away from politics, Socratic Gadfly offers up his 2016-17 NBA preview.(Sorry, Mavs fans.)

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants everyone to know just how much Texas Republicans have abused workers, worker rights and their safety.

Neil at All People Have Value reminded folks that nasty Sid Miller was a big part of the forced sonogram law in Texas that is state-mandated rape. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Control of the US Senate in 2017 looks to be a tighter race than the one for the White House, says PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

=======================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Amy McCarthy recaps the highlights of Anthony Bourdain's visit to Houston.

Kyrie O'Connor reminds us that "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" is at heart a feminist anthem.

Eva Ruth Moravec took the eight-hour DPS course on verbal de-escalation.

Susan Nold asserts that voting is not "rigged", it's power.

Jacquielynn Floyd calls Sid Miller's latest tweet abomination a "breaking point".

The Texas Election Law Blog gives credit where it is due on tamping down fear about "election rigging".

The #OctoberSurprise has landed — FBI reopens #ClintonEmail probe

Very, very interesting.

This:

FBI director James Comey has said the bureau is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

Investigators have discovered new emails "in connection with an unrelated case... that appear to be pertinent to the investigation", he said.

Mr Comey said investigators would determine whether the emails contain classified information.

I wonder what the "unrelated case" is, first of all.

Second, I wonder how big a deal it is.

Third, I wonder if Comey was prodded by wingnut GOPers, was sandbagging Clinton all along, was mad at the sandbagging BY Clinton he discovered after first shutting the things down, or what.

Certainly, even if the "unrelated case" is not that big, if Comey felt he was sandbagged, he would be wanting to use something like this for a pound of flesh in revenge.

And, per the NYT, Comey says he doesn't know how long this investigation will take. That's a downer for Trump, as Comey's not guaranteeing any results before Nov. 8, but it's also a downer for Clinton, who doesn't know if maybe he won't release something before then, but with little pre-election time for her to spin.

And, we know now that the new emails were uncovered during an investigation of electronic devices used by the notorious Anthony Weiner. Specific, they're related to his allegedly sexting a 15-year-old girl.

As for motivation? Especially given that he's right that Comey could have had any job he wanted in the Clinton Administration, a month ago, Ken Silverstein wonders if this is part of some sort of plea deal by Weiner, and via wife and Hillary BFF Huma Abedin, he's really got some goods.

Update: I hate to be siding with Hillary Clinton, but per Comey's new comments about the details, or lack of them, it sounds like he should have kept his yap shut until, oh, Monday? I mean, how can you say "they appear to be pertinent" while in the next breath, the FBI acknowledges it doesn't know ANY of the details of their contents?

And, it sounds like maybe Ken's spitballing might not be so on target?

Update 2: Per friend Brains, the reveal ... especially with Comey's waffle ... is unlikely to influence many likely Democratic voters. Indirectly per Brains, many early votes are already banked, too.

Getcha popcorn!

===

Update, May 14, 2019: Former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein has turned both barrels on Comey, calling him a "partisan pundit" who trampled "bright lines that should never be crossed."

The specific target of his ire is how Comey handled reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails adn server after then-AG Loretta Lynch had had her conflict-of-interest inducing meeting with Bill Clinton on the Phoenix tarmac.

Rosenstein is totally right. It was grandstanding, as I said at the time, and not SOP, either. Then-Assistant AG Sally Yates should have been contacted by Comey and she should have been asked to get Lynch to officially recuse herself, then take over.

Rosenstein said he would have handled Comey's firing differently had it been just him, not Trump, but that Comey deserved to be fired.

He did.

Period and end of story, Donut Twitter and Resistance.

Mark Miller: A dangerous alternative for the Railroad Commission

A lot of newspapers, and some Democrats who know that Grady Yarbrough has no business running for the spot, are touting Libertarian Mark Miller for the Texas Railroad Commission seat.

Wayne Christian, the GOP candidate, of course thinks that regulating fracking makes people gay, so he's definitely not an option.

Yes, Miller knows more about the oil and gas industry than Yarbrough, Christian, or Green Party nominee Martina Salinas.

But, he's got some bad stances. Especially on one big issue.

Let's look at his website campaign comment on climate change and global warming.

1. He does — on paper — accept that anthropogenic global warming exists, while trying to fuzz up with the "skeptic" claim how much of global warming over the past couple of centuries is anthropogenic. Therefore, we should put him in the "denier lite" category, per:

2. He outrightly lies, as I see it, with his claim that global temperatures may have declines since 2007.

The reality is a lot different.

First, every one of the 10 hottest years in recorded history has been 1998 or later.

