This website is dedicated to ground
zero for Tom DeLay. It’s mostly about local politics.
Nevertheless, you folks from foreign states can better understand what
kind of people go the polls and make a concerted effort to put a pencil
mark beside Tom’s name every other November. Trust me; it ain’t
pretty.
Here's the deal: This ain't a blog. It's a
professional political organization. Send me email - I'll post it if
I feel like it.
February 28 - Our
friend Deb found some interesting stuff on the magical Internet machine
last night. There's a few of Local GOP Party Chairman
Eric Thode's Enron emails for all the world to see, including some
references to the infamous
Project Stanley.
And there's even an email
through the Enron system
begging for political contributions for County Judge Bob Hebert in
January of 2002, after Enron had declared bankruptcy. Amazing.
Less than a month after people lost their jobs and life savings, emails
go out asking for money for Bob Hebert, who at the time was telling
everyone that he was independently wealthy.
If the link doesn't work
for you -- some people are having trouble with it -- here's the text of
the email: (The bolding is mine.)
Date:
04 Jan 2002 18:57 PST Subject: Bob Hebert
Good evening
my friends:
Bob Hebert is running for County Judge of Fort Bend County. The
incumbent will not run for health reasons. The incumbent will support
Bob.
I know of no one in Fort Bent County more qualified to be County Judge
than Bob. If elected, he will do a fine job and the citizens impacted
will be better off with him in that position.
He needs your help. Money is more important than anything. This
is a short race and time is precious. The election is in the first
week of March.
If you are willing to make a donation(any amount will be appreciated),
please make your check (no corporate checks, please) payable to the
Robert E. Hebert Campaign and send it to me @ Suite 560, 9800 Richmond
Ave., Houston 77042. I will see that Bob knows of your support.
You will also be invited to a fund raiser on Jan. 29 to meet and visit
with Bob.
If you have any questions please either give me a call or e-mail.
Thanks for your support.-Larry W. Bass
February 27 - For you
folks from foreign states who wants to watch gleefully as
the local GOP whacks each other with their Bibles, go on over to
Fort Bend Now. A simple unbiased news report is akin to hollering,
Ready, Aim, ......" at them.
The exchange at the
bottom over which side is being the most hypocritical is my personal
favorite. It's like they've all had a big ole steaming cup of
double-face and are trying to wipe the foam off their chins before
someone notices.
February 27 - I did something
yesterday that’s a political tradition at the beauty shop. We drove
around to look at political signs.
Since there’s no political polling in local Fort Bend races,
you can usually pick the winners by the checking the legally placed yard
signs in certain neighborhoods. Illegal signs all over the roadside
don’t count, and neither do the number of signs in front of a polling
place – those are desperation signs. In fact, those can be the sign of
a looser.
Since all the hullabaloo over New Territory among the
Republicans is consuming everybody’s time, I decided to make that our
first tour stop. First off, I do not know why Republicans are all
slapping each other over New Territory. One precinct in New Territory
went for the Congressional Democrat in the last election, and another
was only 53% Republican in the Congressional race.
Anyway, whatever the Republicans are doing there doesn’t seem
to be working. In all of New Territory less than 100 houses with yard
signs can be counted, and over half of those are for Naren Patel.
Then we went to Sugar Creek, where there are 100 houses with
yard signs in the first two blocks. There were none for Naren Patel,
and – here’s what was shocking – precious few for Tom DeLay.
Sugar Creek is Tom DeLay’s stronghold. However, this year you
can see houses with as many as 4 candidate signs in the yard, but no Tom
DeLay. I did not truly believe Tom DeLay was in trouble until I saw
Sugar Creek yesterday.
There were also precious few Tom Campbell signs, and no
Fjetland or Baig signs. However, I don’t think that means as much. If
you put a Baig, Campbell, or Fjetland sign in your yard in Sugar Creek,
the Christian Coalition knocks on your door and tries to intimidate
you. It’s hardly worth the effort. Just the absence of DeLay signs
rang loudly and says more than anything else.
After yesterday’s official drive-by polling, I think Tom will
win the GOP primary but not by much. That's my story and I'm sticking
to it.
February 27 - Mercy
me,
Tom DeLay abusing the IRS against his political enemies? Oh my
goodness, first he abused the Department of Homeland Security against
his enemies, now the IRS. What's next? Is he going to get
the PTA to spy on Tom Campbell?
And as if that wasn't
embarrassing enough,
Roll
Call (you really need to subscribe) has a story today about Tom
using Rent-A-Center's corporate jet as his own private airline.
Rent-A-Center wants something in return --- legislation that would allow
it to prey on the poor and unsuspecting by charging outrageous interest
rates. They also want defense contracts allowing them to rent furniture
and appliances to the military.
How Christian of Tom -
just another one of his angel companies who throw money at him:
Barcardi, internet gambling, RJ Reynolds tobacco.... and now,
moneychangers. This is more embarrassing than toilet paper on your
shoe at the biggest VFW dance of the year.
February 25 - A-freekin-mazing.
Just when I think that local Republican politics cannot possibly get any
more hypocritical, along comes our own far right wing religious nuts
again. They believe its okay to lie, cheat, distort, and steal if
you’re doing it in Jesus’ name.
D. Ann Criswell, a
newcomer to the county with no history in the local party or any
community organizations, is being pushed by local extreme rightwing
Republican Commissioner Andy Meyers. D. Ann has a push poll out,
announcing that incumbent Dianne Wilson is an “indicted felon.”
Here’s the exact text of
the push poll:
(Woman’s voice)
Fort Bend County Clerk Dianne Wilson sued taxpayers for
a higher salary and for her legal fees when she was indicted for
theft. If you approve of officials suing you for more money, press 9
to support keeping Wilson. If you don’t like being sued by county
officials, press 1 to support Republican (capital) D. (capital) Ann
Criswell for County Clerk. Thank you
(no disclaimer)
I have no idea what happens when you press the numbers because by this
point, all my friends have slammed the phone against the wall.
Sixteen years ago, Dianne
was indicted. The case was dismissed and the record was expunged. The
one-term over-zealous district attorney who indicted her (no, it wasn’t
Ronnie Earle; it was a Republican) was so universally disrespected that
he was defeated in the next election by a guy who didn’t spend a penny
campaigning.
Let me explain something
in simple language. There is more of Commissioner Andy Meyer’s DNA on
Tom DeLay’s patootie than there is on Andy's own toothbrush. Andy
thinks Tom’s indictment is a badge of courage, but Dianne’s 16 year old
DISMISSED and EXPUNGED indictment is reason to defeat her and cause for
deep shame.
Yes, Dianne, along with
every other female elected official in Fort Bend County sued the
all-male county commissioner’s court for parity in their wages. Female
elected officials were making less money than male elected officials. I
guess that’s okay with D. Ann Criswell, but it ain’t okay with me. The
females won, D. Ann, because they had the guts to stand up to The Boys.
So, if you win, I feel certain you’ll return the money from your salary.
If you’re elected, we’ll reinstate “The Hooter Withholding Tax.”
Shame on you, D. Ann
Criswell. Shame on you for allowing yourself to be used by the most
despicable people on earth. Shame on the local Republican Party for
eating their own. While we’re at it, shame on party chairman Eric Thode
for getting embroiled in a petty fight over his own ego when something
like this is happening. Shame on you all.
February 24 - Local
Update: Look, I know about local petty political squabbles.
I don’t need anyone telling me about petty local political squabbles. I
live in Richmond. Hell, we have active political bickering here that
goes back to the Jaybird- Woodpecker wars. We’ve got people here
fighting over things that even their grandparents don’t know how got
started. We’ve got folks buried here who had tacky things about their
political opponents carved in their gravestones just so they could have
the last say. But, 2006 goes down as a banner year in petty politics
in this county.
And, I'll be a nakkid hen
on a fence post before I let Republicans draw me into their petty local
political squabbles. I know where I'm going so I can get out of
this handbasket right now!
I used to consider myself
an independent. But local Republicans made me a total Democrat.
