There they go again. Texas Republicans continue to bring embarrassment and shame to the people of Texas. This time Kay Bailey Hutchison is busted for lying on national TV. She called the public option in health care reform a "government takeover." Please. Enough already. No more lies!
No wonder Texas is the butt of national derision and provides great material in the stupidity and jackassery departments for late night comedy.
Are we ready for new leadership yet?
How about voting for smarter and more progressive lawmakers, folks? We need politicians who will actually work for us. We pay their salaries and we fund their stellar health care coverage, which, no Texas Republican thinks we deserve, though they somehow do.
I want real representation, and excellent representation for my bucks. Come on Texas, surely we can do better than this! We deserve better than this.
Perry made a jackass of himself once again by talking about the non-existent notion of secession. Former bug guy, crook and now Mr. Dancing Pants Tom Delay stepped up to defend his soul mate in funny farm jackassery.
All hat no head indeed.
This video clip covers three of the biggest right wing lunatics on the planet.
I'd like to remind Mr. Big Government Hating Dancing Pants that his ol' nearby neighborhood, Houston, now boasts the highest number of teenage Moms under 15.
I bet Jackass the Governor is so very pleased to know that the right wing abstinence program is a resounding success.
Mr. Dancing Pants and his jackass buddy might also be proud to know that under their watch Texas killed(s) innocent prisoners.
It was so very naive and silly of me to suggest that the GOP should step up and take responsibility, as any adult would do, by calling a halt to the brown shirt shout downs at town hall meetings on healthcare reform.
Silly, silly me. That won't happen. Never. Ever. Even if hell freezes over and the entire country is in the throes of death, the answer remains to be no, never, in your dreams, not even if hell freezes over.
Despite GOP cries for freedom, its flag waving, its prominence of lapel wearing flag pins, its highly orchestrated scenarios of patriotism and noble words about freedom, the GOP's behavior has nothing to do with any of the principles mentioned above.
Actions speak louder than words. Shouting down and shutting out the questions and opinions that fellow Americans want to ask and share with their elected representative is:
anti-democratic,
anti-patriotic and
anti-American.
When political rhetoric goes over the top, inaction by a party's leadership is the same as blind acquiescence.
According to former right wing Republican and evangelical Christian leader, Frank Schaeffer, the GOP, its conservative pundits and the self-serving corporate sharks in the healthcare industry know no bounds in pulling off what is best for them.
For right wing Republicans, conservative pundits, the corporate sharks and their now enabled fruit loop nut jobs, it is a fight to the death.
According to the some of the renowned Viet Nam War draft evaders and right wing war hawks
Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Pat Buchanan, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol, Bill Blunt, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Phil Gramm, John Cornyn, Trent Lott, Mitch McConnell, Paul Wolfowitz, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage
Nancy Pelosi personally ordered the CIA to find a link between Iraq and Al-Qaida. The GOP sissy boys also insist that when no links between the two evil doers could be found, Nancy the D Girl unilaterally ordered heinous torture to bring about the results the sissy boy cowards needed to gin up their war on Iraq.
Hats off to Ed Shultz of MSNBC for calling the Sissy Boys out for their psycho babble.
What else can one expect from the Party of Intolerance, No, Never, Hate, Ginned Up Warfare, Obstruction, Torture, Tax Cuts for the Rich, and Whores for the Fat Cats?
Thanks to the Republican jackasses in Austin and Washington, the video clip below gives us a glimpse into how the people of Texas are perceived.
According to Gail Collins of the New York Times (see below) Rick Perry and other Republicans are behaving like gerbils that just bit an electric wire.
I don't think anyone could have said it better. Ms. Collins is absolutely right and she is not the only one who thinks so.
The words "looney talk" "nuts" and "whacko world" are the terms used by Hardball's Chris Matthews when he refers to Rick Perry and Tom Delay's views on secession and state sovereignty.
Lately we have been hearing a lot of squawking and screeching emanating from the conservative right wing about a revolution.
This is rather perplexing given that we recently had an election in which the elected President won rather substantially without the need for voter caging, voter suppression, election fraud, recounts, recount shut downs, lawsuits and the Supreme Court. Nor was it necessary to bring in the likes of a Swift Boat attack machine and a corrupted Secretary of State (R-OH) to deliver a win in a razor thin, close election.
And despite all of the problems we face in these dire and stressful times the President's approval ratings remain in the 60's. Today it is at 67%. Today an ABC/Washington Post poll also reveals 65% trust President Obama to handle relations with Muslim nations.
So, what is the problem? Why is a revolution necessary now?
According to the New York Times today an extremely wealthy conservative intends to smear any efforts toward health care reform. The fat cat hired the same sordid firm, CRC, that is responsible for the reprehensible Swift Boat attacks against John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential Election.
This Republican dude, Robert L. Scott, once led Columbia/HCA health care which, under his brilliant and outstanding ethical leadership, became mired in fraud and corruption.
The company's board booted Scott in 1997.
