Yanar Mohammed tonight

KACV-TV (local PBS affiliate) will air the Face To Face interview with Yanar Mohammed tonight at 7:30. Ms. Mohammed is an internationally recognized women's rights advocate from Iraq. She talks about how America's war on Iraq has impacted her country, and especially women. Her story is powerful and passionate. If you can't tune in tonight, the program will rerun on Saturday (5 pm) and Sunday (12:30 and 10 pm).

Pulling Your Lege

The Senate continues to try to grapple with the inherent contradiction that the House has handed them regarding tax deform. In a nutshell, acting on strict regressive ideology, the House passed HB3, intended to fund schools through a variety of other taxes, mainly a state sales tax, in order to lower the local property tax cap. Unfortunately, their plan doesn't even cut mustard with the Republican Comptroller, who says that the plan is at least $4 billion in the red. So, what's a Senate to do? The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that this fight eerily resembles the one that occurred eight years ago with another Repub governor and another Repub Senate. Back then, the whole thing blew up, and nothing was done. And it could be deja vu all over again. The sales tax increase is bound to be unpopular, not to mention regressive. And almost half the school districts in the state, including AISD, do not tax at the state-mandated cap of 1.5%. Those districts won't see much of a property tax reduction. And, as the Houston Chronicle explains, the law as currently written doesn't mandate that any property tax reduction would have to be passed on by property owners to renters, so renters would be unlikely to see any benefit. So, here we have Repub Senators trying, some with a straight face, to develop a whole set of new "non-tax revenues" to close the gap their House colleagues wouldn't face up to. The rhetoric R's are using to describe each other would make a real conservative blush. Tee-hee. Ho-ho!

Meanwhile, R's are fighting with each other over campaign finance reform. The fuss is all about HB 1348, an omnibus bill covering various areas of campaign finance. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the bill would exclude expenditure of any money originating from corporate or union sources in the last 30 days before a primary election and the last 60 days before a general election for any communications that name a specific candidate or ballot initiative, regardless of the content of the communication. This is designed to end speculation about what exactly is currently legal, and close loopholes like advertising by front organizations with an undisclosed membership (can you say "swift boat"?). The bill would not change current law regarding contributions by individuals, who may contribute unlimited amounts, but whose identity must be disclosed. Thirty House Republicans, along with all 63 Democrats are united behind the bill, so it's going to pass, right? But the Statesman points out that several key Republicans, including Speaker Craddick, Governor Perry, and important committee chairs, are all at least incidentally implicated in the investigation currently ongoing in Austin by district attorney Ronnie Earle over Tom DeLay's political action committees. Corporations, of course, are loathe to give up their power, and are pressuring Repub leadership to stop 1348. So this one pits the leadership squarely against the rank and file.

An interesting sidelight of HB 1348 that isn't getting much attention is that it offers an exclusion for "bona-fide" media owned by corporations or unions. It defines an "electioneering communication" as one disseminated by a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication, a mass mailing, or a telephone bank. Clearly, a blog, unless owned by a corporation, union or political party, is not exempted, but internet communications as a whole are not included in the definition. Who knows what a court would say, but I'd interpret this to mean most blogs or email communications can continue to be used to do electioneering during the blackout period.

Another bone of contention has cropped up between state and national Republicans. Never mind that the former Texas Governor has kind of an important national position. This has to do with an inherent conflict between the education reform law signed in 1997 by then Governor George W. Bush and the more recent federal misnomer, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. State law mandates that essentially all handicapped students be given an alternate test rather than the TAKS test that most students take. According to the San Antonio Express-News, last year that amounted to about 9% of Texas students. But NCLB limits the proportion of students taking alternate exams to 1%. Therefore, Texas was recently fined by federal Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings almost $450,000 in punishment for exceeding the limit. Spellings contends that the state is trying to inflate it's test scores by excluding too many students from TAKS. Could be. Also could well be that the $1.1 billion the state receives from the federal government isn't enough to enforce all aspects of NCLB for 2.9 million students. That's less that $400 per student. Any of you teachers want to weigh in?

What it all boils down to is that Republicans simply cannot govern. Between the ideologs, the incompetents, and the corrupt, there is no will and not much capacity to do what the public needs. Hope y'all don't think that's too wishy washy.

DEMOPHOENIX

DINO's On The Loose?

There's been a lot of talk lately in the blogosphere (here, here, here and here), which is beginning to leak into print, about certain Democrats who have been more or less cooperative with the Republican majority in the legislature. There have been a lot of charges and countercharges, including the suggestion that they are Democrats in Name Only (DINOs), and I don't pretend vast inside knowledge about exactly what's true, but I can say this much. There have been a number of suspicious votes and cases of certain Dems voting in ways that don't match generally accepted Dem platform positions. Chairman Soechting has openly admonished these Democrats and subtly suggested that they could face primary challenges. Click here for an article about one such Dem from El Paso. This legislator charges that there could be a racial bias involved in targeting Dems for primary challenge. If true, that would be both wrong and explosive. But I suspect there is a more routine political reason--those Dems who have been challenged represent safe Dem districts, not ones where a primary challenge is likely to lead to a Repub victory.

Here in the Panhandle, that would be a nice problem to have. But there are still general issues for us to consider, keeping in mind the difference between testing for ideological purity (which seems to me naive) and making sure that elected Dems do us more good than harm (which should only be common sense). Should we recruit and/or support candidates who through word or deed identify themselves with primarily Republican causes, just because they are willing to place a 'D' behind their names? Is the price to be paid for having a "seat at the table of power" worth the results? Not only do we need to consider these questions locally, but also in terms of the way we give advice to state leadership.

We certainly want to avoid the kind of ideological internecine battles going on in the other party, but at the same time, it seems to me we need to stand clearly for certain priorities, and it is only wise to direct our resources toward candidates who are both capable of winning and willing to advance our message.

DEMOPHOENIX

Whack-a-Repu . . . er . . . mole!

Ever feel this way? (Click on pic for bigger view)

-Prodigal Son

AGN letter-writer's edumacashon solution

On the River Road I.S.D. bond issue:

"[G]et all the kids garden hoes and teach them how to hoe weeds."

Keep this letter in mind if you're afraid to send in your wild-eyed liberal/progressive letters to the Globe-Republican every month. Seriously, your letters can't be as a) poorly-written, b) ill-informed, or c) totally insane as the regressive wingnut letters they're all too happy to publish.

SPACEDARK

From the Endless Wonders Department

Wow. This has been a pretty good Saturday. Not quite on a par with John Dean testifying to the Senate Watergate Committee, but still, some unexpectedly positive developments.

The Denton Record Chronicle (that's Denton, folks, not Austin) editorialized Saturday about the House-passed amendment to prohibit gay foster parents. Here's a juicy quote: "[Rep. Robert]Talton [R-Pasadena] is one of those mindless ideologues who would let the state Capitol burn to the ground if he thought a gay dispatcher might have sent the fire truck. He has repeatedly parroted the discredited argument that homosexuality is "learned behavior" and a lifestyle "choice"; now he seeks to codify the calumny that they are not fit to be around children." Hoo-boy!

The Paris (Texas, not France) News reported that legislators are beginning to hear calls for a state income tax to fund education. The report noted that while the Lege is unlikely to undertake such a move by itself, the time may be approaching when they might allow the voters to decide. And the News cited an opinion poll from last year that asked the question, "Do you favor or oppose a statewide education flat tax on income dedicated to public education which is deductible from federal income taxes?" Results: 55% in favor, 38% opposed. What? You wanted a progressive income tax? Communist! It certainly is amusing to watch the R's wrestle with the fact that their ideological budget isn't compatible with books for school children.

Meanwhile, on the national front, the LA Times is threatening to grow some actual cojones and behave like a real newspaper. In addition to a new editorial direction under editorial page editor Michael Kinsley, they have been doing some fine investigative work lately, including this piece that might put the nail in the coffin of Bush nominee for U.N. ambassador, John Bolton.

