We’re No. 30, We’re No. 30, We’re No. 30

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The Houston Business Journal reports that UT-Austin is ranked as the 30th best university in the world – the highest ranking of any Texas school.  The Center for World University Rankings – yes there is such an organization updates their rankings every year.  The No. 30 spot places UT-Austin 6th among Big State Universities behind.  Univ. of California – Berkeley, UCLA, U.Cal. San Diego, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Statue of Jefferson Davis is very proud.

Jade Helm 15 Update, Cont.

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Red was driving all over central Texas and environs this weekend.  And while he can report that the Stonewall peach crop appears to be excellent – $35 for a small bushel of golden goodness – the sneaky jack-booted thugs of the Federal Gummint sent to take away our wives, children and most importantly guns were unfortunately nowhere to be found.  This is only more evidence that the JH15 plan is working.  We are being lulled into a false sense of security that will make it even easier for Obama to impose his Stalinist dictatorship when the moment comes.  Red purposefully left Mrs. Red alone for a couple of hours as tempting bait for the Obamist forces.  Red forgot to leave her with one of Red’s less expensive weapons to make the target even more tempting – a mistake Red won’t make again.

Vigilantly yours,

Red

Bernie Comes Calling in Texas

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Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his upstart campaign to Texas this weekend.  Rallies in Dallas and Houston had to be moved to larger sites to accommodate crowds not normally seen for Democratic candidates in Texas.  Sanders told the crowds that he is not conceding any state.  The Texas Tribune reports on Sanders’s speech.

One of the problems that exists in American politics today, in my view, is that the Democratic Party has conceded half of the states in the country at the national level, and that’s wrong,” Sanders, a Vermont Independent running as a Democrat, said during a rally at a downtown Dallas hotel.

Several hours later at a similar event in Houston, he sharpened his advice for Democrats, saying the “simple truth is that you cannot be a national political party which claims to represent working families and low-income people and turn your back on some of the poorest states in America.” 

“If we are serious about change in America, we can’t just do it in blue states,” he declared earlier in Dallas, emphasizing the need for a “50-state strategy” that leaves no voter in the dark. 

Yet Sanders’ Texas talk came with a hint of optimism as he raised the prospect of the end of Republican dominance in the state. It was a reliable applause line in Dallas and Houston, cities in the heart of counties critical to Democrats’ hopes for a bluer Texas. 

I am here to tell you that today this is a conservative Republican state, but that doesn’t mean it will be conservative Republican tomorrow,” Sanders said after taking the stage in Houston, remarking he did not want to become dizzied by the stadium-style crowd. “And with the energy I see in this room, it may be sooner than tomorrow.”

While HRC holds private fundraisers and seemingly does everything possible to piss of the press, Sanders is out there trying to connect with people.

Ted Cruz Really Likes this Guy

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) was recently quoted on his admiration for Donald Trump. “I like Donald Trump. I think he’s terrific, I think he’s brash, I think he speaks the truth,” Cruz said Tuesday morning on Fox News.

Now the New York Times has reported that Trump bashed John McCain’s war record and questioned his heroism.

Asked about Mr. McCain during an event on Saturday sponsored by an Iowa Christian conservative group, Mr. Trump said of Mr. McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.

Of course, Trump couldn’t be bothered to serve in Vietnam allegedly because of a bone spur in his foot. Funny thing – Trump can’t even remember which foot it was that kept him from serving his country.

If you like Trump and think he speaks the truth, then you are a scuzball – just like Trump, Sen. Cruz.

Texas Secessionists on 21 City Tour

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The Texas Nationalist Movement has launched a 21 city tour in an attempt to convince Texans to put a secessionist question on the ballot.  KXAN reports on the meeting held in Austin.  TNM seeks to have a non-binding referendum put on the 2016 ballot.

Texans are tired of answering to bureaucrats in D.C. they didn’t elect and having to deal with policies they don’t want,” said TNM President Dan Miller.

