Texas Progressives weekly wrangle: True crime, crappy politicos, more!

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes everyone Treason's Greetings, and a #BoomerSooner in the CFP, as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff is doing his best to keep up with filing news.

SocraticGadfly discusses three big bits of political news from around the Metroplex area. First, he offers his initial take on Lupe Valdez's possible entry into the Democratic gubernatorial race. Second, he says good-bye and good riddance to Helen Giddings. Third, he offers a bigger good-bye and good riddance to Smokey Joe Barton.

EgbertoWillies.com wants us all to be on the streets and more engaged in combating the Republican tax cut scam.

Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez had a false start to her gubernatorial campaign last week, and once her bid for the Governor's Mansion is official, it will help carry a lot of downballot Democrats to victory, writes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Harry Hamid went to the Harris County Green Party’s most recent monthly event but was forced to stage an unintentional walkout — while noting the “toxicity.” David Bruce Collins decided he would rather not attend the meeting in the first place, for similar reasons.

Neil at All People Have Value suggested that personhood be taken away from human beings and extended to guns and bullets instead. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

ProPublica looks at the number of polluted military facilities in Texas and elsewhere.

Jim Schutze discusses a true-crime podcast on Commerce’s public radio station. Schutze also offers a big salute to Dallas' new city manager.

Therese Odell reacts to the Matt Lauer news and the reaction to the Lauer news by Donald Trump.

The Lunch Tray asks you to comment on USDA school nutrition standards.

The TSTA Blog keeps pushing back against school privatization untruths.

RG Ratcliffe stuck a fork in Smokey Joe Barton. The StartleGram notes Smokey Joe’s former chief of staff got to the head of the line to replace him.

Bill Barker urges haste in adopting a Climate Action Plan.

Keep Austin Wonky offers his proposal for a 2018 City of Austin infrastructure bond.

So long and good riddance to Helen Giddings in the #txlege

The DeSoto Democrat, a walking definition of gerontocracy (who seems both younger and older than she actually is, I'll admit), in that way as well as in the wasted ConservaDem occupancy of a Texas house seat that should be more liberal, parallels California Senator Dianne Feinstein on both counts.

Fortunately, Tom Craddick "Democrat" Giddings is finally retiring.

In addition to her staying in Texas a decade-plus ago, rather than joining most fellow Dems in the Texas Legislature in fleeing to Oklahoma to block Craddick's illicit-ish mid-decade redistricting plans, she stayed in Austin. Per Wikipedia, her "arrest" in Austin was almost certainly showbiz only.

Beyond that, I've written more than once about her blank checks for big biz in general, and anti-environmentalism in particular. Dems should — and need to — do better with this safe seat rather than continuing to waste it.

They haven't to this point, though; she wasn't primaried for more than a decade since her first election, and only twice after.

Per another recent post, she's the biggest waste of Democratic officeholder space in south Dallas and the south burbs this side of Eddie Bernice Johnson. And I know this about both of them from having spent most of the previous decade in the south Dallas suburbs and never totally taken my eye off the area since then.

I'm not sure who's got a the best shot at replacing her. But, having beaten a federal rap, I suspect that Our Man Downtown, John Wiley Price, might try to put a thumb on the scale. Tennell Atkins? Would he leave the Dallas City Council? Much of his district is in that lege district. Part of Dwaine Caraway's district goes there, too, but I can't see him leaving the mayor pro tem spot. On the other hand, him holding that seat would give him kind of a leg up on JWP.

On the other side of the aisle, I KNOW that Casey Littlejohn (who obviously misread my word "traitor" on Twitter when I retweeted the Snooze's story, and didn't look at my account too closely) has zero chance of winning. A Republican in general has little shot, and one with a cutout website who appears aligned with the Dan Patrick wing (and more and more, the Greg Abbott wing) of the state GOP, has zero chance.

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Update: DeSoto Mayor Carl Sherman is among four Dems to file, and I would guess he has the best shot, followed by Dallas businesswoman Victoria Walton. No Republican is in the race.

New York Times doesn't understand Texas politics

In this "Texas tribune" preview of fallout from midterm elections, we get this totally wrong statement, contrasting state legislative redistricting with Congressional reapportionment:

Legislative redistricting works differently. The number of seats is set, and the people who occupy them in January are the people voting on the changes. A partisan breakdown over the last redistricting maps resulted in a very deliberate work stoppage, with House Democrats leaving the state for Ardmore, Okla., at one point and the Senate Democrats bailing out to Albuquerque at another.