No, it isn't all sweetness and light. Happy days have yet to return. But days like this can make your step a little lighter. Make you want to find a way to nudge the process a little faster. Makes me proud to stand up, speak up and do all that one person can.

DEMOPHOENIX

Save me, PLEASE!

When I turned to the editorial pages of the local rag Friday (April 22nd), and found myself in agreement with the VVC column, and then an editorial by the nameless ones criticizing Tom Coburn I had to look twice to see if someone had delivered the wrong paper to me! Then I began reading the Kraut ("Charlie the hammer") I was sure I was hallucinating when he began hitting on DeLay. But I was snapped back to reality about halfway through when he took a HARD RIGHT after he quoted Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Kraut, I presume with a straight face, said that following the correction of the "disenfranchised citizenry" in the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, the courts' decisions on abortion rights, gay rights and "religion in the public square" were wrong because no-one suffered disenfranchisement before the rulings. WHA? How about women, gays and the First amendment?

The Liberalator

Question War Film Series - this Sunday

The Question War Film Series will screen "Control Room" by Jehane Noujaim.

The documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the Al Jazeera television network during the first days of the Iraq War in 2003.

Sunday, April 24
2 pm
Downtown Library, second floor

It's free. Discussion follows the film.

Question War - If you don't, who will?

It starts with Sigmund Freud.

NPR aired a segment on how Freud’s ideas were transmuted by Edward Bernays into the practice of public relations, or in a political context, propaganda. The premise is that rationality is just the thin veneer of human behavior. Sex, aggression, desire, security, mommy or daddy, are the subterranean drivers of human action that PR/propaganda seeks to tap. The field has advanced beyond polls and focus groups to include MRI brain scans so that our most reptilian reactions can be gauged before product rollout.

Along comes the Fourth World War. Tom Englehardt, at the always excellent Tomdispatch, explored the neocon rollout of WWIV. Elliot Cohen coined the term in 2001 in a WSJ opinion in which he outlined the standard neocon imperial program. In true Bernaysian form, he later recognized “…the right naming of things is far from a simple task.” And that’s been the whole problem. The name just hasn’t caught on with the war-consuming public. So much so that WWIV supporter Norman Podhoretz pouted about it in an article titled The War Against World War IV (WAWWIV – for those of you with scorecards).

The Bush cabal is using the American public as the world’s biggest focus group, trying out one name after another. John Brown’s ‘Why World War IV Can’t Sell' traces the war branding campaign. How about The Global War On Terror? The Long War? The War For Democracy? The Millenium War? Any of those stir your amygdalian reactions?

Yeah, Yogi, it is déjà vu all over again. Those with memories recall the justifications for the Iraq debacle – WMD and Al Qaeda. No, wait, how about regime change and liberation? Check that, try democracy for the greater Middle East. The sad, pathetic truth is that this rape of language and minds is not done in secret mirrored rooms with demographically correct focus groups wired to MRIs, but on a national scale before our eyes. Folks still buy beachfront property in Arizona. And we are still PT Barnum’s people.

It’s enough to make me roll over on the couch, turn to Sigmund and cry “I want my mommy!”

Friday Open Chat

Share whatcha' thinkin' 'bout!

Click "COMMENT" just below, another window will open, then scroll down to post.

We wanna hear from you! (our email: panhandletruthsquad@yahoo.com)

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Why Do They Vote Against Their Own Interests?

In an earlier provocative posting, Spacedark raised the issue of the place of religion in politics. That post covered a lot of territory, including the way the Republicans use (and I mean that in the worst sense of the word) the conservative religious community, the hostility often displayed from that community toward progressive philosophy, the deep concern of many progressives that they have a way of better communicating their spiritual and moral dimension, and the sources of the right-wing persecution complex.

The sense of being under attack (even though, as Spacedark points out, it's a straw man) is very important. It comes, I think, from what Alvin Toffler called "future shock". In essense, while increasing population and improving technology affect everyone, making our world seem "smaller", "faster" and generally more irritating, the greatest impact is felt by those who previously were relatively priveleged. Particularly in the U.S., we have been raised with the idea that the universal "American dream" was that each generation would have greater opportunity and greater well-being than the generation before. But that concept has begun to be challenged, as "productivity" has exceeded opportunity. No longer are hard work and a good education guarantees of a comfortable life. No longer is a single middle-class income sufficient to maintain a family in the expected life style. And the people who are most disappointed by that are those who were raised to consider it a given, i.e. middle class American white men. The wealthy don't feel it that much because their wealth protects them from it, both literally and figuratively. The poor are certainly affected, but having been raised with low expectations, they are not so surprised by it.

The frustration that accompanies "future shock" and its consequences send people in search of solutions, but those tend to be too systemic for individuals to successfully address. The next best things are (1) comfort and (2) scapegoats. The search for comfort leads directly to religion, among other things. The willingness of both political and religious leaders to exploit xenophobic tendencies, with little regard for their own religious teachings, is in the tradition of the traveling tent-preachers common in the depression era, many of whom were simply con artists. The logical scapegoats are those who are seen as the competitors, the threats to the unrealized expectation, including immigrants, women, minorities and companies who outsource or move overseas. These are not new dynamics. Similar relationships occurred in the late 1800's, as waves of immigration and new technology combined with the backwash from the Civil War and southern reconstruction. The rate of change is no doubt much greater today, though the perception of change is probably not much different. A terrific (and funny) example of the trauma of change in an earlier era comes from the work of James Thurber, discussing his mother's fear of electricity "flowing through the air" (I think that piece is in My Life and Hard Times). The real difference is that today there is not merely a confluence of economic power, government power and religious power; there is an active coordination of these forces.

Now, as then, we are seeing the development of a populist, progressive reform movement in opposition, and it would be tempting to believe that the outcome of that reform movement must be similar to what it was in the early 1900's. I have previously argued that such a happy turn of events is likely, as the regressives paint themselves into an unpopular ideological corner. But there is no guarantee. The forces of xenophobia and repression are not merely powerful and coordinated, but expertly organized, and utterly ruthless. As a Tom DeLay staff memo said (during the Clinton impeachment), "This whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS. Not only do you kick him -- you kick him until he passes out, then beat him over the head with a baseball bat, then roll him up in an old rug and throw him off a cliff into the pound(ing) surf below!!!!!" This is their great "Christian" hero. But failing to practice his religion in his life is not limited to Tom DeLay. What it illustrates is that for the regressive leadership, religion is merely a tool which they affect in order to generate legions of political workers, and which they ignore whenever it is inconvenient.

So, do progressives need to "get religion?" As Spacedark points out, there are plenty of religious progressives, and yet a moral principle among progressives is that we don't impose our faith upon those who have differing religious views. Thus we don't seek to create law that has no basis other than religious teaching. So, we don't need to adopt the tactics of regressives. But we do need to become more comfortable with talking about our morality, which is in fact far more consistent with all of the world's great religious traditions than are right-wing principles. A good beginning can be found in George Lakoff's book, Don't Think of an Elephant. And, at the same time, we have to recognize that those who have been captured by "future shock" are not listening, because they need to blame someone for their predicament. For the foreseeable future, most of those folks are, regrettably, going to continue to vote against their own interests. Thankfully, they remain a definite minority.

DEMOPHOENIX

that’s me in the spotlight / using my religion

Ever since the November election, progressives have been freaking the high holy freakout about religion. We’ve been talking up the “Christian left” without being really sure what we’re talking about. Jim Wallis has become a folk hero in some quarters. Yesterday, I watched a thread break down on a “major progressive blog” because a poster accused his fellow major progressive bloggacks of dissing religion. The poster claimed alienation in the wake of the Papal Conclave; s/he insisted that progressives on the blog were disrespectful and hostile to religion. We were eating our own, the poster wailed, claiming that most Christians and other religious people are “probably” on the side of progressives.