Miller spoke to a room full of enthusiasts. Longtime Texans like Joe Glass. “We live with a lawless government,” he said. “The constitution was written to provide freedom to people and constrain government and now we live in a country where the government does whatever it wants to.”

Recent transplants to the Texas way also attended. Carmen Rao moved here from New Jersey. “I like the right to self determine, I think that’s important, free spirit and independence. That’s why I moved here.”

“Now there’s a state killed by regulation and bad decisions by politicians,” said Paul Jones, who moved here from Michigan. “I don’t dislike Michigan but I have to feed my family and I think a lot of people around the United States feel the same way.”

Somewhere, Vladimir Putin is smiling.

Today in Texas History – July 17

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From the Annals of the Civil War –   In 1864,  CSA President Jefferson Davis appointed Gen. John Bell Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee.  Hood, a West Point graduate, had been stationed in Texas before the war and offered his services to his adopted state.

Davis was frustrated by Gen. Joseph Johnston who employed a defensive strategy in the Atlanta campaign waged by Union Gen. William T. Sherman.  Johnston and Sherman had maneuvered and skirmished throughout the rugged landscape between Chattanooga and Atlanta but had not met in a full-fledged battle.  Sherman’s efforts to outflank Johnston were blocked, but even though Johnson minimized his losses his army was pushed inexorably back towards Atlanta. By July 17, 1864, Johnston’s army was in the outskirts of Atlanta. As a result, Davis removed Johnston and replaced him with the 33 year-old Hood. Hood had a reputation as a fighting general and he quickly took the offensive by attacking at Peachtree Creek on July 20.  His army was routed.  Undeterred, Hood attacked Sherman two more times with equally disastrous results.  The Army of Tennessee was effectively through as an offensive unit and Hood was forced to evacuate Atlanta.

Jade Helm 15 Update, Cont.

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The second day of Jade Helm 15 has ended and alas, the jack-booted, goose-stepping thugs employed by Obama (Kenyan, Muslim, Commie blah, blah, blah) have yet to begin the inevitable round up of our wives, children and most importantly guns.  This sneaky and underhanded diversionary tactic of making JH15 look like a real military exercise cannot fool the public for much longer.  The black helicopters are arriving any minute now and if they don’t its only because the brave and loyal citizens of Texas (most of whom want to secede from the Union) have exposed JH15 for the ruse that it is.  Red for one will be very disappointed if Mrs. Red isn’t taken away soon since she wasn’t too happy about Red wandering in after 2 am the other night smelling of golf and tequila shots.  And if J. Edgar (Red’s Belgian Shepherd) doesn’t stop digging holes in the backyard, it won’t be too hard for Obama’s goons to figure out where Red buried his cache of vintage WWII hand grenades.

Vigilantly yours,

Red

Representative Democracy Under Fire

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The Texas Election Law Blog  examines the possible destructive effect on American democracy should the Supreme Court rule in favor of the petitioners in Evenwel v. Abbott.

The plaintiff argues that Texas should not base state redistricting on the distribution of its population, but rather on the distribution of its voters. The motivation for the case is to strip power from urban areas in favor of the rural conservatives.

Central to the conservative argument is that apportionment of representation by population size “dilutes” the power afforded to voters by distributing representation based on both the voting population and all the other people (kids, foreigners, prisoners, non-voters) who happen to live in a state House or Senate district.

In other words, the plaintiff believes that government representatives do not serve all the people in their district. The plaintiff believes that government representatives serve only the people who vote, and everyone else can suck eggs.

The potential impact of this case dwarfs the recent decisions upholding the Affordable Care Act and legalizing same-sex marriage.  While those cases have sex-appeal to the general public, a case about apportionment of legislative seats must seem dull in contrast.  But, if the Supreme Court bites on the argument that only voters should count for apportionment purposes, there will be a fundamental shift in political power that will make the Republicans current gerrymandering of their way into entrenched legislative power seem like weak tea indeed.  There would be a massive shift of representation away from urban populations to rural areas and older white voters would exert an even more outsized influence on the body politic.  This could cement extreme right-wing control of state and federal legislative bodies for another 40 or 50 years.