Letters from Texas

Debra Medina trashes Texas

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:12:00 +0000

I live within 500 yards of two election day precinct polling places, and about five blocks from one of the most popular early voting locations in Travis County, so it's no surprise that by election day, my area is well-populated with political yard signs of all persuasions.

Since there were so many contested judicial races in Travis County this time, and since the nomination for Governor was contested in both parties' primaries, this was a banner year for signs. Or is that a sign year for banners? Whatever, you get the point: my neighborhood was packed with yard signs.

But after the primary election, all the campaigns, both Republican and Democratic, were very good about going through the neighborhood and removing their signs. By 48 hours following the election, there wasn't a yard sign to be found. Literally thousands of political signs had disappeared.

Except for one candidate: Debra Medina.

Debra Medina's yard signs are still everywhere. Up and down Cherrywood Road. Scattered on 38 1/2 Street. A metric ton of them up and down Airport Blvd., for miles.

After tweeting about it, I got a reply from a Medina supporter a couple of days ago, asking me where the errant signs are. Although my first thought was "why does that matter - her campaign should be removing her signs wherever they are," I meekly replied to her and explained where they are. Two days later, the signs are still there.

For the record, Debra, you're trashing up East Austin. But if you're still trashing up my area, I'm guessing you're still trashing up many areas around Texas. What happened to that big enthusiasm your supporters claimed on your behalf?

Note to the City of Austin: it's clear that the Medina-istas aren't going to fulfill their legal obligations, so how's about you taking a break from the important work of searching out the dastardly criminals who are texting while driving, and instead collect the Medina signs, then fine Medina for every one of 'em you collect?

Those wackos on the SBOE might have a point afterall

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:04:00 +0000

...especially since actual scientists can take the fun out of anything. Those pesky facts.

Headline of the week so far

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:50:00 +0000

I'm glad Tacoma, Washington's finest are fully focused on figuring out the situations that are a problem, and separating them out from situations that aren't a problem.

The truth, and nothing but.

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:23:00 +0000

If we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times - about how el Presidente Hopey McChangerson continually breaks the promises he made while campaigning for President. He's getting quite the reputation, "that one" is.

Except, apparently it isn't true.

PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning online journalism project which holds candidates' and officeholders' feet to the fire on the truth of their claims, recently rated more than 500 promises Obama made during the campaign, and is tracking the administration's progress on those promises.

Turns out he's doing pretty well so far.

So far, the new-ish Texas version of PolitiFact, originating from the American-Statesman (and frankly, deliberately not linked to from here) hasn't made a fan out of me. There's a fine line between the nit-picking "gotcha" journalism it has too often been so far, and the sort of sober clarity that the fact-checking project could provide readers.

In their defense, we obviously haven't made fans out of the Statesman either, since they removed our link from their "Virtual Capitol" political portal page a while back.

And on an unrelated note, a big thank you to those of you who follow or read us through Facebook - LettersFromTexas.com passed through 1,000 Facebook followers at some point over the weekend. Among Facebook followers, that ranks us as the most followed blog in Texas of any kind, and at the moment rates us at 15th among all political blogs, and 11th among all humor blogs. Check out the badge in the right hand sidebar for the current number of followers.

Clueless radio talk show caller of the day

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Meet "Bob in Arlington," who is a business owner upset about health care reform. Unfortunately, Bob doesn't know WTF he's talking about, as Scott Braddock points out. It seems Bob doesn't want to pay for his employees health care plan, and when Braddock explains that he'll get a subsidy to pay for it, Bob doesn't want that either. Translation: Bob doesn't want his employees to have health care, even if neither Bob nor his employees have to pay extra for it. Have a nice day, Bob.

Races to watch on election night

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:34:00 +0000

Here at Letters From Texas Worldwide Headquarters, War Room Division, it occurred to us that you, members of the crap-reading public, would be torn as to how to divide your attentions on election night as the returns come in. On one hand, there are races you care about. On the other hand, one shouldn't let that get in the way of the massive amounts of alcohol you intend to consume, probably on some poor hapless candidate's tab.

Thus, we herein present this handy guide on which races in Austin and around the state are worth watching as election returns come in tomorrow night. Hopefully this will save you enough time so that your political activism can remain balanced with your alcoholism.

And if this isn't enough to whet your appetite for politics, if you're in the Austin area on election night you can tune into News8Austin, where I'll be joining Republican Ted Delisi, Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg, and news anchor Paul Brown for news and analysis on the election returns throughout the evening.