Mm. Let me just give my bona fides, because it’s evidently now required if you are a progressive and want to discuss religion. I do attend a Methodist church, a very traditional one complete with 19^th-century hymns, an organ the size of a Lincoln Navigator, and a liturgy written by Moses. I am by no means hostile to religion. But I live in Texas—the real West Texas, not the place mythologized in story and song. I know that’s where I live because I brush dust out from between my teeth every night. And out here in West Texas, liberals, progressives, reproductive rights supporters, peace activists, gay people, people of color, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera: all have faced and continue to face open hostility from large segments of the religious community.

Directly from the religious community. Listen: In the fall of 2000, in the middle of the longest presidential election in U.S. history, I was “invited” to a Southern Baptist country church. For reasons that have been lost to the mists of time and the unpredictability of human romantic relationships, I attended the service. I was not unknown to the members of the congregation, nor were my politics. Nevertheless, the preacher proceeded to preach a long long sermon that demonized Gore and the Democrats as “very very bad men” who were trying to steal the election. O how I would have liked to stand and walk out—but that wasn’t really possible under the social circumstances. So I tried to daydream, tried to fill my head with television static, did everything but cover my ears with my hands and shout la-la-la-la-la. But I felt very very very alone that Sunday morning, even in a roomful of people.

Another story: I’m a teacher of a group of high school students I call the “Babies on Board.” My juniors and seniors this year were born at the end of the 1980s. I was attending Southern Methodist University during those years and I remember quite clearly that every BMW in Highland Park with a car-seat also sported a yellow Baby On Board sign. It wasn’t just in Dallas, of course; everywhere I traveled during those years, I saw these ubiquitous signs and they were also widely alluded to in the media. Apparently there were parents so overprotective that they believed that someone would actually drive into their car if they didn’t know there was a child inside. I always wondered what those kids who were protected from the world by blaring warning signs and quilted car seats would grow up to be.

Now I know.

Last year’s standardized-testing schedule at the high school enabled the seniors—who didn’t have to take the TAKS—to come to school late three days in a row. This year’s schedule only gives them two days—and my seniors have been wailing and teeth-gnashing all month long that they “deserve” that extra day.

Y'see, they still think the world needs to turn on its axis in whatever direction would make them the most comfortable. They’re still overprotected. They feel entitled—and the slightest perceived injustice leads to screams & shouts claiming victimization. I am their teacher and I love them, but I have to roll my eyes when they write in their journal that they should be worshipped as gods. Really. They write that.

I think of these particular kids when I read posts sticking up for defenseless Christians. Or when I watch television shows decrying the ways in which the faithful are persecuted. Or when a wearin’-my-religion-on-my-bumper sort says with that cute mix of outrage and righteousness: “I’m sorry, but I ain’t givin’ up my faith for no one!”

Heh. No one asked you to, dude.

Look, hyper-religious Christian fundies aren’t persecuted in this country. They’re just not. Neither are mainstream Southern Baptists, nondenominational evangelical Christians, Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or even Methodists. At least not by secular humanists. By each other, maybe. And some members of all of the above bug the Moslems, the Buddhists, the Unitarians, and the Wiccans. But Left Behind-style persecution of the religious by the non-religious—not so much.

So I know everyone’s saying we need to somehow extend our reach into the churches, and I do agree that we need to find a way to blunt the impact of the Republican lie that we’re anti-church, but there’s just two things I can’t get outta my head—

First, when someone’s lying on the ground being stomped by a mob, it’s kinda silly to ask them to stop mistreating the poor mob. And secondly, if I gave in to every student who wails of victimization in my class, I wouldn’t be a bit effective.

SPACEDARK

Pulling Your Lege

In the past week, your Lege has outdone itself. I sure hope y'all are proud. Houtopia put it well, thanking the regressive Republicans for their devotion to really important matters. Here's a sample.

No gay foster parents: The Texas House yesterday voted to make Texas the only state that bans gays from serving as foster parents. The vote came on an ammendment to a bill (CSSB 6) to reorganize the Department of Child and Protective Services. The ammendment, offered by Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena) passed by a vote of 81-58. According to the Houston Chronicle, a similar law passed in Arkansas was declared unconstitutional in that state last year. Rep. Mike Villareal (D-San Antonio) called the measure "an inquisition." The measure must be reconciled with a CPS bill from the Senate that does not contain this language. Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Lewisville), sponsor of the Senate version, expressed concern that many already placed children would be displaced if the measure becomes law. No kidding. I'm sure that all the abstinence-only crowd will be more than happy to take on foster care for a physically or emotionally disabled child (snort!).

Reinstituion of Jim Crow: HB 1706, authored by Rep. Mary Denny (R-Flower Mound) requires that all voters bring a photo id with them when they vote, even if they have their voter registration card. Without the photo id, they would have to produce two other forms of id, all in the name of preventing voter fraud, a problem for which Denny produces no actual evidence. The fact is that Texas, like all states, is currently developing a statewide voter database, due to requirments of federal legislation, which, if properly maintained will reveal any instances of the type of fraud that this legislation is supposed to prevent. This bill was scheduled for a floor vote yesterday, but was sent back to committee. I'd like to think that they've come to their senses, but we will probably see it again in some form. Regrettably, I've got to disagree with Charles Kuffner on his analysis of this bill. Kuff suggests that Denny is merely ignorant, but that seems overly generous. I don't think she's actually concerned about fraud at all. It's just the excuse du jour for suppressing minority (read "Democratic") vote.

All Hail King George: The House did find time to pass HB 137, which will require new highway 'welcome' signs at Texas border crossings that include the wording "Welcome to Texas--Proud to be the Home of President George W. Bush." Huh. Maybe they'll pay for that with the new stripper tax (I gotta know if that means that "tips" will have to be $1.08 or multiples thereof).

Hot rumor: According to W. Gardner Selby of the Austin American-Statesman, House Speaker Tom Craddick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst are locked in a game of high-stakes "chicken". It seems that Dewhurst and several Senators want to make adjustments to several House-passed bills, including tax bills like HB 3 (the school finance legislation), presumably because they recognize that the House bills are irresponsible. But they want to be able to avoid being blamed for having the gumption to do some heavy lifting. So, according to these Senators, the House leaders responsible for the various bills have been mysteriously "unavailable" to meet to negotiate acceptable compromises. Selby speculates that the Speaker has muzzled them in order to try to run out the clock. The way it would work is that with the session scheduled to end at the end of May, Senators will have the option of passing a bill that would be responsible, but politically difficult, or just agreeing with the ideologically-driven bills the House passed. Failure to do either could force a special session this summer. This is an example of extremists no longer satisfied with being conservative; they are actively regressive. As Molly Ivins said in her latest column, "I like conservatives. They're opposed to all questionable adventures abroad and [are] for fiscal prudence and responsibility. It's right-wing nuts I can't stand."

DEMOPHOENIX

accent hodge

I’ve been meaning to say something about the April issue of Accent West. It really is troubling, though not surprising, that editor/publisher Don Cantrell chose to use his magazine to promote Hodger the Dodger’s candidacy for mayor.

From the Amarillo Globe-Republican, April Fools Day, (“Amarillo magazines enter field of politics”):

Politics is somewhat of a foreign topic to Accent West. And if you believe its executive editor, politics is removed from the factors that put Hodge on the cover at the height of the election season.

"I know no one is gonna believe me, but I've been planning on doing that story for about a year," said Don Cantrell, Accent West executive editor.

Good call, Don. No one believes you. No one at all.

I really tried to not write it where it was necessarily an endorsement or a political forum. I mean, you couldn't hardly do it. . .

What, because Hodger the Dodger is such a candidato perfecto that he can’t be mentioned without endorsing him? I can do it in my sleep: see several of my posts below. Look, Don, don’t even start because you didn’t write crap, anyway. Here’s my summary of your article: a page of Hodger the Dodger talking, a coupla paragraphs of biography, three more pages of Hodger.

Free writing tip, Don: if you want to write an article about a political candidate and “not write it where it was necessarily an endorsement,” you shouldn’t let the candidate do all the talking. Because, you see, Hodger is going to endorse himself. More than likely.

