It is 8:00 on Thursday night and I am watching the GOP debate.

When the first question is Who can beat Obama because that’s the most important thing to Republicans? You know this is going to be a bashfest.

Also, this crowd is rabid so no telling what they’ll applaud. I’ll update this as the spirit moves me.

Did Rick Perry just say that he wants to “get it on” with Barack Obama? Maybe not the best word choice with today’s Perry news. Momma, do NOT click that link.

I think Michele Bachman’s stylist tonight was Evans Mortuary.

Okay, somebody needs to tell Rick Perry that making Congress like the Texas Lege means all of the country would have to be in last place. Look, fool, you either believe in the constitution or you want to rewrite it. You can’t have both, crazy pants.

Good Lord, Perry looked at Cavuto like he was asking his question in Greek. Maybe he was just trying to stay awake.

Am I the only person in America who snickers every time Newt uses the word “intellect?” What a silly boy.

Today’s award goes to Mitt Romney.

Romney adopted the phrase Keep America American, which is kinda nuts on it’s face because what else would America be?  Icelandic?  To me, it’s kinda like saying, Keep Meat Meaty.

But, there’s a deeper meaning than that.  That same exact phrase was used by the KKK when they didn’t think blacks were …. well, you know … people.

When the white supremacist group used “Keep America American,” it was to rally people against blacks American, gay people, Catholics and Jews. When Romney’s used it, as he did in this Los Angeles Times piece, it was to promise that as president he would “keep America American with the principles that made us the greatest nation on Earth.”

And those principles would be?  Diversity?  Tolerance?  Playing fairly?

Nah, probably not.

Glen Maxey’s book of his adventures tracking down rumors about Rick Perry and hoochy koochy with gay men is finally out.

I’ve read it because I’m doing an interview with Maxey for the cover story of a Houston magazine, and my deadline is tomorrow.  Glen Maxey was the first openly gay person to be elected to the Texas Legislature and his integrity is unimpeachable.  “Head Figure Head” is a fun read and a tad suspenseful, too.  It’s not only a tale of Glen’s investigative skills but also of his dealings with a national news source where the story was eventually killed at the absolute highest level at the absolutely most critical time.

I’ve known Glen for almost 20 years and he taught me everything I know about politics.

Is Rick Perry gay?  I’ll let Glen answer that.

Throughout this story, I’ve been careful to refer to Perry’s activities as homosexual or same-sex, never “gay.” That’s because as far as I’m concerned, Rick Perry isn’t gay. He’s a man who has sexual encounters with other men. Those men predominantly identify themselves as gay. But Rick Perry is not, as far as I am concerned, gay.

Being gay is much more than just sex. Being gay is having an emotional relationship with a member of the same sex.

There’s your answer.

Glen’s book is only on Kindle for now – and you can put Kindle on your iPad for free – but the paperback will be out next week.

If you live in Texas …

We do not know when the primary election is or whether there will be one for President and another one two months later for everything else, or a combination of both.

We do not know where the district lines are for congressional, state house, state senate, county commissioner, county constables and justices of the peace, or precinct chairs.  Therefore, we do not know any of the candidates for these offices.

Filing deadline was supposed to be tomorrow but they extended it until Monday.  However, once the Supreme Court rules on redistricting, which we have no idea when, we will re-open filings for a period of time which nobody knows how long or when, and let people get a refund if they don’t want to run for their new district or file if they do.  Even things like sheriff, district and county court judges, tax assessor/collector, and other countywide offices that don’t have districts will also get another chance to file then because … hell if I know.

We also do not know if the Justice Department will pre-clear Voter ID so we do not know what kind of identification you have to have to vote when we do vote.  And right now odds appear pretty good that we eventually will get to vote.  That, however, is fluid and could change tomorrow.

We also do not know if we can do all this in time for the state parties to have conventions this summer to elect delegates to the national conventions.

So, we have no filing deadline, no districts, no candidates, no election date, and no way to vote.

Other than that, everything will proceed as usual.

Please feel free to enjoy this adventure in democracy.

The Eric Holder speech was a stomper and shouter.  I said Amen and volunteered to pass the plate.

I couldn’t help but note that it made news worldwide, if, that is, you count the British as part of the world.

And even the New York Times.

Declaring in a speech that protecting ballot access for all eligible voters “must be viewed not only as a legal issue but as a moral imperative,” Mr. Holder urged Americans to “call on our political parties to resist the temptation to suppress certain votes in the hope of attaining electoral success and, instead, achieve success by appealing to more voters.”

The auditorium holds 1,000 people and it was full.  He got two standing ovations.  We had heard that 500 True the Vote protesters were going to be there.  I saw 3 and all of them needed a bath and a job, at least according to Newt.

If I was you, I’d call Mitt Romney and see if he’d make you one of those $10,000 bets on whether or not the Justice Department is going to pre-clear Voter ID.  You bet NO and cut me in on that deal.

And, yes, I had a grand time at the speech and got to sit front and center with good friends.

By the way, you know that voter fraud thing that we Democrats are supposedly always committing?  Well, lookie here:

A Baltimore jury Tuesday found Paul Schurick, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s campaign manager, guilty of fraud and related charges for his role in an Election Day 2010 robocall — a decision hailed by government watchdog groups who say that for too long dirty tricks have tainted Maryland politics.

The robocall, sent to thousands of voters as Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley swept to a re-election victory, was designed to suppress black votes by telling recipients to “relax” and assuring them that O’Malley had been successful even though the polls had not yet closed, the jury found. The call was scripted to give the impression it was coming from Democrats, not Republicans, jurors said.

Ain’t that something?

Thanks to Ralph for the heads-up on the voter fraud thingy.

Okay, so Juanita has some inside sources who said I could tell you this about the redistricting damn mess in San Antonio.

The Democrats, all of them, want one primary election in Texas, no matter when the Supremes rule. One primary on April 3rd will be fine with us. The Republicans are split down the middle. The candidates want one primary, but the party wants to protect Rick Perry from getting his butt beat by Ron Paul by having a split primary. This will cost every county in Texas about the same as landing on Boardwalk will two hotels.

Consequently, because of Republicans, we have a mess bigger than a herd of three year olds with finger paints. Nobody knows where the district lines are – even including precincts – when the election is, when the true filing deadline for public office is, how we are going to pay for it, or where we vote. Cool, huh?