The Party of Family Values

It looks like the Republican/Evangelicals have another Jimmy Swaggart/Jim Baker scandal on their hands.

The president of the National Association of Evangelicals resigned Thursday after denying an accusation by a male prostitute that the pastor paid him for sex over three years.
The Rev. Ted Haggard said he is also temporarily stepping aside from the pulpit of his church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, pending an internal investigation by the church.
The National Association of Evangelicals is an umbrella group for more than 45,000 churches and some 30 million members across the country.

The word is that Haggard has confessed to elders in his congregation that at least part of the allegations are true. The confession came after a long-night of waterboarding overseen by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Seriously, though, this is a huge deal just days before the midterm elections. Joshua Micah Marshall calls it “the conservative equivalent of Jesse Jackson getting caught wearing a hood at a Klan cross burning.”

And here’s some more breaking news from the party of family values:

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A Republican congressman accused of abusing his ex-mistress agreed to pay her about $500,000 in a settlement last year that contained a powerful incentive for her to keep quiet until after Election Day, a person familiar with the terms of the deal told The Associated Press.

House Dist. 23 ignored

There has been no polling done in the 23rd Congressional District and I find that rather odd. Nationally the race has been written off as a Leans Republicans seat and it could very well turnout that Republican Henry Bonilla waltzes to an easy re-election.
But this is the district that was most effected by the Supreme Court ruling on redistricting. Several heavily Republican precincts were taken away and several heavily Democratic ones were added. And there are at least three highly credible Democratic candidates making a concerted effort in the free-for-all open election that has resulted. Former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez has good name recognition. Wealthy rancher Lukin Gilliland has spent the most money and run the most aggressive race so far. And Albert Uresti has the benefit of being on the same ballot as his brother Carlos Uresti who is running for the State Senate.
Combine this with the fact that this is shaping up to be a very good year for Democrats nationally and you have to ask whether they will be able to hold Bonilla below 50 percent and force a run-off election? I really don’t know. I hope they do but nobody is talking about it much and I’m not sure what chance there is of that happening at this point. Bonilla, of course, has tons of cash and has been running lots of TV ads. He also picked up a rather lame and lukewarm endorsement from the incumbent/Republican-loving Express-News. But Gilliland has been out there too and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Gilliland has my vote, but I would not hesitate to throw my support to Rodriguez or Uresti if they make it into a run-off.
One of the local TV news stations the other day covered a campaign event where Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell was making an appearance and they got an on-camera interview with Carlos Uresti, who defeated Frank Madla in the primaries for the state Senate race. But they were so clueless that they thought they were talking to Albert Uresti and identified him as such when they ran the interview during a segment on the District 23 race. The clip they aired even has Carlos talking about his state Senate race and it still wasn’t enough to tip them off about their mistake. But then TV newscasters aren’t the brightest bulbs out there as former TV newscaster Henry Bonilla demonstrates.

Shifting blame

House Republican Majority Leader John Boehner wants to blame the troops for the problems we are having in Iraq.

"Let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld," Boehner said yesterday on CNN. "The fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president."

After the flap about John Kerry supposedly demeaning our troops with his flubbed joke at a campaign rally, I find it incredible that Boehner would turn around the next day and point an accusing finger at the troops on the ground and say that it’s all their fault and not the fault of the Republican leadership back in Washington. How incredibly despicable. Boehner, of course, is another one of the many Republican chickenhawks - graduated high school in 1968 in the midst of the Vietnam conflict and yet somehow managed to avoid serving a day in the military. Now he is defending his fellow chickenhawks in the Bush administration by blaming all their failings during the Iraq war on the troops and their military leaders.

Kerry's gaffe about education aside, he did say one thing that is quite certain. We are definitely "stuck in Iraq" with no hope of getting out anytime soon. Americans's support for Bush's handling of the war is now at 29 percent, so his assurances that we will "stay the course" and his promise to keep his crack Iraq team of Rumsfeld and Cheney in place for the next two years means the only way people can hope to change things is to vote Democratic in the mid-term elections.