Governor

Republican Primary: Perry vs Hutchison vs Medina. Perry will lead. Will it be a run-off or a clear Perry win? Perry clearly thinks he can win it out-right, or he would have pulled down much of his TV traffic in recent days and instead saved it for the run-off. If he's wrong, that means that more Republicans will have voted against Perry than for him.

Democratic Primary: White vs Shami vs a whole bunch of folks nobody ever heard of, including two Hispanics. White will lead heavily. Run-off or clear White win? Even with so many candidates on the ballot - seven in fact - the smart money’s on a clean win for White.

Lt. Governor

Democratic primary: Linda Chavez-Thompson is favored to win. Does Ronnie Earl’s history as the man who brought down Tom DeLay have any impact? If so, does Marc Katz become the spoiler that creates the run-off?

Agriculture Commissioner

Democratic Primary: Hank Gilbert versus Kinky Friedman. This is similar to situations such as when a car dealer or newscaster runs for office: Gilbert has the substance, but Friedman has the name I.D. Which wins?

State Senate Races

(both are Republican primaries)

SD5 (College Station to North Austin suburbs) Republican primary. Incumbent Steve Ogden, the chairman of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee, should be ok. But challenger Ben Bius has been very aggressive, and this could be a test case for whether the “anti-insider” teabagger sentiment runs deep, or if they’re just messin’ around.

SD22 (Waco to Southern D/FW suburbs) Republican primary. Incumbent Kip Averitt is on the ballot whether he likes it or not (hint: he doesn't like it. He quit campaigning a couple of weeks after the filing deadline), and many if not most folks in Waco are going to vote for him anyway. Will a popular incumbent who didn’t suit up for the game win it anyway, against fringe nobody Darren Yancy?

State House races

HD83 (Panhandle) Republican primary. They’ve written Republican Delwin Jones’ political obituary many times, and he’s survived them all – the only legislative race he ever lost was to Pete Laney, but that was in a Democratic primary back when the earth cooled. Jones later came back as a Republican, with Laney’s goodwill and friendship. Jones is in a big fight this time against challengers Zach Brady and Charles Perry. Will he survive this time or is he done?

HD11 (East Texas) Republican primary. Democrat Chuck Hopson switched to the Republican Party, for fear that he couldn’t win the general election. But now he’s in the fight for his life in the Republican primary instead, against 2 challengers – Michael Banks and Allan Cain. Does Chuck go or does Chuck stay?

HD76 (El Paso) Democratic primary. Incumbent Norma Chavez was previously thought to be doing well in her re-election bid against two challengers, until the El Paso Times released a poll over the weekend showing her neck-in-neck with one of her challengers, Naomi Gonzalez. Has the home town newspaper’s dislike for Norma gotten the best of their editorial judgment, or might Norma’s challenger get the best of her?

HD92 (Tarrant County) Republican primary. No-holds-barred cage fight pits incumbent Todd Smith against Jeff Cason. Some Republicans blame Smith for the death of voter ID, and have used the issue effectively. Then he got caught calling Republican women in his district “too stupid” on an answering machine message. We'll see what Republican primary voters call Smith.

HD146 (Houston) Democratic primary. This is the re-re-match between (this time) incumbent Al Edwards and (this time) challenger Boris Miles. Both candidates have had their issues, but which one can convince voters that he'll get it right this time?

HD43 (South Texas and Rio Grande Valley) Democratic primary. This is geo-politics at its best. Tara Rios Ybarra won the district 2 years ago because her base, the south end of the district, out-voted the incumbent’s base, the north end of the district. J.M. Lozano is challenging her this time, and similar to Rios’ last race, his base is in the north end of the district. Early voting this time suggests that last election’s voting trend hasn’t continued – the north end is out-voting the south end. Has she made in-roads in the north end or not?

HD36 (Rio Grande Valley) Democratic primary. This is the open seat that Kino Flores vacated following his indictment, and the race to take his seat got dicey in a hurry, featuring an abortion TV spot so rough I’m surprised the local stations didn’t reject it. Sandra Rodriguez is running against Sergio Muñoz Jr., with the bulk of the Flores organization apparently backing Muñoz. Money is pouring in from all quarters, and the race totals are nearing $1 million.