Also, through July, every month this year has been the hottest on global record.

He doubles down on this lie here, when he says:

Existing climate models have failed to predict the recent leveling off of global temperatures.

The first link was from his previous 2014 run, but there's ZERO excuse for doubling down now. I can only consider him to be a conscious, willful liar, in my opinion.

3. He claims, in essence, there's no way to force China (and others) on the same page as us.
WRONG! As both Paul Krugman and I know, the World Trade Organization allows carbon tax PLUS carbon tariff regulations. Period and end of story. A man with a graduate degree in petroleum engineering should know this. And probably does, given Point No. 2.

4. He believes in natural gas as a bridge fuel. Nowhere in that paragraph does he discuss how methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas, before it breaks down, than is carbon dioxide. Nowhere in that paragraph does he discuss wellhead leakage rates.

5. He puts mitigation of climate change effects ahead of trying to prevent more climate change. Since he doesn't mention renewable energy here, this libertarian — like many — ignores the "cost-effectiveness" mantra when it's convenient.

It's interesting that he himself thinks the RRC should be renamed the Texas Oil and Gas Commission but NOT the Texas Energy Commission, which would, of course (theoretically) include wind and solar.

Also, claiming the free market always has the most moral stances, as he does here, is just BS.

Beyond this issue, I have no idea of his stance on moving hearings for drilling permits out of Austin and to the area of the proposed drilling. If he wants to properly regulate the industry, this is a basic.

I will give him a kudo for wanting to raise vehicle fuel taxes, but that's a small one.

The real answer for the RRC, even if she's not perfect and on a shoestring budget, is Martina Salinas.

Democrats who know Yarbrough is NOT the answer but are endorsing Miller should be shot. And, Chris Tomlinson of the Chronic should know better. It's easy to find Miller's stance on global warming, whereas, I can find nothing about either gas wellhead leakage or locality on drilling permit hearings.

That said, Chris, though generally mildly to moderately liberal himself, works for a conservative newspaper. It's no surprise that Texas newspapers that normally tell people to vote Republican are plumbing for Miller rather than Wayne Christian. But, Tomlinson wouldn't even mention Salinas in his column, then sneered at her chances as a third party candidate, even though she got a little more than 60 percent as much vote as Miller did in 2014. And, also contra Chris, noting that she, like Miller, ran before, she isn't totally incoherent, or totally uninformed, on the issues.

Sorry, Wait, no I'm not sorry, Chris, but you kind of pissed me off on this.

That said, one can't find Salinas' detailed stances.

That's because she doesn't have a website, two months after saying she would.

Sorry, Green candidates, and, regional, county and state Green parties, but Facebook pages alone don't cut it for an online presence. I'll speak more about this in a post-election post-mortem post.

TX Progressives discuss the start of the election

The Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates the start of early voting as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff analyzes the state of the polls in Texas.

Libby Shaw at Daily Kos encourages all Democrats to show up at the voting polls. Texas Democrats have a fighting chance this year.  We can right a boatload of Republican wrongs. Nasty Ladies of Texas Unite! Houston is not impressed by Trump.

Socratic Gadfly, given ongoing recent problems in his area, says it's time to nationalize the Internet.

Can Hillary Clinton actually carry Texas in the Electoral College?  PDiddie at Brains and Eggs notes that blue teamers are desperately trying to squeeze out the 1 or 2% the Green Party is polling in order to do so.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes Sean Hannity's pick for speaker Louis Gohmert isn't the worst Texas Republican this week.  Brian Babin is.

Neil at All People Have Value admired the urban amber waves of Houston.  APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.


================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Cody Pogue notes that a bad president is better than a revolution.

Daniel Williams and Leah Binkovita explain the options in the HISD recapture referendum.

Keep Austin Wonky does a deep dive on the ìGo Bigî mobility bond.

The Lunch Tray wants to know why it's hard to find out information about sugar in school food.

BOR is crowdsourcing Texas Republican elected officials' support of Donald Trump.

Kyrie O'Connor and Eileen Smith are #NastyWomen.

The Texas Election Law Blog rounds up some good reads on voter registration and the resistance to it.

Transgriot reminds us that it is not incumbent upon the people who are being oppressed to forgive their oppressors.

Zachary Taylor wonders if Hillary and Donald aren't jointly conspiring in some way.

The Rag Blog's David Hamilton endorses Jill Stein.

TX progressives have #debate thoughts and second thoughts

The Texas Progressive Alliance knows it picked a bad week to quit snorting Dristan, and one of its members wonders if Tim Kaine will do more death-penalty flip-flopping in the Veep debate, as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at the sharp increase in voter registration numbers around the state.