Strong-willed women

Nothing seems to upset right-wingers more than strong-willed women.
Just look at who the No. 1 boogieman is for the right today, the person they villify the most of all: Hillary Clinton.
And then there is the person they are trying to turn into the boogieman for the mid-term elections: soon to be Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Or how about of all the musical groups that are politically liberal and outspoken, which is hated the most on the far-right: The Dixie Chicks, of course.
And of all the people who are opposed to the war in Iraq, who has been demonized far more than anyone else: Cindy Sheehan, naturally.
And the list goes on...
Jane Fonda, Barbara Streisand, Martha Stewart... All seem to take more than their fair share of abuse.
So why do right-wingers seem to go after women so aggresively? A man has to really work hard to achieve the level of villification that these women seem to get naturally. Michael Moore and Ted Kennedy have worked hard to get where they are, but they still seem to get overshadowed by the raw hatred that spews forth from the far right whenever a woman seems to get uppity and starts acting like she doesn't know her place.

A very effective ad

Michael J. Fox’s ad on behalf of Democratic senatorial candidate Claire McCaskill in Missouri was very effective. Visibly suffering from a debilitating disease that cut short his successful acting career, Fox now advocates for more research to help find cures to diseases like Parkinsons syndrome.

The ad was so effective, in fact, that in desperation the Republicans sicced their attack dog Rush Limbaugh on Fox the very next day. Limbaugh mocked Fox’s illness on camera and then accused him of not taking his medication in order to exaggerate the effects of his illness for the camera.
This was blatantly untrue as neurologists and experts with the National Parkinson’s Foundation attested, but that won’t matter to the legions of mindless sheep who listen to his show. All Limbaugh had to do was get the smear out there and he had done his job by giving his readers a hint of doubt on which to cling to so that they can dismiss the Fox ad out of hand and give it no more thought.

Fox has been incredibly gracious in responding to the insults and smears coming from that worthless waste of human flesh that is Limbaugh and others who parrot his words. And hopefully that will be enough to push people in the right direction on this crucial issue.

Culture of corruption

More and more Republicans keep getting sent to the slammer. This time it’s David Safavian, a Bush administration official who served as chief of staff in the General Services Administration. He has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for concealing his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Safavian will join fellow Republicans Jack Abramoff, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Bob Ney, John Rowland and probably several others I can’t think of off the top of my head. Plus there are a whole slew of Republicans currently under indictment as you can see here. .

Meanwhile, federal lawmakers are currently investigating Republican Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona over a shady land deal.

Changing your mind

My conservative friend Bill Crawford has changed his mind on the issue of gay marriage and now believes it is OK.

We live in a tough world, and I know that without my wife I wouldn't be as happy a person, and I can't deny that to others. If two guys, or gals, love each other, and want to support each other through life's little bumps, then more power to them. Who am I to say no to love?

Changing one’s mind, especially on hot-button issues like this is never easy and Bill should be commended. It think it is all the more so because it meant rethinking and rehashing an issue that has been very key to the right-wing base of the Republican party over the past several years.
I hashed out this issue myself a while back.
I would just note that I too have changed my mind on some issues - affirmative action being one example - and it is never easy.

Kinky the kingmaker?

I’ve done plenty of grumbling about the Democrats prospects in the upcoming elections. And I’ve been especially hard on Chris Bell, the Democratic nominee for governor.
So I’m pleased to say now that Bell has surprised me by running a better than expected campaign. In fact, at this point it looks like he will come in second, rather than fourth as I had predicted. Considering that he is still fourth in the fund-raising race, that is not a bad showing.
But now I think we’ve come to a time when Kinky Friedman will have to make a decision. His campaign is currently mired in fourth place, but he is still drawing about 16 percent in the latest polls. That is not enough to put him in the governor’s mansion. But it may be enough to allow him to play the role of kingmaker.
I think Kinky has three choices. If he stays in the race, he pretty much guarantees that Republican Rick Perry will be re-elected. But he could throw his support to someone else and possibly tip the scales in their favor. At this point, Chris Bell seems the best option for that to happen. But he could also throw his support to Strayhorn and possibly put her back into contention.
I’m guessing that he will take the first option and do nothing. And that is a shame. It means his quixotic campaign will soon be forgotten as a mildly amusing but ultimately meaningless interlude. He was never serious about actually changing the way government operates in Austin because when he had the chance to make a difference he chose not to.

