Category Archives: political news

political news

Paxton didn’t get a mandate in that GOP runoff

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Before the MAGA morons who supported Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Republican runoff victory over John Cornyn get too full of themselves, allow me to briefly put a this victory into some perspective.

Yes, the AG scored a decisive victory, beating the U.S. senator by 27 percentage points in the runoff. However, Paxton only tallied about 12,000 more votes in the runoff than he got in the GOP primary.

The runoff turnout fell into the basement compared to the already low primary turnout. That, by itself, is not unusual. Republicans, though, do not appear to be too enthused by someone topping their ticket who is so heavily damaged by political and personal scandal as Paxton.

Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, is divorcing him on “biblical grounds,” which is a sort of shorthand for all extramarital affairs he’s had. His top legal aides blew the whistle on him for alleged unethical behavior. A Collin County grand jury indicted him on charges of securities fraud. Texas Republicans impeached him in the Texas House.

And so, Texas Democrats are licking their chops waiting for the fall campaign to begin. Their Senate candidate, state Rep. James Talarico, is a choir boy compared to the AG.

As for Sen. Cornyn, do you really believe he is going to campaign for the MAGA dipshit who defeated him?

national news, political news

How’d we go from best to worst?

This point deserves to be repeated, so … therefore I will do so.

I will go to the Great Beyond never understanding how the American voting public could stop insisting on selecting the best among us for high office and settle for the worst among us.

Our values have been turned on their ears. We no longer care if our president is a serial philanderer, or that he is a convicted felon, lacks any semblance of a moral compass, or mocks war heroes, disabled Americans.

We set aside his lies as long as he tells us what we want to hear.

I am not going to give up on the idea that our quest for the best of us is a lost cause. It can return. Indeed, it did briefly with the election in 2020 of President Biden. Then he was gone. We got the nimrod he defeated in 2020 back for a second term after he pledged in plain English that his next term would be run with a vengeance.

Many of us said, “Hey, that’s OK! As long as he delivers the goods.” Donald Trump hasn’t delivered a damn thing!

political news, State news

Cornyn wins Charade Gamer of the Year award

I never saw this one coming, but it’s here and today I want to bestow on a veteran Texas senator an award he wouldn’t like receiving but he’s going to get it anyway.

Republican John Cornyn is the winner of the High Plains Blogger Charade Gamer of the Year award. How did he earn this honor?

The nature of his political campaign for re-election to the Senate makes it sound as if Donald Trump endorsed him in the upcoming GOP runoff election and not his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Texans have been “treated” to TV ads showing the MAGA meister in chief heaping praise on Cornyn for all the work he did to secure our borders, fight crime and back Trump’s political agenda. Cornyn tells us he “voted with Trump 99% of the time,” and worked to appoint conservative judges to the federal bench.

It’s a sham, man!

Paxton drew Trump’s endorsement because he’s a MAGA moron through and through. Paxton’s own ads show Trump spouting those meaningless platitudes about Paxton. He calls the AG a “winner,” a “great guy.” No mention of his work as attorney general. Not a word specifically citing a particular policy.

Cornyn, though, continues to campaign as if he’s the candidate who garnered POTUS’s endorsement.

I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m not voting in the GOP runoff. My hope rests with the Democratic nominee, Texas state Rep. James Talarico. However, my ears aren’t deceiving me. John Cornyn sounds like the guy blazing to the finish line with the cherished endorsement of Donald the Crook.

It’s all phony … just like the POTUS.

political news, State news

Now the fun really begins

As if the U.S. Senate runoff between Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton could get more fascinating …

Well, it did with the endorsement today of the Texas attorney general over the incumbent U.S. senator by none other than Donald J. Trump. This is the kind of news that fills me with — oh, I don’t know — a mixture of outrage and cautious optimism.

I now will set the table briefly. I did not vote in the GOP primary in early May. I cast my vote for the winner of the Democratic nomination, Austin state Rep. James Talarico. I am standing foursquare behind this young man.

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton is a statement in favor of the moronic MAGA movement that continues to roil the Republican Party. If you’re a MAGA moron, then Paxton’s your guy. The AG has been snared by scandal after scandal since his election to statewide office in 2014. During his impeachment and subsequent trial over myriad corruption charges, we learned about Paxton’s extramarital affairs. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, had enough and filed for divorce on what she called “biblical grounds.” We all know what that means.