Local Travis County races

(all Democratic primary races)

County Commissioner Precinct 4: Margaret Gomez vs Raul Alvarez. Gomez supporters are happy as clams because they say she’s solid. Alvarez supporters aren’t happy as clams, because they say she’s not proactive enough. Both candidates are spending a lot of clams.

Judge, 201st District. This is a race defining which candidate has Democratic Party cred. Amy Clark Meachum, the challenger of sorts, is said to be leading against Jan Patterson, who has held a different judgeship for a decade. But Patterson was caught playing footsie with Rick Perry, which would have resulted in handing a Democratic-leaning court of appeals to the Republicans. Patterson has been explaining herself for the entire primary election, and you know what they say about candidates – if you’re explaining, you’re losing.

Judge, 299th District. This is a toss-up race with 4 candidates, but it’s likely to result in a runoff between Mindy Montford and Karen Sage. Who will lead going into a likely runoff?

County Court-at-Law #3. The race features John Lipscomb versus Olga Seelig. Lipscomb has most of the club endorsements, but Seelig got the Statesman. Both candidates are qualified, either though judicial experience or longstanding Democratic activism. This, along with the race for the 201st district court above, could be an indicator of whether the institutional strength of the local Democratic clubs remains solid.

J.P. Precinct 1. This is a toss-up race (if only in my mind) between Yvonne Williams and Daniel Bradford. Will voters see this generically as two qualified Democrats running, or at an Anglo gay Democrat (Bradford) against an African-American Democrat (Williams), in what is largely an African-American district? Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

What races are we missing? Sheila Jackson-Lee? Ralph Hall? Terri Hodge? Some random incumbent nobody knew was in trouble who suddenly looks retired by 8:30 pm? Throw in your two cents.

Headline of the week so far

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:34:00 +0000

This also explains why the baseball team doesn't seem very focused on the game of baseball most of the time.

Clueless radio talk show caller of the day, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Remember "John from Dallas," who called into Scott Braddock's radio show in Dallas yesterday? His goofball-ed-ness from yesterday is enshrined in the post directly below this one.

Well guess what? He called back today and got himself another dose of Braddock.

Clueless radio talk show caller of the day

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:11:00 +0000

Meet "John from Dallas," who called to argue with Scott Braddock on KRLD in Dallas about whether or not deliberately ramming an airplane into a building is terrorism. Braddock quickly dismissed him like a bad waiter.

This is what would happen if you brought the winter Olympics to East Texas

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:15:00 +0000

The Empire Smokes Crack

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:54:00 +0000

Top Secret Intergalactic Communication

From: Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas

To: Supreme Chancellor Rick Perry, AKA Darth Sidious

My Lord, I fear that our plot to create a clone army has failed. Obi-Wan Kenobi has discovered our plan. I'm pretty sure he read it in the Texas Tribune.

The future of The Empire is at risk. Please advise.

Exclusive - Farouk Shami hires new celebrity press secretary

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:36:00 +0000

Letters From Texas Worldwide Headquarters can exclusively report that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Farouk Shami has hired yet another new press secretary - none other than Dr. Seuss!

Here's a sneak preview of the first press release the campaign reportedly intends to distribute later today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Febrary 18, 2010

CONTACT: Dr. Seuss

Farouk Shami: he has a brain and he will reign!

Shami Shami that's his name,
He'll make new jobs or quit in shame.

He's rich because your hair needs care,

your hair care made a millionaire.

He'll beat that wonky guy Bill White,
and it will truly be a sight.
The voters Shami will excite,
and then the future will be bright.

Rick Perry. he is just a ham
about our folks he gives no damn.
up his ass Farouk will cram,
Because we love him, Sham he am!

-30-

Headline of the week

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:09:00 +0000

Yes, I know it's only Wednesday, but I'm pretty confident nobody's going to top this.

Letters From Texas Democratic Primary Recommendations

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:44:00 +0000

We here at Letters From Texas Worldwide Headquarters are well aware that you, the members of the crap-reading public, are anxiously awaiting our recommendations for which Democrats to cast your vote for in the Democratic Primary. In fact, a crowd of people well into the single digits has already asked for our insightful opinions on the contested races at hand.

So since early voting starts today, without further delay here are our choices, oriented toward the Travis County area. If I don't list a contested Travis County race, it's because I don't know enough about it to have an opinion worth sharing. Please note that half of the candidates below either have been or currently are clients of mine. No, I'm not telling you which ones, because you don't really care. In fact, in some cases I'm recommending them despite that fact.