Once lauded for building Columbia/HCA into the largest health care company in the world, Mr. Scott was ousted by his own board of directors in 1997 amid the nation's biggest health care fraud scandal. The company's guilty plea and payment of $1.7 billion to settle charges including the overbilling of state and federal health programs was taken as a repudiation of Mr. Scott's relentless bottom-line approach.
"He hopes people don't Google his name," said John E. Hartwig, a former deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, one of various state and federal agencies that investigated Columbia/HCA when Mr. Scott was its chief executive.
A new hotshot lawyer representing Allen Stanford comes out with guns blazing, aimed at the SEC.
Dick DeGuerin, the celebrated Houston criminal defense lawyer representing Stanford, came out firing verbal bullets at the Securities & Exchange Commission on Mar. 26. The SEC has civilly charged the 59-year-old Texas financier with running a massive $8 billion Ponzi scheme.
Why is it that Texans get stuck with gawd awful lawmakers who are completely out of synch with the majority of sentiments and beliefs held by the American people? Why do they continue to serve as endless sources of shame, ignorance and embarrassment to those they supposedly represent? Why do they continue to bring the scorn of the rest of the nation into our living rooms on an almost daily basis? Tom Delay, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush, Phil Gramm,Harriet Miers and Karen Hughes comprise the short list of Texas jackasses. It will take at least four Presidential Administrations to clean up after them. We will endure very hard times in the process, thanks to the brilliance of the Texas Brigade of Douche Nozzles.
Today we may have discovered one of the reasons why we have such a large number of Texas Republican jackasses and crooks who hold office. To be fair and honest, there are likely Texas Democrats in office who are jackasses and crooks as well.
(Title changed becawse I loved the one Libby used on DailyKos. A lot. - promoted by boadicea)
Why is it that Texans get stuck with gawd awful lawmakers who are completely out of synch with the majority of sentiments and beliefs held by the American people? Why do they continue to serve as endless sources of shame, ignorance and embarrassment to those they supposedly represent? Why do they continue to bring the scorn of the rest of the nation into our living rooms on an almost daily basis? Tom Delay, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush, Phil Gramm,Harriet Miers and Karen Hughes comprise the short list of Texas jackasses. It will take at least four Presidential Administrations to clean up after them. We will endure very hard times in the process, thanks to the brilliance of the Texas Brigade of Douche Nozzles.
W. & Co. may have left Washington but tragically we have other jackasses who are serving there. One of the biggest, John Cornyn, held up the nomination of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this week. Of course he voted for Clinton when it was all said and done. Cornyn's intentions were merely a typical douche nozzle style political stunt. He and his right wing nutjob buddies are gunning for Hillary just like they went after Bill during his Presidency. While the right wing extremists railed against Clinton over inane silliness, Osama bin Laden busily plotted and schemed against us. Washington was too tied up in knots over Monica to notice.
Obstructing Clinton's confirmation did not satisfy Cornyn. No folks, he is doing another douche nozzle dance that brings us more scorn. The jackass became yet a bigger jackass by throwing a road block into the path of Attorney General Nominee Eric Holder, too. It seems that Cornyn doesn't have a problem with torture. Holder does. So do the majority of the American people.
For the last few weeks we have been listening to wall-to-wall coverage 24/7 about the flamboyant governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, and pay-to-play politics. As we all know by now the Illinois governor is charged with criminal conspiracy for attempting to sell President Elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. Rod Blagojevich is clearly another crooked and arrogant politician who thinks he is above the law. But at least this one found himself impeached by the Illinois House.
It is nice to know some states have lawmakers who have an ethical spine where such blatant corruption and beyond the pale pay-to-play politics are concerned. Too bad Texas is sorely lacking in this area. But one has to remember the Party that is running the state at this time, although not all Democratic politicians would receive A's in ethics and integrity departments either.
When the Blagojevich scandal broke, several of the cable TV talking heads and pundits appeared especially outraged by pay-to-play politics and so I promptly sent off an email to MSNBC and CNN and suggested that if they are so livid about pay-to-play, they ought to send their research staff down to Texas to see how it works in a state where purchasing elections and pay-to-play is business du jour. Apparently other folks from around the U.S. contacted the media with the same request. Chris Matthews of Hardball responded with a chart that listed the most offending states. Texas is among them.
Just a little humor on a Tuesday night, it is Tuesday, right? I thought Ann Coulter had her mouth wired shut, oh, I guess she's been freed, and back at it again. And unfortunately, now that we have a Democratic president and a Democratic congress, probably will see more of her, blah! I got this from Huffington Post!
I just love Harry Smith, especially now, after his interview with Ann (can't shut me up) Coulter. "Tom Delay a victim?, Tom Delay a victim?, of what?" Notice, she didn't answer him.
"To achieve your best, get in over your head and rise to the top." - Dr. Richard Tapia Professor of Computational Mathematics, Rice University
The Houston Chronicle has become a gift that keeps on giving good news for Democrats in the Houston area.
Today's lead story:
"Except for Emmett, Poll Sees Dem Sweep."
Judge Emmett is ahead because he and Houston's Mayor Bill White worked well together in addressing Hurricane Ike's aftermath. He is likable and folks trust him.
The surprising and great news is that Harris County's Democratic judicial candidates are in a dead heat tie with Republicans.
