Tag Archives: Tea Party

Ken Paxton Indicted and Friendless?

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Attorney General Ken Paxton has been indicted on felony charges related to securities fraud.  Many commentators are wondering where are the GOP office holders and hordes of Tea Party loyalists coming to Paxton’s defense.  Noted Paxton supporters such as Sen. Ted Cruz (TP – Texas) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are nowhere to be heard or seen in defense of Paxton.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News speculates on what the indictment and possible conviction means for Paxton’s political future.

What is different for Paxton is that there is no case to be made that he is a victim of dirty politics, said Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson.

“Even when you are offering a political defense, you have to keep one foot on the base — you have to make claims that are rooted in some plausibility,” Jillson said.

Paxton’s case was heard in Collin County “which is a red, red, red belt of Texas conservatism,” Jillson said, and the evidence was obtained by the Texas Rangers. The charges stem from investment deals with business partners who are under investigation by state and federal authorities, he said.

Paxton, once a small-town lawyer, already has been shown in news reports to have become involved with land flips and about 30 businesses once he got into the Legislature, Jillson said.

“It’s complicated and delicate for an attorney general, more so than for a governor or a senator, because you are the top elected legal official in the state,” Jillson said. “As the top legal officer, to find yourself under felony indictment is beyond awkward.”

Paxton can remain in office while under indictment. If he were convicted of a felony, his law license would automatically be suspended and he would be unable to serve.

Gov. Greg Abbott would name a replacement, who would face confirmation by the Senate.

During the legal fight, it is likely Paxton will keep a low political profile but try to make as many professional appearances as possible to deflect attention from his legal problems and reinforce the idea that he is tending to state business, Miller said.

Attacking the process is unlikely to help him either legally or politically, he said.

“It’s all courtroom,” Miller said. “Game on.”

Jade Helm 15 Update, Cont.

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Well Red was down in Old Mexico (as Red, Sr. used to call it) this week.  Flying in a  Bombadier (why on God’s green earth are US airlines flying French planes much less one with the word “Bomb” in it is beyond Red), Red was unable to discern any notable change in regions of South Texas (one of the last bastions of the Lone Star Democrats) from 30,000 feet.  So apparently not only are the jack-booted thugs of the Feds reasonably sneaky, they are good at camouflage (a word Red always thought sounded suspiciously French) as well.   And while in Mexico, Red failed to see any hordes of illegal (or soon to be illegal) immigrants rushing to the Rio Grande.  In fact, everyone looked pretty damn occupied going about their business – which of course only made Red more suspicious.  But the illegals (thinking back to Red, Sr. again, Red wonders exactly what he would now call them since other terms have disappeared from the common parlance) are probably getting some training from the aforementioned JBT’s who may be using them to divert our attention away from the bigger issues of Obama coming in to round up our women, children and most importantly guns under the guise of a “Training Exercise.”  Anyhow, Red will stay closer to home this weekend and keep his ear to the ground while reaching for the stars (thank you Casey Kasem).

Vigilantly yours,

Red

Jade Helm 15 Update, Cont.

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As we enter the 12th day of Jade Helm 15 it has been a deadly dozen days.  Deadly quiet that is. But that aint fooling us Texans.  And it must be noted that Pres. Obama has been in the ancestral homeland and unable to personally direct the round up of our women, children and most importantly guns.

Meanwhile, the Daily Texan reports  that a June 25 poll conducted by the Texas Politics Project from UT and The Texas Tribune revealed that nearly 44 percent of Texans believed the federal government would likely send troops to impose martial law, and 43 percent believed the federal government would likely confiscate their firearms. Red believes that 43.5% of Texans can’t be wrong about anything. If you’re over 50% then things are different – witness repeatedly electing Rick Perry as governor – but in the 40’s you are on solid ground.  So despite all visible signs that there is absolutely nothing going on, it is just a matter of time before the jack-booted storm troopers descend like a swarm of angry wasps thinking they’re gonna open a fresh can of ass whip on your town.  So stay alert and report back to Red.

Vigilantly yours,

Red

Ted Cruz on How to Lose Friends and Fail to Influence People

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Salon has the complete breakdown on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (TP-Texas) implosion on the Senate floor.  In the aftermath of calling Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Droopy Dawg – Kentucky) a liar, things proceeded to get ugly – or more accurately uglier.  Cruz’s support in the Senate is apparently down to 3 other true believers.

All Ted Cruz wanted to do was abuse his position in the Senate to grandstand on issues that would help bolster his faltering bid for the White House, but his decision to call Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a “flat-out” liar on Friday had dire consequences for the Texas senator, whose Republican colleagues turned their back on him when he tried to perform a simple roll call on Sunday.

As Politico’s Manu Raju and Burgess Everett report, McConnell’s decision to move ahead with an effort to extend the Export-Import bank’s charter by attaching it to a highway bill infuriated Cruz, who characterized the procedural move as a “flat-out lie” in direct contradiction with how McConnell assured Republican senators the bank would be handled.

That he said that isn’t the issue — that he said it on the Senate floor, which has rules governing how senators address each other, is. “I think it was a violation of the rules,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said. “It’s not how you treat a colleague regardless of how you feel.”

