Burnt Orange Report

Texan of the Year Sighting

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

After posting on the Blogosphere's first Texan of the Year, Carter Casteel, it was nice to see today that she's continuing the fight for rural rights, by granting counties more rights to regulate their landscapes from the onslaught of billboards.

[Comal County] Commissioner Jan Kennady said she is setting up a meeting with Rep. Carter Casteel, R-New Braunfels, to discuss ways to keep Comal County from being overrun with billboards...

Casteel said she has gotten more telephone calls about the new signs on Texas 46 than any issue other than school finance.

"It has incensed people," she said. "There are so many it's a complete blighting of the landscape."

Casteel said she wants to balance property rights concerns with the desire to "have a beautiful environment" and said the billboard industry should play a role in any legislation, but she will definitely support a bill to give more local control on regulating outdoor signs.

She sponsored a bill in the last regular session, which passed, banning new billboards in Bandera County.

"The community got very united about two years ago about prohibiting new ones," Casteel said. "We were able to get that done."

You may think this is silly, but as the Austin Metro region grows, I-35 and many of the major transportation feeders in the Hill County counties are becoming the prime targets for billboard growth. And for many of these cities, Fredericksburg is a perfect example, sign ordinances are a huge local issue. In these cases, it's a brand of conservative environmentalism (what used to be conservation) which puts the landscape above the corporate bottom line.

Home Again

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

In a couple hours I'll be back in Fredericksburg, recovering from a cold, and seeing the family. Posting will likely be light over the holiday week here, though I'm sure we'll pop in with some updates now and again.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

And for anyone that cares, here are the University Democrats officer nominations so far. Elections will be held next Wednesday, Nov 30th, starting at 8 pm in GAR 1.

President:
Brandon Chicotsky
Nick Chu
Ali Puente

VP:
Katie Naranjo (pending acceptance)
David Black
Sheel Bedi

PR Director:
Sukanya Misra
Ramon Telles

Secretary:
Katie Cowhig
Emily Bivona
Ronald M

Treasurer:
Kurt Neumann
John Chen

Events:
Michael Fritz
Cindy Castillo
Ray Skidmore

Volunteer:
Sam Srour
Kelly Fine

Historian:
Jess Faerman
Ashley Boggs
Liz Rumming

Webmaster:
Tim Allen
Elizabeth Anderson

Edna: The Latest Tulia

By Phillip Martin

An incredibly well written story by the Austin Chronicle titled "Crackpot Crackdown" discusses the latest attempt by East Texas law enforcement officials at abusive, racially discriminatory prosecution:

In what has become an all-too-typical tale of rogue criminal justice in rural Texas – epitomized by the infamous 1999 Tulia drug sting – it appears that the Edna "crackdown" had much less to do with eradicating drugs than it did with institutionalized, small-town racism. Under the guise of removing drugs (specifically, crack cocaine) from the streets, local lawmen may have themselves broken state law, primarily by relying on a local crack addict as their sole informant to send 28 of the 29 defendants to prison for sentences from one to 20 years. Only two of the defendants, including Patterson, dared to challenge the charges in court; the rest accepted plea bargains offered by longtime Jackson Co. District Attorney Bobby Bell. They did so, it seems certain, in large part out of fear of challenging Bell's authority and thus receiving even heavier sentences.

This is a remarkable story. I know few will read it on Friday, so I'll leave this link up here now, and write more on it next week.

SDEC Seat Open in SD 24

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Senate District 24, out of which I was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention last year, has an open SDEC seat. Kirsten Hancock who is moving up to DC has submitted a letter announcing her resignation as Committeewoman. (full text in extended entry, selected text below)

I ask you to share my status and reason for resigning with the SDEC at the October 15th meeting, take nominations from the floor and fill my vacancy as soon as possible. When a replacement is named, I will move my voting registration to my new permanent DC address.

On a personal note, if I could say something to the SDEC and the Texas Democratic Party, it would be this. I believe Texas can elect statewide Democrats again... I earnestly believe Texas needs to recruit and support other young activists to survive. Nurture them and raise them to be leaders when you are gone or unable to do as much.

...

The Texas Democratic Party raised me from a scrappy, idealistic kid who typed data, licked stamps, stuffed envelopes, walked blocks, phoned voters, passed out stickers and palm cards, drove circuits on election day and organized, organized, organized into a savvy, young political operative who needs to spread her wings and help the Democratic party in other ways now that she’s grown up.

My friends and I gathered at Texas A&M during the Young Conservatives of Texas’ State Convention in January 1994 to form the College Democrats of Texas. We had an idealistic vision of youthful leadership and inspiration for the Texas Democratic Party. We believed that one day we would be in our thirties and run for office, that there would be momentum and spirit behind our campaigns. Ann Marie Schroeder, Angela Brewer & Christine Asbury were part of that nucleus of leadership eleven years ago.

They are still around and serve on the SDEC, but where did our friends and fellow young activists go? I daresay most of them did not stay involved because there was not a seat at the table for them and because the old guard was not willing to listen to new ideas or mentor them into the next generation of fundraisers, candidates and party leaders.

Kirsten served as Texas' youngest SDEC member after being elected without opposition from the SD24 caucus at the State Convention in Houston last June.

October 1, 2005

Dear Chairman Soechting,

As you know, I resigned from Abilene Independent School District July 13, 2005, after teaching 8th grade U.S. History for two years. On August 1, I began working as Arkansas’ Senior Regional Organizer for Wal-Mart Watch’s Higher Expectations Week, November 13-19. My contract with the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics/5 Stones expires December 31, 2005.

When I left Abilene to go to Washington, DC, I maintained my residence at 1549 Woodard, Abilene, TX 79605 with the intention of coming back to Abilene and continuing to serve as Committeewoman for Senate District 24. However, as I look towards my own future and what I can contribute to the Democratic Party and its’ ideals, I believe I can best serve and be true to myself by remaining in Washington, DC or working in full time politics outside of Texas State Senate District 24.

For the past two months, I communicated with my county chairs and Democrats in SD 24 to keep them informed of my status. I relied on former Committeewoman T.J. Mabrey for advice and guidance and asked activist Linda Conger to act as Committeewoman in my absence.

