Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

From yesterday’s Chron we have a third entry in the continuing series “Where, Oh Where, Has Our Congressional Clout Gone?” Texas, a powerhouse on Capitol Hill because it has had the largest Republican delegation to the House, will lose influence … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve blogged before about Attorney General Greg Abbott’s partisan-driven “crackdown” on vote fraud, which mainly consists of arresting people for possessing someone else’s mail-in ballot, a crime that was created by recent legislation. A federal lawsuit was filed a few … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve got a full transcription of my recent interview with Rice computer science professor and electronic voting machine expert Dan Wallach over at Kuff’s World. If you’d prefer to download it in Word doc format, you can get a copy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hal brings word of a party. The Fort Bend Democrats and The Fort Bend Democratic Party are having one . . . a party, that is. Well, in this case, given the guest speaker is Paul Begala, they’re having a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dan Wallach is a computer science professor at Rice University who has become a leading expert on electronic voting machines and their flaws. With the recent news about more serious vulnerabilities in Diebold machines and open questions about eSlate machines, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve blogged about AG Greg Abbott’s highly partisan crusade against voting fraud, for which he’s being sued, here and here. Now the Lone Star Project, which has done some exhaustive work on Abbott’s questionable methodology, has done it again by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sadly, I was not able to attend the annual Johnson-Rayburn dinner on Saturday night. But thankfully Hal, Stace, and Muse were there, so I at least now know what I missed. If that goes for you, too, read ’em and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Former House Majority Leader Dick “To the victor goes the spoils” Armey has apparently forsaken some of his old buddies. Former Texas Congressman Dick Armey, once a stalwart ally in the culture wars, appears to be turning his back on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg has gotten the discussion started on this Chron story regarding eSlate security. I’m going to pick one point of disagreement with Greg, and one point of agreement. First, where we disagree: Some critics of electronic voting believe the answer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s been a debate raging in baseball literature for some time now about the proper approach to talent evaluation. On the one hand you have the traditionalists, who believe that old-fashioned scouting methods are still the best way to tell … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s been a lot of fear and loathing over electronic voting machines lately. While I absolutely agree that all such machines need to print a paper ballot to serve as a backup and as a sanity check against fraud, I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I have to ask: Do you think those geniuses at the Secretary of State’s office knew about this beforehand, or do you think they found out about it at the same time as the press did? University of Texas baseball … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I finally got around to reading this article from yesterday about our Dynamic Duo of Senators (She’s the ranking member with a moderate reputation! He’s the go-to guy for supporting the White House message! Together they fight crime Democrats!) and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From the inbox: Camp Wellstone is coming to Houston August 18-20! Camp Wellstone is coming to Houston, Texas for the first time! Register today for Camp Wellstone Houston on the weekend of August 18-20, 2006. Click here to register! Camp … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of my regular readers vote (why would you be reading a political blog if you weren’t vested in the process?), but on the odd chance that any of you don’t, would the prospect … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As today is Independence Day, I just wanted to note this exercise in democracy from the weekend for future reference. Latino rights groups today are kicking off their strategy to register new citizens and children of immigrants as voters in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Anna has a long post about the Texas Democratic Party charging candidates for access to its voter database file. I’m not as convinced as she that this is a bad thing, and I don’t think the prices they ask are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Want to ask a Texas Democratic Congressperson a question? Here’s your chance. We invite you to join us on Wednesday, June 21st at 3pm EDT for the inaugural Regional Online Town Hall Meeting for Region 6 to discuss issues of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Our appeal for ActBlue was successful – thanks to everyone who donated, ActBlue will be activated for Texas state races. You’ll be hearing much more about this in the coming weeks. I’m pleased to see that Dallas Blog picked up … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s a nice profile of State Rep. Garnet Coleman in the Progressive States Network. Coleman’s one of the real good guys, so it’s always a pleasure to see him get a little attention. Check it out. Continue reading →

(Note: The following letter was signed by all members of the Texas Progressive Alliance and sent to the TDP office yesterday. We’re also posting it publicly to ensure that the good work done by Amber and Hector is properly lauded.) … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Vince has links to videos of all the convention addresses. Since I missed most of these, I’ll have to go back and watch a few. One that I have already watched is this one by all of the newer State … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Star Telegram’s Bud Kennedy attended both parties’ conventions. He found more to like at the Dem convention than he did at the GOP event. Just so you know. Continue reading →

For those keeping score at home, the winner of the TDP Chair race is Boyd Richie, in overtime over Glen Maxey. I will now repeat my call for a minimum of bloodshed from this point forward. I’ll even add a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is what it looks like when bloggers party. You might have noticed that one of us is hiding behind some other bloggers in that picture. Here’s a a better look. Be nice with the captioning. Here’s a list of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m here in “Bloggers’ Alley” in the main session for the evening, where Wes Clark just finished wowing the crowd. Busy guy – he was at Yearly Kos before this. I thought I might try liveblogging this, but I’m apparently … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Who knew that a press pass got you free food and WiFi? I may never leave. Just did a brief chat with Shane Sklar, which I’ll post later tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a chat scheduled with Mary Beth Harrell, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We made it to Fort Worth (Greg came with me). Whoever said that Houston is hard to navigate has never driven in the Metroplex, I’ll just say that. We’ve got the WiFi working, and we’re about to attend a press … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tomorrow night in Fort Worth, various progressive bloggers of Texas will get together and have a party. ATTENTION BLOGGERS, BLOG READERS, LURKERS, CANDIDATES, DELEGATES, OBSERVERS, AND OFFICEHOLDERS: You’re all cordially invited to THE PARTY OF THE YEAR: the 1st Annual … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On Saturday at Kuff’s World, I noted that an effort to insert a plank in the State GOP’s platform calling for the repeal of the new business tax failed by a 28-3 vote. That was not the end of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From the Dallas Morning News: By midday Friday, the booth operated by the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Texas had few visitors, despite the bustling activity all around it. Perhaps a man carrying a sign that called for building a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Look out, Dallas, here he comes. Dan Patrick, whose years as a conservative radio pundit helped him win a Republican state Senate nomination, is expanding the reach of his voice with the purchase of a Dallas-area radio station. By Labor … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From The Red State: Democratic State Representatives Joaquin Castro (HD-125), Trey Martinez Fischer (HD-116), and Jose Menendez (HD-124) of San Antonio will hold a press conference Friday, June 2nd at 10:00 am to call on Governor Rick Perry and the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I confess, I haven’t been following the race for Texas Democratic Party chair very closely. I don’t really have a strong preference among the three leading contenders. All I really want is for us to emerge from this contest with … Continue reading → Continue reading →