should interest any Texans among us http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas America’s Future Is Texas With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state’s demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation’s bellwether. By Lawrence Wright A Reporter at Large July 10 & 17, 2017 Issue When Frederick Law Olmsted passed through Texas, in 1853, he became besotted with the majesty of the Texas legislature. “I have seen several similar bodies at the North; the Federal Congress; and the Parliament of Great Britain, in both its branches, on occasions of great moment; but none of them commanded my involuntary respect for their simple manly dignity and trustworthiness for the duties that engaged them, more than the General Assembly of Texas,” he wrote. This passage is possibly unique in the political chronicles of the state. Fairly considered, the Texas legislature is more functional than the United States Congress, and more genteel than the House of Commons. But a recurrent crop of crackpots and ideologues has fed the state’s reputation for aggressive know-nothingism and proudly retrograde politics.
Heard the author on Texas Standard - he was mainly disappointed that, despite our "demographics", Texas is still conservative. New York state of mind, I guess.
Texas is an interesting case. Large demographic shift being held in check by the 2010 census gerrymandering that propped up rural areas and consolidated wealthy metro suburbs. The 2020 census will be interesting to see how districts will be re-drawn. Texas legislature is actively trying to take away cities and municipalities ability to govern themselves as they start enacting more progressive policies.
the gerrymandering is so blatantly obvious. i live in south central austin (district 35)...a friend of mine lives about 3 miles southwest of me and his a different congressman (21). another friend lives about 4 miles northwest of me and has another congressman (25). i share a congressperson with people in southeast san antonio instead of my neighbors. it makes no sense.
Liberals have an excuse for everything. No accountability. The other key point here is that Hispanics aren't "single block voters" like African Americans. They can swing left and right depending on the candidate.
The author even used the "gerrymandering" theme to justify why Texas' political landscape is the way it is...despite Texas having a Republican Senator...and another Republican Senator...and a Republican Governor.
Texas isn't just big its economy is very diverse Still leading agriculture among and major oil and tech That's diversity
Melania Trump defended Donald Trump in her first interview since the Republican nominee faced allegations of sexual misconduct, calling those accusations "lies" and saying Trump was "egged on" into "boy talk" during a 2005 tape in which he made lewd comments about women. "I believe my husband. I believe my husband," she said in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday. "This was all organized from the opposition. And with the details ... did they ever check the background of these women? They don't have any facts." She also said she hadn't heard her husband use that kind of language before. "No. No, that's why I was surprised, because I said like I don't know that person that would talk that way, and that he would say that kind of stuff in private," Melania Trump said. "I heard many different stuff -- boys talk," she said. "The boys, the way they talk when they grow up and they want to sometimes show each other, 'Oh, this and that' and talking about the girls. But yes, I was surprised, of course." It was the first public defense Melania Trump has made of her husband since a tape in which Trump bragged about sexually aggressive behavior toward women was published by The Washington Post and NBC. In the wake of that report, several women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Trump said her husband was "egged on" in the 2005 tape in which he made lewd comments about his own sexually aggressive behavior toward women -- remarks she says were "boy talk." "I said to my husband that, you know, the language was inappropriate. It's not acceptable. And I was surprised, because that is not the man that I know," she said. Billy Bush officially leaves NBC in the wake of 'Access Hollywood' tape "And as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on -- it was only a mic. And I wonder if they even knew that the mic was on," she said, referring to Trump and NBC's "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush. She said she wouldn't describe what Trump said on the tape as sexual assault, even though in the video Trump appeared to be describing his own actions. "No, that's not sexual assault," she said. "He didn't say he did it." Melania Trump said she believes Trump in part because she's seen him deflect brazen advances from other women. "I see many, many women coming to him and giving phone numbers and, you know, want(ing) to work for him -- inappropriate stuff from women. And they know he's married," she said. "You've seen that?" Cooper asked. "Oh yes, of course. It was in front of me," Trump said. "In front of me. And I've said, like, 'Why did you give your number to my husband?' " Melania Trump reserved her strongest critique for the political press, which she says has yet to report an accurate story about her. "I didn't expect media would be so dishonest and so mean. I didn't expect that," she said. "Also for me, from the beginning, I never had one correct story -- one honest story."