Weird Al cracks the Top 10

Weird Al Yankovic has finally broken into the Top 10 on the music charts with his latest single - “White and Nerdy”, a parody of a rap song by the artist Chamillionaire.
I’m thrilled for Weird Al. I’ve been a big fan of his since I was in college. He first came to my attention through his popular parodies of Michael Jackson songs like “Eat It” and “Fat”. His "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC IN 3-D album was one of the last records I ever bought. I have Dare To Be Stupid, Even Worse, Off the Deep End on casette tape and Bad Hair Day on CD.
My wife says Weird Al songs are funny the first couple of times you hear them then they just become annoying. Not for me, I can listen to his music all day and still get tickled.
Weird Al is one of the most successful and talented music parodists of our generation and I’m glad he is finally getting some mainstream recognition. Not that he hasn’t been hugely successful on the fringes. He has a huge cult-like following. People follow his concerts around like it was the Grateful Dead and they have fan conventions and much more. Check out The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site and his popular MySpace page.

Texas will lose clout in next Congress

From BOR I see that Texas will have no leadership positions in the next Congress thanks to Tom DeLay. That is assuming the Democrats retake control as looks increasingly likely.

If they succeed, no Texans are in line to be chairmen of House committees. DeLay helped send four of the state's most senior members packing when he orchestrated a wholesale redrawing of Texas' congressional districts in 2003.
...
But if they had remained in office and Democrats took control, Texas would have three committee chairmen.
Frost would become chairman of the Rules Committee, which decides which bills and amendments get a vote.
Former Rep. Charlie Stenholm would head up the Agriculture Committee. Jim Turner would lead the Homeland Security Committee, which oversees border enforcement agencies.

Gee, thanks, Tom!
As Karl says at BOR: "DeLay was never interested in doing what was best for Texas. It was all about power for himself and the Republican Party."

E-N endorses incumbents/Republicans

The San Antonio Express-News has reluctantly endorsed Henry Bonilla in the newly drawn 23rd Congressional District.

We reluctantly recommend Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla, but encourage him to be more responsive to the needs of his district, including the San Antonio area.

Idiots!! There are several well qualified Democratic challengers in this race including former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, businessman/rancher Lukin Gilliland and veteran firefighter Albert Uresti (also the brother of State Sen. Carlos Uresti.) So if they are disappointed with Bonilla, why not consider them? Here is their lame reasoning:

It's unfortunate that none of Bonilla's opponents exhibits the combination of leadership and preparedness necessary to replace him...

What the hell is that supposed to mean?!? Like Bonilla, a former TV newscaster, was so prepared to go to Congress when he was first elected. And Ciro has already been in Congress. As for leadership, Bonilla is not going to do a lot of that when the Republicans fall back into the minority as is almost assuredly going to happen this election.

But this endorsement fits with their policy which can be summed as such: Endorse every incumbent and/or Republican on the ballot. The sole exception was for one of the state Supreme Court races where they are backing Bill Moody against an unqualified Rick Perry appointee.

I'm really disgusted with the E-N editorial board. They are spineless on most issues and the few that they have stood up and taken a stand on are clearly undercut by their endorsements which scream out that they are perfectly happy with the status quo and want more of it.

I have no doubt that tomorrow they will endorse Rick Perry for governor. You can bank on it.
So much for the so-called liberal media.

Old School

I have GOT to get THIS!!!

"Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1: 1969-1974" (List price: $39.98)
Release Date: Oct. 24

Those are the years when I was a kid watching Sesame Street. Classic!

Governor’s races

It has long frustrated me that so many reliably “Blue” states today have Republican governors. For instance, I don’t think you can come up with a grouping of more liberal states than this: Hawaii, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Massachussetts, Connecticut, Maryland, California, Minnesota. And what do all these states have in common? They all currently have Republican governors.
That is definitely going to change in a couple of weeks - in New York and Massachusetts for sure, and maybe in Maryland and Minnesota as well.
In recent years, though, Democrats have managed to make similar inroads on traditionally “Red” states. Here is a grouping of reliably red states that all voted for Bush and all of which currently have Democratic governors: Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana.

