Kino Flores - Crooked D?

BurkaBlog tells all in the latest round of pre-Legislative session chisme regarding House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Chairman Kino Flores of Palmview, where ever the hell that is. Apparently, Burka's been trolling South Texas blogs for any dirty laundry he can find. And boy, howdy, Stace's primos sure dish out the goods on Kino. Since Burka has a knack for tying everything into the Speaker's race, we'll indulge him on this juicy tidbit of Speaker's race politics and the possibility of Kino resigning his seat:

District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s approach to some cases involving ethics violations — most prominently, that of former speaker Gib Lewis — has been to offer the public official who is under fire the choice of resign your seat or face prosecution. Normally, the troubles of an individual legislator would not have much impact on the course of Texas politics. But Flores’s situation has arisen in the context of a speaker’s race. Today, November 13, is exactly two months prior to the formal vote on Tom Craddick’s future. Flores is one of a dwindling number of Craddick D’s. It is by no means certain that he will be around to take the oath of office on January 13.
If he isn’t, his son might be. The blog noted “the sudden return from Tampa to South Texas of [Flores's] son, Buddy, who had been working for Florida Power & Light, courtesy of a cushy job arranged for him by Texas lawmaker Phil King, chairman of the powerful Regulated Industries Committee and a lawyer for the Florida power company.”

Not a pretty picture.

I'm on my way to the Capitol today to do my own snooping. I'll tell you what I find!

Happy Monday y'all!

Kinda rainy & soggy... but it should be a good day nonetheless. While the President-elect is still putting his cabinet together, the Repubs are forecasting disaster. It's really unfortunate the way McCain-Palin went out... by telling their faithful that Barack Obama and the Democrats were going to take their hard-earned money and give it to welfare queens and people who "don't want to work."

Or, as Chuck Norris puts it, Barack Obama "and his boys" are going to steal his wallet. 

And there it is, in its rancid un-glory: the Republican strategy of going nuclear by being racist and classist. Blame the poor people, because it's their own fault they are poor. They must be lazy. And, of course, a young black man just wants to rob you and steal your wallet. Nice subtlety there Chuck. You stupid fuck.

Sarah Palin really knew how to connect with angry white people who are not happy about all the change that's going on. She took the opportunity to Drudge up old themes and old racist stereotypes against Democrats. Let's hope President Obama will use his vast political prowess to inject his radical Democratic agenda into all the virginal, Republican red areas of the country.

All across the world ... in every nation!

I am still celebrating! We won. We totally freaking won. Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States in a landslide victory that turned much of the United States blue... including Harris County!

President-elect Barack Obama (I love saying that) has begun assembling his White House staff. Chief of Staff to the President is Rahm Emanuel. He's a hard-ass ball buster, if you want to imagine what that might be in an Obama administration. I've seen many names thrown around to fill Administration positions & Cabinet posts and hope some of those names end in vowels & z's. Names like Puente, Lopez, Ortiz, Reyna ... you get the picture.

In any case... sorry for the hiatus. I was up to my eyeballs in the campaign and now I am back! 

Congratulations to Harris County Sheriff-elect Adrian Garcia. What a fantastic win! Take that, Tommy Thomas, you racist hick.

And another thing. I got an interesting e-mail today from Carl Whitmarsh, who seemed to be calling me out for unity in the Latino community because it's suddenly our own fucking faults that the Party chose to ignore us yet again. I never, ever expected HCDP to make much of an effort in the Latino community. Hell, they had trouble pretending to give a damn, and left the East End office to flounder while the Breakfast Boutique on Travis was staffed with several people, including some from other offices.

Let's be clear - a solid effort in the Latino community does not translate into paying some washed-up old queen for "consulting and communications" services that are fancy words for the shakedown. Someone is always trying to get PAID. My crappy little salary was enough to sustain me during this campaign. I am happy to say that turnout in HD 148 was up 5% from 2004 despite being ignored completely by the Party's campaign.

There are those who really give a damn about the community and are willing to do the work. Then, there are others who don't even bother. Some people won't get off their asses long enough to make sure the one-eyed sign guy puts up the damn signs in the right damn district. Ridiculous.

In other Election developments, I'm sorry to see our friends Juan Garcia and Nick Lampson lose their seats. The racist hick redneck vote did Juan in. And, despite Nick's attempts to win over Sugar Land knuckle draggers, he was not Republican enough for their tastes. That's a damn shame. Nick Lampson is a good Congressman.

Alas, the 2008 campaign goes on with the Runoff election in SD17. I'll be trudging over to the Bell HQ to get our boy elected. He's a great guy, that Chris Bell, and I am a huge fan. As a Team Bell member from 2004, I can say with confidence that I am not alone in my sentiments.

See you on the trail again!

KJ For Mayor!

Here's one we missed! Former Phoenix Suns great Kevin Johnson is running for Mayor of Sacramento:

Officially, Johnson’s mayoral campaign centers on public safety, better schools, and economic development, particularly of Sacramento’s riverfront, which he believes could rival those he visited as a ballplayer in San Antonio, Chicago, and Washington. But his greatest appeal is that he exhibits that most useful of mayoral traits, an easygoing familiarity with the full menagerie of urban life, from black teenagers to white developers. To this, he adds a quality as common to good politicians as it is rare among pro athletes: eager solicitude for the opinions of others.

Sometimes this has amusing consequences. At evening’s end, Johnson was the honored guest at a meeting of Hmong businessmen—a gathering over which the 6-foot-1-inch Johnson towered, much as most NBA players once towered over him. He talked briefly before opening the floor. For an hour he charmed and bantered (when necessary, through an interpreter), and he was getting ready to call it a night when he was hit with the kind of question every politician dreads, the kind you can’t possibly prepare for. Traditional Hmong shamanism involves the sacrifice of live animals, typically in the home, a practice that had resulted in a felony arrest. What was his position on animal sacrifice?

Johnson froze. The room was silent. He seemed to be wondering whether this was a joke, before deciding that, no, it probably was not a joke, and he had better not laugh. Then Johnson, still quick on his feet, spotted the play and flashed a high-wattage smile. “I’m here tonight to learn what I can do for you,” he said, “and this is exactly the type of issue that I’ll address as mayor, which is why I would like, right now, for volunteers to raise their hands if they’ll agree to be my liaison to the Hmong community.” Soon, five candidates had declared themselves to uproarious applause. Johnson brought them all, giggling and snapping pictures, to the front of the room. Game over.

Sounds like his moves in politics are as skilled as those on the basketball court. KJ's endorsement list includes labor unions and plenty of prominent California Democrats like former Speaker Fabian Nuñez. I'm rooting for him!

Read the whole thing at The Atlantic.

Gift ideas

My birthday is coming up soon. If you decide to get me something, this is what I want.

Thanks!

One word: AWESOME!

News of the long-awaited Apple notebooks has Mac lovers all atwitter. According to The Huffington Post, the new MacBook and MacBookPro notebooks are both cast in aluminum casings. I love my computer, but the plastic casing is a flaw. I can't wait to see the new line !

The Angry Mob at a McCain-Palin Rally