This morning it was announced that Texas House Speaker Joe Straus will not seek reelection.  Straus is the last remaining sane Republican in a leadership position in the Texas House. He won because a few Republicans and all the Democrats supported him.

There is much moaning and wailing outside the nut house in Texas today.  Straus was all that was standing between Texas outlawing courts of law and replacing them with posses, requiring a stamped Baptist church program or an excuse from your doctor every Monday to get a voter registration card, and having to allow Lt. Governor Dan Patrick watch you pee after inspecting your paraphernalia.

Do you realize that we could end up with Jonathan Strickland as speaker of the Texas House?

Then to make matters worse, the son of  late Democratic Governor Mark White (who was a good guy and passed away in July) has announced the he wants to run for Texas Governor as a Democrat.  His opening push?

“I’ve spent my career in business. I’m a very conservative Democrat, or I’m a moderate Republican or I don’t care what you call me,” he says. “It’s time to move beyond these simple labels . . . The issues are too complicated to limit to that just one team believes this and the other team believes that.”

Honey, Honey, Honey.  I can smell a Republican a mile off.  Child, you’re going to run in a Democratic primary by telling me that you’re not really a Democrat?

It is not a happy day in Texas for Democrats and, dammit, that doesn’t make it much different than any other day.