Patriotism is the last refuge of a Texas Senate Democrat

Per the old adage that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, on Dan Patrick's Senate Bill 4, the "Star Spangled Fellatio Act," the scoundrel level is almost as high among Senate Democraps as Rethuglicans. Once again, for left-hand duopolists asking why I'm not a Democrap, Royce West (D-Our Man Downtown) saying this would be good for promoting national pride is why.

 Mark Cuban understands this issue 100 times as much as West. And, it's not like West faces any challenge for his state senate seat, and I doubt he has another run for statewide office planned. So, I guess he really believes this shit. Per something I read on Twitter yesterday that many conservatives worry about "too many" liberals in academia because they think they'll practice indoctrination because conservatives would, well, ConservaDems would too. 

What next, ConservaDems saying "My country, right or wrong?"

Kudos to Sarah Eckhardt and Nathan Johnson for voting no. (José Menéndez had an excused absence. We'll see if he says anything in the future.) A smackdown to allegedly more progressive Senatecritters like Donna Campbell and Judith Zaffirini.

I know the quote's background, and per Boswell's original backgrounder to Samuel Johnson's statement, it fits Senate Democraps, the two exceptions above noted, perfectly.

Texas Progressives: Voting shenanigans, Seth Rich news, more

Lots, lots of stuff related to elections, Texana, Trump Train snowflakes melting in the heat, Royce West kicking MJ Hegar, and more.

We've got regional, statewide and national political and non-political news both, in fact, so let's dig in.

North Texas

SocraticGadfly asks if the Sunday morning programming of Dallas' WRR, entering its centennial year, violates the First Amendment.

Let's hope Flower Mound's Jason Lata pays through the ass on the civil side, and police find more charges on the criminal side.

What, Oncor lie about environmentalism?

Houston

The Houston Chronicle and The Root give Monica Roberts a suitable eulogy. 

John Coby is puzzled by the Harris County Republican Party's latest campaign finance report.

The Texas Civil Rights Project reports how Fort Bend ISD helped gets its 18-year-old students registered to vote.

Texas-non election

Meet Nate Paul, the man behind who a bunch of (presumably now former) friends of Texas AG Ken Paxton have asked for both state and federal investigations of him.

Off the Kuff hardly knows where to begin when there's three years' worth of news in a single week, but start here and then follow the other links to get an intro and somewhat deep dive into the burgeoning new Ken Paxton scandal.

Meet Shaun Lucas, whose egregious fatal shooting of Jonathan Price was so bad the Rangers recommended a murder charge. More on Price, the incident and Wolfe City here.

Grits for Breakfast highlights the extremely politicized nature of Greg Abbott's complaints about local police funding.

Texas-elections

This is about exactly the date I expected for the SD30 runoff. Abbott buried it on Dec. 19, hoping to bury Shelley Luther enthusiasm, no doubt.

Rethugs are challenging curbside / drive-through early voting lanes. Given the state Supremes said earlier this summer that "don't ask, don't tell" was the constitutionally correct stance for county clerks and election offices on people claiming a medical reason for an early ballot, if rightly ruled, the Rethugs will lose this one. What's also funny is that you have SoS Ruth Hughs having already OKed this before Kenny Boy Paxton decided to try to bigfoot it.

Speaking of lose? A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, at the federal level, upheld a district judge in ruling SB8, Texas' attempt last year to severely restrict second-trimester abortion, is unconstitutional.

A big regular election Texas Senate battle shapes up in SD19, as Dems hope to reclaim a seat they long have held.

Combine Lupe Valdez' mismanagement at Lew Sterrett in Dallas County with some of the wingnuttery, and wingnut-pedestaling, of Joe Arpaio, and you have Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Weybourn.

Without Green David Bruce Collins and without Libertarian Kerry McKennon, I didn't watch the Texas Senate debate between former Libertarian voter MJ Hegar, representing ConservaDems, and Ted Cruz' lapdog, John Cornyn.

And, speaking of speaking of? Royce West said he wasn't voting for her, in part because she is "crazy" (hey, Royce, she's a former Libertarian) and because she didn't ask for his endorsement. That led to this WHOPPER level lie by her:

"She has never reached out and it is what is with her and I’m not voting for her, I’m not voting in that race," West told the Statesman. ...

At the debate, Hegar said she hadn't reached out to West because it was not her style to seek such endorsements. "Personal endorsements tend to come with quid pro quo that I believe are a big part of what's broken in politics," Hegar said. 

She added that she believes "Sen. West is supporting me, because I know that we’re on the same page and we share so many of the same values."

Hegar? My newspaper email inbox has been full of endorsements you have touted. I'm sure you went hunting for them, and know they have strings attached.

Matt Angle compares our current moment in state politics to the 80s, when Texas went from Democratic to Republican.

Texana

The Monthly previews a pending Willie Nelson special issue.

Tom Hanks' new Western movie is due out at Christmastime. Assume you'll be watching it at home on pay-to-stream rather than in a theater.

Hispanic racism (as in BY, not against) remains on display in El Paso. The part about the Klan — and Gutzon Borglund — having connections to the Oñate statue is new to me; the rest of the history, to this person who grew up in New Mexico, is not.

Meet Dr. Marcellus Cooper, Texas' first black dentist, finally getting historically recognized.