The upcoming mid-term elections are looking good for Democrats all around, but especially in the gubernatorial contests. Democrats seem to be on track to win governors races in Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota and New York. The WaPost columnist has already declared the New York race over saying “The fat lady has sung, showered and is currently sitting on her sofa watching "Desperate Housewives." State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) will be New York's next governor.”
Democrats also seem certain to maintain governor’s seats in Wisconsin, Maine, Michigan, Iowa and Oregon.

And all of this leads to me current frustration, that being why Texas can’t be part of this partisan sea change that seems to be taking place. It’s almost like the Red tide that engulfed the country 12 years ago is finally receding, but is still drowning us here in Texas. Rick Perry is an exceedingly unpopular governor and by all rights should be shown the door by the electorate on Nov. 7. But instead it looks like he is about to two-step his way to an easy victory with less than 40 percent of the vote.
Maybe the sea change will finally catch up to the Lone Star state during the next election cycle, but it would sure be nice to see some evidence of the shift taking place here next month.

Tolerant blogging

In the middle of a rather lengthy thread over at All Things Conservative a comment was made that liberals don’t tolerate conservatives commenting on their blogs to the same degree that the reverse is true. My friend Mark Harden went so far as to make the following challenge:

I would like to issue a challenge to any liberal commentators here to identify and link to a left wing blog - other than Mike's - which displays the same sort of interactive debate with minimal abuse. I sure haven't seen one.

While I appreciate that I was singled out as the exception, I think there are any number of sites that are tolerant of diverse opinions on both sides of the spectrum. But rather than throwing out a long list of links, I would like to step back and look over my experience blogging these past four years.

My first blog post was made on Jan. 10, 2003, when absolutely no one else was reading this site besides myself. (Not that there are very many more people reading it today.) The first bloggers I came across were fellow liberals like the college activists at Burnt Orange Report, who were nice enough to link me up even though I am an Aggie, and Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff who was then trying to make a comprehensive survey of the political blogging landscape in Texas.
But while BOR and Kuff are excellent sites and daily reads for me, I have to admit that commenting there was not very interesting since I agreed with most of what was being said.
More interesting, I thought, was to find people with different views who could challenge my perception of the world and who would be open to a debate. I was a debater in high school and always enjoyed the rigorous give-and-take that it entailed.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only were there a lot of conservatives out there, which I expected, but many were open to having intellectual discussions that did not devolve into name-calling and insults. I was also surprised to find that many of the conservative sites tended to be more apt to give me a reciprocal link which was very much appreciated in those early days.
Many of those sites are no longer around, unfortunately, including Mark’s InSane Antonio which he inexplicably shut down two years ago. Others that are now missing in action include Joe Kelley's The Sake Of Argument; BeldarBlog; Reductio Ad Absurdum; and Owen Courreges. I used to have lengthy debates with Owen over the Texas House Redistricting controversy. Today he is apparently working at a libertarian think tank and attending law school.

Some conservative blogs that are still around which are open to debate include my friend Rantin’ Raven’s The View From the Nest; Jimmy K.’s but that's just my opinion and my fellow Aggies who run the popular Boots & Sabers blog.
And, of course, there is Bill Crawford’s invaluable ATC.

One more that I should mention is Roscoe’s Excuse. I met Roscoe at the San Antonio Blogger BBQ last year that Ranting Raven organized. However, while I like to read his blog, I rarely comment there because as he aptly explains in his introduction to the site:

“This is not an "argument" blog nor is it a "debate" blog. Heck, it's not even a "discussion" blog. It's all about me, my views, attitudes, and opinions. Any comments left here that are overly critical of me, of my opinions, or of those I choose to embrace will simply be deleted. Get your own soap box to stand on if you want to, this one's mine.”

Fair enough.