With sadness, I submit my resignation from SDEC, effective immediately. It has been my honor to serve as Texas’ youngest SDEC Committeewoman since June 2004 when SD 24 elected me in Houston. I pledge my continued financial and personal support of the Texas Democratic Party, as I have since my family moved to Abilene in 1981.

I ask you to share my status and reason for resigning with the SDEC at the October 15th meeting, take nominations from the floor and fill my vacancy as soon as possible. When a replacement is named, I will move my voting registration to my new permanent DC address.

On a personal note, if I could say something to the SDEC and the Texas Democratic Party, it would be this. I believe Texas can elect statewide Democrats again. I believe Texas can gain a majority in the state legislature again. I believe Texas can reclaim their Courts from Karl Rove’s claws. I believe West Texas can take back their court houses from the Republican infiltration I have witnessed my whole life, raise money and elect city council members, school board members and county commissioners. I believe Texas will recover from Tom Delay’s untimely redistricting that caused me to lose my Congressman, Charlie Stenholm, and Texas to lose 100 years of legislative experience by four amazing statesmen. I earnestly believe Texas needs to recruit and support other young activists to survive. Nurture them and raise them to be leaders when you are gone or unable to do as much.

I love many things in life. I love God, my family, my friends, traveling, reading, live music, writing poetry, watching CNN, 6th Street and looking at the Texas Capitol lit up at night. I love flying into Washington, DC and looking down on the most fantastic city in the world. But I especially love the Texas Democratic Party. For me, the Texas Democratic Party is Governor Ann Richards, Congressman Charlie Stenholm & his lovely bride Cindy, Congressman Chet Edwards, Martha Whitehead, Paul Hobby, Dan McClung, Gerry Tyson, Senator Rodney Ellis, Senator Mario Gallegos, Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, Kim Hall, Tina Oliver, the late Mae Jackson, Randy & Cathryn Fleming, Ken Bailey, Chris Bell, June Deadrick, Sue Schechter, Dalia Stokes, Donna Beth McCormick, Debbie McCall, TJ Mabrey, June Hicks, Curtis Smith, Alice Ann Wallace, Dot Larimer, Dave Haigler, Ken Mohlberg, Martha Williams, Judy Donahue, the late Billie Carr, Annise Parker, Sue Lovell and a couple of other folks I’m sure I forgot to mention.

The Texas Democratic Party raised me from a scrappy, idealistic kid who typed data, licked stamps, stuffed envelopes, walked blocks, phoned voters, passed out stickers and palm cards, drove circuits on election day and organized, organized, organized into a savvy, young political operative who needs to spread her wings and help the Democratic party in other ways now that she’s grown up.

My friends and I gathered at Texas A&M during the Young Conservatives of Texas’ State Convention in January 1994 to form the College Democrats of Texas. We had an idealistic vision of youthful leadership and inspiration for the Texas Democratic Party. We believed that one day we would be in our thirties and run for office, that there would be momentum and spirit behind our campaigns. Ann Marie Schroeder, Angela Brewer & Christine Asbury were part of that nucleus of leadership eleven years ago. They are still around and serve on the SDEC, but where did our friends and fellow young activists go? I daresay most of them did not stay involved because there was not a seat at the table for them and because the old guard was not willing to listen to new ideas or mentor them into the next generation of fundraisers, candidates and party leaders.

I respectively submit my resignation from the SDEC and look forward to helping the Texas Democratic Party for the rest of my life. May there be no more sad election nights in Texas for Democrats.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Hancock
Texas SDEC Committeewoman SD 24 2004-2005

Galveston Prepares for Evacuation

By Phillip Martin

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Galveston's mayor will call for a 2pm voluntary evacuation of its citizens on Tuesday if Hurricane Rita continues on its path towards the Texas gulf coast. From the article:

More than 80 city and Galveston school district buses are ready to evacuate people who lack transportation beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Thomas said.

Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough urged caution during a news conference Monday. "We've been down these roads before," he said. "There's no reason to panic."

But state officials, mindful of criticism that government faltering cost lives in Hurricane Katrina, hurried to assure Texans the state is prepared if Rita hits the coast.

"With the potential of another major hurricane forming in the Gulf of Mexico and threatening the Texas coast, the time is now to begin mobilizing our resources and implementing our plan to ensure an orderly response before Texas is hit," Perry said.

East Texas Church Slams "The Big Easy"

By Damon McCullar

It only took a week and a half, much longer than I expected, for a conservative Christian ideologue to say that it's New Orleans' own fault that it was destroyed. In the esteemed tradition of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson circa 9/11/2001, Pastor Wiley Bennett has proclaimed New Orleans as the new "Sodom and Gomorrah". The pastor from Tyler, Texas had this to say when confronted about the sign by a New Orleans evacuee:

"The point of the sign is New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and New York City are some of the most wicked cities in America."

and then went on to say:

"Anybody that's ever visited New Orleans, the very name its self - Big Easy - denotes that it's easy to find sin there. The purpose of the sign is to wake American up to the fact that America is going away from God. New York City's 9/11 was a call of judgment and New Orlean's horrible incident was judgment on a wicked city."

KLTV in Tyler has the full story.

L.E.E.A.N. Advises Some New Orleans Police Officers Need Our Help

By Damon McCullar

What is L.E.E.A.N. you may ask? The Ft Worth Police Dept "Law Enforcement Emergency Assistance Network" is up and running to provide help to any Police Families coming into the North Texas area as well as collecting Equipment and needed personal itmes to send to the Storm Damaged areas. Donations of items may be brought to the FT Worth Police Academy. The collections will be for items only, no monies will be accepted. As we learn what is most needed by the Officers we will pass that information on. There are several relief efforts under way and we want to make sure that we do not duplicate too much!

Officer Tom Wiederhold, one of our FWPD L.E.E.A.N coordinators, has spoken with Lt Carol Aldridge, Commander of Dist 2, New Orleans Police Department. She has made the following request for items:

Contractor size heavy-duty trash bags,
large rubber trash barrels
walkie talkies with a range of at least 5 miles
Nylon duty gear
Duty knives
Dry rat and roach poison
"Dry" foot care medicines
One gallon water jugs
"Small" fruit juices and cases of soft drinks or Gatorade
Dehydrated or dried fruit rations (like hikers carry)
**NO fresh fruit, please**
Granola bars
Charcoal grills and cook tops with "self lighting" charcoal
Socks would be nice
And all the ICE they can get

Donations can be taken to the Fort Worth Police Academy, 1000 Calvert
The FWPD L.E.E.A.N. group will head out for New Orleans early Thursday (09-08-05) morning, if possible. These items are needed A.S.A.P.!