Plain wrong over why state senate Democrats left the state.

As well as being full of omissions.

First, it was Tom DeLay's attempted mid-decade redistricting of Congressional boundaries that caused Democratic walkouts.

Second, note that the story never tells how DeLay's state-level henchmen abused power, in conjunction with him, and sicced regional FAA on the Dems' plane.

Third, the story totally overlooks the role of sellout, turncoat Democrats such as Helen Giddings in undermining the Democrats' flights in the first place.

That said, the story does note that a Democratic Department of Justice, namely the Civil Rights Division, will clamp down on the worst gerrymandering.

Ellis County rabble-rouser stirs up south suburban Dallas

While there were many fine, upstanding residents of Cedar Hill and various Ellis County cities at the special hearing on Loop 9 in Cedar Hill April 23, there was more than a small scattering of people bringing some baggage to the event.

Let me put it this way.

When you get the normally mild-mannered, low-key Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke so riled up he shows his anger to you, and tells you that you need to learn some respect ... (that said, years later, we've learned that Rob Franke's public persona is full of shit; background to that here).

If you know Rob, you know you've crossed a line. If you don't, you need to learn.

Other than that, we had, in my guesstimate, about two dozen of the 225 or so attendees who stayed for much of the Texas Department of Transporation presentation who regularly talked over TxDOT representatives attempts to answer their questions.

We had other people broaching conspiracy theories, like the person who got Franke upset in part by claiming local officials were nothing but "moles," or pawns under the control of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

So "congratulations" to the Ellis Countian now in New Hampshire, Joey Dauben, for stirring up some of these people.

And all for a road that, as Cedar Hill ISD Boardmember Valerie Banks noted, won't be built for several years. (If it's built at all.)

As for the Trans Texas Corridor tie-in, it's true that TxDOT still has TTC -style concepts for some local toll roads. But, Loop 9, as one of those toll roads, was proposed long before the TTC was around. And, given that Loop 9 is, in essence, the southern parallel to the Bush Turnpike, if it is built, and built as a toll road, it could well be run by the North Texas Tollway Authority, if anybody.

If you want a better target for your anger, tell Gov. Perry and the Lege to stop diverting gas tax money to the general fund. And tell both of them to do more with long-term bond indebtedness rather than toll roads.


That said, it was interesting to see Dallas County Judge Jim Foster in south suburban Dallas in the flesh for pretty much the first time since he got elected.

Try us, you might like us, judge.

It was just as interesting, if not more so, to see him and his nemesis, County Commissioner John Wiley Price, at the same table.

(Note: Original post corrected here, to reflect that Giddings was NOT at meeting. Between being far enough away from the front, and a bit nearsighted, I made a mistake.)

Speaking of that, I've asked Dauben on several of his blogs (which are not going to get linked here) if he wouldn't like to own up to any mistakes in any of his coverage, or "angles" he has, and so far, the sound has been...

Crickets! (No surprise there, though. And that's why none of his blogs are being linked here.)

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Update, Aug. 22, 2021: Besides "Sunflower" and his other groupies who trailed him, at the Ellis County Observer, Dauben had as one of his flunkies a guy named Ali Akbar, who also allegedly was working on the Texas effort for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Today, you know him as "Stop the Steal" thief Ali Alexander. Dauben, per this piece, back then thought Akbar (already then a convicted felon) was shady as shit, claiming that Akbar/Alexander had talked back then of ways to rig an election. And, if Joey Dauben thought that ...

 

Update, April 17, 2023: Akbar/Alexander now accused of soliciting "dick pics" from followers of Nick Fuentes. Says he's been "battling" same-sex attraction. Uses "so gay" as a slur. Statement, via Twitter, claims he's done nothing illegal. Other than possibly breaking the law if any of these were of minors (and hence highly illegal), sounds like he needs to stop battling and start accepting being bisexual. Plus, it's all about the money. Milo Yiannopoulos (THAT Milo) ratted on him after he and Fuentes cut him out of a "potentially lucrative" position with Kanye West's presidential run. (Was this 2020, or is he looking at another in 2024? YE gads.) And, rats like Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to dissociate from both. 

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Akbar/Alexander new update, Feb. 16, 2025: More on the Alexander is allegedly gay. Gives a whole new angle to his connection to Dauben. 

Helen Giddings for Dallas County Judge?

She says she’s interested. And, more interestingly, she says she’s been approached.

