Tonight we would ask that our customers and friends reflect on the loving kindness we feel for all those we hold dear. In the coming days, we’ll return to the good fight; in the meantime, though, please keep Juanita Jean Herownself, her beloved Bubba, and their family in your highest regard and care.
Good night to all. Peace.
Y’all, there is no other to say this, but my Bubba Don passed away unexpectedly last night.
I’m really not ready to talk about it, but I need time to mourn and heal as best I can. El Jefe has agreed to take over the joint and give me the precious gift of time.
I’m including the first draft on Don’s obituary written by our sons. Please keep us in your prayers.
Judge Donald W. Bankston, 73, of Richmond, passed away on March 24, 2021.
Born and raised in Dallas, Judge Bankston left his hometown to pursue a law degree at the University of Houston. He went private practice in Houston and then moved to Richmond in 1984 as a young lawyer to raised his family.
During the first half of his career, Don served as a prosecutor with the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Over the next half of his career, Don became a local legend in private practice, known for his uncompromising defense of constitutional rights, his battles against police brutality and corruption, and his fierce stands against prosecutorial overreach. He was also a pioneer in the fight to keep junk science out of the courtroom.
Don was also well known as a lifelong community activist and a foundational figure in creating the local Democratic Party. In the GOP-dominated 1990s, Don began the long process of organizing a local party from scratch, and for the next 30 years, he labored tirelessly for the ideals he was so passionate about. To his peers in politics, he was variously known as a true believer, a troublemaker, a negotiator, a rabble-rouser, and a steadfast mentor to a generation of public servants.
During the last years of his life, Judge Bankston was deeply honored to preside in the 268th District Court, a privilege he undertook with great sincerity. Judge Bankston was kind, sympathetic, and accommodating to every party who entered his courtroom, except perhaps to the attorneys representing banks seeking to foreclose for minor HOA fee delinquencies in the midst of a pandemic. His rebuke of these banks was a point of personal pride.
Don is survived by his wife of 50 years, Susan DuQuesnay Bankston, a former teacher, journalist, political humorist, and currently semi-professional grandma, his son Bryan Bankston, a veteran and an artist who works at the Fort Bend County Libraries, his son Mark Bankston, a plaintiff’s lawyer, his daughter-in-law Elizabeth Eakin, an environmental prosecutor, and his grandson Benjamin Bankston, his best buddy in the whole world. Don will be joining his departed son Chip Bankston on the other side, where they can watch Astros games while wearing Hawaiian shirts and reminiscence about riding in the MS-150.
The family plans to announce a public service soon when gatherings become safer. Condolences can be sent to Mark Bankston, Farrar & Ball, LLP, 1117 Herkimer St, Houston, TX 77008. Donations are suggested to the Autism Society of Texas or the Juanita Jean PAC on Act Blue to keep making good trouble.
Texas State Representative Kyle Biedermann is a jerk, a nincompoop, a halfwit, and now a certified liar.
Biedermann told local newspapers …
“On Jan. 6, I, along with thousands of Americans, peacefully marched on our nation’s Capitol to make our voices heard,” he told the newspaper in an email. “It was unfortunate that some used this gathering to sow discord and promote violence.”
Well, golly gee, Kyle, look at this picture taken from a video recorded 1:00, Washington time, and the first barricades were breached minutes before that. Kyle was standing there watching the discord and violence as it happened.
Hey Kyle, your “peaceful protest” killed 5 people. If you were there and you didn’t try to stop it, you are a coward.
No videos have surfaced of Kyle inside the capitol but you can bet your sweet patootie that people are now looking for one or two.
Thanks to Jim for the heads up.
In 2019 and 2020, there were 110 people killed and 266 injured in mass shootings in Texas. There were also 2 cases of proven voter fraud.
So, guess what the Texas Legislature is calling an emergency in Texas? Of damn course, that deathly menace of election fraud haunts bill after bill after committee meetings after testimony.
And right there you have a snapshot of the Republican Party.
Last month’s University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll found 73% of Republican voters in the state believe the results of the last U.S. election were inaccurate. At the same time, 76% of that group said the Texas results, in contrast, are accurate.
And do you know why they think Texas voting was accurate? Well, because Republicans won.