And then there are the photographs: Hodger at the ranch, Hodger with his family, Hodger with former Governor and NCAA-violator Bill Clements.

This article is free advertising, period. Why hasn’t the Globe-Republican Ghostly Voice condemned it? When the Globe-Republican pretends that there’s even a question whether the article’s appropriate, the paper betrays its own biases and lack of ethics.

The Globe-Republican article of 16 April (“Toot'n Totum passes on Accent West issue”) is even worse. And either Greg Mitchell of Toot-n-Totum needs some serious PR help or he was the victim of a journalistic hit-and-run. According to the article, Cantrell approached Mitchell, brother of Debra McCartt, to give him a heads-up about the Hodge fluff piece. The article implies Cantrell did so because it was (in a Wilfred Grimley Quaker Oats voice) “the right thing to do.”

"I just felt like he (Mitchell) needed to know what we were doing and offered him the option," Cantrell said.

And Mitchell, on the defensive before he really needs to be, whineth

It looks like I'm just sitting there promoting my sister. But I think it was inappropriate for him (Cantrell) to do it regardless if it had been my sister or anybody else.

You know what? It was inappropriate. And Mitchell shouldn’t apologize before anyone asks him to.

SPACEDARK

ratzinger is pope and bush is president

Might as well release Manson. Seriously, what more harm could it do?

SPACEDARK

extraordinary blogosphere delusions and the blogness of crowds

Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, of course, ruined it for everyone.

One day the wingnut “blogger”-slash-“reporter”-slash-“male prostitute” got caught asking a question that somehow didn’t manage to fit into the extremely stretched and misshapen standards of journalistic objectivity circa 2005. And all sorts of ugliness flew outta Pandora’s Box. Eventually, “Gannon” became the ultimate postmodern cipher, a man so elusive that any reference to him must be stuck in quotation marks. Even when discussing the issue with friends in the bar at OHMS you had to use air quotes. And bringing back that puerile conversational device was perhaps the very worst of all the evil emanating from “Gannon/Guckert”.

Another nasty bit of G/G evil was the questions about journalistic responsibility that began to be asked in his wake. Should bloggers be objective? What liability and libel issues face bloggers? What conflicts of interest? Are bloggers nasty un-American liberal hippy freaks or evil fascist un-American wingnut freeper morons?

In the microcosm, some of us at Panhandle Truth Squad have begun to face some of the same issues (though not male prostitution), and ask some of the same questions (though not “Why are Democrats divorced from reality?”). Problem is, even a single blog doesn’t always speak with one voice. A group blog like this one consists of an oh-so-democratic assortment of voices. Prodigal Son is the in-your-face founding activist. Demophoenix is the informative, detached scientist, convinced that people will see our side once all the facts are put before them. And I’m the dancing monkey, sometimes funny, sometimes playful, sometimes biting, sometimes throwing feces.

Add in the ‘rillos-- Blogarillo, Pazamarillo and whoeverillo else we can talk into posting, and you have a cacophony, a town meeting, the latest pyramid scheme to sweep across the Panhandle. We could never have one Ghostly Voice that speaks for us all like the Amarillo Globe-Republican does. And we wouldn’t want to.

As for journalistic truth-standards, try to remember, we’re just a blog. Give us resources like payroll, budget and full-time employees and we’ll meet those standards, and we’ll do it better than the Globe-Republican. For now, we’re just regular citizens asking the difficult questions our local media often refuses to ask.

Keep that in mind when you read the (very important) rumor-mongering below.

SPACEDARK

a very very very very very very very good question

G.A Roach’s last name reminds some of us who have been around this city for awhile of some very bad old days. And when the hospital's pastoral care director stood to ask a very good question at the Northwest Texas Healthcare System candidate forum he brought up another name that reminded us of those same bad old days. According to the Amarillo Globe-Republican, Roach

asked mayoral candidate Jerry Hodge to describe his relationship with the petroleum and water businessman.

"And the second part of that question is, have you already been in talks or negotiations for buying water from T. Boone Pickens?" Roach said.

Oh, snap! You got served. Hodge dodged the question, bizarrely comparing his relationship with Pickens to his relationship with his ex-wife. And then he sagely told the audience that Pickens was a “formidable opponent,” and a “threat to us.”

But older-timers than me whisper of a time when Hodge did not view Pickens as such a threat. Of a time when an older couple living near Masterson willed their gas rights to Potter County with the goal that the county would enjoy dirt-cheap heating, forever. But that particular forever was to last only a few years – only until Hodger the Dodger could find a smoke-filled room in which to meet Boone. And ever after those gas rights belonged to Mesa Petroleum.

Those of us with ex-spouses know that there are all sorts of models for that particular relationship. I’ve heard unsubstantiated reports that some exes maintain the courteous but distant relationship Hodger the Dodger alluded to, keeping the relationship businesslike and professional for the sake of the kids or whatever. But some exes suddenly briefly “reconcile” into intense dramatic flings that lay waste to all that emotional progress they have made. And some exes steal your friends, empty your bank account, and slit your tires.

Perhaps Mr. Hodge could choose a more enlightening comparison.

SPACEDARK

shorter amarillo globe-republican endorsements for mayor and city commission:

Buncha old white men.

Welcome to the first live PTS chat!

Just hit "COMMENT" just below to join us, and scroll down.

We are discussing ideas on ramping up PTS.

-PTS

Question War: If you don't, who will?

For those who weren’t able to hear Iraqi women’s rights advocate Yanar Mohammed speak last Saturday, you have another chance. Ellen Neal interviewed Ms. Mohammed for the KACV-TV program Face To Face. The interview will first air on Tuesday, April 26, at 7:30 pm, then will repeat Saturday, April 30 at 5:00 pm, and Sunday, May 1 at 12:30 pm.

The AGN covered Ms. Mohammed’s visit also with a reporter and photographer and published this well-written article on April 10. Unfortunately, the pseudo-science of the anti-evolution guy that appeared on the same page was given twice as much ink. You wanna say 'go figure', but then you remember where you are.

In the KACV interview, Ms. Mohammed emphasized that the shape of government and society in Iraq must be democratic, secular, and egalitarian. She identified three dark forces in the country; the American occupation, political Islam, and ethnic nationalism. The American invasion promised liberation, but unleashed chaos. Part of that chaos was the rise of Islamist fundamentalism into politics and attempts to impose religious law on civil society. She calls these the two poles of terrorism – US state terrorism and political Islam. She and her compatriots have admirable goals, but they are treading a dangerous path between two violent forces.

We in America must not be casual observers. We bear responsibility for what has happened to Iraq. It comes down to this unpleasant truth: We didn’t do enough to stop an illegal, immoral, and unjustifiable war. We’ve got a lot of work to do and a ways to go before we reach the tipping point that finally discredits this war and the ones who wage it.

One way to move toward that end is to offer and keep in front of our community a reality that most of them aren’t exposed to. The Question War Film Series screens documentaries and movies that, well, question war, and offer alternatives to the business-as-usual propaganda that confronts us in mainstream media. This Sunday, April 17, Weapons Of Mass Deception by Danny Schecter, founder and executive editor of mediachannel.org, documents the media's biased coverage of the Iraq War.

Join us Sunday at the downtown library, second floor, at 2 pm. It’s free. And it makes a difference.

dr. feelgood

WASHINGTON, April 14 - As the Senate heads toward a showdown over the rules governing judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees. (Kirkpatrick, David D. "Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on Judicial Issue." New York Times.)

“Dr. Frist” is a fristing nutcase. And he either knows nothing about this country’s true theology or he knows way too much and is just a cynical bastard. The only god left for the Republican base is money. If you doubt this, don’t look at what they do on Sunday morning; rather look at their behavior the rest of the time. As the greatest of all prophets (Douglas Adams) wrote

This planet [Earth] has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

These Republicans can rave & rant about Jeezus all they want but they will still drown a puppy for a dollar. They use religion as a means to gain control and consolidate their power, but what have they done with power once they have it? They sure the hell haven’t turned the other cheek. They sure the hell haven’t fed anyone’s sheep. And they haven’t loved anyone’s neighbor— unless you count those stories about Paul Wolfowitz.