Libby Shaw at Daily Kos is thrilled to learn that Houston area taco truck owners are registering voters. Houston Taco Trucks Serve up Tex-Mex and Voter Activism.

Back to Ohio for PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, along with some words from Hillary Clinton about Sandernistas from behind closed doors, and a few voting provisos for those in Harris County.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is sick of Republicans siding with the rich and powerful over the health and well being of Texas citizens.  Look to the Texas Legislature to be the great corrupt fixer.

Socratic Gadfly tackles the claim that third-party voters claim there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats, and finds it wanting.

Neil at All People Have Value offered his artist's statement as public artist in Houston and America. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Bay Area Houston goes after Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart over his Voter ID claims.

=================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Grits for Breakfast discusses the stupidity of Texas Sen. John Whitmire's new idea about teaching kids how to respect be afraid of cops.

The Houston Press catalogs Ken Paxton's obsession with LGBT issues.

Lone Star Ma focuses on the 13th of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):  Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Better Texas Blog calls for a renovation, not a complete teardown, of Texas' school finance system.

BOR interviews Stephanie Chiarello Noppenberg, the creator of the political satire variety show Over the Lege.

Eileen Smith watched the debate so you didn't have to.

Space City Weather declares Texas' hurricane season (probably) over.

Texas Election Law Blog discusses the travail of voting by mail.

Elizabeth Warren, warhawk

Yes, from 2104, but really, she hasn't changed since then. Well worth a read on how, eve within Dems, ignoring the broader left, she's to the right on Israel.

In either case, worth a read. Now you know why, like Bernie Sanders, she'll always be a 'good Dem.'

And why, per Politico's profile of Jill Stein, Greens need to push in all 50 states.

And, Sandernistas, things like this should convince you not to listen to the People's Party siren song.

#AprilFools, 2016 political version

Don't you wish you could have awakened this morning and discovered that:

1. The entire 2016 GOP presidential campaign were just a dream?

2. Democratic superdelegates didn't exist?

3. Huckleberry J. Butchmeup were honest with himself? Even more, don't you wish that honesty included Trey ("Benghazi") Gowdy?

4. That the snacks had run out at Malheur NWR and the Ammonites jamokes had started a Donner Party with each other?

5. That we had real multiparty parliamentary democracy at the national level?

Unfortunately, the April Fools yolks is on We the People.

1. The Republican Party still has an asinine campaign populated with asinine candidates.

2. The Democratic party is still beholden to establishmentarian hacks for whom every election day is Groundhog Day with the shadow of a mythical strawman version of George McGovern looming.

3. Huckleberry is still in his GOP burrow, having not entered the Log Cabin.

4. The Ammonites are fat and sassy, albeit jailed.

5. The so-called "cradle of democracy" isn't. It's more like the "baby-strangler of democracy."

Quick #SuperTuesday reax

First, at the local level, personal if I hadn't early-voted and lived in another precinct, and professional because it delayed the end of my work day, a county of less than 30K runs out of ballots at three precincts, has to make paper copies and hand-count.

Everything's bigger in Texas, including the snafus. Oh well, voting machine companies can't create fraudulent paper ballots.

Statewide? Well, Cruz had more giddy-up than I expected. I didn't think he'd win Texas by more than 6 percentage points. That said, pundits aren't THAT impressed by it.

Louie Gohmert didn't get "primaried" after all, it turns out, or else a lot of folks in Congressional District 1 like having a clown to represent them.

Mucus and others couldn't unseat Joe Straus. Molly White appeared to be losing her state House seat to a more conventional Big Biz Republican. So, maybe the high tide of the Tea Party is over.

Nationally, for both parties? Both Trump and Clinton took 60 percent of their party's available delegates or more. John Kasich is hanging on to try to win winner-take-all Ohio; ditto for Rubio and Florida. Getcha popcorn in the next two weeks; Missouri and Illinois are also winner-take-all on Second Tuesday.

Dems? Sanders' failure to close the deal in Massachusetts wash't good.

Looking ahead, he'll probably win Kansas and Nebraska on March 8. Michigan on March 8 is going to be a biggie even before Second Tuesday. It's an open primary; if he can't win that, with independent crossover help, it's time for the Fat Lady to warm her vocal cords.

Second Tuesday isn't so good for him. Florida's a closed primary, and DNC Chair and Florida Congresscritter and general grifter Debbie Wasserman Schultz will do everything she can to help make sure he's killed there. If he can't win a majority of Dem delegates between now and Second Tuesday, I don't care how much money he raises.

It didn't help Jeb¡ now, did it?