Lt. Aldridge asked that all items be packaged to keep dry and stored so that they won't get wet (all materials are being kept outside). Their Officers are sleeping in tents, so anything "camping" would help. She will be gathering a list of boot sizes to forward as an additional need.
According to the lieutenant, Federal assistance is coming, but the majority of relief items are being diverted or maintained at the Federal impound and not reaching officers in her District. Basically, they are not receiving these basic needs items and need our help.

Labor Day Picnic

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Out in Lampasas tomorrow, hundreds of area Democrats from the 24th Senatorial District including Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Kimble, Lampasas, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Mills, San Saba, and Taylor counties which I represented last summer as the SD24 delegate to the Democratic National Convention, will meet for a Labor Day picnic.

When: Picnic starts at 11:00 am. BBQ lunch starts serving at 11:30.
Where: Hancock Park on US 281 in Lampasas (bring your favorite folding chair)
Program: Kickoff Senate District 24 "Take Back Texas" Campaign and Fundraiser
Speakers & Dignitaries: Include Charles Soechting, Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, Chris Bell, candidate for Governor, David Van Os, candidate for Attorney General, Richard Morrison. The list is growing.
INFO & RSVP: Keith King (512) 556-0200
George Keller (830) 792-4232
Or email George Keller

There will be a silent action with prizes from Democratic Presidents, Senators, Governors, and organizations. Plus don't miss the famous Cake Sale either.

Lunch tickets are $9.

Hays County Dems LBJ Birthday Picnic

By Damon McCullar

Well, I just got back from The Salt Lick. Man am I stuffed. I've not eaten so good since the last time I was there for Katie's B-day party.

The Hays County Dems LBJ Picnic has been going on for over 17 years. Today's crowd was about 200 folks. Among the speakers were Gary Mauro, former Land Commissioner and 1998 candidate for Governor; Chris Bell, current candidate for Governor; Glen Maxey, former Texas Rep and campaign manager for No Nonsense in November. The State Chairman, Charles Soechting welcomed everyone to the event. He told us of how Hays county was the top performing county in getting the most Democrats to the polls and how they won 5 out of 6 contested seats in Hays county in the 2004 election.

Cactus Pryor, formerly of KLBJ regaled us with stories of an era past. He told us several antedotes of his years working with the Johnson family, all of them humorous.

Then there was the food! If you haven't eaten at The Salt Lick, you've not had great BBQ. I recommend it to everyone before they leave Texas.

Then came the candidates. We heard from John Courage, Diane Henson, Judge Jim Coronado, and Mina Brees. All of the last three are running for the Texas Court of Appeals.

The most interesting thing I saw there was the battle for CD 28. Henry Cuellar has three primary oppoents. They include Richard Raymond of the 42nd District, and former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez . I hadn't been paying attention in CD 28 but looks like there will be a highly contested race in that district. Look for these individuals to be added to my growing list of candidates for 2006 next week.

Finally, I found out that the San Marcos Area Democrats have just launched a site at www.smad.org. The host of the party, Hays County Democrats has a web site at www.hayscountydemocrats.org. The Democrats in Wimberly boast the largest Democratic group in Hays county and you can find them at www.wimdems.org.

Crawford PO Workers Halting Mail?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This is from Stu Adamslundy in Kendall County. Kay is her former hairdresser and now a member of Code Pink.

In my conversation with Kay this am we happened to stumble into a conversation about donations and that led to a conversation about the Post Office.

Seems as how the ladies working at the Post Office are none to fond of the Peace House (hostile comes to mind). For a couple of days the Peace House was receiving a flood of mail and then all of the sudden almost nothing. I do not know all of the details of what came next, apparently inquiries were made, can't deliver without the 11 digit zip etc.

Well to make a long story short, sometime within the last week, according to Kay, 4 Inspector Generals swept into the Crawford PO and they were caught red-handed (something about one or more letters addressed to Peace House with return to sender found).

Kay has no idea at all how many letters may have been returned, but here is their request. If you recieve a letter back please put it in another envelope, unopened, and send it back to the Dallas PO Box so that it may be used as evidence.

Crawford Peace House
PO BOX 710218
Dallas, TX 75371-0218

There is a volunteer at CPH from California who works for or is retired from the Postal Service and she knows the rules/law. If it is a known address it has to be delivered. This means if you send a letter to the Western White House, Crawford Tx, it is a known address. She even said if you send a letter to Cindy Sheehan, Camp Casey, Crawford, Tx, that that is a known address. And the Crawford Peace House is a KNOWN address. Just Crawford Peace House, Crawford, Tx is a known address, so the little bit about returning for not having the 11 digit zip was not quite right (maybe even a discipline/firing type of event). The workers at the PO let thier personal feelings intefere with doing their job as civil servants.

Mixing it Up in West Texas

By Katie Naranjo

Yesterday I visited Senator Shapleigh’s district office in El Paso to meet with his staff and the Senator. Senator Shapleigh provided updates on the legislature, which has been in its second session with still no resolutions for education finance. Sen. Shapleigh believes that there will be a third session once the courts rule that there is money to be appropriated and the legislature must come to a solution.

Personally, I think this goes to show that Gov. Rick Perry’s hope of the special sessions being a success to help boost public popularity numbers has been a complete failure.

Sen. Shapleigh also expressed his hopes for more women democratic candidates in the 2006 elections. “If there were more women in the state house we would get more achieved on the floor.” In the Texas house there are only 25 women representatives and only 12 are members of the Democratic Party.

El Paso, which is overwhelmingly democratic, has been shunned by the Texas legislature due to its distance and political affiliation. Sen. Shapleigh is working to get tax dollars in El Paso, because historically El Paso has received a disproportionate amount of state funding, which has been disadvantageous to the community. Also, I just wanted to thank Elizabeth for introducing me to the Senator.

Ten out of Twelve Jurors Agree: Vioxx'll kill ya

By Jim Dallas

Yesterday, the jury in Angleton handed down a $253.4 million award for the plaintiff.