National-non election

Twitter has until Oct. 20 to reveal information about who's behind the account @whyspertech, which created a fake alleged FBI document that was a major factor in fueling the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. It's about damned time. Note also my extensively updated post on Ed Butowsky and Ty Clevenger.

"Murder, They Say." Pro Publica reports that feds in Portland — including and primarily local and state law enforcement deputized by the feds — did not identify themselves before fatally shooting Michael Forest Reinoehl. (That said, and not excusing feds' behavior, this doesn't whitewash the fact that he was kind of a lefty wingnut.)

The Overton Window is real. Contra Politico, Rob Portman is not a "moderate."

"Nice" to see Orthodox Jews fully uphold being part of the Religious Right, including on being anti-mask coronavirus conspiracy theorists.

Between age and now, apparently, age-driven dementia, plus that she's never been that pergressuve, Sen. Betty Crocker, I mean Diane Feinstein, is a poster child for what's wrong with national Democrats in general, and even more, California Democrats in particular.

Silicon Valley? Hucksterman's pro-winger leanings are not an anomaly.

George Floyd's uncle lives in Gettysburg, S.D., which for JUST 11 of its 137 years, has incorporated the Confederate battle flag in its city logo until he called it out. The wingnuts, in a town settled in part by Civil War Union vets, went ballistic. Then, as an ex-Missouri Synod Lutheran, is this unsurprising bit.

Pastor David Otten of the local Emmanuel Lutheran Church declined to address the conflict. He issued broad guidance: “When you post something on Facebook, are you building the person up or are you tearing them down? We’re supposed to be building people up.”

The denomination says its officially got anti-racism initiatives, but this is more its reality.

In addition, that patch? Goes back to the old "reconciliation" meeting at Gettysburg of Union and Confederate veterans which had no Black involvement. The reunion, in 1913, got Woodrow Wilson's official whitewash imprimatur, and, we all know about Wilson's long racist history even before becoming president. So, the chief at the time saying "no harm" was meant? Either a liar or an idiot.

And, contra the wingnuts, other than one lone flyer, no, Confederate veterans were NOT involved with the settlement.

Mark Pitcavage provides a bit of background on that Michigan terrorist attempt to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

National-election

Your political laugh for the week: "Navajos for Trump."

Your political non-laugh for the week: The Dallas FBI office has warned about an election-based breakout of far-right extremism.

Havana Ted Cruz is worried about a national "bloodbath of Watergate proportions" for the GOP.

With the town hall debate cancelled, what are the odds that, due to more petulance by Trump, the final one is cancelled as well? And, if you're tired of both duopoly candidates, won't you be glad?

Top blogging for September

Calling out the Dallas Observer for running a hit job piece about a wind farm was No. 1.

Decrying John Brockman's work in promoting the science connected "influencer" work of Jeffrey Epstein was No. 2.

Both those led well ahead of others.

Noting that former San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick was NOT going to the Pittsburgh Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger went down with an elbow injury, and also was NOT going to the New Orleans Saints as a short-term replacement for Drew Brees, was No. 3.

A blast from the past, from MANY years past, was in No 4. "Show me the Trig Palin birth certificate" gained new life when Sarah and Todd appeared to be divorcing, per legal filing, at Wasilla, Bum Fuck Egypt borough, Alaska.

The updated baggage of Royce West was No. 5.

Who are the neoliberal NGOs and minders behind Greta Thunberg was No. 6.

Calling out Liza Featherstone for giving Bernie Sanders a family values pass was No. 7.

Ranking Democratic presidential candidates by cult level was No. 8.

Pointing out that American Indians, whether pre-Columbian or post-Columbian, aren't always environmentalists was No. 9.

Top blogging from August, to go meta, was No. 10.

Royce West baggage, the latest and greatest

I have repeatedly mentioned the "baggage" that Royce West would carry into this race. Well, his financial disclosures show yet more of that. He's worth between $9-$28 million, and — shades of Tony Sanchez — runs a tax consulting company in partnership with the company of GOP megadonor G. Brint Ryan.

Who? The Trib explains:

Ryan is a multi-millionaire Dallas tax consultant and CEO of Ryan LLC. He and his company’s political action committees have poured millions into the coffers of state and federal campaigns and political causes — mostly benefiting GOP candidates — including over $100,000 to the Republican National Committee and the party’s congressional fundraising arm since Donald Trump was elected president, according to state and federal filings. 

Ryan also served as a tax adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign and his company paid the $100,000 fee for Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial 2017 speech at the University of North Texas, where Ryan serves on the system’s board of regents, according to published reports. Ryan’s state PACs have given West at least $37,000 for his Texas Senate campaigns since 2006, state filings show.

That's PLENTY of oops right there.

Being in bed with a Trumper in this election is HORRIBLE optics. And, there's no Eddie Bernice Johnson to bail him out on this one, and it's not a local race. The Trib notes that federal election reporting requirements (didn't Julian Castro a few weeks ago teach you that?) are much stricter than the Tom DeLay bullshit here in Texas.

But, but, that's not all.

West reported a 40 percent stake in RyanWest LLC, which touts itself as a minority-owned company. As a partner in the firm, he also reported receiving $20,800 over the period covered by the federal report. It’s not clear who else has an ownership stake in the firm.

It IS clear to these eyeballs, though, that that's a violation of the spirit of minority-owned companies, unless other minorities own 11 percent AND were not fronted ownership money by Royce.

The Trib also notes that some of West’s financial filings conflict with other financial filings.