Maine’s Susan Collins (R) agreed, saying that “I know emotions run high on issues in the Senate, and those are the times when I think we have to take special care to abide by the rules of the Senate, particularly Rule 19, which is very clear that no senator is to impugn the integrity of another senator.”

As you might imagine, Cruz did not agree, claiming that his anger was justified because “in the entire course of this debate neither the majority leader nor any other senator has denied that he looked me in the eye and he looked every other Republican senator in the eye, and he flat-out said [there was] no deal on the Export-Import bank.”

Cruz, his Republican colleagues said Friday, was wrong on that account too. Fellow GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham took what could be considered a cheap shot, saying that “unless you have been completely missing in action, you’d know this day was coming. I did a press release and floor statement. I think he’s going down a road very few senators go.”

His decision to do led him to a place where very few senators end up — standing on the Senate floor Sunday looking for the 16 senators required to hold a roll-call vote and only finding three supporters. Raju and Everett report that as this simple procedural vote failed, McConnell craned his neck and stared the junior senator from Texas down.

Or, as Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander (R) put it, “you learn that in kindergarten — you learn to work well together and play by the rules. Another thing you learn in kindergarten is to respect one another.”

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.

Scott Walker Not Connecting in Texas

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Scott Walker has yet to tap into the incredible cache of money held by wealthy conservative Texans desperate to elect another Republican President.  Mother Jones reports that Walker has made no inroads in Texas and conservative power brokers are being snatched up by other better-financed candidates.

The union-busting Wisconsin governor may be a conservative darling, but he’s way behind the curve when it comes to courting Texas’ biggest money men. Bill Miller, a top Texas lobbyist who regularly advises megadonors on their contributions, says he’s heard almost no buzz from the donor class about Walker. In the past, Miller has worked with major political benefactors including the late Bob Perry, a Texas home builder who gave more than $70 million to conservative causes over the years and was the major funder behind the 2004 Swiftboat Veterans for Truth group. This year Miller says he’s talked to clients about many of the Republican candidates, but not Walker.

“No one is asking about him,” Miller says. “None of our clients. We have a huge client base. It’s oddly quiet for a guy that’s supposedly top three among the potential nominees.”

According to Miller, almost all of the top-tier candidates—including Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul—have come knocking on the doors of Texas donors. But Walker has not had much of a presence in the state.

“Among all those guys who are acknowledged at the top, he’s the one guy who is nowhere. Even Chris Christie has had more resonance here,” Miller says.

Jade Helm 15 Update

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On the first day of Jade Helm 15 – the not so covert operation where Obama (the Kenyan Muslim Socialist Terrorist Sympathizing duly elected President) is coming to take away our wives, children and most importantly guns – the sneaky jack-booted thugs of the U.S. military confounded the Tea Party whack jobs by failing to round up any wives or children or confiscate any guns.  The Guardian (a notorious leftist rag) played into Obama’s hands by noting that absolutely nothing had happened in Bastrop (the epicenter of the conspiracy) on the first day of the exercise which will ultimately spell doom for our democracy and the American way of life as we know it.

A “Come and Take It” flag, one of Texas’s favourite symbols of defiant independence, flew proudly on a pole outside a ranch near Bastrop on Wednesday.

But on the  first day of Jade Helm 15, no one appeared to be coming, let alone taking anything.

A small town near Austin with a quaint Victorian downtown, Bastrop is supposed to be a hub of the vast US military training exercise that spans seven states and runs until September 15.  But Wednesday seemed to be a day like any other in Bastrop – which is to say not much was happening.

Jade Helm still has more than eight weeks to run. But none of President Obama’s jackbooted minions had mounted an assault on the Simply Sweet cupcake store on Bastrop’s main street, as of Wednesday afternoon. No Humvees were parked outside The Best Lil’ Hairhouse in Texas, which was still styling customers. A poster in the window of the tourist information centre promoted a seniors’ quilt raffle.

It’s the calm before the storm.  Bury your guns now.  Bury your wife and children at your own risk.

Jade Helm 15 is Here – Run

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Well today is the day that the right-wing conspiracy theory Tea Party whackos have been waiting for.  The Feds are finally here to round up your women, children and most importantly guns.  That is, if they just don’t kill you right off the bat and haul your carcass away in a Blue Bell Ice Cream truck.  Yep, that’s the latest theory.  The Army will be using the obviously underutilized refrigerated trucks to transport bodies of those on the “Red List” to other undisclosed sites for – well it’s not really clear what for.  Or the whole thing is a cover up to put troops in place for the giant asteroid that is going to strike the southwest in September.  Or the gurus of Russian mind control are going to convert everyone into a Democrat.  Or maybe the Army is going to use the Russian troops spotted in Tennessee to do the dirty work of rounding up and killing the real patriots of the Tea Party.  Or after the jack-booted troops establish control, Obama is going to fly into Phoenix, personally pistol whip Jan Brewer and declare himself Emperor for Life.  Or maybe it’s just an Army training exercise.