Voters favored Democratic candidates over Republican candidates by 7 percentage points in elections for county leadership jobs, except in the county judge's race, where Emmett has a 13-point lead over Democrat David Mincberg, according to the survey. Sixteen percent of the respondents were undecided or said they lean toward neither party's entry.
The number 7 also popped up specifically in the race for district attorney; Democrat C.O. Bradford ran 7 percentage points ahead of Republican Pat Lykos in the poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday as early voting began for the Nov. 4 election.
The poll results indicate tough years lie ahead for the GOP. This is absolutely drop dead fabulous news considering it was not long ago when Karl Rove and Tom Delay hatched their Texas Permanent Republican Majority scheme. We are now stuck with the consequences manufactured by these two Republican low life crooks.
The Third Court of Appeals has been in the news lately for a couple of not-so-good reasons. First, a panel from the court decided that "checks" don't count as as money for Tom DeLay's money laundering shenanigans. Then, Ken Law, the lowest rated justice by the Austin Bar Association, got dinged over his campaign fundraising activities. Someone who dispenses justice ought to know the law. You cannot raise funds without a campaign treasurer.
Enter the Democratic Candidate:
Woodie Jones is running to replace Ken Law as Chief Justice on the Third Court. It's Woodie's birthday today, and in lieu of sending him a card, I'm asking for contributions.
Woodie served on the Third Court for 12 years, and was the top rated justice according to the same Austin Bar Association that rates Ken Law at the bottom. He lost his bid for re-election to the Third Court in 2000 (a bad year for Democrats in TX), but is back and running in the race for Chief Justice this year. More about the race after the flip.
Justice checked at door of 3rd Court After a bizarre appeals court ruling last month, the long-running money-laundering charge against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two other Republican operatives now includes possible judicial misconduct.
A three-judge panel of the state's 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin last month upheld the constitutionality of the law under which DeLay and two others were indicted. However, the panel ventured into uncharted territory by volunteering that the money-laundering law did not apply to checks.
Of course, the $190,000 in corporate donations allegedly laundered through Republican committees to avoid a state ban on corporate donations to political campaigns involved checks. The unusual opinion effectively handed victory to DeLay and co-defendants Jim Ellis and John Colyandro.
Now we learn from an article by the American-Stateman's Laylan Copelin that the appeals judge who wrote that opinion, Justice Alan Waldrop, was the lawyer for a group helping the defendants. Waldrop represented Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which strategized with Colyandro and others about the 2002 elections, which led to both the civil suit and criminal charges.
Waldrop should have recused himself from hearing the criminal case against DeLay, Ellis and Colyandro. He has written that the lawsuit, which mirrored the criminal case, was "politically motivated."
This is not even a close call. Any bets on a reversal or reconsideration? I'll take the under on that wager, as in underhanded sleazebags do give you mulligans when they sleaze you!
I felt it was high time for me to pay a call to our esteemed U.S. Senators to inquire about the recent financial melt down on Wall St. Since as a taxpayer I will be expected to step up and bail out a bunch of corrupted greed mongers I believe I deserve an explanation from those who got us into this unbelievable mess in the first place.
Dear Senator,
In the past two weeks I feel as if I have been hit by two devastating hurricanes. Many residents in the Houston and Galveston areas are still without power and most continue to struggle with Ike's aftermath. The nation's fourth largest city and its surrounding areas have taken a tremendous beating.
Just when we were beginning to think we could see the light at the end of Ike's tunnel we now find ourselves suddenly blindsided by another hurricane. This one did not sweep in from the Gulf. This unexpected monster came hurdling down from Wall St. and its aftermath could prove far more cataclysmic than Ike.
What is this business about a financial bailout using the taxpayer's money? It seems to me that a group of greedy and corrupted fat cats on Wall St., with the blessings of their supporters and cheerleaders in Congress, raped and pillaged the United States and now taxpayers are being asked to pay for the carnage. And we're supposed to turn over nearly $1 trillion and say "we trust you to clean up after yourselves."
Please.
See what Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine has to say about the Wall Street debacle.
Part I disclosed John Cornyn's voting patterns and revealed the Senator's loyalty to the interests and profits of big business and special interests.
Part II discusses the profound influence lobbyists, especially those who operate on the international scene, hold on the White House, Vice President Cheney and other Republican members of Congress. One lobbyist in particular may have engaged in outright bribery in his influence pedaling schemes.
Part III will reveal the ties between Stephen Payne and Senator John Cornyn.
Part II:
Lately a scandal has been percolating in the blogosphere about an American super global lobbyist who attempted to purchase, on behalf of foreign governments, access to the White House. It is not Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay's and Karl Rove's dearest and closest friend. Abramoff is in jail, thank goodness. (Delay and Rove are not in prison because both men, Bush Republicans, are above all laws, apparently.)
This newly discovered high roller on the international lobbying scene has been around for quite some time. His pockets are very, very deep and he has ties to Texas Republicans. His dealings are almost unprecedented, at least in terms of doing global deals purely for profit. In short, this man represents countries that want to exert influence over high-ranking U.S. officials.