Oh? He and his staff also engaged in the self-inflicted wound of “not returning phone calls.”

If that, plus what I've linked about West's connections to the Dallas Inland Port shenanigans, his abandonment of South Dallas development after he got his UNT-Dallas built and other things isn't enough? If the Trib's federal campaign filing analysis isn't enough?

A full decade ago, Jim Schutze had a laundry list of All Things Royce in the ethics world. That, in turn, leads me to the question of whether money or power motivates him more.

Of course, should he run the gantlet of the Democratic primary successfully AND topple John Cornyn in the general, he'll have less of either. He'll be a first-term backbencher, one of 100 rather than one of 31. He'll have to be a full-time Congresscritter, not a part-time Legiscritter with a grifting (for both power and money) law office. All of his current legal clients among school districts would likely drop him like a hot potato if having him on retainer threatened federal education funds for them.

I’ll give you 50-50 odds that Royce West turns out to be the Loopy Lupe Valdez of the 2020 primary. The difference is that, with credible opponents, he’s not getting the nomination.

Texas Progressives tell Texas wingnuts: Climate change is still very real

Texas Progressives remind the climate change skeptics and denialists inside the Pointy Abandoned Object State™ that just because Texas has been missing its usual midsummer heat wave this year, that doesn't refute that July globally is on pace for a new all-time record. If there were a hell, you folks could bake there instead.

And with that, here's this week's roundup.

Global

SocraticGadfly invites you to be Simon and Garfunkel and picture the sounds of silence that a truly Green, Green New Deal on climate change would bring.

Dallas

Just who is Robert Jeffress, anyway, besides the Trump-fellating pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas? Despite my joke about Trump having nudies of him, a longform piece at Texas Monthly says that while he IS a "roast in hell you sinners" fundamentalist nutty enough to claim the Bible doesn't fully have anything to say about particular economic systems (truth is, Bob, it has NOTHING to say there), and he won't apologize for supporting Trump, he's not a wingnut in every way. Interestingly, he doesn't like the GOP on gunz, AND without saying "single payer," he thinks we need something better than Obamacare.

Well, Rev. Bob, meet Rev. Deanna Hollis, just named by the Presbyterian Church USA as its first national minister of gun violence prevention. All you have to do is drive up the road to Richardson and be as non-partisanly ecumenical as you claim.

Jim Schutze explains why the Red Bird Mall area won't be redeveloped anytime soon.


Houston

David Bruce Collins is upset enough to have not one but two posts about North Houston highway development bloated widening ideas.

Speaking from Houston, but really speaking to all Texas cities eyeing endless rounds of lane widening, Chris Tomlinson says this on Twitter:

Cities will always need cars for the disabled and other special purposes. But the idea that driving alone to work on a public-funded road is a birthright has got to end. Scooters will solve more problems than they cause.

— ChrisTomlinson (@cltomlinson) July 29, 2019

Well put.

Mean Green Cougar Red mourns the demolition of the First Pasadena Bank.

John Coby says good-bye to his Congressman, Pete Olson.


Texas Lege and Texas Politics

Intra-GOP scuffles have Republican activists like "Mucus" Sullivan claiming Speaker Dennis Bonnen has it out for them. He's now firing back.

Telling Greg Abbott to shut up about his call for tough enforcement of state pot laws, a group of central Texas Dems says the laws themselves remain the problem — laws they tried to change.

Stephen Young notices how one-note the Republican response to Democratic Senate candidates is.

Off the Kuff looks at the July campaign finance reports from Congressional candidates.

The Texas Observer reminds us that a lot of people die on the job in Texas.

A three-judge federal panel, sounding like the state supreme court on school finance four years ago, wagged their collective finger at the state but they refused to put it back under Voting Rights Act preclearance.

The rural hospital closure crisis continues.

National

Donald Trump named 1st District wingnut and hack Congresscritter John Ratcliffe — who I personally know is a wingnut and a hack — as his director of national intelligence nominee.

Bob the Knob O'Rourke asks an Obama veteran to bail out his failing and flailing prez campaign.

Brains previewed this week's Dem debate round in his Weekly 2020.

Louie Gohmert once again was Gohmert Pyle.

Better Texas Blog decries the proposals to gut SNAP.

Paradise in Hell interprets Donald Trump's interpretation of the Constitution.

Texas Progressives think there's too many ConservaDems

A plague of ConservaDems erupted over Texas Monday, with Royce West's announcement he was running for Senate and Wendy Davis jumping in the 21st District Congressional race. Surprisingly, given her 2014 iconic image, her website is NOT plastered in pink.

Well, this outpost of the Texas Progressive Alliance tackles that and much more.


Dallas

SocraticGadfly shows and describes why Texas arts aficionados who have any chance to see the late-life Monet exhibit at the Kimball need to go.

Here's more on how climate change's heat will affect the area.


Houston

David Bruce Collins has questions for Metro and bike riding in greater Houston.

Off the Kuff looks at the young candidates for City Council in Houston, where the municipal electorate tends to be pretty old.

Streetsblog cheers Houston's elimination of minimum parking requirements in two near-downtown neighborhoods.

Texas politics

Wingnut leaders of our state deplore large county prosecutors dropping pot cases because the state has legalized hemp and they can't test THC that precisely.