Assuming that was by Dallas County Democratic leaders, it would mean that they’re worried about incumbent Jim Foster’s ability, as well as the possibility that a John Wiley Price-controlled sockpuppet could win the nomination but lose the general election.

Giddings, who has a reputation for bipartisanship in the Lege down in Austin, would be tough for the GOP to defeat. She’s never given any indication of being under the control of Price. And, with 16 years, now, in the Lege, she has plenty of experience.

Sounds like a winner to me, if her interest translates into a run.

My initial Tom Craddick prediction

Can Tom Craddick get re-elected as Speaker of the Texas House? Like two years ago, he claims he has the votes while Dems and anti-Craddick Republicans say he doesn't.

Who's right?

Well, the Dallas Morning News has a rundown of the 64 committed, or theoretically so, anti-Craddick Democrats.

No shock, but PLENTY of disgust, that DeSoto's Helen Giddings does NOT have her name on that letter. Just what the hell is she getting from Craddick? More than just committee assignments? Does Tom keep her "sprightly" in some way?

The News has more on the anti-Craddick chess board at this point, as well.

All of which leads to my take.

If only 64 of the 74 Dems in the Texas House have signed the anybody-but-Craddock pledge<, and at least a few of them are squishes, then I would have to say his chances of keeping the speakership are at least 50-50.

Craddock opponents may counsel that House Republicans who lead the anti-Craddock charge have yet to center on one prime opponent, and that, when this happens, then Democratic support against Craddock will solidify.

I disagree.

To counter that, I note that Craddock has yet to, publicly at least, dole out goodies to Craddock Democrats of the recent past. And, if necessary, he may offer to change his behavior this session or even apologize for some rough elbows in the past, he could shore up his support.

Sayonara for Kid CraddicK?

We can only hope — right, Helen Giddings?

With Democrats gaining a minimum of two seats in the Texas House and possibly even the four seats necessary to knot the House at 75-all, Tom Craddick’s days as Speaker might be numbered.

Unlike 2006, no “name” Republicans have filed for the seat, but Longview’s Tommy Merritt has thrown in his hat.

Numerous Democrats are interested:

Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, and Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, both filed for the speaker contest Wednesday.

Both are popular moderates, considered able to work with Republicans. Other Democrats in the race are Houston Reps. Sylvester Turner, a friend of Mr. Craddick, and Senfronia Thompson, a popular liberal member.

But, “Craddick Democrats” like DeSoto’s Helen Giddings are going to have to break their addiction, stop claiming they can deliver more for their districts by siding with Craddick, and do the right thing.

Especially if Dems get four seats and Craddick Democrats like Giddings remain stubborn, they could end on the wrong side of the vote and wind up in the political wilderness.

Green shame on both old and new Texas state reps, namely Helen Giddings and Lois Kolkhorst

Helen Giddings, state rep at my old newspaper company, and soon to be my new newspaper company, and Lois Kolkhorst, state rep at my current job, both didn’t score so well in Environment Texas’ biennial rankings of legislators on their environmental votes.

In the House, Giddings, a Democrat, theoretically, from DeSoto, only scored 50 percent this year and has a 61 percent lifetime rating. Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican, was bad at 33 percent, though that’s better than her lifetime rating of 24 percent.

Of course, I haven’t considered Giddings a real Democrat ever since she sold out to House Speaker Tom Craddick over Tom DeLay’s Congressional redistricting meddling.

On the Senate side, South Dallas Democrat Royce West was good but not great at 71 percent; south/east suburban Dallas Republican Bob Duell was OK at 57 percent. Down here in southeast Texas, Republican Steve Ogden was at 43 percent.

Texas House Speaker’s battle: Lancaster area possible fallout

Talk is that Rep. Helen Giddings, the “Democrat” who hitched her star to current Republican Speaker Tom Craddick, would lose her slot as chairwoman of the Business and Industry Committee, a reward to her staying in Austin during the federal Congressional redistricting brouhaha of a couple of years past, if Waxahachie’s Jim Pitts unseats Craddick.

If that’s the case, sounds like a good reason to hope Pitts is elected.

As for her worries about clean air in the area, I sure haven’t seen her leaning hard on TXU over its plan for more coal-fired power plants, as far as her using the power of the committee’s chair.

Update, Jan. 10: Well, that was quick. The pre-vote on open votes sunk Pitts, and Giddings voted the Craddick way on that. Yeesh.