August 2nd, 2013
BlueHost was down for most of the day, so no blogging.
Expect your normally scheduled political rants to resume on Monday.
Tags: PSA, Site Administration
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 1st, 2013
This appears to be the case.
CNN reports that there were allegedly “dozens” of CIA operatives on the ground during the Benghazi attack and the agency is doing its utmost to conceal its involvement.
CNN’s sources say that, since January, some operatives that were involved in the agency’s mission in Libya are being polygraphed monthly to determine who, if anyone, is talking to Congress or the media. Sources describe the efforts as pure intimidation, and say there are threats to end the careers of unauthorized leakers.
This makes Benghazi an ever bigger scandal than we thought, with a government agency actively undermining legitimate congressional oversight in order to cover up either real crimes or its own incompetence.
It also suggests that the CIA was carrying out one (or possibly both) of the secret (and possibly illegal) operations that been widely rumored to be the real reason behind the Benghazi coverup:
They were already running arms (including surface-to-air missiles) to Syrian rebel, well in advance of Obama’s public declaration, or
Benghazi was an extrajudicial center for “harsh interrogation methods” of the sort Obama theoretically banned, as suggested by former CIA Director David Petraeus’ former mistress Paula Broadwell.
Either way, Obama lied, and Americans died to cover up Obama’s lies, and now even more people are being forced to lie, or at least refrain from talking to investigators seeking the truth, in order to cover up the coverup.
Tags: Benghazi, CIA, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Libya, Obama Scandals, Syria
Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Obama Scandals | No Comments »
July 31st, 2013
Travis McCormick notes that exactly one year ago, Ted Cruz beat David Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican Senate runoff. (He also demolished a number of myths in the process.) And pretty much every day Ted Cruz has been in Washington, he’s confirmed that Texas voters made the right decision.
Can anyone imagine Dewhurst leading the fight against illegal alien amnesty? Or schooling Dianne Feinstein on gun control? (I can imagine Dewhurst voting against gun control, but not leading the fight against it.) Or holding the feet of other Republicans to the fire on conservative principles? (As I said then, “We sent Cruz to Washington to shame Republicans into acting like Republicans.”)
No wonder Cruz is getting buzz as a 2016 Presidential candidate. I don’t see anyone else better on the horizon…
Tags: 2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Elections, Republicans, runoff, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Travis McCormick
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
July 30th, 2013
Still getting up to speed, so expect these updates to be a bit random for, oh, the next five weeks or so.
Abbott: The Obama Administration’s Voting Rights Act lawsuit is purely political.
The administration’s approach reveals the Democrats‘ fear that Republican candidates were making inroads with Hispanic voters. Democrats could never “turn Texas blue” if that trend continued, so they got the courts to draw district lines that guarantee Democratic victory in predominantly Hispanic areas.
Instead of allowing the Voting Rights Act to work in a way the Constitution allows, the Obama administration is sowing racial divide to score cheap political points. The president is using the legal system as a sword to wage partisan battles rather than a shield to protect voting rights. This overreaching action undermines the Voting Rights Act and the rule of law. Texas will not tolerate it. So far, neither will the Supreme Court.
Abbot also appeared on Lou Dobbs to discuss voter ID:
He also appeared on the Mike Huckabee show:
And the Mike Gallagher Show:
And Trey Ware’s show on KTSA:
Huckabee, who last endorsed David Dewhurst in the Senate race, endorses Dan Patrick in the Lt. Governor’s race. I’m sure the endorsement had nothing to do with Huckabee’s son doing work for a consulting firm hired by Patrick…
Former state Rep. Ray Keller is running for the Railroad Commission.
Interview with Barry Smitherman
The Houston Chronicle tackles the Lt. Governor’s race by…comparing Twitter statistics for Jerry Patterson and Dan Patrick. I feel dumber merely by having linked to that.
Texas Sparkle endorses Todd Staples for Lt. Governor.
Eric Opiela is running for Agricultural Commissioner. I sort of like his ad featuring a Prius-driving EPA official:
Malachi Boyuls is running for the railroad commission. You don’t see many Malachis in public office these days…
Democrat Mike Mjetland is considering running for Governor.