Royce West is in the Senate race, and beyond his baggage and ignoring his one key state senate issue, is in the race as a clear ConservaDem. I'm sure some of Kuff's fanbois, if not Kuff himself, are gloating and perhaps hoping I'll eat crow. No problem. I admitted at the link that I was wrong, and stated why I think I was wrong. You're still wrong about puffing him.

Wendy Davis, perhaps without pink tennis shoes, is back and running for Congress. Why?

Indivisible Houston commits to flipping Texas in 2020. (With who, per my two ConservaDem comments above, plus my past take on the Indivisible movement, remains to be seen.)

Better Texas Blog urges a vote against HJR38, the double secret illegal anti-income tax constitutional amendment.

Juanita applauds former CCA Justice Elsa Alcala's departure from the Republican Party.

Texana

The Texas Observer reports on how the Texas Department of Environmental Quackery wants to let Port Arthur petrochemical plants do more polluting.

The biggest wingnuts in Texas' anti-abortion movement are stealing language from the fight against slavery.

Clayton Williams is still a grifter, this time with West Texas water.


National

In his weekly Dems 2020, Brains has a long pullout from an In These Times piece. It's about how the focus on more small donors has itself given rise to a cottage industry of rounding up small donors, being done by corporations such as ad agencies. Worse yet, a lot of the begging, pleading and groveling for, and hawking of, "bundled" small donors (no other phrase for it) is being done on Fuckbook.

RIP Mark Kleiman, an overrated classist hypocrite in the War on Drugs. The truth is that addiction cuts across race, class and socioeconomic guidelines, so if Kleiman really were worried about pot potency, he should have looked at ritzy pot shops just as much as worrying about Walmart. I first saw this via Popehat's Twitter; Ken, if you're going to write over-the-top, and IMO untrue, encomia (Kleiman was NOT a "giant of his field") I'll Tweet out the reality, as I already did Tuesday night with those links.

Dos Centavos scoffs at the weak Republican response to Trump's latest racist diatribe.
Jim Schutze mixes scoffing, snark and deeper sarcasm in response to all the people saying they'll leave America if Trump is re-elected. Presuming I vote Green again, Jim, I'll be staying, and don't condemn me for costing a bad Democratic candidate. Otherwise, I totally agree with the story. Get a grip, folks. Get politically involved at all levels. And, to loop this back and move beyond Jim? Stop voting for ConservaDems.

White and black evangelical Xn women remain unreconciled after Sparrow in Dallas, and even appear to have moved further apart.

The Lunch Tray wants a real federal response to lunch shaming.

The NOT "battle-tested" Royce West jumps in Cornyn race

Texas State Sen. Royce West has jumped in the race to face John Cornyn, months after Julian Castro did his own Hamlet, while more candidates entered the race in the meantime.

Don't forget to tip the multiple Pullman folks who will be handling your baggage, Royce. And, that Dallas Inland Port and other John Wiley Price baggage doesn't even include the baggage of lobbyists which I didn't mention in the original. Nor does it include the baggage of grifting on your legal contracts with Dallas ISD, which I did belatedly add.

I wonder how much the fake "Mr. Ethics," Chris Bell, will jump on this. After all, he needs a signature issue to boost his viability and visibility, and this is tailor made for the person he once presented himself as being in the Lege.

Besides that past "baggage," it's time to critique what West said today.

First, you're NOT "battle tested." Your past election history is full of cakewalks. You faced a token Republican in 2012, a re-run of him plus a Libertarian in 2014, and NOBODY in the 2018 general election. Let's go back further. Un-primaried and un-generaled in 2002. Ditto in 2004.

In fact, you've NEVER been primaried. "Battle tested" my ass.

Second, "affordable universal health care" could mean all sorts of shit, as Beto O'Rourke used similar language. Unless you explicitly say "single payer" or "Medicare for all," smart minds can only assume you're against it, Royce. That squares with Mark Jones of Rice saying that West will be looking for Biden voters.

Let's also note that he will be the oldest candidate in the primary. Given that many Texas Dems are following the national trend of looking for younger, fresher voices, this isn't such a good thing.

I will credit West for everything he's done in the Texas Senate on the issue of racial profiling. But I'm not going to let pass his history of grifting off his law office, his ties to John Wiley Price — especially over the Dallas Inland Port — and other issues.

And, contra my initial prediction, maybe the age issue has something to do with him running. He's 66, and so what if he has baggage. If he loses here, he's not up for re-election on his state senatecritter seat for three more years. And, he's never been primaried.

With that, I don't know which is sadder — the number of Lege seats the Dems haven't even tried to contest in past elections, or the number of their own seats where incumbents have never, ever been primaried.

Texas Progressives wonder about Jim Schutze, Julian Castro, Royce West, Ken Paxton, Jay Inslee, Mount Vernon

An interesting people-centered week here in the Roundup. Several people engaging in questionable thought processes or actions all at the same time in the last week. And, that's not to mention ongoing nuttery over the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.

With that, dive in and see what I'm talking about in this week's issue.

Dallas

Jim Schutze says the city of Dallas is probably going to lose another battle over Jim’s Car Wash in South Dallas.

Unfortunately, Schutze also continues to be a personal PR agency for Amber Guyger, apparently willfully ignoring her family social media photos, as when he claims there’s nothing to connect her fatal shooting of Botham Jean to race. I like about 90 percent of what Big Jim says, but when he’s wrong, he’s WAY wrong. And I'm pretty sure he's seen those pix before. He also doesn't discuss that courts have refused changes of venue on more serious, more legitimate grounds (whether true or not). This is not to say that Guyger's act necessarily was racial, it is to say Schutze's wrong when he makes his blanket statement that it was not.