There is this tidbit, per Doug Henwood:

Many, maybe most, of the states that HRC won yesterday are unlikely to vote Dem in the fall, right?

— Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) March 2, 2016

True dat. Those Southern blacks of Clinton's firewall will be outnumbered by Southern whites in the general, in all likelihood. OTOH, she tied Iowa and squeaked out Massachusetts.

Raw Story points out several candidates who hung around after passing their sell-by dates. However, it doesn't note that, in general, even if they didn't "suspend" their campaigns, normally, they did just that. The DNC, if Bernie gets to being too much of a pest from its and Clinton's POV, will have him address the convention at 7 a.m. Tuesday rather than 7 p.m. Thursday, or whatever.

TX Progressives discuss Hillary vs Bernie, climate change, more

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that early voting for the 2016 primaries continues through Friday as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at how cases involving Texas may be affected by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Libby Shaw contributing to Daily Kos urges Bernie and Hillary supporters to kiss and make up. Donít be Swindled by a Ham Head.

Not understanding the vitriol of the Clinton campaign's supporters toward their primary challenger, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs provided the polling numbers for the ten states voting on March 1 in hopes that Clintonoids might be able to calm down a little.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme says buckle up for a gay-bashing, theocracy pushing Texas legislature session.

As Apple debates whether to give in to the FBI and supply programming code to unlock an iPhone, Socratic Gadfly moves past the company's civil liberties PR claims to take a skeptical look at its past and its hypocrisy.

Neil at All People Have Value took a good picture of colorful things in Newport, Kentucky. Everyday life has a lot of value. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Texas Sharon says the choice of one more fracking-fueled natural gas power plant, or not, is not a hard one to make.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

David Ortez contends that Antonin Scalia would support President Obama nominating a new Supreme Court justice in his last year in office.

Kathy Mitchell calls for transparent policies regarding police body cameras.

Progress Texas gives three reasons why the Railroad Commissioner race matters.

Primo gives a high-level overview of the Democratic Presidential primary in Texas.

Harold Cook sees no winning scenario for Republicans in the SCOTUS vacancy.

Mark Reynolds advocates for finally putting a price on carbon.

Paradise in Hell is unimpressed with UT's campus carry compromise.

TrailBlazers notes that Marco Rubio is picking up Texas endorsements.

Juanita Jean's talks about the Texas Democratic presidential primary; Prairie Weather calls superdelegates a dirty trick and Somervell County Salon decries Clinton and Clinton camp behavior at the Nevada caucus.

The Citizens Climate Lobby is calling for something long supported by this blog — carbon tax and tariff.

A 2016 election note to Texas Greens (updated)

You face a new challenge. (And, I know you know it, of course.)

For the first time since getting state party-line ballot access, Democrats are running for all statewide offices.

So, to get 5 percent, you're going to have to target one race, maybe two, just maybe three, with your best viable candidates. Real viable candidates. Brandon Parmer types need not reply.

Of the three positions max, this means the Railroad Commission, one of the three Supreme Court places, and/or one of the three Court of Criminal Appeals places.

Given that the Railroad Commission is right up the alley on Greens being green, promoting cleaner energy, etc., and that there's no incumbent in that race, that's the first thought.

All incumbents are running for the state supreme court.

Cheryl Johnson is NOT running for Place 5 on the CCA, though. And, the Democratic candidate, Betsy Johnson, is in a solo practice, which means she probably doesn't have a lot of legal depth she brings to the race. Her Texas Bar page lists, besides criminal practice, real estate and wills/probate.

So, there you go.

And, Texas Greens party leaders, start now. It may sound undemocratic, but, before the party conference, be looking at whoever filed for these two races. (That's assuming people did.) If there's more than one candidate, then by all means, start unofficially picking winners and losers in advance.

And, since you're not playing cat-and-mouse with Democrats on these races this year, don't wait to start publicizing people.

Via David Collins, here's the list of Green candidates for 2016. Martina Salinas is running again for the Railroad Commission. Can she draw more than 2 percent this time?

The other key candidate is Judith Sanders-Castro for CCA Place 5. Collins cautions about the unseemliness, even the ethical concerns, about campaigning for judicial offices. That said, the line between "campaigning" and "issues advocacy" is at times blurry on judicial races, and I'm OK with Sanders-Castro pushing that in CCA 5, since, as I note, that, after RRC, is the best target for the 5 percent. Sanders-Castro ran for CCA Place 4 in 2014, so she's got background. Plus, per her Texas Bar page, she brings more legal background and certifications to the table than Betsy Johnson.

Brains has more insight on the state offices, and Jill Stein, Kent Mesplay and other Green presidential nominees.