I’m not going to name names, but there have been some conservative blogs, local and statewide, that made it quite clear that my comments were not welcome and I have avoided them ever since.
Also, in some cases it took a little effort on my part before I felt welcome at some sites. In some cases, I was not recieved well at first until the blog site owner came to understand that I was not a “troll” coming to take potshots at them. Once they understood that I was respectful of their views, they were more willing to tolerate my dissenting opinions.

Worst.Congress.Ever

Rolling Stone has an entertaining read this week on our current crop of Congress critters. They even put together a 10-worst list beginning with Speaker Denny Hastert, probably the most ineffective speaker since Democrat Thomas Foley (no relation to Republican Mark Foley).
Thomas Foley, of course, was the Washington Democrat who led the party into their version of Little Big Horn in 1994 when Newt Gingrich and his band of wild Indians slaughtered 54 of them and even walked away with Foley’s scalp.
But today, Hastert is leading a Congress that is even more unpopular than the Democrats were in 1994.
Republicans are counting on the inherent flaws in our democratic system to help them maintain power - the gerrymandered districts, the financial and logistical advantages incumbents have over their challengers, and so forth.
It could still work. The polls seemed to favor John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race and yet he still fell short on election day. Although, Ohio, the swing-state in that election, seems to have had a serious change of heart recently.

Too little, too late

Something I wanted to comment on the other day but did not have time to, was the $1 million cash infusion into Chris Bell's struggling gubernatorial campaign by a wealthy trial lawyer and Bell's pathetic, and definitely unheeded plea to Kinky Friedman to drop out of the race and endorse him.
Both items are too little, too late in my opinion. I think it is a foregone conclusion that Rick Perry is going to waltz into re-election with possibly under 40 percent of the vote while the troika of challengers split the rest.
The fact that Perry could be that unpopular and still win re-election so easily is a sad testament to the state of our democracy. Why they cannot have a runoff in a race this important is beyond me, but it is clearly a disservice to the electorate. We are getting screwed.

Meanwhile, I think too much of our electoral process goes toward these countless judicial and administative positions which should all be appointed anyway. Why do we need to elect a county clerk or even a tax collector? And all these judges that nobody pays any attention to. Let's have them appointed and leave the voting for representative positions like city council, county commissioners, state reps and Congress critters. Then maybe people's eyes wouldn't glaze over when they get their ballots and they might even cast their votes more intelligently.

Agreeing with Gurwitz

Jonathan Gurwitz had a column earlier this week that I almost fully agree with. With the exception of a gratuitous knock at Democrats as "anemic and philosophically barren" towards the end of the column, I would have to say that I agree with it nearly 100 percent.

The scandal is that colleagues who had some inkling that Foley was engaging in inappropriate behavior — to give his Republican cohorts a very generous benefit of the doubt — did nothing to seriously confront him and failed to fully investigate the matter.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Rep. John Shimkus, the Republican chairman of the House Page Board, may have had a good grasp of Foley's turpitude for months. They may have hoped Foley's proclivities would simply fade away or at least be kept quiet until after the midterm election.

More likely, Hastert and others simply deemed what they thought was Foley's inordinate interest in pages as an acceptable bending of the rules. Some members of Congress shower their attention on lobbyists and special interest groups. Some have a weakness for travel, others for Louis Philippe period commodes. "So what," they might have thought, "if Foley's special interest is well-groomed young men?"

Either explanation gets to the essence of the GOP's problem: the abandonment of principle.

And that abandonment is certainly costing them in the polls. As many as 20 to 30 House seats have shifted toward the Democrats since the Foley scandal broke.
Political scientist Larry Sabato on his Crystal Ball blog is now predicting that the Democrats will win the majority in the House next month. He has 11 Republican-held seats now leaning toward Democrats and another 16 Republican-held seats are rated as tossups. If they truly are tossups, that would mean at least half would go Democratic giving the Democrats a net gain of 17 seats at the minimum. They need only 15 to take control.

Can you say - Speaker Pelosi? Better get used to it.

