Redistricting in Texas is a little like a war.  No, that’s not right.  It’s a whole lot like a war.  And Democrats usually get creamed – first by Tom DeLay ten years ago when he tried to marginalize the Democratic Party by targeting every white Democratic congressman in Texas.  With only a couple of notable exceptions, he succeeded.

This explanation is for folks from foreign states who will be enjoy all the fun of Texas redistricting.

Texas Democrats were stunningly unsuccessful in re-taking the state lege for the current  redistricting  despite pumping millions and millions of dollars into pretty-much-worthless consultants who seemed helpless in focusing on a message for the party or in organizing the grassroots.  So, Democrats went into this lege as window dressing only.  The Republicans had a super majority.  The Democrats who were left in the lege showed up only out of habit.

They say that God takes care of drunks and fools.  After I tell you what’s happening in Texas you’ll wonder if Texas Democrats are drunk, fools, or both.   But, mostly you’ll see that Republicans know how to get elected but they do not know how to govern.  In this case, that’s the good news.

The one thing Texas Democrats have going for them is their lawyer, Chad Dunn, who is smarter than an owl with the fifty pound dictionary.

Redistricting gets confusing because lawyers are involved and lawyers get paid to make things confusing.  I will keep this as simple as possible.

Joe Barton, Republican Texas Redistricting Stud

Texas got 4 new congressional seats, mainly through the growth of the Hispanic  population in Texas.  However, Republicans totally screwed Hispanics, giving them no new seats and then gerrymandering all 4 of the new seats to be Republican.  Under the leadership of Congressman Joe Barton, the Republicans figured this money greed thing was working out pretty good for them, so they decided to extend that money greed to power greed.  They trusted that Barton and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott could persuade the United States Department of Justice that screwing Hispanics is sporting and fun.

That appears not to be working very well.  The case is now before a three judge panel in San Antonio, who appear to be redrawing the maps.

Texas Democrats won the first round by having the judges approve a longer filing period than Republicans wanted.

And it’s suspected Democrats will win more.  Let me tell you about one of the Republican judges hearing this.  His name is Xavier Rodriguez.  He was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 2001 by Texas Governor Rick Perry.  He ran for election in 2002 and was soundly defeated in the Republican primary by a unknown named Steven Wayne Smith, even though Rodriguez outspend Smith  $558,000 to $9,500.  You would have to be deaf, dumb, blind and semi-dead not to realize that Rodriguez got beat in the Republican primary by an unknown named Smith for only one reason.  Rodriguez, a grad of Harvard Law, is not stupid.

Daddy Bush eventually appointed Rodriguez to the Federal court, but I imagine the lessons Rodriguez learned about running in the GOP primary while Hispanic might linger.  I don’t know this to be true, but I imagine that if you’re a Republican in a Hispanic-screwing lawsuit, this is  the one judge you don’t want.

So, hang in there for a fun ride.

If you’re keeping a list to hand to people you meet who slam all Islamic people, I have a few you can add.  It’s not been a good week for Christianity.

First there’s the It’s The End of the World As We Know It dude, who after spending $100,000,000 trying to convince people that they should give him all their money because the world was ending, who has been laying low after missing three times.  He leaves behind a flock of penniless and disappointed people.

Not to be outdone, the Rev. Robert Schuller, who led to flock to build The Crystal Cathedral in California, has his church in bankruptcy but is still leading the good life himself.

In fact, he has asked his congregation to prepare meal for his sick wife, who is recovering from pneumonia.

An email sent by Pastor Jim Kok said that Arvella Schuller has been “very weak,” but that church staff and the Schullers wish to keep her situation “under the radar,” so they don’t want get well cards.

“However they would appreciate meals over the next 3-4 weeks,” the e-mail reads.

It also specifies food guidelines such as no salt, fruit plates, meals with protein, no sweets and specifies that egg dishes such as quiche “would be good.”

The email asks that the food be delivered to the Tower Lobby of the church, and said that the food would be delivered by a limo driver.

Some congregants took issue with the fact that a limo driver would deliver the meals.

Ya think?

Okay, the first person to show up with five loaves of bread and two fishes wins my everlasting respect.

Thanks to Carl for the heads up.

There has been much talk in the news lately about socialist whores.

But you have yet to meet the dirty socialist whores.  Oh yes, there is a special breed of socialist whores – the dirty ones.  You know, the ones who claim to be the pure as the driven snow virgins during homeroom but are doing the entire Dallas Cowboy front line in the parking lot after school.