Robot baggage handlers are getting a trial at DFW Airport.


Houston

Dos Centavos is keeping an eye on what local Houston officials are saying about the ICE raids.

Juanita recognizes Rep. Gene Wu for his words and actions on the ICE raids.

Texas politics

Kenny Boy Paxton and Gov. Strangeabbott can lose state as well as federal lawsuits. A state district judge has dismissed most the lawsuit they filed against San Antonio's sanctuary city stance. If that holds on appeal, we'll have all sorts of fallout.

As Royce West continues to play Hamlet / get fellated by Gromer Jeffers and Kuff, Latin@ activists, apparently ignoring or not caring about Sema Hernandez (I'm going to have an update on her soon) want Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez to run for Senate. Patrick Svitek, like Gromer Jeffers, and the mainly NOT Latin@s Svitek's story cites, apparently willfully can't find the name of Sema Hernandez with both hands. And she's not the only Hispanic who's already officially filed. Rather, if some of these people have serious ties to Bob O'Rourke, they're more fauxgressives than progressives.

At the Texas Observer, Michael Barajas calls out Julián Castro for turd polishing his record as San Antonio mayor, especially on housting. Schutze's done the same on his record as HUD secretary.

Off the Kuff wrote about the Obamacare hearing at the Fifth Circuit.

Christopher Hooks notes the egregious hypocrisy of Chip Roy and Ted Cruz when it comes to executive authority and the rule of law.

Better Texas Blog has the crazy idea that our state should treat asylum-seeking migrant families with respect and dignity.

Better Texas Blog has the crazy idea that our state should treat asylum-seeking migrant families with respect and dignity.

Texana

The newly football-recrazed folks of Mount Vernon, Texas, are lying to themselves first, and the general public second, if they really believe that their new Old Ball Coach, Baylor’s sexual abuse enabling Art Briles, was “clearly wronged.” What's clear is that former D(r)unca(ke)nville High and KU hoops star Greg Ostertag is politician enough about it to be mayor of Mount Vernon.

The Rivard Report commemorates 80 years of Planned Parenthood in San Antonio.

White supremacists are stepping up college recruiting, says Silas Allen at the Dallas Observer.

RIP to the talented but troubled Rip Torn.

My own RIP to the interesting but hypocritical and nutty Ross Perot.

National

SocraticGadfly says the most egregiously wrong ruling of this Supreme Court term was not the gerrymandering case but seven justices, including two liberals, hating First Amendment religious freedoms.

Speaking of, Gadfly also says RIP John Paul Stevens, a "librul" only by Rehnquist and Roberts Court modern SCOTUS standards.

Border Patrol agents speaking candidly tell Pro Publica that the inhumanity in the detention camps has become ever more accepted. One military veteran says its growing acceptance "is kind of like torture in the army."

Brains updates his Dems 2020 with kind words about Nate's Liver, I mean Nate Silver.

Beto-mania vanishes as more people learn the truth about Bob the Knob. (He's too downtrending to qualify for the header this week, even.)

Egberto Willies wonders if Jay Inslee and/or his staff have some racial issues. Note: Sea-Tac is definitely white majority, and even the core, King County, is white majority by several percentage points against all other minorities combined, with blacks behind both Asians and Hispanics. And, outstate Washington, outside of Hispanics concentrated in farm areas, is highly white.

Jeff St. Clair of Counterpunch gets it right on left-wingnut hawking of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.:

"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. 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."

Couldn't have said it better myself, Jeff, even as I'm on a Twitter thread debate about Rich.

In addition to driving while black and cooking while black, we now have policing while black.

Paradise in Hell muses about Vice Presidents.

Top blogging in June

These are not necessarily blog posts written in June, but ones most popular with readers in the last month.

Topping my list was my call-out of pergressuves (you, Bernie) who want single-payer, but without reining in doctor and hospital prices. I stand by the idea that I don't want the government to go broke on health care costs any more than private individuals.

Second was my statement that I doubt Royce West will seek the Democratic nomination to run against John Cornyn. As of now, I stand by that.

Third was my D-Day post, focused on everything Nigel Hamilton got wrong as well as right in the last book of his trilogy about FDR as Commander in Chief.

Fourth was my reminder — forgotten by the MSM and the courts as well as many librulz at times — that the First Amendment has five freedoms it protects.

Fifth was celebrating the 75th anniversary of Big Bend as a national park.

Sixth was noting how the Lege screwed small school districts.

Seventh, surprisingly, was my writing about online dating pretentiousness from a Beto backer.

TX Progressives: Lege screws schools, Abbott screws science Happy Birthday Big Bend, 2020 previews, Dallas politics

As Gov. Greg Abbott hit the "sign" or "die" deadline Sunday after the Texas Lege's "sine die" wrapup, this week's Texas Progressives roundup nears the finish line of what the Lege did, and did not do, and what Abbott signed off on, from what it did send to him, along with learning the fate of Bobby Lee, discussing the fate of Eric Johnson, and other things.


The Lege

The Lege has apparently royally screwed over smaller school districts in House Bill 3.

The Religious Right laments winning relatively little beyond the save Chick-fil-A nuttery.

The Lege is finally paying for state parks.