Instead, they’ve lined their own pockets.

Marx— Sha la la lala lalala / Is this the way to Guantanamo Bay? — said that religion was the opiate of the masses. In 2005 he might say it was the masses' methamphetamine, but the essential point remains, perhaps more than Marx understood—and these Republicans are the playground pushers of Drug War mythology, giving voters a little bit of Jeezus for free to get them hooked-- and after that they own themselves another junky.

And what do those poor addicted voters get for their trouble? Their teeth fall out, their skin turns sallow and rots off. They’re wracked by the muscle cramps and chills of environmental destruction, they’re throwing up a bloody, phlegmy death-economy. And they run to their Republican pushers—but now the price has gone up a little: We know you used to get Feelgood Jeezus Government if you voted for nice grandfatherly Ronnie Reagan. But now it costs two Bushes and a Tom Delay. Sorry, the underground economy is always capitalist, you know. It’s the Democrats' fault, really, you know they’ve got this War on Jeezus going on—all the busts, trying to seize all the Feelgood Jeezus Government dope. We think they’re secretly using and selling it themselves.

So even though it’s written that I shouldn’t judge, I gotta say that I’ve actually read the Bible cover-to-cover (twice), and I just can’t see how modern Republican Big Business Wal-Mart Hypercapitalism has anything at all to do with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It’s become a truism that is Jesus really did come back, we’d crucify him again. Of course, it's also a truism that these Republicans would first complain about his dirty feet, call him an anti-American hippie traitor, and—“Omigod, he looks Middle-Eastern to me!”—lock him up in Gitmo.

SPACEDARK

Are You Ready for a Brand New Beat?

Go read this great article on on the succes of local blogging from pressthink, like, right now vato! CLICK HERE

(Then come right back here)
_______________________

There are some great ideas on how to grow this blog and compete with the local wingnut bird cage liner AKA the Amarillo Globe News.

This from Baristanet, a blog covering three towns in NJ:

. . . In competing with Big Media, Baristanet has the blogger's options:

"I compete editorially against five local weeklies and one regional paper. There's no way I won't get scooped. On the other hand, as a blogger I can be useful as an aggregator. So I can link to the reporters who've scooped me. I even have one category, "Scooped by Phil Read, Again." Phil Read is a very good reporter for the Star Ledger.

On the other hand, when something big happens in town, people automatically turn us on to see what's going on. They also send us tips at our tip e-mail, which goes to all three of us. That's gratifying. " . . .
________________________

I REALLY like this statement, "You don't need anyone's permission (or any capital) to become a publisher. You can create value from nothing."
________________________

OK, so how do we take these ideas and run with them?

-Prodigal Son

PS: HEEELP! Can someone send me the html to build an email submit page LIKE THIS for PTS?

Open Comment

Click "Comments" below and tell us whaddup.

Anyone know some good stuff on Hodge? Anyone attend the debate the other night?

-Prodigal Son

Pulling Your Lege

This week I'm in a reflective mood, and happened on this article. Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) introduced legislation, SB 60, to offer juries in cases involving capital crimes the option of life imprisonment without possibility of parole, in addition to the two current options, life imprisonment with possibility of parole in 40 years, or death. Now, it's not as though Lucio is trying to eliminate the death penalty. In explaining his reasoning, he said "Life without parole does not weaken the death penalty. It is tough on crime. It provides certainty to the families of the victims because they know those individuals would never walk the streets again."

Some Republicans supported the legislation also, believing that since the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the death penalty for minors, juries needed some stiffer (!) option for sentencing such minors, and was reported out of the criminal justice committee on March 16.

Nevertheless, on the Senate floor, the bill failed to receive the 2/3 vote needed to begin debate. All 12 nay votes were cast by Republicans. Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine) voted no in order to avoid confusing jurors. "We need to streamline so jurors fully understand the decision they're making," Staples said. Apparently, Texas juries are unable to comprehend more than two choices. The Chronicle reported that Lucio is continuing to try to find a way to push the bill through.

All that aside, however, I'm left wondering what the actual interplay in a jury room would do with this third option. Would most Texas juries use it to reduce the number of death verdicts? Or, would "concern" for the victim just reduce the number of parolees? Never mind that a guaranteed 40-year term is effectively life, anyway, even for a fifteen-year-old.

And what is the motivation behind this legislation, really? Is it the proverbial camel's nose under the death penalty tent? If so, it's just one nostril. Does it have to do with introducing more sentencing options, in general? Or (I'll bite) is it really as Lucio described it? I'm no criminal justice expert, so I invite comments from those more knowledgeable.

In general, I've got to say that I'm a death penalty opponent, not because I find it totally unjustifiable, but because I know enough about the way the justice system works (or more correctly doesn't work for those who are poor, ignorant or both) to know that perfectly innocent people get convicted and executed, mostly just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We know this from the number of people who have recently been exonerated after serving years in prison, based upon new DNA evidence. I don't know when the regressives in this state are going to wake up to the reality that we aren't perfect. But I guess the question is, do we care about living in a society where you can be killed because you didn't know how to get a good lawyer? If we did, the Lege wouldn't be wasting time with bills that really don't move the ball.

DEMOPHOENIX

beyond belief: my first postmodern vote

or, Why I Will Vote For the Smoking Ban

In Clintonian phraseology: It’s the framing, stupid.

As I’ve written previously, I am conflicted about the smoking ban, to the point that I have now decided that I don’t really believe one way or the other about the issue. So I have to find something “beyond belief” on which to base my vote.

I’ve also noted that the issue is framed differently in Amarillo than in Austin, where a similar ban is on the ballot. In Amarillo, the anti-smoking ban forces argue that gubmint doesn’t have the right to tell people how to run their businesses. This argument is nonsensical on its face since government does in fact impose all kinds of health regulations on the very sorts of businesses that will be affected by the smoking ban.

It is also important to note that, for good or ill, the issue was passed on to the people. So, it’s not precisely “big government,” but The People who will be regulating these businesses. The question becomes: Do The People have the right to impose restrictions on businesses? Another factor that influences my decision is that businesses in Amarillo—as everywhere—are, more and more frequently, Applebee’s rather than Roasters. More and more new bars and restaurants are anonymous corporations rather than cozy small businesses run by our local neighbors. Do The People have the right to regulate nameless, faceless, soulless corporations? Do we privilege The People over Wal-Mart?

In Austin, it’s a civil rights issue. Individuals who go to a bar to listen to a band have the right to fully participate in the bar/live music culture— a culture which includes smoking. In Austin’s system, the referendum touches on questions of mob rule. Do The Masses have the right to impose “popular delusions and the madnesses of crowds” upon individuals?

I believe the founding fathers might have answered these two questions differently. I know I do. So—in the absence of other deal-makers or deal-breakers—I find that framing is a valid basis for determining a vote. In such a situation, one is not being manipulated by the frame, but is utilizing it.

Oh, the postmodern places you’ll go! Specifically, into structuralism, which

examine(s) the underlying relation of elements (the 'structure') in [for example] a story, rather than focusing on its content.

Sometimes politics, and the power exerted therefrom, is only about relations—the “bedfellows” of political cliché. In this case, I would prefer to align myself with those who would reign in hypercapitalistic corporate power. If Amarilloans cared about civil rights, the issue would have been framed that way—and my vote would be different.

SPACEDARK

Going Down?

Is Tom "The Hammer" DeLay on the fast track to the ground floor? The evidence continues to mount. New evidence emerged last week on several fronts, merging into a pattern of ethical misconduct by the House Majority Leader distinct enough for even the commercial media to notice. Pundit Mark Shields noted that DeLay's misbehavior had become a reporting "beat", just like covering city hall. Now, Newsweek is reporting that one of DeLay's inside buddies, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, is making canary-like noises. Reporter Michael Isakoff quotes Abramoff saying "DeLay knew everything. He knew all the details." Sounds like someone who is not anxious to go down with the ship.

