Bay Area Houston

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over Brian Babin. In a letter to his constituents Babin falls for the FBI Secret Society prank based upon a joke between two FBI agents over text. From his email:

These text messages from high ranking FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page show the depth of anti-Trump bias at the FBI and DOJ, which we now know included the existence of a “secret society” to coordinate their efforts. I urge all my constituents regardless of party affiliation to take precautions to protect themselves from possible violation by the FBI. I highly recommend the Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil for best protection.

Babin has also called for an investigation into the Russian meddling in our election. Actually he hasn’t. In fact Babin wants the investigation investigated. It is clear he will do anything to protect trump, his family, and his connections to the Russian government.

Sad.

Someone has to pay for the Trump tax cuts.

As I said before “We have a race!” Congressional District 7 should be a competitive race to unseat the incumbent John Culberson. I find this race interesting because of the fundraising effort.

There are 6 Democrats in the primary with 4 raising serious money for the election according to the latest FEC reports. Joshua Butler and James Cargas have not raised much money with only $10k and $3k cash on hand. Butler was considering a run as an independent then came back to running as a Democrat. With $3,000 he might want to consider running for school board. James Cargas ran before and raised just as little money as he has today. You have to thank Cargas for running when it wasn’t a possible winning district but if you can’t raise money, you can’t raise interest in your candidacy.

Running for office is serious business. It requires serious fundraising efforts. It is extremely hard work but in this day and age money is required to get your name and position out to the voters. If you do not put the time and effort into raising money you will not be a serious candidate. Hopefully Butler and Cargas will bow out and support one of the other candidates. Let’s thank them for running.

So who is left? Alexander Triantaplyllis, Elizabeth Fletcher, Laura Moser, and Jason Westin with Cash on Hand of $535K, $403K, $271K, and $167K respectively. They have each raised $668K, $550K, $401K, $262K. Culberson has $388K and his republican opponent has $90K COH. Westin’s $262K is OK if he was running for State Representative. He might want to reconsider at the next FEC report.

The other 3 have raised significant amounts of money for a primary. The general will require millions to be competitive. It looks like Alex and Elizabeth have the ability to raise this money. Moser might struggle as will Westin. Their next reports might show something different.

It is good to see qualified candidates with the ability to raise money to run a serious campaign. CD7 will be fun to watch. Good luck to the candidates in the primary.

I’ve said it before but I am now convinced it is true. Remember when we used to say “Not all republicans are racists, but all racists are republicans”? The events over the last week have turned the Party of Lincoln into a party for racists. You have to wonder why those who claim “I’m not a racist….” haven’t left the party.

Former republican Joe Scarbrough left the party on national TV. He has been critical of Donald Trump prior to his election and has now moved to being critical of the entire party. Ana Navarro, republican political commentator, has called out Trump and the republican party for over a year now but will not leave the party. She should. Many should. Her party no longer exists. It’s become a safe haven for racists protected by the President of the United States. What is she waiting for?

That all changed last Saturday.

There is no excuse, none, zero, zip, for any republican to remain silent about Trump’s response to the white supremacists and nazis in Charlottesville. As President George W Bush once said “You are either with us or against us. Republicans need to take a side but the vast majority have not.

Our Congressman Brian Babin, representing the Clear Lake area, issued a dimwit response to the violence much like Trump did.

“There is no place in America for the violence and extremism that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. We must stand united against all forms of evil and violence directed at our fellow Americans. I call for a swift and complete investigation by the Department of Justice.”

Way to take a stand Babin. It really isn’t that hard to take a stand and say something like: 

“At least three people were killed and 20 people seriously injured in an act of terror today in Charlottesville. The vile beliefs of the perpetrators of this violence insult our fundamental American values and must be condemned in the strongest terms.  

The President’s talk of violence ‘on many sides’ ignores the shameful reality of white supremacism in our country today, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around such acts of hate.”

The daily caller, a white wing rag founded by Tucker Carlson, wrote that Babin is attempting to obstruct the Russia probe:

Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin is asking for congressmen to sign onto a letter requesting that special counsel Robert Mueller appear publicly in a congressional hearing, The Daily Caller has learned.