.
.
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Now that you've had a chance to get all excited about $253.4 million, let me remind you that most of these big awards get cut down, or even reversed, by the trial judge or on appeal. The award almost certainly will be cut down on appeal, because the punitive damages greatly exceed compensatory damages.

And of course Merck has vowed to appeal. Canadian television gives some insight into what those grounds might be:

Pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. has announced it will be appealing the $253.4-million US damage award given to the widow of a man who took the painkiller Vioxx.

"We believe that we have strong points to raise on appeal and are hopeful that the appeals process will correct the verdict," Kenneth C. Frazier, senior vice president and general counsel of Merck, said in a statement.

"Our appeal is about fundamental rights to a fair trial."

Merck lawyer Jonathan Skidmore said the appeal would focus on what he called "unreliable scientific evidence."

"It'll be based on the fact that we believe unqualified expert testimony was allowed in the case; there were expert opinions that weren't grounded in science, the type that are required in the state of Texas," he said.

"We don't believe they (plaintiffs) met their burden of proof."

At first glance, this suggests to me that the ruling may be affirmed on appeal; if these are the only grounds, then Merck will be in a very bad position because the factual conclusions of the jury are reviewed on the appellate level under a very deferential standard - they'd have to be "clearly erroneous" in order for the court of appeals to overturn on those grounds. Moreover, this suggests that Merck is going to try to argue that scientific testimony shouldn't have been admitted; that will also be a hard ground (although not as hard) to argue, I think, because my impression is that appellate judges do not like overturning trial judges on admissions of evidence. Moreover, there is quite a bit of contradictory authority with regard to the rules that govern this (e.g. TRE 702, etc), and I would guess that the court of appeals would probably read the case law in a way that would allow them to defer.

Moreover, Merck may try to argue that the company should have been granted a summary judgment; that might actually be a pretty strong ground for appeal (because the court of appeals might take a fresh look at some of the issues). But the news reports, at least, aren't indicating that this is what Merck is thinking. We'll just have to see what happens when they file their appeal, probably some time in the next few weeks. It could be years before we know what exactly Carol Ernst is entitled to, if anything.

Of course, lurking behind all this are some institutional issues. Will the FDA get the blame it deserves? Rather than watch one of the largest pharmaceutical companies (and a major source of campaign funds for the Republican Party) fail under the burden of over 4,000 lawsuits, will Congress try to legislate the problem away, the same way they did with asbestos? Will the "tort reformers" sharpern their knives and go on the attack (again)?

Stay tuned, BOR readers.

UPDATE: In other legal news, Kuff reports that Star Bock has defeated Starbucks in Sam Kent's courtroom. w00t!

UPDATE 2: And Greg has his opinion here.

Nine out of ten plaintiff's attorneys agree: Vioxx'll kill ya.

By Jim Dallas

I took off from work today to get ready for school, which starts Monday. Coincidentally, this mini-vacation gave me a chance to drive down to the Brazoria County Courthouse this morning (about an hour down the road from here) to watch plaintiff's closing arguments in Ernst v. Merck & Co., the first trial involving the pulled-drug Vioxx.

I called the 23rd district court clerk yesterday to get the time; she told me it was to start at 8:30 but to show up early. The trial didn't resume until after 10, but it's a good thing that I followed the clerk's advice; by 8:20 (when I got there), the courtroom was already jam-packed with on-lookers, mostly journalists and Houston-based attorneys (some of whom may have considerable amounts of money riding on Vioxx-related cases in the future).

Mark Lanier, for the plaintiff, gave a pretty good opening presentation, although some of the things he did seemed to go against the more conservative techniques described in my old civil procedure textbook. Rather than reserving more emotional appeals for the end, he scattered them throughout. Given the jury (which is, as a friend of mine who observed last week noted, is actually skewed towards young adults), this was probably appropriate, since a lot of the medical jargon thrown around wouldn't much of an impact if it weren't wound up in a dramatic narrative.

Basically, the plaintiff's case is this - that Merck & Co., who manufactured Vioxx, knew that Vioxx could cause blood-clotting and heart attacks; and that Merck, afraid to lose the millions of dollars it had riding on Vioxx, ignored these concerns and tried to dissuade doctors and patients from them through a decade-long campaign of "denial, deception, and damage". The result, say the plaintiffs, was that Vioxx caused the death of Carol Ernst's husband.

This certainly is a plausible narrative, although I imagine Merck's attorneys probably ripped into them. Unfortunately, I had to leave Angleton after Lanier's first speech to the jury, since I have commitments later this afternoon here in Houston and didn't want to have to leave the trial in the middle of the defense closing (that would be rude).

P.S. Here's the Associated Press write-up of what I saw.

Back Home and RSS Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I attended the Chris Bell rally today along with Damon (nice cigar, you steal that from Kinky?) as a spectator and I have some pictures which I'll try to upload tomorrow along with some thoughts on it.

Right now I'm back home in the Hill Country in Fredericksburg where the air is cool and crisp. The only time I may be online when I choose to be will be 10 pm to 7 am, so as to not tie up the phone line here. I'll pop on to make a couple of posts now and then about events I've promised people I'd promote but other than that I'll be slow to respond to most e-mail unless it's uber important. So feel free to get in touch with some of our other reporters if you have some breaking news or issues.

Also, the site should be fully back to our original domain. But if you are using an RSS feed, you will need to update/refresh it to https://burntorangereport.com/mt/index.rdf because of a slight folder change. Comments are working fully and all links are in synch so links to old articles will get to the right place, you don't have to change them.

Down South

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Please join the Coastal Bend Chapter of the Texas Democratic Women as
they host a social mixer.

When: 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm, August 16th 2005
Where: Holiday Inn Emerald Beach (1102 S. Shoreline Blvd) Corpus Christi, Tx

Special Guests include: Chris Bell - Democratic Candidate for Governor of Texas, Dori Garza – 13th Court of Appeals Judge and State Representative Veronica Gonzales.

Enjoy FREE food and great company as we rev up the south Texas political season! Please make sure to bring your friends and family!!!