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, Barry Smitherman, Dan Patrick, Elections, EPA, Eric Opiela, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Malachi Boyuls, Mike Huckabee, Mike Mjetland, Ray Keller, Republicans, Texas, Todd Staples, video, Voter ID
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas, video | 1 Comment »
July 29th, 2013
The July grind is about to turn into the August grind. Enjoy the LinKSwarm while you can:
Mark Steyn on Detroit’s downfall.
America may not be Greece, but neither was Detroit.
Gun Owners are right to oppose all measures, because the goal of gun banners isn’t reducing crime, but the complete confiscation of all civilian firearms.
If Obama ever drew a crowd of 3 million people, the MSM would never stop proclaiming how awesome he is. But when the Pope does it? Meh.
When you shop at Costco, you’re buying ObamaCare.
Is it too much to ask that the director of the freaking 9/11 Museum not hate America?
I guess Anthony Weiner chose Carlos Danger as his sexing pseudonym because it sounds so much cooler than Prematuro Ejaculatoree.
Thanks to Slate, I now know that my twitter sexting pseudonym is “Pablo Kill”.
Maybe the MSM should stop doing fawning spreads on how elegant Huma Abedin is and start asking how she could earn $135,000 as a part-time government employee and still pull down $355,000 as a consultant.
That is, when she’s not playing footsie with Islamic radicals.
And now those Taiwanese animators on Anthony Weiner (possibly not safe for work):
Peaceful Treyvon protestors assault mother taking her 7-year old to the hospital.
A nifty neighborhood crime analysis tool for Austin. (Hat tip: Stuff From Hsoi.)
Given the chance to escape from unions, more than half of Wisconsin union members do just that.
Indonesia is banning bikinis for the Miss World contest. Well, Siberia isn’t having any of that foolishness.
Remembering World War II, Korean and Vietnam war vet and Congressional Medal of Honor winner Bud Day.
Tags: Anthony Weiner, Detroit, Guns, Huma Abedin, Jihad, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, Obituary, Pope, Russia, unions, Wisconsin
Posted in Democrats, Guns, Jihad, Media Watch, unions | 1 Comment »
July 26th, 2013
A little bird has been telling me a few tidbits about the Attorney General’s race, namely:
Ken Paxton is indeed going to run for AG, and will announce his run next week. You might think this is deep insider knowledge, but given this Facebook posting by Paxton…eh, not so much.
By contrast, the manifest lack of enthusiasm for Dan Branch’s Attorney General run among Texas conservatives is palpable. And when the Dallas Morning News labels you “a close confidant of House Speaker Joe Straus,” you’re already starting off on the wrong foot to win over conservative activists.
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Dan Branch, Elections, Joe Straus, Ken Paxton, Republicans, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
July 25th, 2013
Liberal fossil Paul Burka is peeved that Kinky Friedman might run for office again. “When Friedman ran for governor in 2006, he helped make it impossible for Rick Perry to lose in a four-way race. By helping to divide the vote among four candidates, he enabled Perry to win with a pitiful plurality of 39%. I have no doubt that Friedman’s intention was to help Perry.”
Burka calls another possible Friedman run “sick comedy.”
A few points:
- When Friedman jumped into the 2006 Governor’s race as an independent in early 2005, it wasn’t a four-way race. It only turned into one when Comptroller Carole Stewart Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn realized that Perry was going to slaughter her in the GOP primary and dropped out to run as an independent.
- Watching the race unfold, I didn’t get the impression Friedman was running to ensure Perry’s re-election, but A.) Because he thought it would be fun to run for governor (and maybe even fun to be elected governor), B.) He was dissatisfied with the status quo, and C.) Given Jesse Ventura’s fairly recently election as Minnesota Governor, Friedman thought he could win as an independent. He was wrong, but it didn’t look like an inherently risible proposition when he ran.
- If Perry’s 39% was pitiful, what do we call Democrat Chris Bell’s 29%?
- By competitiveness standards, have Democrats run any “non-joke” candidates statewide in Texas lately?