But it gave itself an even bigger pass and loopholes on not being covered by public records laws with HB 4181.


Abbott

In one of his wingnut "freedom" moves, and in one of his wingnut "ignoring science" moves, Abbott vetoed a bill requiring rear-facing car seats for toddlers. It may have been another of his revenge vetoes, too.

He did, smartly, use an executive order to extend the life of the State Board of Plumbing Examiners. That also reduces the chances of a special session. (It's also an argument for Texas to have an every-year, rather than banana-republic every-other-year, legislature.)

And he was a weasel in letting the aforementioned HB 4181 become law without his signature.

But, he did legalize industrial hemp and CBD oil.



Texana

SocraticGadfly, through words and pictures from his many trips there, celebrates the 75th anniversary of Big Bend as a national park; besides the pictures in the blog post, a sunset to the west of Big Bend, near Marfa, is pictured at left. (Marfa might still be worth a visit, before getting totally Californicated or Austifornicated.)

 Mean Green Cougar Red celebrates twenty years in the real world.

 Miya Shay scolds the University of Houston for swiping a photographer's work.

What? A Burger?

What? A Burger? is now coming to you from Chitown City as the national hamburger of the Pointy Abandoned Object State™ sells not just a minority stake, as originally rumored, but a majority stake of itself to Chicago investors.

 Dan Solomon is not okay with the sale of What? A Burger?.

Like most Texas "national foods," with the exception of barbecue, it's overrated, IMO. Thus, tweets like:

Ok, I say we all chip in and buy Whataburger back. Make honey butter chicken biscuits available all day, add kolaches to the menu and change nothing else. Especially not the ketchup. https://t.co/HadutHXJ9l

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) June 14, 2019

Are actually kind of funny.

Now, if Whataburger had a good green chile (correct spelling, Texans) burger like New Mexico chain Lotaburger, we'd be talking.

Dallas

Stephen Young asks if the mayor's office is a likely dead end for Eric Johnson. (My answer? On elected politics, at least, yes.) That said, I disagree on one thing; I think Eddie Bernice's seat is Royce West's for the asking first, if he wants it, then Eric Johnson's second.

Young also reports who bought the Bobby Lee statue; the company no-commented.

And, he also notes the city lost a bunch of money settling a porn convention lawsuit.

Jim Schutze reports that one of Dallas' police unions wants chief U. Renee Hall canned.

The crane that killed a downtown Dallas woman should have been able to withstand winds twice as high as what actually brought it down. So what else was wrong and how does this tie to the city's and state's bad record on crane accidents?


State and national politics

Wingnut rural voters who surely, overall, hate single-payer health care despite its likely lowering of costs, and also back their wingnut state politicos in hating Obamacare Medicaid expansion, also hate paying taxes to keep a rural hospital open and will surely refuse to connect the dots.

ConservaDem Henry Cuellar is getting primaried. Meet Jessica Cisneros.

Greater Houston Greens are NOT imploding. David Bruce Collins clears up the mystery of who now owns the party website.

Congressional Dems are fighting back on wall funding.

The Trib looks at Red vs Blue Texas (And ignores Green Texas, whatever color Libertarians identify with, etc.) to see possible Democratic flips in the U.S. House and both houses of the Lege. It also offers up the latest presidential polling.

Stephen Young reports that Former Fetus and Forever Fuckwad Jonathan Stickland has a potential new residence. Judging by the polling in his House district getting tighter and that the Religious Right didn't get much out of this Lege cycle, some of his district might help him move.

Brains offers a Democratic debate preview in his latest 2020 roundup.

Therese Odell says her own goodbye to Lyin’ Sarah Palin.

Off the Kuff has had it with national writers who are clueless about who is running for Senate in Texas. (He has not asked them to mention Sema Hernandez more, I don't think, though I won't snark as much as Brains. And in any case, IMO, Royce West ain't running.)

As Bernie Sanders continue to call himself a "democratic socialist," more and more national magazines are asking "just what does 'socialism' mean in America"?

AOC has called for Congressional pay raises. Nope. Fix the three-day Congresscritter work week, and fix the issue behind that by passing federal campaign financing for Congresscritters, then we'll talk about pay raises. Congresscritters currently get $174K in base salary plus franking money and other expenses. Howie at Down with Tyranny calls out Steny Hoyer for pushing this without mentioning AOC's name. And, unlike him, I do NOT count the money Congresscritters are given to hire staff, because those salaries have to be paid. (That allowance, of nearly $1 million on the House side, includes other expenses as well as hiring staff, to boot. More here on what's false and what's true on what Congresscritters make.) Howie knows all this, too; he wrote his whole piece as a Hoyer smear. That's why I commented there about AOC supporting it, too.

Royce West ain't running against John Cornyn nemmind, he must have found Pullman baggage handlers

A week ago, it was reported that Royce West continues to "do his due diligence" about running in the Dem primary to face John Cornyn.

Reality? Royce is taking about as long to shit or get off the pot on this decision as Joaquin Castro, and having lived in his state senate district most the previous decade, I say he'll probably get off the pot.

Update, July 10: The fact that Gromer Jeffers is breathlessly announcing today that Royce will have some announcement on July 22 (scribblings uncritically passed on by Kuff) only increases my guess that he is either
A. Not running
B. Will suck in the race if he does run.

July 21: OK, so he is running. I'll make sure that his baggage gets better known. And, with pleasure.