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 361-442-4844 or solomonortizjr@gmail.com

Sincerely,
Solomon Ortiz Jr.
Chairman - NCDP

Cindy Sheehan Waits For An Answer

By Damon McCullar

If anyone hasn't heard the story yet, This is the story of Cindy Sheehan as told by CNN.

I've been in contact with Susan Morris about Cindy Sheehan's sit-in in Crawford. She wanted to make this appeal to Austinites and Texans.

Cindy Sheehan, a Gold Star Family for Peace member who is currently holding camp down the road from the Bush compound in Crawford, Texas, needs our support. When Margie Becker and I arrived Camp Casey on Sunday we joined members of Veterans for Peace and the LA chapter of Code Pink to sit vigil with Cindy while she waits for a meeting with Jr. On Monday, the Austin chapter of Code Pink sent in reinforcements for the day only. As evening neared, the only Texan overnighting with Cindy was Jim, the Terlingua Veteran for Peace. It is a two-hour drive to Crawford to support Cindy and her mission of finding answers to her son's death. As of today, she is tired, frustrated, emotional and running a fever. BUT EVERY NEW ARRIVAL RENEWS HER. Please think about making the drive in the next day or so. Thursday is the rumored day that Cindy might get arrested for being a "national security threat" and Saturday, a local Clear Channel radio station is hosting an anti-Cindy BBQ at a parking lot next to a bank in Crawford. Don't worry about bringing provisions. Money is pouring into the Crawford Peace House from those people who live too far to make the trip or simply can't. I've included directions and other links below. Call me on my cell phone if more information is needed. Or call me to tell me you are on your way to Crawford. Margie is there now, and I'm going back, I hope, tomorrow. Thanks! I can guarantee you will meet some of the finest people in the world!

The Iconoclast, the Crawford newspaper that endorsed John Kerry is reporting from the Camp Casey: http://198.65.14.85/

Code Pink has a Camp Casey blog on their website:
http://www.codepink4peace.org/

Veterans for Peace are organizing more chapters to make the trip:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/

Margie made a video, which is AWESOME: homepage.mac.com/bargie

Camp Casey HQ, AKA, The Crawford Peace House:
http://www.crawfordpeacehouse.org/

That report was as of this morning. Currently, the weather has improved in Crawford and the crowd has grown to about 100 people.

Juan Garcia and Fredericksburg

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

One of the things that I have been meaning to post on but have not heard of any other news that had otherwise reminded me to do so, was a short report on Juan Garcia's visit to Fredericksburg during the Gillespie County July 4th Parade last month, where he appeared on the County Democratic Party's float. A short note from my County Chair George Keller...

Juan is outstanding as well as his wife and family. They both have just joined law firms in Corpus Christi and he remains a Naval Reserve pilot. He is planning to run when the right situation presents it self.

I have a picture in the extended entry but other comments have followed in the same vein as I have heard on other state blogs. He's charismatic, a great speaker, and should take a stab at running for office. I would hope that it is something higher than a county level office down there on the Coast, as it would be awesome to see him run for maybe Lt. Governor. But even a state house seat would be great.

Lieutenant Commander for Lieutenant Governor has a nice ring to it though...

Town Hall Meeting with Rep. Casteel

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Representative Carter Casteel cordially invites you to the Gillespie County Town Hall Meeting this Saturday, August 13 at 11:30 a.m.

Central Texas Electric Cooperative
386 Friendship Lane
Fredericksburg, Texas

At the meeting, Representative Casteel will provide an overview on the 79th Regular Legislative Session and the Called Special Sessions. Afterward, she will field constituent questions and comments.

If you need further information, please contact Representative Casteel's office at 866.687.4961.

Carter Casteel represents the counties of Gillespie, Kendall, Comal, and Bandera.

Rural Texas Dems Summit

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the Texas Young Democrats Listserv...

We invite you to the Rural Texas Democratic Summit on August 26-27 in Tyler, Texas. Tickets are $25 each. You may purchase tickets individually or if you want a block of tickets to sell in your county, contact Sam Allen at samallen@cox-internet.com. Checks should be made to the ETDC and mailed to PO Box 751, Tyler, 75710

The Rooms at the Ramada are $58 plus tax. You will need to make your reservations directly with the hotel, and please mention that you are attending the Democratic Summit. The cut-off date for hotel registration is August 15.

Thoughts of a Mom

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Some of you that attended the Austin Democracy for America MeetUp last week had a chance to meet my parents. Well, yesterday was my mom's birthday (she's still 30 of course) and she spent it with my father in Burnet County as the guest speaker for their County Democratic Club in an encore performance of the MeetUp speech.

But I wanted to share a comment of hers to me with y'all because I think it's indicative of the feelings of a number of independents across this state.

You asked about the sales tax, it is 6.25% here (in Fredericksburg), the state adds 2%, if they raise it another cent, then the total goes to 9.25%.

I am so angry with the Leg, they know full well they are screwing the little guy with this bill (anyone who makes under $100,000 a year!) and that it does not help schools (but does help business), and there is no way to pay for teacher raise that they mandate, but they give themselves a pension raise, and they don't give a damn. I am ready to come to Austin and start working on some campaigns to throw the bums out. And what was up with Dawna Dukes going to France- like she thought she could trust a Republican? Arghhh!!!

OK, now I am getting hotter!! Gonna go get a load of mulch for the flower beds. Stay cool.

The conferees for HB2 are still meeting right now. Here to hope for some cool heads under the dome.

The Statesman: An Apologist for Rad Waste?

By John Pruett

Today’s Statesman article on the proposed radioactive waste dump in Andrews County misses the point. Sure, I’ll grant that most of the county’s residents may support the plan, minus a few holdouts who haven’t received the memo describing how large quantities of radioactive waste are great for their community. Andrews has fallen on tough times, and the area faces difficult economic choices if it is to grow.

Besides the obvious problems associated with radioactive waste, the project also reeks of private profiteering and Republican politics. The article mentions off-hand:

If Waste Control Specialists gets the proper permits, the Dallas-based company will become the first in the country licensed to profit from burying and guarding nuclear waste.

However, it fails to report that Waste Control Specialists is owned by none other than Harold Simmons, a billionaire from Dallas and one of the largest donors to Texas Republican candidates.

His money has reached the campaign coffers of virtually every Republican currently in office, according to filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. The list includes heavy-weights such as Governor Perry, President Bush, Attorney General Abbott, Comptroller Strayhorn, Speaker Craddick, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, and Sen. Hutchison.