Washington (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan sought Thursday to explain President Donald Trump's asking then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying he was new at the job and did not understand protocols. "Of course there needs to be a degree of independence between (the Justice Department), FBI and the White House, and a line of communications established," Ryan said during his news conference, which occurred at the same time as Comey was testifying across Capitol Hill before the Senate intelligence committee.. "The President's new at this. He's new to government. So, he probably wasn't steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, FBI and White Houses. He's just new to this." Pushed further by CNN, Ryan said, "I'm not saying it's an acceptable excuse. It's just my observation." "He's new at government, and so therefore I think that he -- he is learning as he goes," Ryan said. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-new-to-this/index.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trump-speaks-with-cia/514052/ Trump Blames his Rift With the CIA on the Media On his first full day in office, President Donald Trump spoke at the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters, standing in front of the Agency’s memorial to its fallen officers, and sought to mend his tumultuous relationship with Langley. Yet he never said the word “sorry,” to federal intelligence agencies for the many times he’s berated them. Trump has castigated both the CIA, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, over everything from their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s role in Benghazi and her private email server, to their inquiries into hacks on the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) emails. But in his speech, he sought to blame his rift with the intelligence community on the press, implying the conflict was simply the invention of a hostile media. The speech started a little before 3:20 p.m., lasted about 20 minutes, and veered from topic to topic. Trump opened by saying he thought the intelligence community were “special, amazing people,” then lamented how the U.S. never won wars anymore (“When I was young we were always winning things in this country”); he brought up ISIS (“It has to be eradicated—off the face of the earth!”); he mentioned the numerous occasions on which he’s appeared on the cover of Time magazine (“I have been on that cover 14 or 15 times”). He seemed to spiral around why he had come, making political jabs at the media to mixed success. CNN reported that the crowd of intelligence officials were broken into two sections, with the main area full of agency staff, and a separate section in front of the lectern full of senior agency leadership, including agents. There was some applause at times from the all-agency section, CNN reported, but the leadership stood, looking stoic, and did not applaud. "I am so behind you,” Trump said at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. "There is nobody that feels stronger about the Intelligence Community and the CIA than Donald Trump," he said. They would “get so much backing” from his administration that they might beg him to stop backing them so much. They might even say, he suggested, “Please, don’t give us so much backing.” Since winning the election Trump has chosen only to receive intelligence briefings once a week instead of each day, calling them repetitive, and leading some to question whether he held the agencies in much regard. At times, he has praised the intelligence community when they do something he approves of—like reopening their investigation into Clinton’s emails—and scolded them in statements or via Twitter when they do something that might harm his image. For example, after reports that the intelligence community had concluded that Russia was behind the DNC hacks, which were intended to influence the election in Trump’s favor, Trump denied it. He seemed to take the news personally, as if it meant he’d not won the presidency on his own. In a statement, his transition team said, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” What Trumped seemed to be implying was what he’s said many times before, which is that the agencies responsible for collecting intelligence across the world and keeping the country safe from threat are inept. Earlier this month, after numerous reports that intelligence agencies had linked Russia to hacking the DNC, Trump implied that Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, had better intel than they did. As early as last week, in fact, Trump seemed to be picking a Twitter fight with the intelligence community. Upset over the leak and publication of a private dossier compiled by a former British intelligence official filled with unsubstantiated claims about his connections to Russia, Trump scolded the intelligence community, comparing them to Nazi Germany: "I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it's a disgrace, and I say that ... that's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do." It was at that same conference in New York when he acknowledged for the first time that Russia might, possibly, have been behind the DNC hacks. A few days later and Trump was criticizing the outgoing CIA director John Brennan, who resigned Friday, for comments he made that questioned Trump’s comprehension of Russia’s capabilities and intentions. All of this had led some to believe there might be a four-year war brewing between Trump and the intelligence community, something that could lead to an unprecedented amount of leaks, departmental fighting, mass flight from intelligence jobs, or weakened intelligence gathering on threats to the country. Indeed, earlier this month The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s transition team planned to hack the CIA’s budget, rearrange its personnel, and leave it a shell of itself. It seems the press conference Saturday—though at times rambling—was meant to salve the the wounds Trump has himself created with intelligence agencies. He spoke casually at CIA headquarters, in his typical fashion, winking and joking. Besides, he said, he’s never had anything against the CIA. The entire thing was made up by the press. “They sort of made it like I had a feud with the intelligence community,” he said, shrugging, as if it were ridiculous to think he’d ever done anything to disparage such “special, amazing people.”
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...elease-his-tax-returns-after-audit-completed/ Release his tax returns after an audit is completed “I’m under a routine audit and it'll be released, and as soon as the audit is finished it will be released."
some reading for you... http://www.chron.com/news/politics/...ly-Republicans-have-gerrymandered-6246509.php https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...d727b644a0b_story.html?utm_term=.22f0fa85ac5e http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion...rymandering-transparent-and-ugly-11273599.php
Wow, the conservatives really jumped into the fray here. Those who hope for Texas becoming a red-becoming-purple-becoming-blue state should hold off awhile. This is, after all, where people actually believed they were closing Wal-Marts so that Obama could have detention centers as he invaded Texas during Operation Jade Helm.