Hey, I admit the local Democratic party has its share of nutcases, but
the local Republicans have their and someone else's share, too. I
mean, they can't even get all their petty little politicians to stand
still long enough to be counted, they got so many. Republicans
made me a straight ticket Democrat and they'll do the same to you pretty
soon.
If you're here to see if
I really wrote most of that stuff in an email circulating about the
hypocrisy of local GOP Republican Party Chairman Eric Thode and written
about in the Coaster Fort Herald Bend Coaster Texas Strayhorn Cougar
Melencamp newspaper, you bet your sweet patootie I did. I'll have
to look up the actual date I wrote it, but I know it was before October
of last year. However, I did not give it to, or in any way approve
of it being used by Liz Mitton or the Renamed with Less Fame newspaper.
It has been posted on my website for months right here.
As if I wasn't mad enough
to spit brimstone already, Fred Hartman at the Herald Bend Coaster Texas
newspaper used my research to do an interview with Thode, wrote about
it, and totally forgot my name, referring to me only as an "internet
blog column." That's just rude. That's just unprofessional.
That's just oh so typical of a man. Fred Hartman knows my name and
how to get in touch with me. To make matters worse, Fred (who will
hereafter be referred to as Peabody Fudgegrass, III) wasn't smart enough
to ask Thode the right questions. I hate it when people who aren't
too bright don't even bother to call me and ask me what to ask.
What do they think I'm here for?
In May of last year, I
wrote right here on this website that Republican Party Chairman Eric
Thode had filed a final report with the Texas Ethics Commission in
January of 2005. That means that in January of 2005, well over a
year ago, Thode knew he was moving and wasn't going to run again.
When I wrote it, Thode's answer was to lie to everybody. He told
people that he always files a final report --- pants on fire, that is a
lie so large that a picture of it would weigh 5 pounds --- and then he
had his little puppy Republican blogger stand on his hind legs and beg
by denying it for Thode publicly. Thode knew he was moving, but lied to
his own party members to keep the only power he has left in his whole
life.
And for the those
of you who don't live in Sugar Land and think that Eric Thode was
writing about me in the Republican newsletter (which goes all over Fort
Bend) when he referred to someone as "a pseudo-journalist for a local
Democrat-run internet site," he was not talking about me.
Republicans in Katy, Needville, Richmond, Rosenberg, Stafford, Pleak and
anywhere but Sugar Land think he was talking about me. I know they
do; they've called me.
Thode's ego was so big
that he spent a page and a half in the GOP newsletter to explain that he
wasn't cheating the party, he was merely deceiving the members, but he
didn't have the guts to say who he was talking about. He's a wuss.
All sombrero, no cajones.
He was talking about Liz Mitton, not me. But the majority of
people who got the newsletter didn't what what the fool tarnation he was
talking about. He wasted a page and half on something that maybe,
just maybe, 200 people give a big bear's butt about.
And then he wrote in the
GOP newsletter, "From my vantage point, I will be happy leaving the
lies, rumors, and innuendo dished out by people like this in the
rearview mirror." Then go. Leave. Ain't nobody got a
leash on you, huh? Huh?
And then to really get
all over the last nerve I've got, Thode announces that he's staying on
as party chairman until May, even after Republican voters have selected
a new chairman in March. Please. Pretty please - somebody
take away his day pass to Fort Bend. People kept telling me to let
Thode leave in peace. There appears to be a problem with that - he
won't leave and he won't let anybody have any peace.
If he doesn't leave, I
might have to get really mad at him. But first, I'll make jokes
about him telling Peabody Fudgegrass III about needing his momma to
notarize his campaign report. Good Lord.
February 23 - Note: Instead of
slipping February's Email from Hell into two sections, I've decided to
put it all on one page. Heck, it's a short month!
Okay, we’re going to
start out with catching up on Tom DeLay. That boy can get into more
trouble in a week than the average two year old. I’ll be adding things
to this list all day so check back.
Tomorrow I’ll be writing about local Republicans because
they have hacked me off something fierce and I’m gonna pitch a wall-eyed
snot nosed screaming hissy fit all over ‘um.
Meanwhile, back to Tom…..
Investigators have asked for any information about Abramoff's dealings
with two top Naftasib executives, Alexander Koulakovsky and Marina
Nevskaya. Senior Naftasib executives helped arrange a trip Abramoff
took to Moscow in 1997 with former House majority leader Tom DeLay, a
longtime Abramoff friend.
The
subpoena specifically requests information about dealings between the
Abramoff associate receiving the subpoena and DeLay. …..
The
IMF, which is financed partly by the US government, has provided
billions of dollars in loans and loan guarantees to the Russian
government.
Geeslin said he had been told that the money was aimed at influencing
the vote of DeLay, the former House majority leader, on legislation
that shored up the IMF's financing for Russia.
In a striking reversal, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas)
has signed on to a new proposal to ban Internet gambling — a measure
that both he and former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff opposed six years
ago.
……
Abramoff …
allegedly sought and received assistance from “Staffer A” — believed
to be (Tony) Rudy, who was then deputy chief of staff to DeLay — to
block the Internet gambling ban. In return, Abramoff is accused of
steering $50,000 in 2000 and 2001 to Rudy’s wife through a nonprofit
group he was affiliated with.
See, Tom thought Internet gambling was a sacrament until he and his good
buddys stopped making money off of it. Now it's evil, evil, a sin.
Next up and far more important to us personally, our friend
Alfredo reminds us that DeLay’s power has now shrunk to the size of his
golf tees. (You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?
I wouldn't say that. I have, what do they call it?
Occassional restraint.)
Remember the first and only pork Tom brought home to Fort Bend
during his entire term in Congress – the $500,000,000 (half a billion
dollars) he was supposed to bring to Sugar Land for an energy
consortium?
Well, I hope nobody bought office plants or a stapler or nothing ….
But just a month after the embattled
former House majority leader announced he would not try to keep his
leadership job, the Bush administration cut funding for the project
from its 2007 budget, and announced in the fine print of its
1,220-page fiscal blueprint that it would seek legislation to kill the
program outright.
A Department of Energy spokesman
said the decision this month merely reflects President Bush's desire
to weed out ineffective programs. But in political circles, lawmakers
and analysts saw the cut as a slap against a man who no longer has the
political muscle to hit back.
Tom spent all those years in Congress giving away our pork to
consolidate his own power. Now he’s got nothing. And, think of this
…. Now that the Bush people have called this “an ineffective program,”
if they restore it to help Tom win re-election it’ll look worse than
selling our ports to some guys in hijacker school. Whoa, wait, Bush is
trying to do that.
And remember when Tom
called the Northern Mariana Islands, "my
Galapagos Island, a perfect petri dish of capitalism"? Eeeeuuuuu, that's
gotta hurt,
even the rightwing NewsMax is cringing over that.
It's gotten worse.
Apparently there was
forced prostitution involved. "Forced prostitution" .... that's a
nice Republican word for rape.
I dunno. Maybe this
explains DeLay's large hotel room service bills while he was there.
Well, think about it. He doesn't drink because he's a Baptist, so
it couldn't be alcohol on the bill. I'm just saying .....
More and even better to
come in a little while....
February 22 - Okay,
Bubba raised the ransom money and I'm back home. You'd think Bubba
could raise $49.95 a little quicker than a week, but nooooooo.....
(To be honest, I think Bubba offered them $79 to keep me.)
Since I've had a week to
do nothing but read the newspaper and get royally hacked off, expect
lotsa posts. But give me this afternoon to unpack and get all the
duck tape out of my hair.
If you're a Democrat and
voting in the local Democratic primary, please vote for Steve Brown over
Dora Olivo. It's important.
One more thing of
immediate mportance: I have a friend who works at a rightwing
organization.
He sent me this
with the comment, "I swear I am not making this up." I'm glad he
added that comment because I didn't believe it. You know, I
remember back when Christians used to believed in love. I guess
that's before rightwing politicians became the new moneychangers.
February 15 - Okay, so
after reading Tom DeLay's latest diatribe against his Republican
opponent (whine,
whine, he takes money from his college buddies who don't even live here),
you just gotta ask ole Tom, "And, Honey, since when did Jack Abramoff
move into the district? And the owners of Barcardi Rum? Do
they now live in Rosenberg? How 'bout them tobacco interest who
give you a load of money? Are they paying property taxes in Clear
Lake?