Simmons’s companies also have a history of pollution liabilities. Texans for Public Justice reported in 2001:

Simmons’ NL Industries faces a slew of toxic lawsuits for the lead that it added to paint and spewed on a Dallas neighborhood. 5 Regulators have named NL as a “potentially responsible party” for many toxic Superfund sites, including Dallas, Waller and Hardin Counties sites.

This year, TPJ reports:

WCS donors contributed more than $1.5 million to Texas state candidates and PACs since 2001, with most benefiting Republicans. They also gave $50,000 to Free Enterprise PAC, which attacks moderate Republicans for purportedly being soft on abortion or gays.

The Statesman also ignores the fact that WCS has faced fierce opposition to its attempts to create a radioactive waste facility in West Texas. In 1995, the state refused to allow WCS shipments of radioactive waste. Then again in 1998, the state environmental agency turned down similar plans for a Sierra Blanca site. The current battle over Andrews County has dragged on for years, despite Governor Perry’s not-too-surprising authorization for such a site in 2003.

The point of this whole affair is that WCS, with Republican backing, has been preying on small communities. They prefer to leave them with the toxic waste and take the profits. To make matters worse, the Texas Observer remarks that the Andrews site could easily end up storing radioactive materials for many years to come, thus becoming a permanent disposal site. I doubt the future generations of Andrews will be quite as eager.

Hardberger Elected Mayor of San Antonio

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

It's finally over. 18.8% turnout, higher than the first round.

Total Votes / Percent / Early Votes / Election Day

Phil Hardberger ......... 66,830 / 51.47% / 30,024 / 36,806

Julian Castro ........... 63,001 / 48.53% / 21,548 / 41,453

San Antonio Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Keep up with the returns here at the Bexar County elections website. Original election last month has returns here for comparison.

But as of 10:06 pm, in total votes, the race has narrowed enormously from the early vote numbers which put Hardberger over Castro, 58-42, about an 8500 vote margin. But now he leads 52-48, though Red State has just reported that they hear it's because Castro's boxes have come in first (Castro is leading by 6000 votes in Election Day totals.

Now, IF the runoff followed the regular election, there should be just over half (51-52%) cast on Election Day compared to early vote. And IF Castro's Election Day margin (60-40) holds out for the rest of the ballots or even weakens a bit, he would pull the vote deficit and win. But of course, that does not take into account the fact that not all precincts are equal and if have already come in to a greater degree, then it looks less bright for the Castro campaign. And remember, Republicans vote early, Democrats prefer Election Day, so that would explain the results so far if those Republican voters are indeed following the endorsement of their vanquished candidate. Of course, that may also mean that the hardcore active, "I'll do what's best to Stop a Hispanic" crowd has already voted, leaving Hardberger possibly weak in turnout in his better precincts today.

Of course, the runoffs for District 6 and 7 look to be headed to a larger turnout in the runoff than on Election Day, and those are both on Castro's turf.

Update: Hardberger’s lead shrinks to 1467 vote, down from his 8476 lead in early vote. Castro picks up 7000 votes against him as of now on Election Day, puling 58.4% of the e-day total. Margin now 50.79 - 49.21 with about 55% reporting. We could see higher turnout on e-day comparative to the original election, which helps Castro at this point.

Likely winners now in District 6 and 7, each leading by about 11 points, are...

6- Delicia Herrera (endorsed by the Sierra Club and Stonewall Democrats) beats Ray Lopez (endorsed by Mayor Ed Garza, the Express-News, and Police)

7- Elena Guajardo (involved with Stonewall and Tejano Democrats) beats Noel Suniga (also endorsed by the Express News, his website banner includes "family values" and "taxpayers" so I'm going to guess he was the more conservative of the two.)

Looks like a good night for those two races at least, even though I haven’t paid attention to them until now. If anyone has some info, post a comment.

Update: 10:37, 59% reporting.
Hardberger / 50.92% / 49,981
Castro / 49.8% / 48,167

Hardberger lead now 1814.

Update Red State says that these are the numbers by Commissioner precinct...

Pct. 3 ~ 69 out of 205 counted (33%)
Pct. 1 ~ 75 out of 125 counted (60%)
Pct. 4 ~ 66 out of 198 counted (33%)
Pct. 2 ~ 98 out of 156 counted (63%)

Here is the map (pdf) for the precincts for the county, with the council districts in them.

San Antonio Run-off

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Results from the San Antonio Runoff will be coming in tonight. Though I won't likly be able to get to the computer until 9 pm, there will be some people following the news.

RedState will be liveblogging so that may be your best bet. For a short primer on what is going on, look to Latinos for Texas post from the Express News.

It's to be a close race tonight (though I hope Castro pulls it out). Kuff points to a mySA.com column that brings up some interesting points that could help Castro overcome his 5 point deficit in the last round of polling.

It would help if there were a City Council runoff on Schubert's turf. There isn't.

It would help if there were no runoffs in Castro's backyard. There are two.

It would help if Castro had a weak grassroots organization. He doesn't.

It would help if Hardberger and Schubert were not political opposites. They are.

It would help if Hardberger could count on a heavy turnout of Schubert supporters. He can't.

The candidate who probably can count on a heavy turnout is Castro.

The last time there were runoffs in Districts 6 and 7, more people voted in Round 2 than in Round 1.

That's one reason I give Castro a slight edge in the runoff. There are others.

The Jeffersonian says otherwise though... We shall see who is right soon enough.

Run-off Notes

By Byron LaMasters

Kuff, The Jeffersonian and San Antonio Election 2005 report on the latest from San Antonio. Third place finisher Carroll Schubert endorsed Phil Hardberger in the mayoral run-off.

In the Austin City Council Place 3 run-off, Margot Clarke has racked up some union support that went to Gregg Knauppe in round one. They include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 520, the Central Texas Building Trades Council and the Sheetmetal Workers Local 67.

