Reply to National Review: Texas IS fighting corruption

Babe Ruth gives the Bum's Rush to a
famous gate-crasher in the 1930s.
We're doing the same to a number of
corrupt politicians.

Kevin, we appreciate you as a fellow Texan and as National Review's star roving reporter. But when you accuse Texas of having a persistent "culture of corruption," you miss a critical piece of the overall picture -- to wit, previous and existing efforts made to throw out corrupt individuals in power.

(Read the National Review article here: "Rick Perry is not guilty, but Texas is." http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431869/rick-perrys-not-guilty-verdict-exposes-texas-culture-corruption)

You said "Rick Perry accomplished a great deal as governor of Texas, but he failed to take on the culture of corruption of which he ultimately was a victim." And you rightfully called upon Greg Abbott to do better.

We submit to you that not only did Gov. Perry successfully lay the groundwork for ridding the Lone Star State and Austin of a statewide political attack machine, but the People of Texas are doing what they can to throw out the good-ol'-boy moderates who allowed this kind of thing to take place in years past.

A few points we would like for you to consider:

Austin women shake up FOX News presidential panel

Newly elected Travis County GOP Secretary Lauren Day took part of a Voter Summit on FOX News' show "The Kelly File."

Day, an Austin native, asked Sen. Ted Cruz whether he would pardon David Daleiden, who was recently indicted in Houston for his role in the Center for Medical Progress expose videos of Planned Parenthood practices such as fetal tissue marketing.

Voter turnout will shatter records ... and they're not all feeling the Bern

Week 1 of Early Voting has been off the charts!  And while it's true that the Sanders vs. Clinton contest has been drawing the crowds on the Democratic side (UT's Flawn Academic Center is experiencing record turnout, for example), Republicans are also seeing their share of the groundswell.

New and returning Republican voters are coming in by the droves. As it stands currently, according to analysis done by Derek Ryan, up to 15 percent of voters have never voted in a previous (or recent) primary. And around 5 percent have skipped the last four general and primary elections.According to Ryan (and assuming that there are still many votes left to be cast on March 1), statewide Republican voter turnout may exceed 2.3 million (it was around 1.4 million in 2008 and 2012). 

Cahnman's Musings provided a copy of Ryan's full report, which we also share below

BREAKING: Criminal Appeals Court throws out Perry case

This just in: it's still legal for a Governor to discuss vetoing legislation!

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this morning, according to numerous sources, threw out the last of two cases against former Gov. Rick Perry. The case, brought to us by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's Public "Integrity" Unit, accused Perry of, essentially, using his veto power to "threaten" the unit.

Perry countered that in discussing his intentions to veto funding for the PIU, it was a part of his constitutional power to wield the pen. However, his indictment was enough to discourage would-be donors to his presidential campaign. Perry withdrew from the 2016 presidential race on Sept. 11, 2015.

Read more: http://kxan.com/2016/02/24/rick-perry-indictments-tossed-by-court-of-criminal-appeals

Photo stolen from TexasGOPVote.com   Hope Bob doesn't mind!

UPDATE (10 a.m.): Read the Criminal Appeals Court ruling below:

Perry Indictment Dismissed

Street preacher given ticket for hurting a student's feelings

Happy Sunday, everyone!

While many of you are at church listening to your minister speak his mind on topics of God and morality, the University of Texas area is not as friendly a pulpit for a traveling evangelist.

An intern under Jed Smock's evangelistic ministry was given a ticket by a UT police officer for ... get this ...

Offending someone.

Dukes challenger Nila in sit-down interview with radio host

Central Texas broadcasting entrepreneur Craig Bushon interviews Texas House candidate Gabriel Nila. Nila, who has been largely ignored by the press in his run for House District 46, is seeking to replace a Democratic Rep who has largely ignored her duty to fulfill her official obligation to show up for work.

