Link In testimony this past week, Alberto Gonzales left open the possibility that President Bush could order warrantless wiretaps on domestic conversations, in direct defiance of the fourth amendment and multiple high court rulings. When the wiretap story broke, we were assured that the only warrantless wiretaps that were allowed in America were international calls that included a terror suspect on one or both sides of the conversation, despite the fact that under FISA law warrants can ...
An interesting bit of news came across my desk the other day. Seems there is an independent who has filed to be considered on the ballot in my race. Because he filed as an independent, though, he needs to gather 500 signatures to get on the November ballot (harder than it seems--those 500 cannot have voted in either of the primaries or in a third party convention, such as Libertarian). He filed under the impression he was the only other candidate on the ballot. I called him and spoke with him...
In the recent discussion on the resignation of Texas Representative Tom Delay, I expressed a frustration with the status quo that preserves the GOP's place on the ballot, no matter what. I had to file, and every other candidate had to file, by January 2 to be on the November ballot, and I believe that the same should be said for Delay's replacement. Heck, we're even a month and a half past the Texas Ethics Commission's deadline for Personal Financial Statements (the biggest barrier to candidates...
The following information was copied from a Libertarian candidates newsgroup, of which I am a part. My comments follow at the bottom: With news that Tom DeLay is withdrawing from his House reelection contest, the question is what happens now in his race. It appears that the following is the applicable Texas law (putting aside any caselaw that might affect interpretation of these chapters): Under Texas Election code section 1.005(7) , DeLay was running in a 'General electi...
Now I have the district, county and precincts out of the way. I mailed the required forms to the Secretary of State to be on the ballot in November. One more hurdle down on the race to the statehouse. I would like to point out that I am, technically ahead of Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman in this regard, as he has yet to collect all the signatures necessary for ballot access. I am ahead not because I have worked harder, but because of the ballot access efforts of the Libertarian Part...
A news story yesterday revealed that my esteemed opponent in the upcoming race for Texas State House of Representatives is headed down to Austin to drum up his support for the school finance bill that will be the subject of the sixth special session of the state House and Senate to discuss this very issue. He's trying to be the knight in shining armour, declaring that he will cut property taxes to fund the schools, because the issue revolves around property taxes, state law, and a Texas Supreme ...
George Bush is once famously quoted as saying that the US would be easier to govern as a dictatorship if he were the dictator. While I've never heard this quote directly, I have often heard it attributed to him (mostly by critics). He appears to have taken steps to make the US easier to govern over the years. Operating with a solid base of UnConstitutional legislation from his predecessor, Bush used the tragedy of September 11, 2001 to further erode our rights and remove our government furthe...
Flashback to 1985. I was a 15 year old idealogue. A friend of mine and I climbed out of my 1976 Cutlass S (with swivel bucket seats...WAY cool at parties!) and went down into the dank basement of a church in my hometown. Around the table sat about 20 people, many of whom were college professors, doctors, and other intellectuals within the community. After I was introduced, I was excited, as they began talking about situations near and dear to my heart: The apartheid system in South Africa, th...
The Dubai ports deal has pointed out an amazing inconsistency among the left. Maybe they should have a little powwow and get their stories straight rather than rely on talking points to guide them in policy making decisions. You see, since September 12, 2001, the liberals among us have insisted that Islam is a "religion of peace", and that we shouldn't consider terrorist extremists as representatives of Islam. Over the last couple of years they've taken it upon themselves to relabel the terro...
Last year's film "Good Night and Good Luck" ressurrected the image of Joseph McCarthy, and I have found it interesting that many right wing pundits, in their zeal to attack George Clooney, have gone to great lengths to redeem the image of the tarnished senator. The movie about Edward R. Murrow's efforts to bring down McCarthy is one political movie that was necessary for Hollywood to make. In fact, it was long overdue. Many actors, screenwriters, and other entertainers lost their livelihoods...
While politics have always been heated because of conflicts of various sides, our ability to succeed has always been contingent on a minimum level of civility. Sure, many conflicts have been less than civil, but at the end of the day, politicians should make decisions as to the best interests of their constituents. The current flap with President Bush is no exception. Bush won his second term as president in 2004, and his term of office expires in January of 2009. After that, he cannot hold t...
As the debate rages on about the UAE ports deal, I have found a very interesting fact as I have listened to where various pundits fall on the issue. Oddly enough, opinions on the ports deal are NOT falling along party lines. This is probably the first area of politics I have found where Michael Medved, George Bush, and Jimmy Carter can all be found on the same side. I will be the first to admit, when I first heard about the ports deal, I had a bad feeling about it. VERY bad. And, in fact, had...
I just finished reading "Protecting Children from Child Protective Services" by Alan L. Schwartz. This is not the ravings of some anti-government conspiracy theorist against CPS, but of a worker who has seen the system from the inside and has several strong solutions. While Mr. Schwartz and I disagree on many issues, mainly the fundamental one of whether CPS should even exist in a perfect world, we have a common goal of the best interests of the children and families. One of the things that...
I've watched with interest the debate over the deal that would sell several ports in the United States to the United Arab Emirates from a British company. Although I must admit the deal had several alarm bells ringing in my head when it was first announced, I am starting to believe that this deal should, in fact, go through. While it is true that several terrorists have hailed from the UAE, it is irresponsible to consider that as reflective of the mood of the nation. Just as Lynndie England i...
When the cartoons satirizing the prophet Mohammed were published in a Danish newspaper and the Muslim community acted with outrage, we took notice. But was the outrage of the Muslim community genuine, or was it a staged attempt to feed the media examples of Islamic "persecution" to justify to the Western world the motivation of an Islamic suicide bomber, which is, for the most part, wholly incomprehensible to us? The fact is, I would be willing to wager a fair sum that not one individual read...