Even Republicans, who last week were only grousing in private, are coming out in the open to separate themselves from the once-feared House leader. Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), who faces a tough reelection battle next year, has openly called for DeLay to step down, while Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), a member of the Senate leadership, called on DeLay Sunday to make all the details of his behavior public. Even the Amarillo Globe-Republican ran an abbreviated version of the same story. Clearly, there are no Republican incumbents in swing states or districts who want to be associated with Mr. DeLay.

A strange piece in the Austin American-Statesman notes that since the House Ethics Committee is tied up by partisan wrangling, there is currently no venue for the House to investigate DeLay. They fail to note that it was DeLay himself who tied the committee up by trying to change the rules for committee decision making and by packing it with loyalists, some of whom had contributed money to his legal defense fund. Meanwhile, the grand jury in Austin continues to investigate the laundering of corporate money to Texas state legislative races, through a political action committee with very close association to DeLay.

"So what?" you may ask. "We knew he was sleazy all along." Sure, and he's only one Congressman. The Democrats will need a net gain of 12 to retake the majority next year. That's exactly the reason that other Republicans are running away from him. But the fact is that he's not the only one with the stench of corruption. This figures to be the campaign issue of 2006 all over the country. And the more widely DeLay becomes known as corrupt, the easier it will be to use him as a surrogate to make a similar case against other Republicans. Have a look at what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put together on several House Republicans who said one thing before the election in 2004, and another afterward, regarding Social Security. Imagine an ad that displays this contrast, adds another ethical punch or two, and then concludes with an image of the Representative morphing into Tom DeLay. There's a long way to go before the '06 elections, but I'm gonna step out on a limb here and predict that there's a lot o' sleeze yet to reveal.

DEMOPHOENIX

next Sunday I'm preaching about the great green arkleseizure

Today's Amarillo Globe-News utilized the newspaper's favorite technique-- a misleading headline-- along with a potpourri of logical fallacies to feature Phillip Johnson, a well-known pseudoscientist and fraud. Johnson espouses a Trojan Horse "philosophy" named intelligent design:

Intelligent design utilizes scientific-sounding language to attempt to discredit modern biological science: ID distiguishes itself from overtly religious creationist dogma, however: most ID arguments are cast in entirely secular terms, without appeals to religious authority nor any explicit claim about the identity of the "Intelligent Designer(s)."

Well, that's the claim, anyway. Of course, an appeal to religious authority is inherent in the very term "Intelligent Design"-- I doubt that Johnson and his band of tricksters are imagining the world was created by 2001: A Space Odyssey's mysterious advanced alien civilization. But reporter Brandi Dean got punk'd by Johnson, and our fave newspaper plastered the headlie across the page "Intelligent Design theory questions evolution without relying on Biblical creation."

Here's a question: if Johnson isn't saying-- as he claims-- that "the Christian God-- or any god in particular-- created the world," why's he speaking at Trinity Baptist Church at 8:20 and 10:50 am on Sunday morning? He's delivering a freaking sermon titled "Is God Real or Imaginary" at a Southern Baptist Church! And he wants us to believe he's leaving the question open?

Futhermore, Brandi Dean writes a nightmarishly misleading sidebar story ("Texas science class are teaching evolution"), in which she pens the following headscratcher:

In July 2004, The Barna Group found that 59 percent of 1,618 randomly selected adults thought creationism should be taught in school. A November National Geographic article, "Was Darwin Wrong," said the belief that God alone, without evolution, produced humans, has never been held by less than 44 percent.

Classic bandwagon fallacy: a majority of people think we should teach pseudoscientific creationist dogma in schools, so we should. A majority of people think God created the universe in six days, so He must've.

Of course, nearly 100 percent of my senior English students think they shouldn't have to write a research paper. But a classroom isn't a democracy : the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills requirements say they have to write a research paper, and the TEKS say they have to study post-Medieval biology.

I read the paragraph to my S.O. and asked her what she thought the National Geographic article was about, based on Ms. Dean's sentence. She said it sounded like NG was questioning the validity of evolution. And, of course, that's exactly what it sounded like.

Thankfully, unlike Ms. Dean, I'd actually read the article. The cover does indeed feature the provocative headline. But when you open up the magazine, you read a short paragraph that fills half the page:

"NO. The evidence for evolution is overwhelming."

Punk'd again. Ah, the Amarillo Globe-News. Too many fish, too small a barrel.

SPACEDARK

The Democratic Manifesto

Black Maned Pensator, blogging on DailyKos, produced a thought-provoking rant today. It is not a new concept that Dems can create an alternative "Contract with America", and do in '06 what Gingrich et al. did in '94. But the manifesto Pensator creates, while overly long for an advertisement, is well-written and does cover the right ground. Check it out at the link above, and, if you feel up to it, try using it as a starting point and see if you can do better. I don't think the means Pensator suggests for spreading this message are sufficient, but would be a good start. Pensator's point that this is a positive exercise that moves us off of defensive, tactical politics is correct, and something we should think about.

DEMOPHOENIX

Bell Weather

Up till yesterday, Chris Bell was able to maintain the useful fiction that he was just "exploring" running for Governor. Thanks to Quorum Call and Off the Kuff, the mystery is now officially gone. I thought something might be up when the Bell campaign sent out an email requesting that supporters write to Democracy for America (DFA), asking their support of Chris. DFA is the spin-off grassroots effort from the Howard Dean campaign. All you Deaniacs are going to love this (not that other Dems shouldn't cheer also!). The two blogs announced confirmation that several people had signed up to work for the Bell campaign. The most notable of these is undoubtedly Joe Trippi, who will be doing internet development.

This doesn't mean you will be seeing Joe out on the hustings, or even in Texas at this stage (but maybe a few fundraisers!). But it does say that there is serious national attention for the Bell campaign, and probably means that his fundraising has been doing well enough. We should be heartened that we are more likely today to have a strong candidate at the top of the ticket next year than we were a week ago.

The positions announced yesterday are:

• Media/Research Operative - Jason Stanford
• Fundraising -Heidi Kirkpatrick
• Internet - Joe Trippi
• General Consultant - Bob Doyle
• Media - Neil Kammeron of Fenn Communications
• Mail - Duane Baughman

Duane Baughman also has Dean campaign connections. Bob Doyle is an interesting choice, as he has made a career of helping bluedog-type Dems in Congressional elections in purple/red districts.

DEMOPHOENIX

Dem Website Back Up

Check out the Potter-Randall Democratic Club web site. It has a new look since last fall.

DEMOPHOENIX

Question War Film Series - this Sunday

Question War Film Series
Sunday, April 10
2 pm
Downtown Library, 2nd floor meeting room

The free double feature will screen "I Come From Iraq" and "The Fourth World War".

"I Come From Iraq" is the story of filmaker Nadia Shihab's family roots in Iraq. Filmed during the leadup to the Iraq War, Ms. Shihab explores the personal impacts of war and exile on her family.

"The Fourth World War" by Rick Rowland and Jackie Sooen is a powerful, passionate new film that weaves together the stories of movements and communities on the ground in Chiapas, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, South Korea, Iraq, New York, Quebec City and Genova as they resist war, globalization and empire.

"The intensity and immediacy of its images are beyond anything the mainstream media can shoot, the intimacy and passion of its stories are beyond anything it can feel. Directed by the award winning New York-based Big Noise Films, and narrated by Tony Award winner Suheir Hammad and Singer Michael Franti of Spearhead, it is a radical story of hope and human connection in the face of a war that shatters and divides."

It's all free - the films, the food and the discussion. One of these films is gentle and poignant, and the other will kick your ass to the third world and back. Hope to see all y'all truthsquaders there. - PazAmarillo

tricksy, tricksy ghostses

Not long ago I was approached outside Hastings by some dude with an interesting variation on the ole "my car's broken down, I need a few bucks to get to the next town" scam. This guy first asked if I hated gay people. Well, sez I, of course not. Okay, good, he sez, I'm glad you're not a bigot, because that's my husband over there, our car broke down and . . ."

I laughed and gave him a dollar for his creativity. I suppose if I was the Amarillo Globe-News Ghostly Voice, I would have beaten him to a bloody pulp, called him a filthy bugger, and then claimed it wasn't a hate crime, that I had beaten him because he was a special interest "more interested in financial gain than some quest for equality and social acceptance."

SPACEDARK

Support Bush, Get Screwed

To find out HOW BAD Shrub's social security dismantling plan is for you, CLICK HERE.

-PTS

The Cowboy, The Iron Lady and One Tough Grandma

We're talkin' mud-wrasslin' Texas style. It becomes ever clearer that we are indeed in for a three-fer. Governor Perry has become desperate enough to get Senator Hutchison out of his kitchen that he's dragged ol' Claytie Williams out of the buckbrush for an endorsement. Hutchison's campaign office in Austin retorted, "I’m sad there are two votes we won’t be getting in Midland, but the senator has a great deal of support out there," all but confirming her intentions. If that weren't enough, Hutchison appeared in Austin last week at an economic development press conference of the sort that Perry has usually camped out at, stealing the thunder for keeping a local business even though there was some question as to whether she had actually done anything about it. Claytie could actually be useful, as he was quoted to say that "Senator Hutchison should explain directly to the voters why she doesn’t want to finish her job when we contributed our money and efforts to elect her to the U.S. Senate." She can't do that, of course, because her motivation is to create an opportunity to run for president.

Meanwhile, Comptroller Strayhorn hasn't exactly been keeping her powder dry, carefully timing her announcement two weeks ago that the school funding measure that passed the House was $4 billion short. She has, however, not engaged in any personal sniping, clearly hoping that Perry and Hutchison shoot it out while she sneaks through along the rail. There is still time for them to somehow work this thing out, but the more that senior Republican leaders go public trying to convince Hutchison not to make the race, the more apparent it becomes that they are barking up the wrong tree.

DEMOPHOENIX

Pulling Your Lege

So, what's wrong with this picture? The regressive Republican Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst, has come out in favor of SB 3, a bill designed to regulate water usage, introduced by Democratic Sen. Ken Armbrister (Victoria) that would (a) raise taxes, (b) allow a new class of lawsuits, (c) limit pumping rates for high volume water wells and (d) save wetlands. What is Dewhurst thinking? I mean, not to be cynical, but based on their recent record, when a Republican backs something that actually makes sense, don't you have to ask, what are they really getting out of this? Or, at least, what are they getting in exchange?

Now, I'll admit the bill isn't perfect. But here's what it would do: First, it would create a new tax of 13 cents per 1,000 gallons of water used per user per month, above 5,000 gallons. Considering that average water usage per month for households and small businesses is 5,100 gallons, most of us should be able to avoid almost all exposure to this tax. The fee would be used to fund new water projects, such as regional water planning commissions, municipal water conservation and desalination efforts, as determined by statewide and regional planning boards. One problem is that, as the Austin American Statesman says, citing Armbrister, the proceeds of the tax are estimated to provide less than 2/3 of the needs. The tax could also be more equitable, better encourage conservation, and perhaps provide for the full need, if it were progressive.

Second, the bill would provide for specific flow rates on Texas rivers that contribute to gulf coast-area wetlands. It does contain exceptions for years of drought, but these sections of the bill have gained approval from the Texas branch of the Sierra Club, on the theory that rates of flow in non-drought years would be sufficient to allow wetland recovery from drought.

Possibly the most important provision is that Texas' 100-year-old right of capture rule would be modified to limit the pumping rate of wells, and would permit owners of neighboring wells whose capacity is reduced by high-volume wells to take their grievance to court. This may be the critical provision because it's the one Republican constituencies have pushed for. Farmers and ranchers have long sought limitations on the ability of private owners of water rights to pump rural water for non-agricultural purposes, mainly cities. As cities have grown across the state, many have purchased rights from private landowners, and wealthy private citizens (T. Boone, that's you) have sought to become water/pipeline barons. This legislation doesn't stop those practices, but makes them more expensive, because the extraction rate won't (at least in theory) be allowed to exceed the recharge rate.

The Houston Chronicle notes that the bill grew out of a year-long study (no mention of who conducted it), and has bipartisan support. Inside the Texas Capitol, a blog by imasuit, describes the process as a compromise among farmers, ranchers, environmentalists and wildlife advocates that has taken eight years to mature. So, is it possible that the needs of actual governance have intruded upon regressive Republican ideology? Shouldn't we just give them credit for doing something right, and move on?

Well, maybe. And the Senate, which operates a bit more collegially than the House, generally under the hammer-lock of Speaker Craddick, may serve the Lt. Governor's interests by appearing to be less ideological. But here's the problem. The Republicans clearly have the numbers to ram through the pumping rate provisions without most of the rest of the bill. Why are they agreeing to raising taxes and limiting river flow rates? As George Lakoff and the Rockridge Institute point out, Republicans have learned the art of thinking strategically, forming positions that contribute to an overall strategy, rather than just solving a specific problem. Besides, you're not cynical if you really do get stabbed in the back every time you turn around, so here's a couple conspiracy theories.

First, all of the tax uses and the water flow restrictions are subject to the action of a series of alphabet soup boards and commissions, filled with members who will be appointed by governors. It isn't hard to imagine that Republicans now consider the Governor's mansion to be party property. So why not agree to warm, fuzzy provisions about saving ducks and geese that can later be gutted by executive fiat? Besides, as the party in power, they are realizing that government resources are sources of patronage power, to be doled out to favored groups and individuals. The fact that this is exactly the kind of corruption they railed against in order to gain power doesn't keep them up nights.

Second, consider who are the losers of the pumping rate restrictions? Aside from T. Boone, it's mainly cities, who will face serious limits on growth before very long. If R's want to protect their core constituencies, who are wealthy business elites, real-estate magnates, high-end suburbanites, and so forth, they don't want to have their industries, lawns and golf courses competing with drinking water. That means that city growth rates must be slowed. And if that means there will be no increase in city dwellers in the future, and hence not much growth in core Democratic constituencies, well, they may just have to live with that.

So, should Democrats oppose this bill? There is no doubt that it would do a great deal of short-term good. And they certainly lack the clout to insist upon independent commissions instead of Gubernatorial fiefdoms. But perhaps there is one of those odd alliances available between city Dems and ideological anti-tax R's. Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell has already sounded a clever note by calling the tax "a new tax on being alive." On the other hand, water really is a limiting factor for Texas' quality of life, and I don't really want to ever get so clever that I stop advocating for that.

DEMOPHOENIX

Silence is complicity.

It felt good. Sign in hand. Beautiful day. A long line of peace activists stretching down 82^nd Street. A variety of fingers flashed from the windows of passing cars; emphatic birds, upraised thumbs, peace signs, a noncommittal hand fluttering. I gauged motorist responses as about evenly split between those who supported our peace action and those who, I guess, support war. Many of those who disagreed with the peace activists shouted “Bush! Bush!”. It was a disturbing glimpse into a Cult of Personality where the question wasn’t one of war and peace, but rather a glassy-eyed devotion to My Leader. One man screeched his car over, hopped out hopping mad and ranted up and down the line of protestors ala Serpico, demanding to speak to a veteran. I implored him to come on the grass, as cars hit brakes and parted around him like water around a boulder. A boulder would’ve been the smarter of the two. He survived and left as he arrived, tires screeching.