Governor
Bill White. If I have to explain this, you haven't been paying attention - please leave this website immediately, or security will be summoned. The short story is that Bill White is the only candidate in this race who can beat Rick Perry this November, plus he'd make a great governor.

Lt. Governor
Linda Chavez-Thompson. She's different. Different is good. She's got a compelling story, and knows how to use it. She's a delightful human being who gets it. And by "it" I mean "the needs of people who don't work in the state Capitol, or sell deli sandwiches."

Agriculture Commissioner
Hank Gilbert. This is actually a closer call for me than it should be. On one hand, you have a guy who has run a goofy campaign. On the other hand, you have Kinky Friedman. It occurs to me that Kinky was probably not fully aware that tobacco was once a plant until he checked with his buddy Jim Hightower. Both candidates parked themselves in the race for Governor for a while, and Gilbert was running for Ag Commish, before switching to Governor, before switching back to Ag Commish. While Gilbert seems to have commitment issues with what he wants to be, at least he doesn't have commitment issues with which political party he wants to go to the dance with. Coupled with the fact that in between Gilbert's occasional mis-steps, he has also proposed some serious policy proposals, while Kinky frequently blathers on incoherently about stray dog stuff having nothing to do with the agriculture industry, and I have to go with Gilbert. Note to Kinky: in the event you win the Democratic primary anyway, your first stop needs to be Hank's house, where you should apologize profusely, then very politely ask if you can steal Hank's policy ideas from him for the general election. Hank is probably man enough to agree.

Land Commissioner
Jerry Patterson. Just kidding, Hector Uribe. I've known Hector for years, he cares deeply about increasing state revenue from public lands to help fund neighborhood schools, while at the same time protecting the environment and helping move Texas into a 21st Century renewable energy era. Also, his news releases are freakin' brilliant.

SBOE
Rebecca Bell-Metereau. She's the best candidate to beat the whack-job Republican incumbent in November. What a concept - a State Board of Education candidate who actually gives a damn about public education? Let's give it a shot.

Judge, 201st District
Amy Clark Meachum. Amy is a solid person, a solid Democrat, and will make a solid judge. Her opponent has made some very questionable decisions for herself which call her judgment and her Democratic cred into serious question.

County Commissioner, Pct. 4
Margaret Gomez. What's the big deal? What has she screwed up? Nothing I can detect. I'm guessing the details are just a bunch of intramural sports. Gomez is worth returning to Commissioners Court.

County Court-at-Law #3
Olga Seelig. I genuinely like both candidates, and with either outcome, the earth would continue to revolve around the sun just fine. But until you conclude that there are just too many women and Hispanics representing folks in elected office...well, you get the picture - I'm voting for Olga. A diverse courthouse is a happy healthy courthouse. Olga has a compelling life story and has beat some long odds personally, with a lot of hard work and gumption. Seems to me that we need more people like that on the bench.

It's a real Shami that I don't White more about the Governor's race

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:59:00 +0000

I've lost count of the people who have asked me why I haven't written about the Democratic primary race for Governor. It's understandable that they'd ask - it seems like there's been at least one potential Farouk Shami punch line per day lately. After all, we mostly do punch lines here at Letters From Texas Worldwide Headquarters.

One week he played the race card four times, by my count. Last week during a TV interview, the fact that he expressed doubt about the Warren Commission's investigation of the assassination of JFK barely ranked the third most wacky thing he said during that one interview alone.

I've been quoted in the mainstream media about the race repeatedly, but the reason I haven't written about it here is because, frankly, it doesn't matter, and will all just be a semi-interesting footnote soon. I've never called a reporter about this race - they've only called me. I guess they have to fill up the space in between the ads with something, and you can't have a horse race unless you have more than one horse.

Farouk Shami, by all accounts a very intelligent, successful, and earnest person, is a man who started out with no electoral viability, and who will possibly end up with little political credibility. To the former, the preconceived notions and electoral preferences of Texas voters are to blame. To the latter, the guy to see about that problem is the candidate himself. Neither is a very good outcome for a guy who seems to want to help and cares about the world beyond his factory gates. We should get such a good deal from all business people.

I got a call from a reporter the other day, basically asking me why nobody cares. The short answer is that nobody cares because it just doesn't matter - Bill White will be the nominee, and Bill White will go forward and present the first Democratic serious threat to Republicans in a Texas Governor's race in 20 years. And that is what people are, correctly, focused on. The rest of this is background noise.