San Antonio Run-off a Squeaker in Survey USA Poll

By Byron LaMasters

I heard rumors earlier this week that Hardberger had taken a large lead in the polls in the San Antonio mayoral run-off race, which surprised me a little bit, but not too much. The vast majority of Shubert voters are likely to vote for Hardberger or stay home. In the end, this race will come down to turnout above all else. Survey USA has posted a poll showing an extremely close race within the margin of error:

San Antonio Mayor Runoff
5/24/2005

Hardberger - 50%
Castro - 47%
Undecided - 2%

Data Collected: 5/21/05 - 5/23/05
Geography: City of San Antonio
Sample Population: 447 Likely Voters
Margin of Error: 4.7%
Client: WOAI-TV San Antonio

Update: Analysis at The Red State, The Jeffersonian and Kuff.

A Brief Note

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I havn't been online in 5 days so anyone trying to contact me, that's why. But I find it really sad that when I do make it on, I find that 3 Senate Democrats were traitors on HJR 6. Especially after you pledge to keep it off the ballot (because we all know how smart the voters of Texas are) and thus the books. To you Senators Lucio and Madla in particular, the next time legislation comes up that strikes at the heart of your Hispanic contituants, someone please remind me not to give a damn and sell myself out for some other shitty two-bit piece of legislation.

To the 8 of you who voted against it, just like you did against DOMA, thank you. But next time (like there are any more next times except maybe the demonization of gay foster parents or rounding us up and registering us) please be aware you can't trust the word of certain Senators that claim to stand up for minority rights.

Things are okay here in Fredericksburg otherwise, the councilman is hard at work (though you Austinites may get to see him in July for a DFA MeetUp if things pan out).

And now, I need to respond to a certain candidate that is mulling a bid against Lamar Smith for 2006 (who has been mentioned around the comments). I'm excited and will report soon; I'll be back in Austin this Sunday for the summer.

Musselman Elected

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I'm back in Austin and wanted to give you guys a short report on the election in which I voted yesterday, that for Frederkcisburg City Council which my father Tom Musselman was running for. I'll have a more in depth report about things we did for this election and how our efforts paid off (once I have a chance to do some analysis on election results with our database). But for now, the following.

From the San Antonio-Express News...

Incumbent Tim Dooley and newcomer Tom Musselman won at-large seats on the Fredericksburg City Council on Saturday in a close race involving four candidates.

"I ran on pride in the community. My theme was pride, preservation and progress," said Musselman, a teacher at Fredericksburg High School making his first run for office.

Musselman, who finished on top, said he is joining a well-run city that must cope with growth.

"There's nothing broken in Fredericksburg," he said. "We need to preserve what makes us unique and we need to plan for our future."

Un-official elections returns are as follows (as 1 provisional ballot was cast):

1225 Total Votes- 18% Turnout

625 Tom Musselman*
551 Tim Dooley*
450 Ronnie Stotz
416 Sharon Bailey

*elected

El Paso Returns

By Byron LaMasters

There will be a run-off for mayor of El Paso. I would like to know what my El Paso friends think about that run-off and the city council races.

El Paso results here.

More from San Antonio

By Byron LaMasters

Good coverage last night from San Antonio Election 2005 and The Jeffersonian (great predictions by the way!). The Jeffersonian also has some good coverage of the San Antonio city council elections. Also, there is more at The Red State.

Anyone have a prediction for the Castro / Hardberger run-off?

The Results from Fredericksburg

By Byron LaMasters

I am sure that Karl-Thomas will give us all the details, but here are the results via Fredericksburg Standard:

Tom Musselman practiced what he teaches and drew the highest vote total in the Fredericksburg City Council race today, May 7.

Musselman, who teaches social studies at Fredericksburg High School, collected 625 votes to earn his first term on the Council.

Incumbent Tim Dooley won reelection as well, posting a total of 551 votes.

Neuro-diagnostic technician Ronnie Stotz finished third with 450 votes and former council member Sharon Bailey rounded out the slate of city candidates with 416.

The total number of voters was 1,232.

In a four candidate field (where voters could cast two at-large votes) Tom Musselman not only won, but 50.73% of Fredericksburg voters cast a vote for him. Next highest was incumbent Tim Dooley at 44.72%. MANDATE, anyone? Congratulations again to Tom Musselman and his family.

Castro Leads San Antonio Mayoral Race

By Byron LaMasters

The poll is from last week, but I just noticed it today. Survey USA took a poll for the San Antonio mayoral race. Here's the results:

Castro - 43%
Hardberger - 28%
Schubert - 22%
Other/Undecided - 7%

Data Collected: 4/11/05 - 4/13/05; Geography, City of San Antonio; Sample Population, 443 Likely Voters; Margin of Error, 4.8%; Client, WOAI-TV San Antonio

Blogging the San Antonio Mayoral Race

By Byron LaMasters

For all of you interested in following the race for mayor in San Antonio, check out the San Antonio Election 2005 Blog

Hill Country Democrats

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This is a message for Hill Country area Democrats. Other counties may also be affected.

You might receive a letter with the return address of Gillespie County Area Democratic Party Annual Fund Drive (or maybe your county name instead of Gillespie).

The enclosure also says something similar. THIS IS NOT FROM GILLESPIE COUTNY or YOUR COUNTY and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LOCAL DEMOCRATS. I am embarrassed that someone in our own party is trying to con us.

Take the time to call your county chair for their input. If you are a Gillespie County Democrat, my advice is to ignore this solicitation. Keep your donations at home for the time being. Nothing from this fund raising promotion comes to our local level so you would not have any control on how it is spent.

Give me a call if you have any questions.
(830) 792-4232
George Keller
Gillespie County Chair

Fredericksburg City Council Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I did a little analysis of the past few Election Cycles for city Council in Fredericksburg, where my father is running. I ran some numbers on how many people in each election cast just 1 vote (even though they are allotted 2). This assumes that there are few to no ballots cast with 0 votes on them, which would otherwise put in a margin of error. I've cut and pasted the interesting trends here, but if anyone wants the original file, leave a comment.

Year 1999
Voters 663
% 1 Vote 16.89%

Year 2000
Voters 1202
% 1 Vote 22.21%

Year 2001
Voters 715
% 1 Vote 19.58%

Year 2003
Voters 470
% 1 Vote 24.47%

Year 2004
Voters 819
% 1 Vote 40.17%

My analysis is that I believe traditionally Fredericksburg CC Elections have 20% of the electorate that votes for one candidate out of strategy in any given year. I believe that bump up in 2003 to about 25% is due to the entrance of Melodi who was a Tax Protest candidate.