But, the Texas Lege needs a shiny ball to distract from gun violence, a crumbling infrastructure, and an electrical grid on its last legs with outrageously overpaid out of state directors overseeing it. Election reform won. Sorry about that.
Sidney Powell is out talking trash about Sidney Powell. Sidney Powell is trying to wipe blood off Sidney Powell’s hands. Sidney Powell is training for the contortionist olympics.
Come to find out, Sidney Powell is now saying that all her talk about how the election was stolen and how the voting machines were were part of that steal and she could prove it and by gawd the voting machines are a bunch of communists trying to slaughter Donald Trump and good Christian Americans … was ridiculous.
Sued for defamation by the voting-machine vendor in question, Powell is now scoffing in federal court at the idea that anyone could have taken her seriously. “Reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact,” Powell averred in her motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Dominion voting machine makers sued her. Sidney Powell’s answer is that no reasonable person would have believed her. I agree with that but Sidney Powell, of all people, should know that there’s enough unreasonable people – 74 million to be almost exact – to cause plenty of trouble – January 6th to be a damn fact.
I’m not saying that this is bad lawyering, but damn, this sure ain’t good lawyering.
We haven’t heard from Rudy Giuliani yet but I imagine his response will be worth writing home about since Dominion is asking for one billion dollars damages. The pillow guy got sued, too.
Louis DeJoy, Trump’s appointee to Postmaster General is pretty much the last person who should be in that position except for maybe Screwy Louis Gohmert, who has his own issues. Here’s why:
So it’s no surprise that he’s under fire after being nominated by Trump and then confirmed by a board of governors that is dominated by Trump appointees. Historically, the Post Office was strictly non-partisan, including the board of governors, since it served all Americans. In recent years, though, boards have been hyper-partisan, including the FEC and others. Not to be naive, many mega donors are given cush positions in both Dem and Repub administrations after writing big checks; they get ambassadorships, committee seats, even cabinet positions, BUT, and it’s a big BUT, they all go away when their President vacates the WH. Hence the problem. Trump attempted, and in the case of DeJoy succeeded, in appointing partisan supporters to permanent staff positions.
Let’s be honest here; the Post Office has been a target for privatization by Republicans for decades. Where else could you find a multi-billion market that has over 300 million Americans held hostage to it? The independence of the Post Office has been whittled away for years, and the last nail in the coffin was driven in 2006 when the Congress required it to pre-fund 75 years of retiree health obligations. There was no reason to do that except to make it permanently lose money so Republicans could demand that it be privatized to fix it after they broke it.
The problem here is that demanding that the Post Office be cashflow positive is just as silly as demanding that the defense department turn a profit. It’s not set up that way. Unlike Fedex and UPS, the Post Office is mandated to serve ALL Americans, which include those in sparsely populated areas of the country. In fact, if you order anything delivered by Fedex or UPS and you live in a rural area, it’s most likely the Post Office will deliver that package. Just try to drop off a Fedex package in Valentine Texas, population 217. You can mail it, but you can’t Fedex it without driving over 35 miles to Van Horn. Why? Fedex can’t make money having a presence in Valentine. The Post Office doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have that luxury. The amazing thing, though, is that Valentine, and much of rural Texas, is serious Trump country. They rabidly support the guy and his party who’s actively sabotaging their way of life. Go figure.
The worst part of DeJoy being postmaster general is that he’s actively sabotaging the Post Office. During the election, he slashed spending, shortened hours, took out sorting machines in busy hubs, and slashed personnel. Add that to the challenges of the COVID outbreak, and within 3 months the Post Office was delivering over 80% of the mail late, much not at all. Millions of packages were delayed, destroyed, or just plain lost. I believe this effort was to undermine confidence in mail in voting, and in large part that worked. Like many, I decided to return my mail in ballot and vote in person to make sure my vote counted.
There’s simply no excuse for a radical partisan like DeJoy to be within 100 miles from the Post Office, much less running it while shooting the finger to the Congress. He’s cemented in, though, until Biden can get enough governors on the board to fire him. That’s not good enough. DeJoy should be immediately removed for conflicts of interest and gross mismanagement. The fact that Biden (who, unlike Trump, plays by the rules) can’t fix this problem shows just how broken our government is, and it’s long past time to fix it.