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I was going to wait until this story came to an end to tell you folks in foreign states about it, but in Texas it seems that most things never have an end.  And, this is one of them.

In Texas, you can petition your way onto the November ballot.  I like that.  It gives third and fourth and even fifth parties a chance to participate.

To get on the November ballot this year, it takes about 44,000 signatures from registered voters who did not cast ballots in a primary. The Green Party submitted 92,000 signatures for its ticket, topped by gubernatorial candidate Deb Shafto.

And all that is well and good.  Except.  Except the Green Party’s efforts were funded by Republicans in foreign states.

For whatever reason (we have some ideas of our own), the Green Party is represented in the matter by prominent GOP lawyers, including Andy Taylor, who represented business interests in the court battles over ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s defense against allegations of improper use of corporate money in the 2003 congressional redistricting battle, and Steve Smith, a former GOP Texas Supreme Court justice.

You see, if the Greens are on the ballot, Republicans figure, rightly so, that it’ll hurt Democrats.  And, it’s gonna take every trick in the book to reelect Rick Perry.  So, they snuck in late at night and threw money at funding the Greens.

So, a Texas judge threw it out last week —-

An illegal corporate contribution used by the Green Party of Texas to field statewide candidates will keep the party’s nominees off the November ballot, a judge ruled Thursday.

At issue was the origin of about 92,000 petition signatures, valued at $532,500 , that qualified the party for a place on the ballot. Take Initiative America, a Missouri-based nonprofit corporation, gave the Green Party the petitions in May and has not disclosed who paid for the petition-gathering effort at a cost of $4 per signature.

But, it did not end there.

The Greens’ Republican lawyers appealed. And, with a Texas Supreme Court of nine diehard Republicans, the Greens won. And, that’s not all.

Perry’s former chief of staff and close confidant Mike Toomey, who is now a lobbyist, was identified in court testimony as a Republican operative behind efforts to help a Green Party petition drive.

A Perry campaign spokesman has denied Perry or the campaign are involved.

So, Rick Perry is lying, Republican lawyers are playing dirty tricks, and political operatives are taking money under the table.

It’s politics as usual in Texas.

But, it’s still not over and Juanita jean will not have a comment until it is.

The Supreme Court said it wants more information from the parties and could give a final ruling later this month.

So, the lawyers and consultants get rich, the Greens sell their souls to the devil to get on the ballot because most of them are too stoned to get a petition drive organized, and the courts are clogged with this frivolous crap just so judges can do favors for their friends.

I love yew, Texas.