"For the first time in 20 years, voters have a true choice," Nila said, appealing to a free marketplace of ideas. "... You have an establishment Democrat, who I respect ... but you also have a person who is going to work on fundamentally changing the image and the view of what a state representative should be."

Early Voting Week 1: voter turnout outpaces population growth

Early voting is breaking records in Travis County again this year.

As of polls closing on Saturday, 27,189 Travis County residents had cast a ballot in the 2016 primary. At the same time last presidential election year (2012), 13,953 ballots had been received.

This is a 95% increase between presidential election years. Compare that to the annual growth rate of Travis County (4.5 percent from 2012-15) and we have the makings of another high-turnout/high interest year in Austin politics.

Travis GOP's Michael Lee talks race and conservative politics on KAZI-FM

Michael Lee, the Outreach and Engagement director for the Travis County Republican Party, appeared on KAZI-FM, 88.7, this morning to talk politics with weekly morning show host Kenneth D. Thompson Sr., known to listeners as "KT," on the popular "Wake Up Call" program.

Lee earned more than a few raised eyebrows via Facebook -- especially friends concerned that without government subsidies a large number of black people would be unable to advance. To that, Michael wrote:

"I believe that Black people are fully capable of solving their problems with minimal government assistance. In addition, disproportionate abortion, is slowly eliminating Black people. Finally the education system is failing Black people. I believe it's time to try something new." 

Take a listen below.

Grassroots participation of Republicans in Travis County outpaces Democrats

Immediate past chairman of the Travis County Republican Party Rosemary Edwards has some good news for local Republicans who were outvoted by more than 2-to-1 on the first day of Early Voting for the March 1 Super Tuesday Primary.

There were 5,265 Democratic ballots cast (3,400 of those were in person) compared to 2,125 Travis County Republicans (1,584 in person). But the bigger story here might be one of proportion, which Dr. Edwards explains:

Early Voting begins for 2016 Texas Primaries

Early Voting for Texas role in Super Tuesday began this morning at 7 a.m. Texas' largest county is printing a record number of ballots -- 100,000 more than before, according to Texas Tribune. Mail-in ballots for Harris County have already set a record -- about 55,000 compared to 37,000 requested in 2012.

Read more:
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/16/competitive-races-expected-pump-turnout

We'll have some Travis County analysis once we've had some time to digest some totals. For now, here are some sample ballots so you'll know what to expect when casting your ballot (PDF format):

Democrat:
http://traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/sample_ballots/2016.03.01/2016_Dem_Joint_Primary.pdf

Republican:
http://traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/sample_ballots/2016.03.01/2016_Rep_Joint_Primary.pdf

You can produce your own, personalized sample ballot at http://www.votetravis.com

And, for those interested, here is a singular list of ALL candidates currently running in Travis County (you're welcome!). As you can see, aside from the usual dominance in the judicial races, there is significant competition for the Democrat establishment this year.

House District 47 showdown live on Austin TV

Watch Texas House District 47 incumbent Paul Workman and challenger Jay Wiley square off on the latest episode of the Trailer Park Show, which aired Monday night on Austin city cable.

For more about the long-running Austin cable access show, read our feature story.

Direct link (in case the video above does not play): https://youtu.be/oISjz7-Kkac

Voting via smartphone is 20 years away Travis County Clerk tells Californians

We're two decades away from voting from your smartphone, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said at a computer security conference in California.

She wasn't talking about Season 38 of "American Idol." She meant subjecting the bedrock of our form of representative government to the supine nature of our telecommunications infrastructure. According to USA Today:

"When people stop me in the supermarket and ask, 'When am I going to be able to vote on my cell phone?' I say 'Pretty soon — in about 20 years.'"

Rep. Dukes as absent from House as Republican challenger Nila is from Texas Tribune story

"Nevvvver therrrre ..."

We all know that Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) of House District 46 was notoriously absent from the floor during previous Legislative sessions. And now we read that her underlings ran errands -- yes, even babysat -- for her honor Mrs. Dukes. Perhaps even on the state's nickel.