First, he likes his little south Dallas barony that being a part time legiscritter allows.

Second, he took a pass at challenging Cornyn on a previous cycle. He also took a pass on running for Dallas County DA in the year that Craig Watkins won. This is probably in part related to No. 1, and in part related to other things. Related to that? He and former Houston black state senate peer Rodney Ellis both have taken powders in the past on other statewide runs. Royce has done this enough, though, unlike Joaquin, with less public deliberation, that he's kind of the Hamlet of south Dallas politics.

And point the third?

He's got too much of a black eye potential from old Dallas Inland Port shenanigans, as both I and Jim Schutze know. He also was MIA on some south Dallas development issues next to his beloved UNT-Dallas. And, the inland port issues would raise his connections with John Wiley Price. Read everything with my Royce West tag for more.

This all said, back to Royce's baggage, individualized..

Yeah, most of it is more than a decade old. But, you know Cornyn would bring it up in the general election, along with West's apparent continuing ties to John Wylie Price. That's why he took a pass in 2014. And, if he does run in 2020, it will be on a gamble that his baggage is enough further away that he can avoid it.

But can he? After all, JWP went on federal trial just over two years ago. He beat the rap, tis true, but prosecutorial ineptitude was one factor. And even fellow Dems like former Dallas County Judge Jim Foster say that Price and West are "joined at the hip." That Snooze piece (you didn't deal with it, Gromer) mentioned other past conflicts of interest that Royce has had. Shit, the toothless Texas Ethics Commission fined him in 2010. And I haven't even mention West's ties to convicted Dallas County constable Derick Evans, who also had other ethics issues beyond what got him convicted.

He's got other baggage that's not even tied to JWP or Evans.

Like grifting off his legal contracts with Dallas ISD, then trying to get the Lege to allow said contracts, in the future, to be hidden from the public. Go here for more.

And, if a Sema Hernandez is a good-government progressive, or if GOP-lite ethics cop Chris Bell jumps in, there's a chance it becomes an issue already in the primary.

A House race in a safe district avoids all of that. If PB&J steps aside before Royce gets close to aging out himself.

And, to a lesser degree, ties to Our Man Downtown is why Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins won't run.

As for how well Royce would do in a primary? Contra a commenter at Kuff's site talking about him "holding his own" in the Valley, there is no "holding his own" there. With Sema Hernandez in the race plus Adrian Ocegueda as a definite vanidad candidate, West — and others who aren't Hispanic — are fighting over a fairy small bag of bones, and West isn't well known in the Valley.

Plus, there's already an African-American candidate in the race. And, while Michael Cooper may be relatively unknown, he's already run a state race, losing the 2018 primary for Lite Guv.

That said, other than possibly Cooper, none of the candidates float my boat and Royce wouldn't either. Sema sold her "progressive" soul for a mess of Beto endorsement pottage. M.J. Hegar? Too ConservaDem, starting with the military.

Two other questions.

One, if he loses, does this make Stephen Young of the Dallas Observer right that new mayor Eric Johnson is first in line to replace Eddie Bernice Johnson?

Young thinks Eric Johnson is next in line for that seat, but I disagreed a month ago. If she refuses to retire, in 2022 or later, he may be next in line, but not right now.

Second, does some up-and-comer finally primary him in 2022?

If I'm right about him not running for the nomination to try to defeat Big John, and also right that he, not Eric Johnson, is currently first in line for Eddie Bernice's seat, how long does he hold the No. 1 ticket there?

Through 2024 is my answer.

Back to the current race.

As for how well Royce would do in a primary? Contra a commenter at Kuff's site talking about him "holding his own" in the Valley, there is no "holding his own" there. With Sema Hernandez in the race plus Adrian Ocegueda as a definite vanidad candidate, West — and others who aren't Hispanic — are fighting over a fairy small bag of bones, and West isn't well known in the Valley.

Plus, there's already an African-American candidate in the race. And, while Michael Cooper may be relatively unknown, he's already run a state race, losing the 2018 primary for Lite Guv.

That said, other than possibly Cooper, none of the candidates float my boat and Royce wouldn't either. Sema sold her "progressive" soul for a mess of Beto endorsement pottage. M.J. Hegar? Too ConservaDem, starting with the military.

TX Progressives look harder at the Lege while wondering what Strangeabbott will still veto

Gov. Greg Abbott has until June 16 to sign bills, veto them, or let them become law without his signature. Among the things he can do nothing about, short of a special session is the non-law that did not address sunset issues and keep state plumbers' regs in place.

So, the Lege doesn't give a shit about shit, even as a protest of licensed plumbers is reportedly headed to Austin. And with that, here's the Roundup.

The Lege

Justin Miller at the Observer reports that Dennis Bonnen pulled some short-term punches as first-term speaker with an eye on longer-termGOP power, starting with 2020 Census redistricting.  At the same time, Vicky Camarillo notes the Lege refused to spend money to help the Census in its counting, which could cost the state big time. 

Sexual harassment fared poorly in the Lege even as it addressed sexual assault. Details here. 

The Lege joined 18 other states in the newest War on Drugs stupidity, thinking “robotripping” is a threat to our way of life as we know it and banning minors from buying NyQuil.

It also made pipeline protesting a felony.

Better Texas Blog has three Top Fives from the legislative session.

Stephen Young has his own Best and Worst list from the session.