Still, the race does bring up some interesting questions, which if voters, and the reporters covering politics, had time and opportunity to be a bit introspective, would be well-served asking themselves.

When asked, I've said from the start that Farouk Shami started out a non-viable statewide candidate. I've always added that it's too bad we don't live in a place, and a time, where somebody of his background could be viable. I think most would agree with me, although one hapless Democratic County Chair in East Texas got called "racist" for saying it out loud. It's not racist if you merely point out what you think voters perceive, especially when most would agree with the perception. But it is frankly a shame that Shami started out as a non-viable candidate by virtue of Texans' issues with race, ethnicity, and culture. It would be one good outcome if as a result of this, Texans at least spent a few moments wondering how many talented people they may be slamming doors on - in business, in personal lives, and in public lives, based on those issues.

But now, Shami is additionally non-viable based on things he has said since becoming a candidate, as opposed to his original challenges not of his making. But reporters are still covering him - they always cover the guys with the big money. But it's interesting how they've covering him now. Now they're asking him questions just to see if they can get him to say something else wacky, in addition to the other questions they'd ask any candidate they're writing a story about. If it's because news organizations have discovered that the side-show creates more interest than the main act, fair enough. After all, the National Enquirer has been making a healthy living for a long time.

Texas voters can't really be blamed for their preconceived notions - this is a democracy, and as such, the voters are the bosses, and voters generally end up with the government, good or bad, they deserve and asked for. And those voters are also the news consumers reading the stories that reporters are writing, so the reporters can't really be blamed for giving the customers what they want.

I can wish Texas voters weren't so conservative, and Shami can wish voters were more open to diversity, but the fact remains that voters can cast judgment based on any criteria they choose, and as believers in democracy, it's our responsibility, admittedly at times challenging, to be at peace with that. Our failure to do so would make us no better than those who want to secede, just because the National election didn't go their way.

But still, as much as Shami has obscured the situation with many recent odd public utterances, at the heart of this are a few troubling truths, which we would all be well-served thinking about.

-- why is a foreign-born guy with an accent automatically non-viable to Texas voters? Is that really fair, before that candidate has ever had a conversation with those voters about what he wants to do for them? Isn't this consideration going to seem utterly absurd to our great-grandchildren 100 years from now as they make their own electoral choices based on entirely different criteria?

-- why, once it's obvious that a candidate isn't viable, do reporters continue to cover such a candidate, just because he's spending a lot of money in the race?

--there are several other candidates also running for Governor. They're probably somewhere right now, saying fewer wacky things than the guy with the money is saying. We don't know that though, because they're not being covered. Why are they less newsworthy than the guy who is equally non-viable, but who has lots of money?

and finally, one more question worth asking:

--are newspaper editorial writers going to remember this situation, with even a slight twinge of doubt, the next time they write the big editorial about how there's too much money in politics, when they themselves played into the system which makes that money so decidedly crucial?

Things to ponder indeed. And now that I've written about the Democratic race for Governor, thanks in advance for getting off my back.

Attention dog people

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:21:00 +0000

Ok, damn it, I very clearly said "dog people." Yet I can tell that some of you cat lovers are snooping in on this private conversation. I want you out of here. Yes, you. You too. You can all come back in a minute, but for now, hit the road, and take your "cute" little fuzzy frisbies with you.

Alright, I think the coast is clear. Now that it's just we dog lovers, here's the ammo we've all been looking for to win this little war. I hope this helps.

Warning: there is serious political unrest in Ukraine

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:51:00 +0000

...and it's AWESOME.

Clueless radio talk show caller of the day

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:40:00 +0000

Meet "Steve" from Wills Point, who called into Scott Braddock's radio show on KRLD in Dallas last week, and was very promptly smacked down by the aforementioned Scott Braddock.

Attention Texas radio talk show hosts who aren't Scott Braddock: if you weren't so damn lazy, you could email me an MP3 of your latest idiot caller, and get free mention here.

Desperate cries for help - FUBAR in the news

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Reacting to the stunning news from the Farouk Shami campaign that another candidate's mere mention that the candidate is from San Antonio is racist, I was a guest on Scott Braddock's KLRD radio show in Dallas earlier this afternoon.

Here's the podcast of the segment. Good luck making any more sense of that situation than I did.