Now, I happen to agree with Burka’s assessment of Friedman’s political chances. But more interesting is the reason he feels the need to opine on them.
Underlying Burka’s lament, and his obvious bitterness over Kinky’s candidacy, is the idea popular among his fellow liberal journalists that someone could have beaten Perry in 2006 if Kinky hadn’t split the vote. In some ways it’s a defensible position, as that was a “Bush Fatigue” wave year for Democrats and Perry was suffering from a number of self-inflicted wounds (toll roads, the Trans-Texas Corridor proposal, etc.). And maybe a popular, polished, well-funded Democratic candidate just might have had a chance to defeat Perry in 2006. Unfortunately for the Democrats (though fortunately for us), none was apparent on the scene in 2006. Or any time, really, since Bob Bullock and Ann Richards retired. Democrats didn’t come close to sending Perry home in 2006, and they haven’t any time since, letting him retire undefeated in gubernatorial contests.
And so Burka’s great white whale escaped yet again…
Tags: 2006 Gubernatorial Election, Carole Stewart Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn, Chris Bell, Kinky Friedman, Paul Burka, Rick Perry, Texas
Posted in Elections, Texas | No Comments »
July 25th, 2013
Today’s super-genius liberal tweet comes to you from a Kate White-Hancock, AKA @lsalander13, who asks:
“@TPM Question: Where Was FOX News When Clarence Thomas Said FILTHY Perverse PORNOGRAPHIC Unwanted Things To Anita Hill AT WORK??”
Ignoring the red herring nature of trying to change the subject from Anthony Weiner, and the fact that none of Anita Hill’s allegations were ever proven, I think one reason Fox News may not have covered that was that Thomas’ confirmation hearings occurred 1991, and Fox News Channel wasn’t founded until 1996…
Tags: Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, Democrats, Fox News, Media Watch, morons, Twitter
Posted in Democrats, Media Watch, Supreme Court | No Comments »
July 24th, 2013
Smart denizens of California must be eying Detroit’s bankruptcy warily. After all, 60 years ago Detroit was the wealthiest city in America. And California seems hellbent on following Detroit’s Blue State path to bankruptcy sooner rather than later…
Problem: California public employees union members getting outrageous retirement benefits on the taxpayer’s dime. Solution: Hide their pension figures from the public.
From Dwight comes this gem of a news story:
Bruce Malkenhorst took home more than $911,000 a year as city manager of the tiny city of Vernon. His reign ended shortly
before he was convicted of misappropriating public funds, and he walked away with an annual pension that eventually topped $500,000,
the largest in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
But CalPERS last year decided to cut his pension to $115,000, concluding he’d derived some of his hefty salary improperly.
So now the 78-year-old Malkenhorst is suing Vernon to make up the difference.
And if you’re interested in California corruption, you should be following Dwight’s regular updates on Vernon and Bell.
Resignation Media, another California company, is moving to Austin. (Hat tip: Urban Grounds. )
Meanwhile, California e-discovery firm Daegis Inc. is also moving its headquarters to Texas.
Navarre Corporation relocates from Minnesota to Texas.
Houston edges out New York City as the nation’s largest goods exporter.
More on Dwight Howard and others fleeing California’s income tax burden.
Detroit won’t be the last city to declare bankruptcy.
California Latino supermarket chain Mi Pueblo declares bankruptcy. The article says that creditor Wells Fargo wanted to “change the terms” of loans, but something doesn’t add up. Turns out that profits dived when Mi Pueblo was forced to fire illegal aliens after an audit, and that put their profitability under the level dictated by the terms of the loan.
Parallels between Detroit and San Bernardino.
Tags: bankruptcy, California, fraud, San Bernardino, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Economics, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
July 23rd, 2013
State Rep Dan Branch has made his Attorney General bid official. With $4 million on hand he already has a formidable warchest. His primary opponent right now is Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman, who has just over $1 million on hand. I keep hearing murmurs of Ken Paxton possibly getting in, but so far he hasn’t made any definitive moves in that direction.
Both Branch and Smitherman are running as conservatives (duh; they’re running as Republicans in Texas).
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Barry Smitherman, Dan Branch, Elections, Republicans, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »