There’s a backstory that you folks from foreign states don’t know.  It goes like this.

The Travis County District Attorney is in charge of prosecuting public integrity in the state of Texas.  If a public official anywhere in the state commits a crime, the Travis County DA can prosecute it.  An example of this would be Tom DeLay.

Since it should not fall solely on the tax burden of the good people of Travis County, funding the public integrity unit is funded by the state of Texas.

The current Travis County DA, Rosemary Lehmberg, caught herself a DWI early last year.  She admitted guilt and spent 45 days in jail, paid a fine and had her law license suspended for 90 days – a punishment much tougher than any other first time DWI offender.  Lehmberg is a Democrat.  If she were to resign, Governor Rick Perry would appoint her successor.  The last damn thing this state needs is a Republican government and a Republican making them behave.  Cahooting would become our official  state pastime.

Lehmberg refused to resign.  The Republicans tried to make her by suing in civil court to have her removed.  They lost.

Now is when it gets really good.

Governor Rick Perry threatened her.  Last summer, Rick announced that either Lehmberg step down or he would veto funds to keep the public integrity unity open.  I’m gonna remind you that this was on the heels of accusations that the Lt. Governor of Texas, a Republican, falsified a time stamp during the Wendy Davis filibuster.

Since Perry got beat in court under the rule of law, he took the fight to the street by the rule of bully.

She stood firm.  And, as threatened, Rick Perry vetoed $2.7 million to keep the public integrity unit open.

Hell yeah, that’s coercion.

The Travis County DA’s office recused themselves from getting involved in this so the neighboring Williamson County DA’s office (which is run by a Republican) appointed a special prosecutor to see if Rick Perry violated the law.  The special prosecutor, a man named Michael McCrum, has worked for both Democrats and Republican.

Okay, seven months later, brings us to today.

Stopping short of saying he thinks a crime was committed, a special prosecutor said he is troubled by the actions of Gov. Rick Perry in carrying out a threat last year to withhold state funding from Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s office unless she resigned after a DWI charge.

“I cannot elaborate on what exactly is concerning me, but I can tell you I am very concerned about certain aspects of what happened here,” San Antonio attorney Michael Mc-Crum said in an interview this week with the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV. Asked if his concerns pointed specifically at Perry or his staff, McCrum said, “Yes.”

Oh, yeah.

They will convene a grand jury the middle of this month.

Anybody want to go to the trial with me?

What’s next for Rick?  Dancing With the Felons?

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Okay, Salon has an interview today with Salon, Chuck Thompson makes a well reasoned and research article that the South should secede and the North should let them.

We should get a divorce.

I have only one thing to say:  if you sumbitches leave me alone down here without giving me time to escape, I’m gonna come right upside your head with a jug of hacked-off juice.

You have been warned.

Thanks to Irene for the heads up.

As promised, the GOP primary race for Lt. Governor has been more fun than recess in heaven.

Dan Patrick is exactly like Ted Cruz except with more dumb and ego. Dewhurst, the incumbent, is one of those dreaded moderates who has actually shaken hands with a Democrat. Dewhurst, of course, is gonna get killed in the run-off next month.

And then there’s this in the Dewhurst camp:  two of his top campaign people have packed up their bags and left the campaign fast enough to play pitcher and catcher at the same time.

So, here we are, Dewhurst is not only losing but he’s being humiliated by people who were supposed to help him.

Which makes his opponent Dan Patrick and the Democrats both as happy as a cow in a field of belly-high clover.

Patrick is charmed by it all because the one thing you want most is your opponent sloshing around in muck when early voting starts 25 days.

Democrats are charmed by it all because Dan Patrick is not charmed.  He’s the meanest man you’ve ever met.  Given a chance, he would have rooted for Goliath.  This is the truth – he was baptized in vinegar.

Democrats have State Senator Leticia Van De Putte, a doozy.  She’d storm hell with both hands tied behind her back and her rudder missing.  Moderate Republicans with a lick of sense are knocking on her door.

So pretty much everybody is happy today, but Dan Patrick’s happy has the shelf life of a tomato.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up and John for the cool graphic.

I’m a woman.  Please forgive my small brain.  I can’t help it.  I was born that way.

It is a well-known scientific fact that testosterone makes a brain bigger and therefore smarter.  And, that toting around a set of ta-tas is a brain drain.

Charles Murray

I am so glad to know that the man who wants to be our next Governor recognizes gender science as being valid and, you know, scientific.  The Republican nominee for Governor, Greg Abbott, quotes Charles Murray in Abbott’s education plan to cut pre-K and kindergarten programs in Texas to the tune of $200,000,000.  But, all those zeros are justified because Charles Murray has set American straight about things like women, minorities, and the poor.

Especially women.

“No woman has been a significant original thinker in any of the world’s great philosophical traditions,” he wrote. “Women have produced a smaller number of important visual artists, and none that is clearly in the first rank. No female composer is even close to the first rank. Social restrictions undoubtedly damped down women’s contributions in all of the arts, but the pattern of accomplishment that did break through is strikingly consistent with what we know about the respective strengths of male and female cognitive repertoires.”

Yep, women be dumb.  Duh dumb.  And don’t even get Charles Murray started on minorities.

In Charles Murray’s world, white rich males are the smartest.  So, I guess I’m wondering how all these white rich males running our state government got us into the biggest damn mess I’ve ever seen.  Maybe they’ve been over-bred, I dunno.

Honey, when all that stands between you and a rock bottom education system is the state of Mississippi, you’re in big trouble.  Two more rich white boys move to Mississippi and you’re dead last.

Y’all, this is just a heads up.  I don’t think I’m going to make it to November without blowing a gasket.  You’re gonna show up here one day and all you’re going to see is my pounding forehead on the keyboard.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

I hate Republicans.  I do.

I know we all have a First Amendment right, but by gawd, nobody’s voice should be louder than anybody else’s.

I have worked hard, lived a good life and I follow the law.  If she wanted to, Paris Hilton could have a louder voice than I do in about serves in congress because she inherited money.

Damn.

Another crappy decision from the boys.