Texana

Rural East Texas has pockets with some of the higher suicide rates in the nation. The Observer has details. Although it’s not part of the West, it mirrors in some degree the West’s sociological profile — and that area leads the nation in suicides, especially of older white men. 

Trump’s new tariffs on Mexico could seriously ding the Texas economy.

SocraticGadfly looked at a key period of early Anglo-Texas history to discuss how much of northern Mexico President Polk wanted, when and why, and connected this to the Compromise of 1850.

Off the Kuff was all over the reports of Republican Census rigging that emerged from the computer files of a deceased redistricting guru.

Benjamin Collinger warns that exposure to lead-based paint is still a big health risk for children.

Sunland Park, New Mexico, sadly caved to Kris Kobach et al on a privately built strip of border wall.

Royce West continues to "do his due diligence" about running in the Dem primary to face John Cornyn. Royce is taking about as long to shit or get off the pot on this decision as Joaquin Castro, and having lived in his state senate district most the previous decade, say he'll probably get off the pot. He's got too much of a black eye potential from old Dallas Inland Port shenanigans, as both I and Jim Schutze know. He also was MIA on some south Dallas development issues next to his beloved UNT-Dallas. Beyond that, he and former Houston black state senate peer Rodney Ellis both have taken powders in the past on statewide runs. Read everything with my Royce West tag for more.

Houston

David Bruce Collins documents the newest implosion of the Harris County Green Party. 

Dallas area

Stephen Young documents that the old Dallas business coalition still considers itself in the business of mayor-picking. D Magazine also got the secret recording, and also blasts the Dallas old guard for untruthfulness.  In a related matter, Jim Schutze tells Dallasites to vote for Scott Griggs because that's a vote against the Morning Snooze; Schutze shows how its op-eds have actually gone backwards under its current op-ed head.

(Please, activist investors, force Belo to privatize this POS, and put up a higher paywall for the online version so that few people other than that Dallas Old Guard read it.)

Young also gets emails about his piece about the city of Dallas' old Confederate statues. Great laughs.

Jim Schutze takes the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to the woodshed over its response to a Dallas PD raid for material related to allegedly child-abusing priests and kicks it hard in the ass. 

National

Iowans have more opportunities than ever to get sick of Robert Francis O’Rourke.

Rick Perry's back pain meds must be acting up, as the Department of Energy talks about "molecules of freedom." Juanita weighs in, getting high on Freedom Gas.

Brains has a Dems 2020 update, with a climate change scorecard.

Mean Green Cougar Red touts the virtues of less-visited countries.

Sarah Martinez reports on a fake Buc-ee's spotted in the country of Jordan.

==

Sneak peek at next week's Roundup: We'll have an update on what Strangeabbott has sined and what he has made die on bills the Lege passed, a look at not-so-progressive librul Supreme Court justices and more. Last week's issue is here.

Royce West: MIA on #UNT-Dallas and south Dallas development

Jim Schuetze of the Dallas Observer has had a series of pieces on how Dallas City Councilman Tennell Atkins has refused to pay to run new sewer lines to the vicinity of UNT-Dallas before retail developers officially commit to come there first. The latest, with exposure of some prime Atkins hypocrisy, is here.

He wrote (in the Dallas Morning Snooze): "Evidence of tangible public support is critical to the process of obtaining viable development partners and leveraging other capital sources."

This happens to be exactly the same argument that the same city councilman has consistently rejected for the area in his own district around the new University of North Texas-Dallas campus. There, landholders have been begging Atkins to free up funding already authorized for a sanitary sewer system -- something they have never had before -- so they can lure serious investors to develop much-needed student housing.

And Atkins has repeatedly refused.

First, whether elected officials like it or not, that's not the way said developers work.

Second, where the hell is state Sen. Royce West, the man who pushed for years and years to get UNT-Dallas started? I know that his primary goal was having a university inside the Dallas city limits, but having been in the news biz during that whole run-up time in a Best Southwest suburb just across I-20 from where UNT-Dallas was being built, I always had the assumption that UNT-Dallas was just step 1 in larger development of this area.

That's certainly the impression Schutze has, too:

If you were looking for something in southern Dallas on which to capitalize, it's hard to imagine a better bet than the glamorous new UNT campus that opened four years ago near the intersection of Interstate 35E and I-20. But Atkins has been adamant that he's not going to let the city risk bond money on a sewer system until the developers are already outside his office door with plans rolled up under their arms.

I asked him once about the mayor's "Grow South" initiative to spur economic development in the city's segregated southern hemisphere. He said, "That's the mayor's deal. Ask him."

Unfortunately, Atkins is wedded to the idea of revitalizing the carcass of Southwest Center Mall, aka Red Bird Mall. What an idiot. Even if there are sewer lines there, traditional malls are a dying breed.

As for West?

Who knows? Maybe he's like "our man downtown," Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, with his attempts to get the mayor of Wilmer give his buds some business help in work related to Union Pacific's intermodal facility there, as part of his illustrious alleged history of following the money, including reportedly kicking his own constituents in the nuts for Ross Perot Jr. money, an alleged shakedown which reportedly had friend of JWP trying to cut West in on a piece of the pie.

Maybe West hasn't leaned on any city of Dallas folks because he doesn't have friends involved, or nobody is trying to get friends of his involved. 

I have the distinct impression, though, that if Royce West really wanted to make development happen near his baby, he could make it happen.