Tag Archives: Texas GOP

Steve Stockman Still Sits in Slammer

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Former Republican Congressman Stephen E. Stockman (TP -Texas) has been denied compassionate release by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Lee Rosenthal. Stockman will be serving the rest of his well-deserved 10-year sentence at FCI Beaumont Low where he has been locked up for almost 2 years. Stockman also asked to have his sentence reduced to time served based on the high number of COVID-19 infections at federal slammer located in the East Texas district that the disgraced former representative used to serve. As Judge Rosenthal noted, Stockman’s case was not helped by the fact that he had already caught the virus and recovered from it after filing his motion.

“Courts have found that an increased risk of COVID-19 infection or severe symptoms or effects because of an inmate’s underlying conditions shows the ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ necessary for a sentencing reduction under § 3582(c)(1)(A). But when, as here, an inmate is infected and recovers, courts have found that those risks change and diminish.”

For those who don’t remember or would like to forget – the former political darling of the Tea Party was a firebrand staunch, law and order conservative. But Stockman was convicted in April 2018 by a federal jury of using charitable contributions to fund his political campaign and pay for personal expenses. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after the jury found he fraudulently solicited about $1.25 million in supposedly charitable contributions.  In Trump’s America that makes him a very modest grifter.

Quote for the Day

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“Folks this is not a protest. It is a well orchestrated attack on America’s major cities with plans to attack the police, riot, loot, and burn buildings. The so-called ‘protestors’ are, in fact, domestic terrorists who were organized and paid for by George Soros to further divide our country. These terrorists were bused into these large cities. We must repel this attack and hold those responsible for their actions. This must be brought to a stop now or we will lose control of our country!”

Sid Miller – Texas Agriculture Commissioner

Yes, ladies and gentlemen – this is a quote from an elected official.  At one point in our history  it would have been remarkable and noteworthy to have such a concoction of lies, slander, fear-mongering and utter stupidity put together all in one paragraph.  However, thanks to the Reality TV Show Joke of a President, such nonsense barely gets a mention.  But for all of you out there protesting, keep in mind what your elected GOP officials think of you.

Bush Whacked!

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Bush family scion Pierce Bush of the general Sugar Land area became the first Bush family member to lose an election in Texas since Uncle W. lost a bid for Congress back in 1978.  Safe to say that George W. Bush recovered from that defeat.

In the Republican primary for the 22nd Congressional District, a veritable truckload of Grand Old Partisans lined up to succeed the smartly retiring Pete Olsen.  Bush probably thought he had an easy path to November nonetheless based on his family name and connections.  But unfortunately for Pierce, his parents did not name him George which appears to be the true ticket to electoral success in Texas (ask do-nothing Texas Land Commissioner and cousin George P. about that).   He could have been “P. George Bush” and probably have cruised to victory.   Instead, he wound up with a third-place finish and will be at home watching the runoff in May.

To counter this problem, Red suggests that the Bush family follow the lead of boxing legend George Foreman and name all future Bush children either George or Georgina.  It will get confusing at family reunions, but they can assign numbers.

Actually, what probably did in Pierce Bush was the fact that he did not appear to be a complete Trumpian ass-lick.  The two participants in the runoff, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and soon-to-be perennial candidate Kathaleen Wall almost fell over themselves in swearing absolute fealty to Trump.

From Nehls website with Red’s commentary:

Troy supports President Trump, term limits (except apparently for wannabe President-for-Life Trump), securing the border, cutting our out-of-control $23 trillion debt (how does he say this with a straight face?) and ensuring the free market economy remains strong (for wealthy campaign donors anyway). He believes we need to get back to business (wait a minute, isn’t America great again already?) and deliver President Trump’s agenda to grow on his historic accomplishments of record lows in unemployment, record job creation (total bullshit here), and a record stock market (oops!).

From Wall’s website again with Red chiming in:

Stop Illegal Immigration. Build the Wall (with money stolen from the military and pretend otherwise).

President Trump needs a leader (actually he prefers an ass-licking follower) who will fight (by hurling personal insults and vitriol) alongside him (please let me stand close enough so that he can grab my P-word) to defend our conservative values (holding on to power at all costs), stop illegal immigration, and build the wall (exactly what happened to having Mexico pay for it?).

Former Texas Judge Jumps Republican Ship

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Former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge and long time Republican office-holder, Elsa Alcala, has finally had enough.  Alcala who says she typically stays out of political discussion on social media apparently felt compelled to speak out regarding Trumph – the Insult Comic President’s latest racist rant.  On Facebook, Alcala denounced Trump as
“the worst president in the history of this country.”  Not holding back, the former judge indicated that Trump has an ideology of racism.

In an interview with Texas Lawyer, Alcala, who chose not to seek re-election in 2018, noted, “I have been thinking about this for years and I hoped things would get better but they never did. I did not want an ‘R’ next to my name anymore.”

Alcala also indicated that she would be voting in the Democratic primary in 2020 for the first time.