Boyce Breedlove - a love story in politics

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:22:00 +0000

During the 1996 Democratic State Convention in Texas, there was a private meeting to try to come to some agreements on something-or-other that seemed important at the time. I walked through the convention hall to the conference room with then-AFL-CIO state director Rosa Walker and her husband Boyce Breedlove. We were to be joined in the conference room by then-Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, Bill White, and a few others. Rosa and I didn't expect the meeting to last more than a few minutes.

Now retired, Rosa is a legend among Democratic political circles. During her amazing 38-year career with the AFL-CIO, there wasn't a Democratic activist, leader, or candidate for public office she hadn't helped, advised, or chewed out - sometimes all in the same day. In fact, by coincidence, she's scheduled to be inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame tomorrow. She's been one of my closest buddies for 20 years, and I'd trust her with my life. She and her husband Boyce have the kind of longstanding rock-solid relationship most people only dream of, and I adore him too.

When the three of us arrived at the meeting room that day, Boyce asked Rosa what she wanted him to do while she was in the meeting. Rosa jokingly replied, "I'll only be a few minutes. You can guard this door. Don't let anybody in." We all chuckled, and Rosa and I went into the room, leaving Boyce outside.

The meeting ended up being somewhat of a tense ordeal. Nothing notable about why - I don't even remember what the big hangup was. I'm sure it was just one of those touchy situations that comes up during political conventions which, if handled gracefully, nobody remembers, but if mishandled, some people would get upset. As it turns out, we were in the room for three hours. In all that time, Rosa and I forgot all about poor Boyce.

When we finally left the room three hours later, there was Boyce. He'd found a chair somewhere and was sitting in it, in front of that door, taking very seriously his commitment to Rosa to guard it. He was also very hungry, very thirsty, and very much in need of a restroom.

"Oh, bless your heart, I'm so sorry, you could have left," Rosa said.

"No I couldn't," Boyce replied, with a characteristic grin at his wife. "I had to guard this door."

And - oh boy - the way Boyce grinned at his wife. All the time. No matter the circumstance. There isn't a woman alive who wouldn't give anything for her husband to look at her the way Boyce always looked at Rosa. Year-after-year, his absolute love and adoration of Rosa was apparent at first glance, constantly. I bet he had that same look way back when they first met, and that look, and the adoration behind it, was still there years later, to the end.

Sadly, that end came yesterday evening, because Boyce passed away. It was his time, and he knew it. In a lot of pain, among his final acts yesterday was to tell Rosa how much he loved her. I know it was wonderful for her to hear it one more time, but I also know she didn't need to be told - he showed it every day of their lives together. She did the same for him. Their relationship served as the gold standard for everybody else's relationships.

I've always been glad that Rosa is one of the strongest people I know. But when I heard the news last night, I was especially grateful that she's so strong, because I know her strength will help her get through this terrible loss.

And as she works her way through this difficult transition, I hope she'll take comfort that, somewhere, an adoring Boyce will be grinning at her, guarding the door.

Rest in peace, Boyce. You were a damn good man.

Sarah Palin: the very worst kind of human being

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:48:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Too often, I just simply disagree with his style points, or lack thereof.

And Texas Republican consultant Dave Carney? To my knowledge we've never been on the same side of anything, and will probably never.

Those two both find themselves on the same side of Professional Quitter Sarah Palin's temper this week, however, because each was quoted using the term "retard," which Palin finds offensive. It is understandable that Palin's sensitivity on this issue is highly advanced, since Trig Palin, her youngest son, has Down Syndrome. She called for Emanuel's resignation over the incident, and her spokesbot called Carney "disrespectful."

I'm not a particularly political correct kind of guy myself. But as a certain Dallas radio commentator pointed out, here's the definition of "politically correct:"

"avoiding offense based on race, gender, religion, ideology or any other social grouping such as disability"

And fair enough. Words have meaning. They're powerful and important things. The words we choose have the power to hurt people or to comfort them. They can pay homage to society's sensitivities, or inappropriately attempt to callus over them. They can highlight and honor our differences and diversities, or they can demean an entire race or gender or economic class into a forced obscurity and unimportance.

But if you thought I might join Sarah Palin in skewering these guys, you were wrong. Instead I'm going to say that Sarah Palin is the very worst kind of human being imaginable.

What does Sarah Palin herself think of political correctness? Well, I guess this direct quote is clear enough:

"Screw the political correctness."