Some of the money from President Barack Obama’s health care law is flowing to places you might not expect.

Two Texas public employee programs are among the top 25 beneficiaries of a $5-billion fund to shore up employer coverage for early retirees, despite Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s vow to repeal what Republicans derisively call “Obamacare.”

And Rick’s not alone.  Jon Huntsman’s family business collected a cool $1 million.

Thanks to Stephen for the heads-up.

A young friend of mine sent me this column about the differences between the TEA Party and Occupy Wall Street.  It boils down to this:  the TEA Party thinks government is the problem.  OWS thinks huge corporations are the enemy.

But there’s an even better way to see the difference.  Here’s a perfect example:

In 2011, Florida succeeded in passing legislation requiring the drug testing of welfare applicants at the urging of Gov. Rick Scott, who rode to office on a wave of Tea Party support. The roughly 113,000 Florida welfare recipients must pay for their own drug test, though their initial welfare payment will cover the cost — assuming they pass. People who fail the test become ineligible for a year, or six months if they can prove they’ve successfully completed drug treatment. A second failed test makes them ineligible for three years.

The Economist magazine’s headlines conveyed the elation Tea Party members must have felt with their legislative victory. Drug testing in Florida: their tea-cup runneth over.

Despite Gov. Scott’s rhetoric, the poor are not drug addicts. Only about 2 percent of Florida’s welfare applicants are failing the test, according to Florida’s Department of Children and Families. After adding up the savings derived from not paying welfare to this 2 percent and subtracting the cost of testing successful applicants, the Tampa Tribune concluded that Florida may save “up to $40,800 to $98,400 for … a program that state analysts have predicted will cost $178 million this fiscal year.” And that’s without factoring in staff hours and other resources.

The TEA party is willing to spend $178 million just to be mean.  No other reason.  They just wanted to be mean and hateful.

Man’s first question to God was, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  And God answered yes.  TEA Party members didn’t hear God.

The TEA Party thinks the lost, the lame, and the least are the enemy.  Not big bankers, not Wall Street, not greed.

They are not about fiscal responsibility or going back to the “founding fathers.”  You’ll notice that they dumped the founding fathers motto of E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one) because the TEA party is still fighting the civil war.  With God on their side, dammit!

The whole article is good with a nice framing of the conflict.

And since it is Friday, smile —

I am of the school of thought that says, “In the Presidential race, Rick Perry is dead.  He just won’t lay down.”  Many people who I respect keep telling me that Rick will bounce back.  I hope they are right because I am certifiably enjoying seeing the national media look into his background when the Texas media wouldn’t.

For example, his love of corporate airplanes.  Rick has taken 200 flights worth a total of $1.3 million from corporate executives and wealthy donors during 11 years as governor.  For free.

Now comes the fun part.  His explanation.  One of his spokesmen said –

When the governor’s staff asks to use a private plane, no promises are made and no consideration is given to whether the owner has an interest in the trip, he said. “Over the years we’ve developed a good feel for supporters and other Texans who own private aircraft that we could ask to use,” Mr. Sullivan said. “The governor bases all of his decisions on his philosophy and on what he believes is best for the citizens of the state.”

And, it is just pure coincidence that every time he uses a corporate or private jet, Perry ends up supporting their pet project.  Pure coincidence.  No cahoooting involved.  Not even one tiny little inconsequential cahoot.

And then the speed of this spin make most people on the ride hang their head over the side and throw up —

Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Mr. Perry, defended the governor’s use of private planes, saying it was part of an effort to save tax dollars. Mr. Sullivan acknowledged “there are critiques to be made” about using state-owned versus private planes, but said “we chose to err on the side of protecting taxpayers.”

Bless Ray’s heart, he truly thinks we believe that Perry’s deals for his rich friends don’t cost the taxpayers of this state more money than an airplane ticket.  Ray has big dreams of making it in the world of reality one day.

Thanks to Stephen for the heads-up.

Elizabeth Warren.

Watch the You Tube and tell me whether you’d rather be in a political party with Elizabeth Warren or Sarah Palin.

And, Teabaggers, you’re going to have to do a lot better than “socialist whore.”  Hell, we’d put that on a tee-shirt and proudly wear it to town.

In fact, I think I already have one around here somewhere.