I swear to goodness, Tom
DeLay is either nuts or just plain ole evil. On some days it's
just hard to tell the difference.
February 14 - We heard
last week that Tom DeLay had mailed out a 8 page
handwritten letter to voters in his district. It hasn't arrived
anywhere in Fort Bend yet. Eight pages, handwritten. People
have forced mental competency hearings over less obsessive behavior.
Thelma suspects it was
planned to arrive in today's Valentine mail, like the pleas of a
slightly deranged spurned lover you dumped a couple of months ago ....
"oh, please take me back. I'll be the kind of man you want me to
be from now on. I can change. I really can. I am sooo
worth it...."
I've just got one thing
to say: if it comes in today's mail, it damn well better arrive
with a couple of dozen roses and a spa gift package.
February 14 - And he
just had to do it on Valentine's Day!
We've been diddle-squatted by Tom DeLay. Again.
It seems that Tom
announced yesterday in
US News and World Report that he’s not going to seek a leadership
position again, and that he’s perfectly happy with his position on the
appropriations committee to “boost
NASA spending, especially for his hometown Johnson Space Center in
Houston.”
Oh goodie, goodie,
gumdrop. We in Fort Bend get diddle squat. Again.
In the election two years
ago, Tom got almost 6 percentage points fewer votes in Fort Bend County
than he did in the Harris County (Clear Lake) portion of the district.
At the time I figured it proved that those who know him best like him
least.
Tom isn’t stoopid. He
knows that Fort Bend voters aren’t going to forget years of neglect,
getting the short end of highway funding, and absolutely no help with
emergency preparedness. He figures he’s liable to up and lose the vote
in the Fort Bend portion of the district. So, he’s hoping that the
folks in Clear Lake didn’t read the newspapers or watch teevee for the
past ten years and don’t realize that Tom DeLay never ever makes good on
his “hometown” promises. He trades his portion of governmental pork for
golf trips, Cuban cigars, and fancy French food
So here we sit in Fort
Bend County, Tom’s actual hometown, getting the shaft. He can lose here
- if he wins big in Clear Lake. And who cut Fort Bend into three pieces
so no Congressional candidate actually needs our votes to win an
election? Why, could it be …. yes, it is, Tom DeLay.
Tom DeLay, Al Green, and
Ron Paul can all three lose Fort Bend County and still win the election.
Diddle squat. We get squat. Thanks again, Tom.
And somebody needs to
warn those NASA folks – Tom DeLay will trade your spacesuits for a tee
time and pina colada.
February 13 - Gotta
shoot them over here so you don't have to shoot them over there.
Look, I know there's some parts of Texas
where lawyers are in season year-round; however, they're hardly worth
shooting because they taste bad, and taxidermists can't figure out which
end of them to hang on the wall.
I do hope Cheney has a
better excuse than bad intel.... No body armor for his hunting
partners either? ... Maybe if Cheney hadn't gotten five deferments
from serving in the military, he'd know how to use a gun.....
You know, no wonder they
tried to keep this a secret. There's just too many good lines for
this. Of course, maybe they thought they had 72 hours to file a
retroactive report.
February 10 - This is probably just one of them miracle-coincidence things
that just keeps scattering along Tom DeLay’s path to fame and riches,
but we feel it is our duty to provide material for the Science Fiction
channel by chronicling eerie events like these. It’s just another
friendly customer service we offer here at Juanita’s.
All this started two years ago when Tom DeLay got himself
invited to have a shindig in his honor at NASA. Now, Tom was never a
big NASA fan before, probably because Jack Abramoff wasn’t lobbying for
them, but once Clear Lake got put in Tom’s district, Tom became
NASA-Gone-Wild! He even got himself one of them Junior-Astronaut pens.
There were those who
thought that having a swanky reception at NASA for Tom DeLay at taxpayer
expense right before election might look tasteless, unseemly, and
abusive of the taxpayer dollars. But, those are the people who forget
that “tasteless, unseemly, and abusive of the taxpayer dollars” is Tom
DeLay’s middle name.
The Houston Press wrote at the time ---
The
August 18 internal memo to all NASA personnel at Johnson Space Center
seemed innocuous enough.
"With the party political conventions in full swing,"
wrote JSC chief counsel Bernard Roan, it was time to restate NASA's
policy on employee campaign activities. Included was a warning against
any political activity while on duty, and "on duty" could be defined
as any time when an employee was wearing a NASA pin.
Then someone at NASA apparently realized that: 1) U.S.
Representative Tom DeLay was being honored at an August 24 reception
at nearby UH-Clear Lake; 2) Redistricting has put JSC in DeLay's
district; and 3) NASA needs to do some serious kissing of the DeLay
ass to keep getting funded.
So on August 19 a new memo went out. "It is my
determination that it is in the Agency's interest for NASA [employees]
and their guests to attend this event," deputy chief counsel Daniel
Remington wrote.
The second memo alarmed some NASA workers. "I couldn't
believe they'd do something like that," says one veteran employee. He
said a co-worker had e-mailed to say he'd never seen anything like it
in 30 years at JSC. "It just didn't pass the smell test," he said.
An anonymous complaint has been filed with NASA's
inspector general, but somehow a ruling didn't come down before the
DeLay event.
Well, obviously nothing was ever done about the complaints, and I forgot
all about it until our friend Alfredo pointed out something in the
Washington Post perked-up my hair clips.
On February 3nd, the Washington Post wrote---
An FBI-led watchdog
agency has opened an investigation into multiple complaints accusing
NASA Inspector General Robert W. Cobb of failing to investigate safety
violations and retaliating against whistle-blowers. Most of the
complaints were filed by current and former employees of his own
office.
Eerie, huh? Well, we're not finished. On
February 8th, Tom gets a seat on the committee not only overseeing the
Abramoff investigation,
but also NASA and any investigation of it.
It's like seeing ghosts
getting out of UFOs, ain't it? I mean, things like this don't
happen accidentally. Things like this are miracles and black magic
and stuff I don't want to be messing with. I'm beginning to think
that Katrina scattered some of that New Orleans voodoo all over Tom
DeLay. Maybe that's what Tom meant when he told the homeless
pitiful children in the Astrodome after Katrina,
"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), in a new letter to thousands
of GOP voters in his district, has denied having close ties to former
lobbyist Jack Abramoff, writing that it was “absolutely untrue” that
the two were “close personal friends.”
The actual letter says,
“The reality is, Jack Abramoff and I
were not close personal friends. I met with him only occasionally, in
fact less frequently than numerous others who brought issues before
Congress — never did he receive preferential treatment."
Yeah, and it was just one of them miracle things that Jack got whatever
he wanted from you, Tom.
February 9 - If this email
hadn't come from Tom DeLay, I'd think I'd grown myself a disabling brain
tumor because this goes against all logical, straight, honest, and good
thinking. But, it came from Tom DeLay so I kinda expected it to be
craaaaazy.
As noted last
January 28, Tom DeLay sent out a really odd
email that said,
Dear Friends and Supporters –
With Early Voting opening in a few short weeks, outside groups are
zeroing-in on our community to attempt to influence the Republican
Primary.
Congressman DeLay needs your help to send them a message – We're
Standing With Tom!
At the time I wondered what outside groups he was talking about.
Well, put away the extra pieces because the puzzle is solved! The
"outside groups" are coming for Tom! It's HIS outside groups.
I am NOT making this up.
Tom is encouraging outside agitators to come to Sugar Land. He
sent out an email today that says,
Hi
Everyone,
This weekend
we need your help to get out and talk to the voters. We will be block
walking in Sugar Land and Deer Park. For those of you who don't
live in the district, it's about a 15 - 20 minute drive from downtown.
This race will play a crucial role in our party's efforts to maintain
control of Congress, and our participation can help make the
difference in 2006. I have attached the official campaign message
below. Read through it, and give us a call or send us an e mail (or
you can call me directly on my cell at xxx-xxx-xxxx) I look forward to
hearing from you. Thanks.