And this Ladies and Gentlemen is Your Top Legal Official in Texas

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VOTER FRAUD ALERT: The discovered approx 95,000 individuals identified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in TX, approx 58,000 of whom have voted in TX elections. Any illegal vote deprives Americans of their voice.

All of which is an utter and complete fabrication brought to you by an AG facing criminal prosecution for deceptive activity.   Red is still waiting for the retraction.

Abbott’s Phony List of Illegal Voters Falls Apart

Greg Abbott’s most recent choice for Texas Secretary of State, David Whitley, put out a list of 95,000 Texas voters which it claimed were not U.S. citizens.  Upon even slight investigation, the phony list – obviously intended to pump up Abbott’s Tea Party bona fides – began to quickly fall apart.  In announcing the list, Whitley and indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed that the list was put out as part of a fight against fraudulent voting.  Individual 1 a/k/a Trumph – the Insult Comic President and other denizens of the far right have insisted that illegal voting and voter fraud are serious problems despite the lack of any real evidence of in-person voter fraud and the Texas GOP is obviously eager to back him up.

It turns out that many names on the list were of people who registered when getting a Texas Driver’s License – a process that requires applicants to establish their citizenship –  or registered at a naturalization ceremony – which should need no explanation, that is  to anyone other than Our Poor Idiot Governor.  When that was revealed, the list quickly started falling apart.  In Harris County, almost 60% of the names on a 30,000 voter list were almost immediately removed.  Odds are that the vast majority of the remaining names will turn up nothing as well.

To their credit, most of the local county tax-assessor collectors (still in charge of registering voters as a legacy of the Jim Crow era poll taxes) have tread very carefully and seem intent on protecting the rights of Texas voters – unlike OPIG and his flunkies.

So OPIG has spent a lot of taxpayer money and effort in a process which might reveal that a handful of Texas voters were not actually authorized to vote.   If the Texas GOP clearly stands for one thing – it stands for voter suppression.

Quote for the Day

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“I have a recommendation for Ms. Sylvester and her lips and my backend.”

State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo).

The relatively moderate Seliger was responding to comments made by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s senior advisor Sherry Sylvester.  Seliger, who had been the longtime chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, was upset after Patrick  removed him from that committee and the Senate Finance Committee instead installing him as Chair of the Agriculture Committee.  Sylvester remarked that if Seliger “believes serving as Chair of the Agriculture Committee . . . is beneath him, he should let us know and the lieutenant governor will appoint someone else.”  Seliger’s remarks got him removed from that position and barred from a Republican caucus.  Patrick may not be very smart, but he sure plays hardball.  This is a warning to all Texas Republicans who are not willing to tow the ultra right-wing Tea Party line of Patrick and his ilk.

Tarrant County GOP Wants to Oust County Vice-Chairman Because – Wait for it – He’s a Muslim!

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The Tarrant County Republican Party will be voting on whether to oust current Vice-Chairman Shahid Shafi.  Shafi, a Southlake City Councilman, was appointed vice chairman of the TCRP in July.  Within days, numerous precinct chairs began urging Darl Easton, chairman of the TCRP, to “reconsider” the appointment.  The only reason given – Shafi is a Muslim.  The precinct chair that kicked off the campaign to oust Shafi, Dorrie O’Brien, and others have formally moved to remove Shafi as vice chairman because of his religion stating that one cannot be a Muslim and a Republican.  The TCRP will vote on the motion on January 10.   The move is opposed by many GOP leaders in Texas.  But in ultra-conservative Tarrant County – the last big city bastion of the GOP – there is a possibility that a person could be excluded from office based on nothing more than religious bigotry.

Following the lead of Individual 1 and with a complete lack of evidence, O’Brien has claimed that Shafi promotes Sharia law and is affiliated with terrorist groups apparently because he attends his local mosque.   O’Brien’s Facebook posts accuse Shafi of being a “fake Republican” who has infiltrated the party at the urging of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Actual facts and evidence are meaningless in the Age of Individual 1. All that matters is the ability to foist your alternate reality on a gullible minority.

 

Quote for the Day

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“We’re here to let you know that the Texas speaker’s race is over. The House is ready to go.”

Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton)

Bonnen appears primed to become the next Texas Speaker of the House.  Bonnen was something of a dark horse having repeatedly denied that he was interested in the job.  But support rather quickly coalesced around the feisty conservative and he claimed he had over 100 votes for Speaker – well above the 76 needed.  Bonnen has been a member of the house since 1997 and is a predictable “red meat” conservative vote on restricting abortion rights, promoting guns in the public arena, imposing onerous requirements on welfare recipients, and reducing public school funding.  He was also one of outgoing Speaker Joe Strauss’ lieutenants serving as Speaker Pro Tempore. Bonnen, however, does look to be something of a thorn in the side of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as he has clashed with the bombastic blowhard before.   The House will look different as Democrats picked up 12 seats and now may able to form coalitions with the few remaining moderate Republicans to advance some issues or block some of the more rabidly right-wing measures Bonnen has supported in the past.  Maybe Bonnen is smart enough to realize that there is a new game in Austin.  Or maybe not.