This was in Lubbock last weekend. Peace actions like this one have drawn good crowds. A series of teach-ins at Texas Tech has attracted hundreds. Sometimes I think peace activists have it easier there, with the captive audience of a large student body, most of whom are of draft age. However, that should not, and does not, deter the peace movement in Amarillo. The Question War Film Series will hold its fourth screening this Sunday, April 10, 2 pm at the downtown Library. Attendance of 25-30 has been steady and discussions lively. Yanar Mohammed, internationally recognized women’s rights advocate from Iraq will talk about the impacts of war and fundamentalism on the status and safety of women amid the chaos of war, on April 9 and 10. If you’d like more information, email me (questionwar@bluevisionpoems.com).

Our job on the home front is to make every opportunity to discredit this war. Network and act. Get noisy. Silence is complicity. It’s as simple as that.

david horsley

should listen to more Texas Country:

"Amarillo Highway" written by Terry Allen and popularized by Robert Earl Keen, and
"Leavin' Amarillo" by Billy Joe Shaver

Just sayin'.

SPACEDARK

Brilliant! Must Read!

A national campaign, known as the Paper Chase has been initiated, with the goal of spreading news that is not generally printed in mass media, in a form that makes it available to ordinary folk who are likely not yet aware of the embarrassingly shabby state of our media (and who do not read blogs). This is a terrific, subversive technique. Not really anything new. What we're talking about, in essence, is pamphleteering, a method that was widely in use in the time prior to widespread distribution of newspapers. An original hero of the American revolution, Thomas Paine, was a well-known pamphleteer.

I would think that if we had 20-25 people distributing material around town, we could do a lot of good. If you PTS'ers like this, it could be used as a lead-in to developing and distributing a printed version of PTS (except it could not be so covert). There is some great guidance at the Paper Chase site, which you should read before distributing anything. But after that, I'd say go for it, and report back to PTS what you've distributed. My other suggestion would be to include the PTS link on the material distributed, but I'd sure welcome the input of others with respect to that suggestion.

If we are able to hold another PTS meetup, we should put this discussion on the agenda.

DEMOPHOENIX

sis, you're gettin' in too deep

. . . the road of life is steep / and you're known by the company you keep (Dolly Parton)

It's self-beneficial for me to think so-- since the people I love & spend my time with are so much better and smarter and more beautiful than I-- but I'm going to assume for the moment that you really can be judged by the company you keep. Let's try to figger out just what kind of individual the Amarillo Globe-News Ghostly Voice is. The Ghostly Voice tried this morning to defend Kel Seligar in the wake of his comment, when asked to yield the floor during a Texas Senate debate that he

had already yielded more than a high school cheerleader at a drive-in.

In a tactic reminiscent of high school students getting called out for their behavior, the Ghost pointed at the Texas House and claimed they were even worse than Kel:

Seliger's one-liner was downright tame compared to a discussion the same day between representatives of the ACLU and the Texas Eagle Forum just across the legislative way in a House committee. The two sides were debating a bill regulating alleged suggestive performances by high school cheerleaders.

ACLU board member Pam Uhr was quoted by The Dallas Morning News as saying, "The purest thing we have is our sexual nature. Let's not try to adulterate that."

Huh?

If that weren't enough sexual innuendo, the Eagle Forum responded by alluding to sex-toy props in high school plays.

Apples and oranges, of course. The House was debating a bill that dealt specifically with high school cheerleaders and sexuality. Granted that bill was batcrap crazy, but it had been introduced and had to be debated. Seligar's comments were gratuitous. He wasn't supposed to be thinking about high school cheerleaders and sex-- and yet he was. Even a newsroom ghost ought to be able to see the difference. Even a newsroom ghost that needs to look up the definition of innuendo.

I went looking for other defenders of Seliger, to see who had the AGN's back in this little barroom brawl. I found this blogger who posts a clip from the Austin American-Statesman above a nightmarishly racist little joke about Asian people. And I found some law student who seems to think it's funny, but adds the really strange comment

However, what I found even funnier is that the Austin American-Statesman actually went out and found a cheerleader to comment on the quote. This is what our tax dollars are going to? Rather sad.

Ward, I'm worried about the Ghostly Voice. S/He seems to have fallen in with a bad crowd: racist joke-tellers and law students who think newspapers are publicly funded.

And the result seems to be that the Ghostly Voice is losing grip on reality. This morning's column ends

Those ready - O.K.! - to raise an eyebrow over Seliger's harmless jibe should have been next door in the House. That was the truly sexy story.

Come again? What was that random "O.K.!" in the middle of that sentence? Kinda reminds me of the way the emperor W suddenly starts talking to the sky or to his tie in the middle of his press conferences these days. Maybe the crowd the Ghostly Voice has fallen in with is worse than we thought. Maybe the Ghostly Voice is receiving orders from Karl Rove-- just like the emperor!

SPACEDARK

Gambling With Our Children

An issue I haven't dealt with in Lege reports is the possibility of extending the availability of gambling in Texas, and the use of tax revenue from gambling to help support public education. I don't want to go into a lot of history about how the state lottery was sold on that basis, but has failed to measure up. In principle, there may be something to say for the idea, as gambling remains wildly popular (ever try to get onto a Vegas flight?), and could provide a revenue stream that people wouldn't mind paying. Of course, if you look at the odds involved in slots and other forms of gambling under consideration, and ask who the big losers would be, the answer is (drumroll, please) poor folk. What a surprise. And no surprise at all that regressive Republicans would want to champion this issue. It's their kinda tax.

Into this situation comes a beacon of light from houtopia.com. Houtopia points out how the R's manipulated this issue to have their cake and eat it too, while bashing Democrats at no expense. The short of it is that they found it politically unappealing to be openly promoting gambling, but figured they could sucker the Dems into leading the charge by promising money for schools that the R's had just shortchanged in HB3. Then they could turn around and bash us for doing what they wanted. A number of separate bills have been introduced that I won't take time to sort through here. But suffice it to say that both the state party and Dem House leaders have said "No, thanks." Meanwhile, it seems they've tossed this hot potato back where it belongs, on Rick Perry's desk.

Maybe in a perfect world, there's a way to permit gambling for those who want it, and there sure as hell ought to be a way to properly fund our schools, but they don't need to be mixed. Meanwhile, that perfect world doesn't exist with regressive Republicans in charge in Austin, where their idea of gaming is sticking it to everybody else while smiling for the cameras and claiming to have done good. For now, here's a few "attaboys" for Charles Soechting and the gang at Dem HQ.

DEMOPHOENIX

President Apologizes!

At an impromptu news conference this morning, as the president was leaving the White House for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, he admitted to having made major errors in judgment regarding the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush said he would be gathering his war cabinet and other advisors for "a major rethink". The president, in an uncharacteristically reflective mood, also suggested that he needed to be more "forthright" and read more.

DEMOPHOENIX

Amarillo Gets National Press

UPDATE: It looks like these folks are using the corpse of Terry Sciavo to raise $$ and get established politically. "In recent months, Pavone has been focused on marshaling religious conservatives around Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed March 18. " Says it all right there. . .

Ya know, if Catholics want to get into politics that's fine by me, TAX 'EM'! Why should I have to pay taxes to the government while these guys sock away every dime tax free and then want to get involved in voter drives etc. using public resources. If I have to pay then so should they and so should everbody who wants to be involved in the political process.

If not, then stick to preaching.

-Prodigal Son
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New Order of Catholic Priests Is Forming to Fight Abortions

By Scott Gold Times Staff Writer
AMARILLO, Texas — The Roman Catholic Church plans to establish its first religious society devoted exclusively to fighting euthanasia and abortion, church leaders said this week.

The male-only (emphasis mine) Missionaries of the Gospel of Life — founded by Father Frank A. Pavone, an outspoken opponent of abortion rights — will be housed in a vacant Catholic high school and dormitory on the grounds of the Diocese of Amarillo.

Its priests will be trained to conduct voter-registration drives, use the media to get out their antiabortion message and lobby lawmakers to restrict abortion rights.

CLICK HERE to read the rest.
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Veddy interesting . . . so what is this about. Click comments and let us know if any of you PTS'ers know whaddup.

Who funds them? Who is behind 'em? Which politician will be the first to kiss their a**?

-PTS