Also consider how she originally marketed her twitter account when she first started tweeting. She promised less politically correct tweets once she quit as Alaska's Governor.

So, to review:

-- the very purpose of political correctness is to avoid offending people

-- Palin is against political correctness

-- Palin is offended when people use the word "retard," and doesn't think the word should be used

-- Palin has a child with Down Syndrome

Sarah Palin is right about that word. It is a word which hurts people. It's too bad the only time Palin wants somebody to stop using hurtful words is when her own personal experiences dictate that she's the one who feels hurt.

Apparently in Palin's world, other people's pain is not her concern. Other people's honestly-held sensitivities aren't valid, but her sensitivities are. Other people's real life experiences are irrelevant, but hers are definitive and should be the standard.

Ms. Palin, I suggest that before you haul off and demand somebody's resignation, and before you sit in judgment of some Republican consultant's comment, you might consider spending a little time in serious consideration of yet another word: hypocrite. Because not only does that knife cut deeper than you thought, it also turns out to have two blades.

Radio talk show Clueless Caller of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:42:00 +0000

There are few things as entertaining as folks who call into talk shows, especially the more clueless callers.

Here's "Lou," the winner of today's Letters From Texas Clueless Talk Show Caller of the Day.

Yes, you too can listen live over the interwebz to Scott Braddock's show, which is actually disappointingly sane and thought-provoking, and originates on KRLD in Dallas. Feel free to email me future submissions to the Clueless Callers of the Day, from this or any other radio talk show in Texas. The wackier the better.

El Observer de Tejas

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:52:00 +0000

The other night I went to an event commemorating the re-tooling of the Texas Observer. There's a new look and feel to the magazine - go to their website and give it a try.

Mind you, at times past I have said that the Observer has a new look and feel to it, and was NOT a compliment. That publication has lost its way and found it again so many times over the years that I recommend they leave bread crumbs everywhere they go, just in case.

But lately, at least, they seem to be both on track and looking good at the same time. And the event I went to the other night? Lo and behold, there were more folks there I didn't know than folks I do know, which is always good news.

While at that event, I may or may not have been a bit "over served." And while in this fluid state, I may or may not have agreed to one of the Observer cheerleaders that I would plug their upcoming fundraising event.

It's on Valentine's Day.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "what kind of loser has nothing better to do on Valentine's Day than to go to a fundraiser?" Well, that was my first thought too. It was also my last thought, and most of the thoughts in between, come to think of it.

But a few stray thoughts included the following:

-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they can't bring us stories that other media outlets tend to ignore, and that would be bad.

-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they might return to being the "bad Texas Observer" they've been at various points of their history, instead of the "interesting and highly readable Texas Observer" they are at the moment.

-- if you don't have a date for Valentine's Day, or even if you do, but your date is just as dorky as you are, you might just enjoy going to the event. Maybe you'll meet a date. Or a dork.

--if neither you nor your date is dorky, you might enjoy going to the event anyway, because the Observer may well succeed in masking the fundamental dorkiness of holding an event on Valentine's Day by making the event extra-fun somehow.

and last, but not least:

--if you're one of those people who rebels against the greeting card, florist, and candy industries thrusting upon you a certain day of the year in which you are constitutionally required to express your undying love and admiration for your significant other, whom you're probably secretly mulling over breaking up with anyway, as soon as the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years-Valentine's Day gauntlet of holidays during which it isn't socially acceptable to dump somebody is over...then by all means, take your date there. There's no better place to dump somebody while easing your guilt by having fun and contributing to a good cause during the dump.

Or, you could just go because it sounds fun. But making this simple wouldn't have made a very interesting blog post, would it?

The Texas Observer’s Annual Rabble Rouser Roundup & Fat Cat Schmoozefest (and Silent Auction)

This year – A Valentine’s Day Bash!

Sunday February 14, 2010

10463 Sprinkle Road, Austin, Texas, 78754 at "the elegant Barr Mansion" (not to be confused with the other Barr Mansion, which is reportedly a real dump)

4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

$49.95 per ticket

$20 for students

Here's where you can find the details.

Why Texas is better than New York, #483

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Here is our beloved Texas, we have chupacabra. A very respectable and worthy bogeyman by any measure.

Meanwhile, New York has...um...savage packs of vicious beagles??!

Buncha wimps.

Headline of the week, so far

noreply@blogger.com (FUBAR) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Odd that they even bothered to study this. It seems pretty obvious to me.