“Every nominee for United States Attorney must be confirmed by the Senate, a process that brings to the forefront any concerns regarding the nominee’s ability to hold their position in a decent and impartial manner. However, as Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of lawyers investigate our very own president, we as a nation wait in the dark with very little information about those given this great authority,”

Babin is considered armed with dangerous misinformation and should not be trusted to tell the truth. Last seen with Donald Trump.

As I have said in the past:

We have a saying here in Texas “We do things bigger in Texas”. It isn’t really true, but its a cheap simple minded saying to make Texas seem like it’s something it isn’t. But Texas does have some of the biggest idiots elected to office.

Case in point Congressman Blake Farenthold from the Corpus Christi area commenting on Republican female Senators not voting for repeal of the ACA. From the Texas Tribune:

“Some of the people that are opposed to this, there are female senators from the Northeast … If it was a guy from South Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.”

In 1804, Aaron Burr famously shot and killed his political adversary, Alexander Hamilton, in a New Jersey duel.

This type of rhetoric shouldn’t surprise anyone especially voters in the Corpus area. They have elected this man 4 times since the great wave of tea baggers of 2010. This type of talk is not only accepted, it seems to be required from their elected officials. Farenthold has made other jaw dropping comments in the past. Go ahead and look it up. He is a tough talking swaggering Texan until he gets on TV at which time he seems to cave to common sense.

Well this IS exciting!

According to the Federal Elections Committee there are 7 (yes 7) Democratic candidates seeking the nomination in the primary in order to challenge John Culberson. One thing about raising money. The more you raise, the more you raise. When contributors see you have the ability to raise money they tend to give money. The FEC has  reports for all candidates here. According to the Houston Chronicle:

A crowded field of Democrats eyeing a chance to take on Republican John Culberson in his west Houston congressional seat have raised more than $1.2 million in the last three months, according to new campaign finance reports.

Maybe we ought to give Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick what they want, a mean spirited, hateful, unnecessary bathroom bill  targeting the transgender community. This is what they want. This is what their party wants and it will come with heavy consequences.

Abbott has been warned by the NCAA and the NFL about pushing and passing an unnecessary bill that targets specific members of the community. Texas could lose any future consideration of a Super Bowl in Houston or Dallas with a loss of hundreds of millions. The NCAA has warned of relocating the 2018 Final Four from San Antonio. They could also move the FCS Football Championship game. The A&M and Arkansas game could be moved from Jerry Jones stadium.

Businesses such as IBM, who has been vocal in their opposition, could stop any expansion in the state. Many would reconsider relocating to Texas. Other state governments could ban travel to Texas. Conventions would be relocated. The financial impact to the state could be huge hurting people who depend upon these businesses for their economical well being. According to the Texas Tribune:

Also Monday, CEOs and top executives from more than a dozen major Dallas-based corporations — including American Airlines, AT&T and BNSF Railway — delivered letters to Abbott, Patrick and Straus decrying the bathroom bill as a proposal that would “seriously hurt the state’s ability to attract new businesses, investments and jobs.”

But that doesn’t matter to Abbott or Patrick. They are more concerned with attacking a specific group of Texans than representing all Texans. Maybe we, as a state, need the bill to pass so the threats can become a reality. If Jerry Jones, the city of Frisco, San Antonio, and Houston will not stand up and speak up then they need to suffer the consequences of Abbott’s hate.

Abbott will continue to defend the bill as he has said “You want me in that stall. You need me in that stall. When you put your hand in a pile of poo that was once your best friends burrito…..”.

I’ve said it before:

We have a saying here in Texas “We do things bigger in Texas”. It isn’t really true, but its a cheap simple minded saying to make Texas seem like it’s something it isn’t. But Texas does have some of the biggest idiots elected to office.

Case in point. According to CNN:

Starting this fall, adults in Texas can openly carry knives with blades longer than 5.5 inches. In fact, swords, spears, daggers, sabers, bowie knives and machetes are all perfectly fine to tote around. Pretty much anything you can whip out in a Dungeons and Dragons battle is fair game.

As someone on Facebook said “You never know when you might be attacked by a snake or bison.” So not only do we have to watch play soldiers walk around with their hands on their guns we also have to worry about Texas sized idiots carrying knives, swords, and machetes!