Her run in 2004 may also help count for the high 40% rate but I now believe (contrary to before) that the high 2004 level is not due to simply Melodi's Anit-Tax forces, but also MacWithey's entrance into the race which changed the dynamic of City Council elections. As someone outside of the usual base of voters, he probably brought in a whole new cross-section of voters, many who didn't know the 'traditional' candidates or were encouraged to cast one vote for MacWithey, since his electoral strategy didn't depend so much upon the old formula.

I would say, with Francis out of the race, two 'traditional' candidates, and the fact that Tom Musselman knows many of the traditional voters (as well as many new ones) would make it seem like the 1 Vote group wouldn't be as high this year, but at the same time, I believe that the Musselman campaign has/will have contacted more people than in past year, due to the existence of an actual campaign structure, advertising, outreach, and the upcoming GOTV efforts. I feel an increase in voters helps Musselman and will be more likely to increase the 1 Vote Cast share.

NOTES: Fredericksburg City Council races have not run above 13% turnout in recent years, with some years being as low at 7% (there are about 7000 registered voters). In addition, all seats are at large, and there are no run-offs... the top two vote getters are elected. This is why the 1 Vote strategy can be beneficial because if there are three candidates, with the top one being a high voter getter, anyone casting dual votes for the 2nd and 3rd place candidates are not actually helping the 3rd place candidate, since they move up in tandem but still always the same number of votes below the 2nd place candidate. Therefore, core supporters of any candidate should be encouraged to cast 1 vote to have the greatest effect.

Preventing Future Refinery Disasters

By Byron LaMasters

We're just learning the first details of the possible causes of the BP Oil Refinery disaster in Texas City this past Wednesday. State and federal investigators will surely spend a great deal of time in the upcoming weeks and months figuring out what exactly happened, but one point is worth noting now. The workers in the plant were contractors as opposed to union members. The New York Times pointed to the possible problems that this may lead to in an article on Friday:

Allan Jamail, an official with Pipefitters Union Local 211 in Houston, was quick to point to nonunion labor as the problem. Mr. Jamail said that refineries across Texas had become more dangerous as companies increasingly turned to nonunion contractors to do difficult construction and maintenance work. He said nonunion workers "aren't as well-trained" and did not have the job security to raise safety concerns with managers.

BP officials said that all 15 workers killed were believed to have been contractors, not BP employees. The morning before the blast, 2,200 of the 3,300 workers at the plant were contractors, they said.

We all certainly have great sympathy for the victims of the BP tragedy and their families, and we should all work together to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future. One of the easiest steps towards that goal is to ensure that the workers in dangerous refinery environments are well-trained professionals with the job security necessary to prevent overwork and hazardous conditions that often cause accidents and tragedies. Unions provide these critical safety measures, and incidents such as this ought to give governments and corporations pause before endorsing union-busting tactics that too often put the corporation's bottom line ahead of worker safety.

Tom Musselman for Fredericksburg City Council

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just yesterday, my father Tom Musselman officially filed to run for the City Council of Fredericksburg, Texas. I have been working for the last day on his campaign website, part of his efforts to better connect with the citizens of Fredericksburg. I invite you to check it out at www.TomMusselman.com. Read the bio, keep up with the latest news, and also, if you live in Fredericksburg, please Join the campaign!

If you know people that live in the city, please forward the website to them. If you have a blog, please link to it in order to get his rankings a bit higher when people go to look for it on the web. He has to compete with my own name as it is right now.

Tom Musselman for Fredericksburg City Council

We will have a blogad up here on Burnt Orange within the week and I'll be keeping you up to date with news on the campaign. The filing photos should be ready in the next day or two. Ads are already running on the air and the first print ad will be in this week's Wednesday paper.

Jeff Ortiz For City Council (of Nederland that is)

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The youngest candidate for a city council in Texas at the age of 22 announced his bid today, for the city of Nederland. He's been building up to this for a while, so go check out his website, he's got some new press stories over there.

Supersized Wal-Marts and Accordians

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Of note on my road here at home (Friendship Lane, I kid you not) the Super Wal-Mart is being built just across from the old one. So you can imagine part of the daily excitement that is my life now, is walking 300 yards down the road to check on its progress. And of course that means I'm going to share it with you.

The long wall there is the back wall. The road is Friendship "Lane" (4 lanes) and the box in the distance is the old Wal-Mart. If you click on the pic, you will get a bigger one. Here is an image of the inside of the new structure from the other direction.

And below is the entertainment we had at our Gillespie County Democrats Christmas Party. Can you tell we are Fredericksburg Democrats? I love it.

Weekday Weblinks

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Kinky Friedman, writer, singer, performer, has of course mentioned that he would like to run as an Independent for Texas Governor in 2006. He would officially announce at the beginning of February 2005, and have to file paperwork at the beginning of 2006. In addition, he will need to gather 45,540 signatures from those that havn't voted in either the 2006 Democratic or Republican Primaries (Independents, in Texas terms, since we have no partisan voter registration).

Kinky lives near my hometown of Fredericksburg out towards Kerrville in the Hill Country where his ranch is. His website is www.kinkyfriedman.com If he was on the ballot, I'm not sure if it would have much of an electoral impact to tell you the truth. Granted his politics (I believe) are to the left, but he might get as many votes from disguntled Republicans who can't bring themselves to vote for a Democrats than from lefties that won't be happy with whatever nominee our state party puts on the chopping block.

If you are bored or depressed and want to read another new and very good story about Montana Democrats winning in their state, read this Washington Monthly article.

We're No. 1!

By Nathan Nance

Guest post by Nate Nance

Texas is still number one in executions. Even without W at the helm our state got around to killing 23 people, which is one less than last year, but about average for the past decade. And oh yeah:

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, also a target of death penalty critics, recommended in May that mentally ill convicted murderer Kelsey Patterson be spared. Gov. Rick Perry, however, rejected the recommendation and Patterson was executed.

Gov. Goodhair deciding what is just and fair.

This is a guest post by Nathan Nance. Nate is a sports/news clerk at the Waco Tribune-Herald and writer/editor of Common Sense a Texas-based Democratic Web log. He can be reached at nate_nance@yahoo.com