The Cornyn campaign already has introduced that aspect of Paxton’s past into the runoff campaign. It’s gotten ugly. It is going to get a whole lot uglier. Believe me!

The runoff is set for a few days from now. Polls across the spectrum show Talarico within spitting distance of Cornyn … and actually leading Paxton.

A part of me is enraged by Trump’s endorsement of a deeply flawed candidate over a principled conservative who on occasion has reached across the aisle to work with Democrats on legislation. That’s a non-starter for your average MAGA dipshit.

However, on the other side we well could have the real prospect of Texas voters getting to decide whether they want a scarred GOP senator or a fresh voice who speaks with crystal clarity. Talarico is the rare Democrat who doesn’t shove his Christian faith to the back of the shelf. He talks about it with pride, but also warns of the dangers of “Christian nationalism” that seeks to turn the United States of America into a theological state … which is something the founders expressly forbade when they wrote the Constitution.

Let us see how this GOP runoff plays out, shall we? I sense we are headed for a wild ride to the finish.

Donald Trump, political news

Wanting to see more kids’ photo ops

Five years into the current presidential administration — split, of course by the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency — and I am left to wonder what about the many things we’ve been missing as we watch Donald J. Trump stumble and bumble his way to oblivion.

We do not see any visual images of the POTUS enjoying his family. Where are all the grandkids we have heard about? Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany all have little ones, right? Yet the only images we see of Grandpa Donald are those of him dressed in a blue suit, that overly long red tie, with his pile of hair coiffed atop his vacuous skull.

Oh, and of course we see the POTUS in his golf garb, cheating at golf.

The overwhelming image of Trump is him chewing out reporters for doing their job, denigrating them for asking difficuilt questions.

I’m well aware that people in the public eye have private lives. But so many presidents have been more than willing to have their children be photographed doing whatever it is kids do. JFK, had his two small kids in the White House; LBJ’s daughters were frequent fixtures in front of cameras; so were Richard Nixon’s daughters; Gerald Ford had five kids and he was seen spending plenty of time with them; Jimmy Carter had daughter Amy living in the White House; George H.W. I Bush famously referred to his kids and grandkids; Bill Clinton was photographed often with little Chelsea; George W. Bush’s twin daughters often were in front of cameras; Barack Obama’s daughters grew up before our eyes in the White House; Joe Biden let the world watch him play with his grandkids.

I didn’t mention Ronald Reagan for a reason. He had a difficult relationship with his two youngest kids. His two elder kids both were politically active and led separate, equally visible lives.

I want the next president to reveal his family to us, and to demonstrate his commitment to them. I believe can derive his commitment to all American families if we get to see how they treat their own.

local news, media news, political news

Voter turnout sinks into the crapper

Hey, fellow Princeton residents, we had an election this past weekend … although hardly anyone took part.

And when I say “hardly anyone,” I mean precisely that. Election Day came and went and the entire city didn’t give a crap. What an absolute disgrace!

Check out these stats: Princeton is home to 18,923 registered voters. Of that total, only 476 residents bothered to vote. That gives us a municipal turnout of 2.52%. Roll that around for a moment.

Two point five-two fu***** percent of registered voters cast ballots in the election to find a replacement for Place 4 City Councilman Ryan Gerfers, who resigned because of health concerns. Here’s some more grist for you to gnaw on: That total dismisses the eligible residents who are registered to vote, but they haven’t even bothered to register with election officials.

The city will conduct a runoff election to determine whether Planning & Zoning Commissioner Jan Goria or Home Rule Committee Chair Jaisen Rutledge — the top two finishers in the May 3 election will succeed Gerfers.

Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. expressed disappointment in the turnout. “I want to improve how we engage with the community and increase participation in our elections so we can actually bring the changes you are wanting,” Escobar told the Princeton Herald. I agree that the city needs to do much better.

Here’s an idea for the mayor to consider. Conduct a series of town hall meetings around our growing city. Explain to residents the importance of casting ballots in municipal election. Do we really want to cede the decision to how much we pay for services we say we want to our neighbors? We are a city on the move. We are adding new residents almost daily. It falls on City Hall to reach out to our new neighbors to tell them about our city and the process we use to keep it functioning.