Bonilla's bin Laden ad

Now back to that mailing I got from Henry Bonilla. It was rather odd, to say the least. On the front page is a grouping of three photos of beared Arabic men wearing turbans. One of the men pictured is obviously Osama bin Laden. The caption says “For Men Like These, America is Still a Target”.

My first thought on reading this was to say “Sure, because President Bush failed to capture them after 9/11.”

Do the Republicans really think reminding us that bin Laden is still loose is a good campaign strategy? Apparently so.

Another smaller picture in the ad is of another high-ranking al-Qaeda figure whose name I can’t recall.
But the third picture is of the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who founded the Mahdi Militia or Mahdi Army
in Iraq.

There are several problems with this. First, al-Sadr has no connection to al-Qaeda. But that has never stopped Republicans from trying to tie Iraq to 9-11. Second, you would think that if they are going to try and force this link they would at least pick a guy who was one of the Baathists affiliated with Saddam Hussein. But the Baathists were all Sunnis and this guy is a Shiite cleric. Third, while the Mahdi Army is a problem for our troops in Iraq, saying that they consider the continental United States a target of their aggression is a bit of a stretch. This guy is only fighting with us because we are in his country and he wants us out. He never had any intention of coming over here and attacking us.

I figure that when they were putting the ad together they had a picture of the Sunni militant Al-Zarqawi filling that slot. But when he was killed, they were trying to find someone else to fill that spot. I'm sure they figured any old guy in a turban would do.

A real congressional race

I got my first campaign mailing from Henry Bonilla the other day, but more on that later. I live in the 23rd Congessional District which was impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision on redistricting. Bonilla is the closest thing to an incumbent in the race and the only Republican. Meanwhile, a whole host of Democrats are in the race with varying degrees of support.
At first, I thought former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez would be the best bet for a credible challenger to Bonilla. But after his hesitant off-again, on-again start to the campaign I’m not so sure anymore. Plus he has the definite aura of a has-been after first losing his congressional seat and then failing to win it back in a rematch with DINO Henry Cuellar.
Another credible contender in the race is Albert Uresti, brother of Carlos Uresti who recently won a Texas Senate seat.
But right now I am most impressed with Lukin Gilliland. He seems to be the best financed and most serious challenger to date. I’ve gotten mailings from his campaign, at least one phone call and I am starting to see signs for him go up everywhere. He is also on TV with some positive, biographical spots.
I’m basically an Anybody But Bonilla voter, so I will support any Democrat who gets into a runoff with Bonilla.

Baseball playoffs

George Steinbrenner was smart to keep Joe Torre as the manager of the Yankees. It would have been nuts to get rid of him. He is an incredible manager and I imagine about 90 percent of the teams in baseball would have been ready to snap him up had Steinbrenner given him the heave-ho.
You don't just ditch a Hall-of-Fame caliber manager because you don't win the World Series every single year. I just remember what happened to my beloved Cincinnatti Reds in the late '70s when they decided to get rid of Sparky Anderson. They didn't make it back to the World Series for more than a decade and they had to sit back and watch Sparky take his new team - the Detroit Tigers - all the way to the top.
The Yankees' problem right now is that they have a lot of talent, but they are lacking the chemistry or the spark that makes it all gel together. That chemistry is more important than having superstars. The Yankees of 1998-2000 proved that when they dominated the game for three years with a bunch of unknowns like Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neil, Tino Hernandez and Chuck Knoblauch. The only guys left from that era are Derek Jeter and Mario Rivera. So they still have to find that spark again that they lost around the time that they got rid of Knoblauch. But they sure won't find it any faster by dumping Joe Torre.

As for the playoffs, now that the Yankees are out of it I can whole-heartedly back the Detroit Tigers. They are long overdue for another championship and they have put together a heck of a good team with one of my favorite players - former Texas Ranger Ivan Rodriguez leading the way once again. Pudge is reunited with his Florida Marlins manager Jim Leyland who, kind of like Sparky, seems to find a way to get to the World Series no matter who he is coaching.

I'm rather indifferent as to whether the Cards or the Mets should win the National League championship. I was pulling for the Padres since they are the new affiliate for the San Antonio Missions, but now I'll just root for the Tigers all the way.