James Garcia
Tom DeLay Campaign
Okay, so now he's bringing street walkers from Houston to tell people in
Sugar Land how to vote. Notice that he ain't bringing those people
to Richmond / Rosenberg, which is also part of his district. We
bar-be-que those kind of people in Richmond / Rosenberg.
First off, I just want to
warn people that Sugar Land is a 15 - 20 minute drive from downtown
Houston only at 2:00 a.m. in a NASCAR with a police escort. Any
other time it's gonna take you about an hour because Tom DeLay did not
put our highway improvement front and center and we had to wait until he
gave everyone else in America highway money before we got ours because
he was building his little power kingdom instead of being worried about
me making to Houston for a ballgame. So, when you're stuck in
traffic getting here, please remember that you're stuck in traffic
because of Tom DeLay, and then ask yourself, "What the fool tarnation am
I doing?"
Second off, ain't it a
tad flakey to whine about "outside groups" and then proudly announce
that you're doing it? Republicans used to call that moral
relativism. Now they call it business as usual.
I took out James Garcia's
cell phone number because he's just trying to make a living. I
think being a real street walker might be a more honest way to make a
living, but maybe James ain't real attractive.
Thelma says that one of
Tom's pants legs is shorter than the other and that makes him look
crooked.
February 9 - I did not
get to go to the State Representative debate at the Rosenberg Civic
Center last night, but a lot of people I know and love did go.
(Mainly they went to whoop on worthless Dora Olivo for being against
stem cell research.)
Astoundingly, the public
can't ask questions at these forum because our candidates are far too
delicate and dumb to be answering questions from the people they
represent. I think that's something they learned from George W
Bush, a man who hasn't been fond of questions since junior high school.
Anyway, between the
Republicans putting their condensed candidate interviews online
(gleefully, there will be more about that later) and the Republicans who
spoke last night, I'm beginning to wonder if they need a big ole heaping
cup of caffeine-heavy reality.
Republicans around here
are highly concerned, as am I, about our high property taxes. Our
taxes are skyrocketing along with our overly inflated property
evaluations. Since county commissioners set the tax rate and
commissioners court has been controlled 4 to 1 by Republicans for the
past 14 years, it don't take a triple-digit IQ to figure out who is to
blame for higher taxes.
A whole bunch of double
digit IQ Republican candidates showed up last night claiming that the
Republican party is the party of lower taxes. Well, damn, for the
past 14 years you could've fooled me!
I know there are people
who don't believe me about this stuff, so I'm going to start offering
photographic proof. Take a look at Gary Gates first. He's a
Republican running for State Senate.
.
Yeah, Gary, there's something we can do about high property taxes.
For starters, we can elect some commissioners and a county judge who
don't make making "legal" kickbacks their part time job.
And there's John Zerwas,
running for the State House.
John!
Honey! Listen up. It'll be Republicans that you're fighting
with. They've had 14 years and for 14 years my property taxes have
gone nothing but up.
We have one Democratic
mayor in Fort Bend County - Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella.
There are NO property taxes in Stafford. None. Nilch.
Zero. Nada. Get it?
I'll be adding more of
these as I have time to scan these suckers.
By the way, I know how we
can save a lot of money. We need to put a surtax on every time a
Republican candidate uses the word "values." A girlfriend taking
notes last night said the Republicans spent the entire evening trying to
out-value each other. She caught, "Traditional values, Texas
values, Christian values, Downhome values, Family values, Republican
values, Conservative values," and then her pen broke. Not one
person on the face of the earth can define any of these terms.
But, I'm considering trying.
Tom DeLay, forced to
step down as the No. 2 Republican in the House, scored a soft landing
Wednesday as GOP leaders rewarded him with a coveted seat on the
Appropriations Committee.
DeLay, R-Texas, also claimed a seat on
the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is currently
investigating an influence-peddling scandal involving disgraced
lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with lawmakers. The
subcommittee also has responsibility over NASA— a top priority
for DeLay, since the Johnson Space Center is located in his
Houston-area district.
"Allowing Tom DeLay to
sit on a committee in charge of giving out money is like putting
Michael Brown back in charge of FEMA — Republicans in Congress just
can't seem to resist standing by their man," said Bill Burton,
spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
They gave him a seat overseeing the Justice Department? No.....
That isn't right. That can't be. Nobody would be that dumb.
I'm stunned.
Since the national
Republican Party cannot / will not clean their own house, we'll have to
do it for them in March or November.
I hear that Democrats
across the country are thrilled. The era of DeLay is NOT over as
Republicans like to claim, and Democrats will get to run against him in
every contested race all over America.
And, on the personal
front, my buttons ought to sell like hotcakes!
Overseeing the Justice Department? I
can't believe that. That's just power gone amuck. That's
just a slap in Lady Justice's pretty face. That's just brazen in
their corruption.
February 8 - Our friend
Alfredo caught this little tidbit in today's Washington Post.
"The Texas delegation didn't show
up anymore. And their friends. And their girlfriends. You lose that
clientele."
Alfredo wonders, "Hmmm, exactly how many bachelors are there in the
Texas Republican delegation? I thought they were all married, so they
couldn't have any girlfriends, could they? That would be a sin."
February 7 - The Christian
Broadcasting Network interviewed Tom DeLay. It's Pat
Robertson's news network. I don't watch it, but I suspect they
spend the whole day talking about who needs killin' and how they're
gonna get the government to do it for them. Best I can figure from
looking around the website, they're a bunch of Christians who ain't all
that crazy about the teachings of Sweet Jesus so they're making up some
of their own.
Anyway, the interview
with Tom was kinda like Chris Matthews' interview, except without all
the Chris-and-Tom butt-kissing. Christine DeLay, Tom's
wife who also went on all the swanky trips, says that the liberal
media made Tom take those trips and play golf and eat and drink too much
and get in them hot tubs and order that room service and goodness only
knows what else.
Tom Delay:
All they have is the politics of personal destruction and character
assassination.
Christine:
And the liberal media.
Tom: And the
liberal media.
Christine:
That's huge.
Poor Christine, she obviously ain't
accustomed to huge.
I think the deal was that
Tom prayed real hard that the liberal media wouldn't force him to take
all that money and play all that golf, but it didn't help none because
the liberal media is far more powerful that God. At least that's
what he seems to be saying in this interview.
By the way. Honey,
having Tom DeLay diss character assassination is like Pamela Anderson
dissing ta-ta implants. Tom invented the politics of personal
destruction.
February 5 - The
Houston Chronicle's Rick Casey added a bit of understanding to our
county judge's indignation about conflicts in the public interest
over gifts.
New state law requires
that our county commissioners, who control how all of our tax money is
spent, have to report if they get a gift from a county vendor.
From the looks of their first reaction, we might have to serve them some
cheese with their whine.
I guess it's never
erupted in any of their thought processes that the simplest solution
would be --- DO NOT TAKE "GIFTS" THAT LOOK LIKE KICKBACKS. This
ain't rocket science. These vendors aren't giving you gifts and
campaign contributions because you're their new best friend or you're so
handsome and witty. They're giving you gifts because they want you
to give them some of my money.
Cripes! I can keep
explaining it to Judge Hebert, but I can't understand it for him.
February 1
- Okay, after Tom DeLay told
Chris Matthews last night that his golf outing in Scotland was paid for
by a "legitimate conservative organization," Ronnie Earle has
issued new subpoenas. Bunches of them.
(These official actual subpoenas will open in PDF format.) Hey,
just like DeLay, Abramoff may be conservative but he ain't legitimate.
Hardball, my patootie!
Chris Matthews doesn't even have a ball, much less anything hard.
This morning's
Washington Post has the documents, too.
Tom, listen up, pookie.
Don't lie when someone has subpoena power. Didn't you learn
anything from Bill Clinton?
February 1 - Roll
Call (sorry, by subscription only) is reporting that former aides to
Tom DeLay are giving Tom a party tonight in Dee Cee. I can't
imagine what they're celebrating considering the bad news about
Tom not
being able to raise money. The article in Roll Call quotes one
former DeLay aid as saying, "that (Tony) Rudy, (Ed) Buckham and
(Michael) Scanlon were explicitly not invited to the party."
Talk about bad sports!
Tom gets indicted, but Rudy and Buckham are merely under investigation
for their dealings with Abramoff and ---- zap! --- they're about as
welcome as a flesh eating virus. And how can they be so mean to
Michael Scanlon? One little guilty plea and he's dead to these
people. He used to be Tom's best buddy. He and Tom were
thick as thieves, literally. Now, they don't even know him.
But the big news from
Roll Call is that Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman, is also leaving the
DeLay campaign. Rat, meet sinking ship.
The First
Semi-Annual Pinkie Awards were presented last night amid all the glamour
of Fort Bend’s elite political connoisseurs. The Pinkies honor the
worse political signs of the season, as voted by the customers, beauty
consultants, and head proprietress of The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty
Salon, Inc. The Awards dinner took place last night in the Grand
Ballroom of the Homer Norton Hotel in beautiful downtown Rosenberg. If
you didn’t get an invitation, you might try being nicer to Thelma.
Thelma is in charge of the invitations. The Pinkies got their name from Junior Janochek, Jr., who,
upon seeing a political sign created by Commissioner Grady Prestage
several years ago, commented, “Holy Smoke, I could make a better sign
with my little pinkie. Drunk. Lost. With chalk. On barbed wire. No
dictionary. No eraser…..” We think Junior,
Jr. kept talking but we were all aghast at Grady’s sign, which featured
a life-size picture of Grady, and the sign caused a loud ringing in our
ears. In fact, aghast is an understatement. We were totally ghasted. Some locals have developed into fine competitors for Grady.
So, it’s time to make this a formal event. None of our judges have degrees in political science, thank
goodness, and none of us knows diddle squat about marketing. We are
just almost-normal citizens who have to look at these eyesores day in
and day out during political season. We are also certain that we will be
adding competitors for the next Pinkie Awards in October. It’s hard to beat
Bud Childers when
it come to sign placement so we gave him the lifetime achievement award
for tasteless and tacky self-promotion.
Here’s some
other winners:
Carolyn! Honey! Grab a rag! A parakeet just threw up on your
sign!
Okay, a small lesson in geometry. To be seen from all sides of a
four-way stop, you do not have to build a fort. You slant two signs.
We could put a roof on this sucker and house some Katrina victims.
There's no one to see the backside of this sign except cows and we only
let them vote in run-offs.
Nancy, Nancy, Nancy, women have worked hard for political equality for a
full generation just to avoid this kind of thing. All I can ask is,
“Are you going to put a pole in your courtroom?”
Okay, a little design in the “O” of your name is the political
equivalent of dotting your “i” with a little heart. You’re asking us to
trust you with our money. The last thing we look for in an investment
officer is “cute.”
If you’re asking us to let you make laws, please try to keep the ones we
already have and do not put your political signs in the right of way.
(Mr. Gates isn't alone in doing this, but I just felt like picking on
him.)
Dora, see Grady. Quick.
And the winner of the coveted “I’m Just a
Guy Who Can’t Say ‘No’” Award is local attorney and Renaissance Man,
Charlie Michulka.
Of note: My new theme is "Have camera, will travel." If you
see anything I need to see, either take a picture of it and email it to
me or send me the location and I'll go when I get time.
Some of the most
intriguing post-Enron tales come from people who walked away with
neither fame nor millions of dollars. Eric Thode, a public-relations
employee, started a company that cleaned up bloody crime scenes. When
that didn't take off, he got a business-development job at an
oilfield-services company. He's also chairman of the Republican Party
of Fort Bend County, Tex., where he has been organizing support lately
for Tom DeLay, the indicted former Majority Leader of the House of
Representatives.
DECATUR -
Morgan County Commissioner Stacy Lee George denies he called Sheriff
Greg Bartlett "Daffy Duck," but did say he was called a pig by the
sheriff.
And,
George's behavior was called "boorish and unacceptable" by the
county's Republican Party chairman and other party officials.
The
name-calling is the latest exchange by the two county officials who
are headed for a showdown over staffing a new county jail.
January 29 - The following
is a public service announcement. Heads up, People. It's election time
and former County Attorney Bud Childers is running for office. No
one is safe. Bud has some mental
health issues about his signs. I'm not joking. This is
serious stuff. Bud will put his political signs anywhere. If
your butt is big and you stand still too long, he'll try to nail one on
ya. Trust me; I know. Several years ago I wrote
that my biggest fear was passing on during a Bud Childers campaign
because Bud would have no compunction against coming to a funeral and
slapping one of his signs on the casket. Now, you would think that
the former County Attorney would attempt to follow the law in sign
placement. You would think wrong. Bless our hearts, it's
already started. I got a call from a friend who took me to see
some of Bud's latest sign placements. I swear on a case of Aqua
Net hairspray that I did not alter these pictures in any manner.
This is the absolute truth. First, in complete
violation of every law ever written about campaign signs, Bud has tacked
his sign between a telephone pole and a tree. I do not know what
effect this will have on telephone workers and spotted owls, but it
couldn't be good.
If you haven't scrolled down yet to look at the next picture, you might
want to remove any sharp objects or hot beverages from your vicinity
before scrolling. It's not so much that he
covered a community service sign with his own, it's where he put it.
Please read from top to bottom.
Honey, the very LAST thing a pregnant woman needs is "Facts and
friendship for dealing with Bud Childers." I am not making this up.
I'm not that funny. You know, to tell you the truth, my friend and
I didn't even notice how funny it was until we got home and looked at
the pictures.
Here's another shot of it
full length. You need to call
Grandma and Aunt Bess and tell them about it.
January 28 - Rainy day,
so the beat goes on. I'm scanning the DA's
race today. Snarky comments to follow. In other news, my Bubba
got the strangest danged email from Chris Homan, Tom DeLay's campaign
manager. It said, in part -
Dear Friends and Supporters –
With Early Voting opening in a few short weeks, outside groups are
zeroing-in on our community to attempt to influence the Republican
Primary.
Congressman DeLay needs your help to send them a message – We're
Standing With Tom!
Homan wants me to send an email to Tom and Christine telling them that I
support them. Good Lord, how emotionally needy are those two
people? But, most importantly, I
have to know who these "outside groups" are, dammit. Have aliens
landed in Needville ... again? "Outside groups"? The man who
formed TRMPAC is talking about "outside groups"? If there ain't a
law against that, then shame on us. Please, Sweet Jesus, make
hypocrisy painful.
The re-election campaign headquarters for US
Representative Tom DeLay is virtually empty this morning. Five people
are stuffing envelopes, the press officer is checking her Blackberry,
and the campaign manager and another staffer are sitting in a dark
room, blinds drawn, working quietly at their desks.
Not a good sign for a campaign. Heck, Honey, the backroom where we
store all the heavy beauty shop equipment gets more activity and better
reviews than that! However, come to think of
it, that's kinda the way Tom has always worked, "sitting
in a dark room, blinds drawn."
January 27
- Incumbent Republican District Clerk Glory Hopkins just got
unceremoniously dumped from the ballot by her own party.
I've had my say. It was interesting that
three other candidates were
granted a mandamus by the court and allowed to correct defects in
their filings. Kinda looks like Republicans were determined to get
rid of Glory, don't it? Yeah, she made a mistake, but so did
County Judge Bob Hebert in his campaign finance reports, but they're
circling the wagons around him. (And Lord knows that takes a whole
lot of wagons!)
January 27 - SPECIAL NOTE TO
GEORGE WILL: If you visit here because of an email you were sent,
and I was cc’ed, by a guy from Houston I’ve never met, here’s the deal.
This is what he wrote to you following
your editorial in the New York Times --
RE: “Heard
and noted during a visit with the DeLays” By George F. Will, January 26, 2006, Houston Chronicle
“But here on the east bend of the Brazos River, unlike on the Potomac,
the fever for reform is not high.”
Mr. Will,
Actually the “fever for reform” is doing quite well, thank you.
I suggest that you pay a visit to Juanita’s, aka “The World’s Most
Dangerous Beauty Salon”. Surf around Juanita’s web archives, and you
will find plenty of dirt concerning Rio Bend and other alleged
charities created as money laundering tools by the DeLays.
Pointing you in the right direction is just another friendly customer
service provided for you at no cost from the good folks at The World’s
Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc.
(By the way, while you’re here, you might want to check
County Judge Bob Hebert’s campaign finance
reports. Whatever Tom has must be contagious. Bob Hebert
only ran for office so he would never have to spend a dime of his own
money ever again. Sound familiar?)
One other thing, Mr. Will. You might tell your little buddies to
put some daylight between their money laundering activities.
Looks like they've been busted again.
WASHINGTON — The Washington firm that won a
$180,000 state lobbying contract threw a fundraiser for former
U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay the same day its chairman
signed paperwork allowing the firm to be paid.
January 25
- The New York Post is reporting today that Michael Scanlon, one of
DeLay's former aides, was the person who dug-up the dirt on Bob
Livingston, causing Livingston to withdraw as Speaker of the House to be
replaced with DeLay's boy, Denny Hastert. Oh no, please don't let
that be true. Please. I would hate to see Tom DeLay involved
in ANY way with "the politics of personal destruction." (Sorry if
I caused a puddle of sarcasm at the bottom of your monitor.)
January 25 - We're
adding some more campaign reports today. Check
here as I scan and upload them. Also of note, today is
the deadline day for being able to put
Glory Hopkin's name on the primary ballot, so we expect a decision
from the Court today. Bob Dunn at
Fort Bend Now promises to stay
on top of the story all day long.
January 23 - Okay, I
just gotta say it because everybody else is.
The Herald Coaster, who
recently changed their name to protect the innocent, has had declining
circulation in recent years despite amazing growth in the area.
With their recent
"series" making mountains out of molehills and their sudden
frontpage interest in $35 of possible tax revenue being withheld, I
just kinda have to agree with most of the other women around here:
The Herald Coaster really began going downhill when they started letting
Clyde King's winkie make the editorial decisions.
January 21 -
The Texas Observer, just about the only newspaper in Texas still
doing any real investigative reporting,has uncover some
documents on God's voice in politics --- Ralph Reed.
Evidence is mounting that former Christian Coalition
leader Ralph Reed Jr., along with a former leader of the Texas
Christian Coalition, may have illegally lobbied Texas state officials
on behalf of crooked federal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients.
Oops. That whole blessed are the meek thing just took a nasty
tumble.
January 20 - It's
another scanning day. Here's James
Patterson. Okay, that only leaves Grady Prestage. The
election office has no record of Grady filing his report so I just
called Grady's office and got all snarky with his voice mail. The
Texas Ethics Commission is now fining $500 a day for late reports.
Sadly, our district attorney has never taken campaign finance reports
seriously, so there's no punishment for flashing your butt at the law.
However, I can make your life pretty miserable. Hop to it, Grady!
January 20 - Okay,
everybody, listen up! I'm gonna get
Sid Smith's address and we're all gonna send him a campaign
contribution! I love the campaign slogan, "At 95 you won't have to
worry about term limits."
"You can tell Tom DeLay when he makes a man
mad, by God, he's going to suffer for it," Smith said.
Smith just doesn't seem like he'd get along
too good with Tom DeLay at a keg party.
And thanks to John Kelso for doing his part
to keep our beloved Austin weird.
January 19 - Okay, I
raise my weary head from the scanner long enough to post the first
campaign contribution and expenditure reports. As promised,
Bob Hebert. (I'll have some analysis for
you later.) I'll also have Andy Meyers tonight.
And Stavinoha. I'll be posting more
tomorrow but my scanner is overheated and my silly rump is tired of this
danged chair.
One little thing before I tumble off to bed -- remember back when County
Judge Bob Hebert
headlined the county website with his donation of $5,000 to victims
of Katrina?
I commented
here at the time. And if you'll check his campaign
contribution reports, look at 3/31/05 and see that the money did not
come out of his own pocket, but -- in a round about way - yours.
He didn't even let the ink dry on the check before he took over the
county website and bowed to expected applause. The arrogance of
power is an amazing thing to see, ain't it? And there are a few more
times I'll point out later where he gladly accepted kudos from local
newspapers for his generosity ---- without mentioning that it was with
other people's money.
January 18 -
For those of you who are suffering with Grandma to
pick a Medicare drug plan (which is a euphemism for: Tom DeLay gives
away the farm to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries) and now
have to help Grandma because she didn’t get her card even though she
paid her premium, we have words of wisdom to guide you through this
mess. President George W. Bush
explains the Delay Medicare drug plan ---
WOMAN IN AUDIENCE:
'I don't really understand. How is the new plan going to fix the
problem?'
Verbatim response: PRESIDENT BUSH:
'Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big
cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculated, for example,
is on the table. Whether or not benefits rise based upon wage
increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula
that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different
cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal
accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be
-- or closer delivered to that has been promised. Does that make any
sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things
that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based
upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some
have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon
inflation, supposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would
help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how
fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those --
if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.'
Oh Lord, I have no idea what he just said. I am NOT making this up.
Read it for yourself.
January 18
- Inquiring minds want to know if I am going to post campaign
contribution and expenditure reports. Heckfire yes siree.
They are ordered and ready to pick up. I'll be a scanning devil
for a few days and put them here as I get them
done. I'll be taking down the ones that are there now so
download your own copy if you want one. And, yes, I promise to do
County Judge Bob Hebert's first so he can get some extra kickback
insurance. And if Hypocritical Lyin' Twit Republican Andy Meyers
wants to whine that I only put up Republicans, he has three choices: 1) Let the county post everyone's like other county's
do. 2) Shuddup because I do put up Democrats and lying will
get you into hell same as stealin'. 3) Scan some himself and email them to me.
That third one goes for
everybody. I only bought Commissioners and will link to the State
of Texas ones, so if you want to buy someone's and scan it, I will post
it without revealing who did the scanning. You can order them by
calling the election office at 281-341-8670.
January 18 - Kinda makes
you wonder why the Republicans even bother to have an Executive
Committee. Chairman Thode (which, come to think of it, almost rhymes
with Mao) may soon be ordering wiretaps because …. well, dammit, he’s
the Chairman and he can do it and if you say anything against it you’re
gutless, lacking in backbone, a terrorist-lover, a person who never
thinks, or maybe even one of them there liberal welfare scamming
homosexual degenerate unwed mothers hiding out in the Republican party
just to bring them down, down, down. Dooby down down down. Okay, I gotta admit that
there was a convulsion of laughter at the beauty shop this morning when
Thelma read us this statement from
Thode over on the Fort Bend Now website. Thode has agreed to let
the local Democrats have “control” over all the county’s primary voting
machines “if they will run the election like we run {…it}”
Sorry, but no can do, Mr.
Thode. We took a vote here and there ain’t a Democratic woman within
this area code who would agree to wear one of those rump-ugly Tag
watches or one of those little “ladies who lunch” dresses with those
strappy sandals where you look like you’re fixing to pitch forward if
the wind blows. And, to tell the truth, we simply don’t have enough
greedy and grumpy old men, who live in constant fear that they may have
to actually pay for something, to run things like Republicans do. Sorry, we wanted to be
helpful and cover your patootie and the patooties of your three crony
old white Republican males on Commissioners Court who shoved these
voting machines down our throats whether we wanted them or not, but we
just can’t bring ourselves to “run things” like Republicans do. It’s
like, I dunno, an issue with us. You got yourself into
this mess, you get yourself out.
January 16 -
There's an article in today's San Antonio Express
News accusing our own
State Representative Charlie Howard of taking money from anti-tort
reform folks and (cover your ears because I'm fixing to strike fear in
the hearts of delicate Republican women) trial lawyers. I have news for the San
Antonio Express News. Listen up: Charlie Howard will take
money from anybody. Anybody. He'll take little children's
candy. He'll take your Grandma's medications and sell it on the
black market. You know how the buckets that the Salvation Army has
at Christmas now have a lock on top of them? That's because of
Charlie Howard. You people in San Antonio
need to get a grip. I won't shake hands with Charlie because I
don't know whose money he's just had in his hands. Charlie has
sold his vote so many times that he should qualify as an MSL agent.
In a district where Bush has a 55% approval rating, only 28% view Tom
favorably.
.....DeLay starts
with the disadvantage of a 60 percent unfavorable rating in the
district he has represented for 20 years. Only 28 percent view him
very or somewhat favorably, according to the poll.
........
According to the new poll, nearly 40 percent have changed their
opinion of DeLay over the past year. And of those, 91 percent view him
less favorably
So, Mr. Thode, Mr. Republican Chair In Exile --- who's delusional now,
kiddo? Here's
the numbers broken down. Important Information:
this is not the same poll I talked about yesterday. This is an
entirely different poll.
January 13
- Okay, heads-up. Tom DeLay has a little push-poll out there that’s
a big money waster. Apparently Tom is calling Democrats to see if
they’ll vote for him in the GOP primary. I kinda think Poor Ole Tom’s
headed for some major depressive episodes. I mean, even worse than
opening all those lawyer bills.
I’ve talked to four
people this morning – all Democrats – who have gotten the calls. One of
them is a small businessman who got the call at his place of business.
No kidding! At his office. I can’t help but wonder where they are
getting the phone list. The call is automated and asks questions about
the NRA and lower taxes. It ends with an exciting declaration that Tom
DeLay is dandy guy and gives you a phone number to call his office.
The
calls come from 571-522-6990. That’s FEC Research, which is apparently
part of this outfit. I hope they’re charging Tom a whole mess of
money to let him know that Democrats don’t like him. Heck, I could’ve
told him that for a $1.98. Hey, for $2.98, I could've told him
that Republicans ain't all that happy with him either.
January 13 - A customer
sent us
this warning. So, just in case you accidentally slipped-up and
began trusting in members of Congress, slap yourself.
Dozens of U.S. senators are quietly
tracking visits to their Web sites even though they have
publicly pledged not to do so.
Sixty-six
politicians in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
are setting permanent Web cookies even though at least 23 of
them have promised not to use the online tracking technique,
a CNET News.com investigation shows.
January 11- Our friends at CSPAN have a little treat for us.
Here's a movie of Jack Abramoff
introducing Tom DeLay to Young Republicans as, "Tom
Delay is who all of us want to be when we grow up." Speak for
yourself, Jack.
If you link to this,
click on the blue underlined January 11th and then copy the link in the
browser address bar. Linking back to the movie alone is bad
manners and my Momma don't put up with no bad manners.
Libby King,
Hopkins’ daughter and campaign treasurer, said Hopkins has decided to
further pursue the matter in court, although she said the method and
venue have yet to be decided. King said she couldn’t immediately
provide more details because Hopkins’ lead attorney was attending a
deposition and unavailable.
Just this just ole regular citizen me talking and I
ain't nobody important or an insider wheeler-dealer, but I think this
new stuff of getting candidates off the ballot is hooey hogwash with a
cherry on top. It's become such a widely used campaign tactic,
that
The Dallas Morning News did an article about it today
I'm not new to this
ballgame. I said the same thing back when Sheriff Milton Wright
and GOP party chair Eric Thode cost the taxpayers a boatload of money
when they tried to get
Democrat Tom Steinmeyer off the ballot and lost. (The Herald Coaster
recently did an editorial and re-wrote history about that, which is hard
to do because the truth had been printed in their own newspaper two
years before. Maybe they don't read their newspaper either.)
I said the same thing with Judge Brady Idiot --- oops, Elliott --- when
he filed to remove Debra Champagne from the ballot for one simple small
typo on her ballot application. I said the same thing when
Thode tried to remove constable candidate Troy Nehls from the
Republican party primary ballot in the sneakiest of ways.
The problem with America
isn't that we have too many people on the ballot; the problem with
America is that we don't have enough people on the ballot.
I say put Glory Hopkins
on the ballot and let the voters defeat her for being ditzy. This
is America, dammit. Give people a choice.
Former
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tried to pressure the Bush
administration into shutting down an Indian-owned casino that lobbyist
Jack Abramoff wanted closed - shortly after a tribal client of
Abramoff's donated to a DeLay political action committee, The
Associated Press has learned.
The
Texas Republican demanded closure of the casino, owned by the
Alabama-Coushatta tribe of Texas, in a Dec. 11, 2001 letter to
then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Associated Press obtained the
letter from a source who did not want to be identified because of an
ongoing federal investigation of Abramoff and members of Congress.
Read the whole AP story. It'll break your heart that Congressmen
are for sale so damn cheap.
January 10
- The 14th Court of Appeal just denied
Glory Hopkin's request to be put on the ballot, saying that the
party chairman has no affirmative responsibility to give a correct
address. So, at this point Glory is OFF the ballot.
Bob Dunn has the story.
I guess GOP party chair
Eric Thode worked so hard in the past to deny Democrats' right to be on
the ballot ... karma is a pooter, ain't it?
Hopkins can appeal to the
Texas high court. It is kinda funny that Republicans want evil
activists judges when it's their hog being slaughtered.
January 10 - The
local Libertarians have opened
a website and sent me a list of their candidates. I'm impressed.
I've added them to the candidate area and hope
they get websites up soon.
Fort Bend
County officials will be dealing with dueling legal opinions from
prestigious Austin law firms, as they try to settle questions over
operations of the county attorney’s office. .......
I wonder what this chapter in Bud and Roy's Excellent Adventure will
cost us?
The state's
highest criminal court on Monday denied Rep. Tom DeLay's request that
the money laundering charges against him be dismissed or be sent back
to a lower court for an immediate trial.
January 8 - Crooks and Liars has a copy of
DeLay's
press conference if you missed it. The whole thing just goes
to show that you can lie on the steps of city hall and 60 or 70 people
will stand there and clap. By the way, the bald guy behind DeLay
is Congressman
Kevin Brady, who shares DeLay's absolutes with ethics --- that is,
ethics are absolutely for everybody else.
The afternoon that DeLay
managed to get 70 people on the steps of Sugar Land City Hall, I am told
that Nick Lampson drew a crowd of 700 in Galveston at $50 a head that
same night. The place was sold out a week in advance.
And, I am certain that
this is a complete coincidence, but isn't it very cool that Tom DeLay
steps down one day after it's revealed that
Tom's good buddy Duke Cunningham wore a wire for the feds? I
mean, it is tough to get all the stars and whatnot aligned like that,
really tough.
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Representative Tom DeLay's
campaign to get Republicans to dominate Washington lobbying may have
worked too well for Alexander Strategy Group.
The firm has links to no fewer than three of the
scandals convulsing the U.S. capital. One partner, former DeLay aide
Tony Rudy, is now a focus of a federal investigation of lobbyist Jack
Abramoff. The group's founder, former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham,
set up a South Korea junket for his old boss that violated ethics
rules. And the firm represents a company whose owner, prosecutors
allege, bribed former Representative Randy Cunningham.
... sources tell TIME that in a separate
investigation, ex-Rep. Cunningham wore a wire to help investigators
gather evidence against others just before copping his own plea.
January
6 - Okay, it's the beginning of the end. From
Roll Call breaking new (subscription only)
A small
group of mostly moderate House Republican lawmakers will circulate a
petition this afternoon calling for new leadership elections to be
held when the chamber returns for the second session of the 109th
Congress, marking the formal start of the process for potentially
choosing a permanent Majority Leader to replace indicted Rep. Tom
DeLay (R-Texas).
January 6 - So Pat Robertson says God is smoting Ariel Sharon
with a big ole smote stick in a Godly act of smotification because
Sharon wasn’t killing near enough Palestinians. When it’s my time to
cross over, I better see Pat Robertson standing at the Pearly Gates
apologizing to everybody who comes in. Either that or they give you a
big stick and you get one last whack.
Now let me get this
straight --- Bob Hebert, the county judge, is relying on legal opinions
from recently-resigned-but-won't-leave County Attorney Bud Childers and
his first assistant-who-wants-to-be-county-attorney Roy Cordes to give
Roy the duties but not the powers of the office of County Attorney.
Okay, that does it ---- somebody go check and see if Conflict of
Interest is Hebert's middle name now.
It's a doozy!
And a customer sent us
this link about someone who saw DeLay's greed a mile off.
January 5 - He's kinda like Kinky without the pretty face and
gravitas.
Steve Stockman is pondering on running against DeLay as an
independent. Stockman only has to get 500 signatures to get on the
ballot in District 22. Heckfire, I could get 500 signatures to
name Tom DeLay the Official State Frog of Texas in less time.
January 4 - Again,
Bob Dunn hits the nail on the head with his report of Commissioner's
comments about having to have full disclosure.
I only have one thing to
say to our whining Commissioner Boys on the public dole, "I'll betcha
that Mr. Abramoff and Mr. DeLay didn't want to disclose their
relationship either."
I don't know what your
problem is .... you Boys will still take legalized
kickbacks and try to hide that anyway. Twits. Stay
tuned, I'll tell you a story one day about why they call Commissioner
Tom Stavinoha "the ticket ho."
January
3 - You know, you’d think with all this recent
Tom DeLay- Russian- connection thing, Tom would
have asked his close and dear friend, Jack Abramoff, not to go to court
today looking like Boris (of Boris and Natasha) from Bullwinkle and
Rocky.
Or maybe Jack’s sending
Tom a message?
January
3 - I wish to make a categorical and public denial that the
manicurist former
DeLay aide Michael Scanlon had an affair with (while engaged to
another woman) does not work at this beauty shop. Our manicurists
are inspected by the Texas Department of Health and we're certain that
something like that would have shown-up on a blood test.
As our friend Deb points
out -- no story is complete without a woman scorned.
I will have a copy of the
Abramoff plea agreement shortly. I've read it. Tom will not
be happy. It's here.
January 3
-
Tom DeLay's tri-felonious "close and dear friend" Jack Abramoff adds
even more fun to the local GOP in-fighting. One young blogger is
making much of the fact that one of DeLay's Republican opponents is a
Mormon. God forbid! Our local Republicans would rather vote for a
man who's friends with men suspected in a gangland murder than .....
gasp! .... a Mormon!
This promises to be the
best primary season in years!
January 3 - One more reason why I love Republicans and both
sides of their mouths:
Bible Totin' County
Commissioner Andy Meyers got himself all filled with the holy spirit
last night amid the Republican cute dog and pony show. At 6:00
last night, Andy begins by commenting sarcastically on a
local website about Tom DeLay --
Forcing elected officials to pay their own legal expenses in civil
suits
and criminal indictments
is a really great idea.
That way all Special
Interests need to do to get their legislation passed is to sue the
elected official and threaten to bankrupt him/her with legal fees. It
won’t take long for the elected official to capitulate.
Less than an hour later, when his favorite
candidate messes-up her filing papers and faces removal from the ballot,
the scales fall off Meyers' eyes and he has a road to Damascus
conversion, commenting ----
“We may
well have that lawsuit come down now,” Meyers said. “I don’t think
Glory is going to take this lying down.”
The joy of having a bifurcated tongue is that you can sing two
songs at the same time!
January
2 -
Bob Dunn has an interesting story about our local politics.Oh, the irony of the district clerk not being to get her papers
filed on time. I couldn't make-up a story this good. Her
opponents say she's incompetent and can't keep up with court files.
She says, "oops......"
January 2
- Local news aficionados - I have carefully prepared for today to
bring you the latest local filings. I am outside in the backyard
with my laptop, beach umbrella, Diet Coke, cell phone, vicious dog
Truman, and satellite radio. Except for a lunch date, this is
where I'll be until 7:00 tonigt. With my wireless, satellite, and
cell signals, I'll either know everything first or the government will
know where to come get me if I start telling Dick Cheney jokes.
Hang around over at the
Get Elected page where I'll fill in the blanks
and add some snark for your viewing pleasure.
January 2 - We've just been told that County Attorney Bud
Childers says he will file for County Court at Law #1 before noon today.
He has resigned as County Attorney, with three years left on his term.
Bob Dunn is on top of the story.
Childers claims that this
puts his remaining term on the November ballot, with an additional five
days for potential candidates to file in the primary. However,
this hasn't been confirmed with the Secretary of State and nobody in
their right mind would trust Childers' legal opinions.
In an act of cronyism
that makes the choice of FEMA Director Michael Brown look wise, Childers
wants his good buddy, former partner, and defeated County Judge Roy
Cordes to take his place as County Attorney.
You'd think these fluffy
white boys would learn something about cronyism but they never do.
However, these boys take the cake. They ought to get an
environmental award for re-cycled cronyism! UPDATE: This
is the biggest pile of poopie-del-pollo I have seen since the last time
Bud Childers tried to upset the entire structure of county government.
It is true that there's
there's only 5 days to file for the newly-opened County Attorney's
position --- a cute little stunt Mr. Childers discovered by calling the
Secretary of State.
So, Childers hires his
good buddy Roy Cordes months ago, sits calmly and waits to file on the
last day, giving Roy a leg-up on both the Republicans and the Democrats
who might want to run for County Attorney but didn't know it would be
available this election cycle.
This is exactly why
people don't vote. This is exactly why people are disgusted with
government. Bud and Roy's Great Adventure, my patootie!
Now sit back and watch
while the rest of their little plan unfolds. They will get Bud's
friend David Hunter, who is holding the County Court at Law seat until a
judge is elected, to resign by promising him that they'll get him
appointed to the new District Court position. Then Commissioners
will appoint Bud to the empty seat so he can run as an incumbent.
Get a rope.
“A conservative group with ties to
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) collected $1.3 million in
donations in 1998--including $1 million from an unidentified
donor--and spent it on items including a GMC pickup truck, an MCI
Center skybox and a Capitol Hill town house, according to the group's
tax records and an interview with its president”
- The Washington Post, April 4, 2000
Back then,
when I was still writing in the newspaper, I merrily suggested that a
famous local drug dealer had given Tom the money. When Tom didn't
sue me, I caught a clue that maybe the source was even worse than a drug
dealer. I guess I was right. Talk about ending the New Year with a
BANG! As
Alfredo says, "Hey, at least he's consistent. Turns out DeLay was
bought by both American AND Russian oil and gas companies."
The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group
that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and
claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost
entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff,
according to tax records and former associates of the group.
During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family
Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list,
obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue
came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose
former partners would not identify the money's origins.
............
The former president of the U.S. Family Network said
Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in
1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the
International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the
collapsing Russian economy.
Goodness sake, he's not only a greedy little pimp who
would take food out of little children's mouths and kick grandma out of
the nursing home, he's also a Commie. A dirty, rotten Commie.
We should have known. In a typical DeLay twist,
in July of 1998, the same year he did this dirty little secret deal,
Tom gave that infamous speech on the House floor saying that politicians
shouldn't take money from people with "foreign-sounding names."
Standing
next to an enlarged photograph of Vice President Al Gore at a Buddhist
temple fund-raiser, DeLay said: "If you have a friend by the name of
Arief and Soraya, and I cannot even pronounce the last name -
Wiriadinata, something like that - who donated $450,000 to the DNC and
was friends with a guy named Johnny Huang, and later returned it
because Wiriadinata could not explain where it came from, then
probably there is a high probability that it's money from foreign
nationals.
"I could go
on with John Lee and Cheong Am, Yogesh Gandhi, Ng Lap Seng, Supreme
Master Suma Ching Hai and George Psaltis," DeLay said mockingly,
citing names of contributors that surfaced during the Democratic
campaign finance controversy.
I want you to hear this: Tom DeLay casts enough stones to be
declared an honorary Palestinian. Shame on you, Tom, for spanking
Al Gore when what you were doing AT THE SAME EXACT TIME involved three
times as much money. So rules are only for Democrats, huh Tom?
There you stood in your hand-crafted Italian loafers, stoning someone
else when you're about as pure as a flesh-eating bacteria.
Happy New
Year, Bud.