City Hall, meanwhile, needs to deploy social media messaging services to tell us about the election and explain why deciding these contests keeps us involved in the process of local governance.

A turnout of 2.52% cannot be allowed to stand!

national news, political news

Time for some ideas, Gov. Newsom

It pains me a bit to say this, but here goes: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is beginning to bore me … as in bore me enough to ignore what he’s saying.

Why? Well, for one thing it is quite obvious the man wants to run for president of the United States in 2028. Everywhere you turn, and he turns, he’s speaking into a microphone. His message is always the same: Donald Trump is corrupt to the core; his family has earned billions from business ventures made possible by Trump’s position; he runs the “most corrupt” administration human history.

Blah, blah, blah … I’ve heard it already, governor. I know Trump is a crook. I know he is unfit for public office. Hell, I’ve been saying since before he announced his candidacy the first time.

Democrats are likely to field a huge slate of candidates for the 2028 party primary season. So will the Republican Party, given that the incumbent is barred from running again.

I do like Gov. Newsom. However, if he’s going to run for president, he will need to lay out an agenda he intends to follow. I believe it’s time to see and hear it now. There is no need to hear from any of these pretenders what millions of Americans already know … that Donald Trump has been a disaster as president.

Dispense with telling us the obvious. How are Gov. Newsom and the others planning to repair and restore our democracy?

local news, political news

RINOs are everywhere!

Seems as if it takes damn little to be labeled a RINO these days … you know, a Republican in name only.

Donald Trump, the nation’s RINO in chief, throws the term around with utterly no understanding of the irony that he calls anyone a RINO.

Texas is going through its primary election today. State Rep. Jeff Leach has been called a RINO by his challenger Henry Thorsen. Why? Well, it seems that Leach had the temerity to serve as a prosecutor in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

Never mind the body of work that Leach compiled while representing Collin County in the Legislature. You turn against a crook like Paxton? You’re toast.

It’s happened to other anti-Trump Republicans, such as former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney. She stood her ground and went for Trump’s jugular. She remains a conservative Republican. But she’s now out of office, scorned by the very party to which she once dedicated her political life.

Paxton and Trump are now besties. That’s the connection between the Texas AG and the POTUS.

I won’t vote in the Texas GOP primary today. I am going. to pull for Jeff Leach. I don’t know him well, but I do know him to be a conservative with a conscience. What’s more, he is no RINO!

national news, political news

Trump teaches master class on projection

Listening to Donald Trump rant and rail against RINOs provides us with a master class on projection in which someone with certain despicable traits seeks to project them onto others.

Trump is the master instructor on projection.

He calls those who oppose him Republicans in name only, RINOs. Trump is the RINO in chief, as he has tossed aside damn near every conceivable Republican tenet to achieve his standing on the American political landscape. Low taxes, smaller government, working for the “little guy,” ending wars? They’re all lies.

As for his labeling media outlets the purveyors of “fake news,” let us remember that the liar in chief got his political chops by seeking to convey the lie that Barack Obama was ineligible to run for president because he was born in another country. Yet he calls reporters “terrible,” and “despicable” because they ask him questions he cannot answer.

Projection, man. It’s all projection.

political news

What is a ‘Trump conservative’?

I am laughing — kinda/sorta — at the least funny joke in the history of political chatter. It is a term called “Trump conservative.”

I want to understand what it means. How do you define such a person? Here is what I can determine.

A Donald Trump conservative favors active government. He favors siccing the government on political opponents. He favors the government blocking news organizations that report on dissent from Trump policies from entering government buildings.

A Trump conservative wants to establish a state religion … Christianity, of course. That is despite the Constitution’s strict prohibition against making laws that establish a state religion.

A Trump conservative wants to toss the notion of small government into the shitter. He or she doesn’t care about enormous budget deficits or adding to the monstrous national debt.

This individual also favors getting involved in wars that have no bearing on protecting Americans. He or she wants us to become the “policeman for the world.”

Are we clear now on what constitutes a Donald Trump conservative? It sounds for all the world like a new-fangled conservative has become a liberal proponent of massive government interference in Americans’ lives.

Actually, I am not laughing at any of this. It’s not funny!