Read the Texas Tribune article ...

http://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/08/dukes-staffers-often-babysat-ran-personal-errands

A second Travis County DA prosecutor arrested for alleged drunk driving

What Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg does with yet another drunk driving situation in her ranks is anyone's guess.

But Lehmberg Watchdog Kerry O'Brien is certain that prosecutor Erika Hansen will get a walk.

"Again, above 0.15, just like Lehmberg and another ADA, so it's a higher-offense Class A misdemeanor charge. Like, really drunk. She apparently hit a parked car, luckily it wasn't a pedestrian, but no big deal. She's got nothing to worry about - 'Second-Chances Lehmberg' is going to cover for her - but I'm sure the first thing Lehmberg will ask her is: 'Why did you do the breath test? Haven't I taught you anything?' ..."

What 'Return of Kings' doesn't get about manhood

"And always won he
sovereign fame for prize.

Though so illustrious, he was very wise

And bore himself as meekly as a maid.

He never yet had any vileness said,

In all his life, to whatsoever wight.He was a truly perfect, gentle knight."

--Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (translated)

Advance word of a "pro-rape" group coming to Austin as part of a multi-city gathering was enough to convince Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a statement calling them "pathetic." And justifiably so.

Whether the group Return of Kings (which originally planned to meet at Palm Park on Saturday, but has since canceled), is actually for the complete legalization and acceptance of forcible sex we won't get into here for the sake of not beating an already-dead horse. The outrage has generated enough free publicity for them as it stands.

However, the subject of "neomasculinity" is worthy our attention and our scrutiny. We'll use the definition put forth by the leader of this movement, "Roosh V" (real name Daryush Valizadeh, a professional "pickup artist"):

James Dickey's latest TV appearance

Travis GOP Chairman James Dickey is an occasional guest on local television news stations -- particularly The Fox 7 News Edge, airing on Austin's Fox affiliate KTBC-TV, Channel 7. James normally represents the Travis County Republican Party in an official capacity, appearing alongside a local Democrat to discuss pertinent issues of the day. We are tracking his TV appearances below.

http://www.fox7austin.com/news/84046933-video (review of Iowa Caucus, 2/2/16)
http://www.fox7austin.com/good-day/83741614-story (preview of Iowa Caucus, 2/1/16)
http://www.fox7austin.com/good-day/74871166-video (debate analysis, 1/15/16)
http://www.fox7austin.com/news/68764460-video (open carry, 1/5/16)

Ridesharing petition gets the greenlight

It's official. 

Via Ridesharing Works for Austin:




Of a sample taken, the City Clerk only found 153 ineligible entries, including 113 names not on the voter rolls and 27 duplicate signatures. This is a remarkably clean petition.

To learn more about the context of this effort to save Transportation Networking Companies such as Uber and Lyft, refer to City Council member Ellen Troxclair's statement we published last week, as well as this Thursday's City Council agenda.

Cahnman: Anti-Kitchen recall petition is totally justified

Local blogger and activist Adam Cahn pointed out today that the Austin City Council member who attempted to kill ridesharing services (like Uber and Lyft) may be subject to the same kind of voter-discipline that is being used to save it.

While the Austin City Clerk is expected this week to announce whether a petition to preserve city code regarding ridesharing via a ballot referendum gathered enough legitimate signatures, activists have already gathered enough signatures for another ballot proposition:

A recall option on District 5 Councilperson Ann Kitchen.

More, including a very telling campaign finance link, here:
http://acahnman.blogspot.com/2016/02/ann-kitchen-recall-petition-generates.html

Don't let Iowa get in the way of victory

A little rant before the Iowa Caucus results start coming in:

This time in 2012, conservative voters were again at each others' throats -- sometimes berating one another's choice in candidates based on how they were performing in the polls.

Nothing has changed this year, except the rhetoric seems to be more vitriolic than before given the great diversity of policy positions between the many candidates.

Here's how the 2012 Iowa Caucus turned out, defying expectations: