3.05.2020

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Well, I'll be. After all the returns for the Primary Elections came in, there were more Democrats who voted than Republicans in Texas. 2,076,046 to 2,008,385, (h/t Bud Kennedy.)
  • Nothing like a congressman doing bits. (Yep, this is real.)
  • Oh, the comments. 
  • Hey, I dog the Tarrant County DA's office all the time, but they deserve high praise for this. For years, I've been ranting against charging people with crimes because of traffic accidents. 
  • But because people over the past 10 years have been persecuted for having traffic accidents, you now have folks too scared to stop because of what the government might do to them. Case in point:
  • And Another. Offered with out comment. 
  • In case you missed it, Dairy Protesters (yep, they exist) rushed the stage that Joe Biden was on Tuesday night. In a fantastic photo, here's Jill Biden going on the offensive.
  • Fake Weatherman, unlike myself, have now resorted to using the term "embedded thunderstorms" to distract from their erroneous forecasts which predicted the heavy rains yesterday would be centralized to the south of the metroplex. 

  • This was pretty funny. Here's the quick video.
  • She lost, 52% to 48%, but she will always love that photo. 
  • Well, this is a cluster. These two guys were running for seat on the Court of Appeals in Amarillo. The final vote had Denny with 46,002 and Doss with 45,683. Hey, that's close. Really close. But wait. The entire race was left off the ballot in Cochran County and Collingsworth County. What do you do now?
  • Hey, it's about time for the Liberally Lean March Madness Pick 'Em Tournament, and I want everyone to know I'm tricking it up this year. Big time. Every tournament has the same old boring scoring system, so I'm turning mine into a bit. Here's what I'm looking at: A system which will massively reward you for picking upsets in the first two rounds. After that, you get a massive point reward (40 points) for picking the lone winner but not much else. Heck, upset picks in the first two rounds are worth more than correctly picking a team to reach the final four. (I screwed up the sign-up link last year but this link should work.)
  • Pudge Rodriguez unveiled his statue at the new Rangers' ballpark yesterday. Bizarre fact since we all consider him to be a humble guy:  Rodriguez "actually commissioned a statue of himself years ago that once decorated his house in Miami." 

  • Breaking: The coronavirus was just confirmed in Africa. Please panic accordingly. 


at 8:32 AM

3.04.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Every Texas political junkie last night was saying this at 10:00 p.m.: "How in the year of our dear Lord 2020 does it take this long to get election results?" (Wise County, in contrast, had them almost before you got home.)
  • I, for one, will always miss the day where Wise County Clerk Sherry Parker on election night would come out to the lobby of the clerk's office every 30 minutes and write the most recent results on a white board. And we'd get to hear things like, "The boxes from Cottondale and Newark still aren't here yet." 
  • After trailing for most of the night in Texas, Biden finally beat Sanders. That was very reminiscent of how Beto led Cruz for most of the night until the more rural counties, and the more "conservative" voters, were all counted. 
  • But don't think for a minute this was a massive win for Biden in Texas. Because Texas allocates the delegates - it's not a winner take all state - Biden will end up with a handful of more Texas delegates than Sanders. (We don't know the exact delegate allocation yet because we have to see if Bloomberg cracks 15% which would change the way the delegates are divvied up.) 
  • Congratulations to Kay Granger for defeating Chris Putnam who was supported by millions of dollars in SuperPAC money and, oddly, the Wise County Sheriff. Granger carried Wise County, as well.
  • In the vote to replace Wise County's other House representative, ex-White House physician Ronny Jackson (21%) is headed to a runoff against Josh Winegarner (41%), an ex-Phil Gramm/John Cornyn staffer. Bridgeport's own Elaine Hayes had 7.67%. 
    You know Trump knows nothing about you when he gives you the boilerplate
     crime/border/troops/guns endorsement.
  • Trying to vote in Tarrant and Dallas counties was a nightmare, and it was even worse in other parts of the the state. This should never, ever happen. And even Mrs. LL noticed that the Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy was royally pissed off. But some people had a stick-to-it quality you just had to admire. 
  • Here's my hottest political opinion: Tarrant County is about to have a Fall and Near Future Political Bloodbath.
    • Even with the shortage of Democrat voting machines in Tarrant County, the Dems had 152,676 turn out (55%) vs. 122,802 for Republicans (45%). (Unofficial numbers.)
    • For all those local politicians in Tarrant County who are subject to a county-wide vote and who fear the county turning Blue, they just became a lot more nervous last night. 
    • This will probably most interest lawyers, but I think this is a fascinating predictor: There are eight Republican district judges who have drawn a Democrat opponent. (The 48th, 67th, 96th, 153rd, 213th, 342nd, 360th, and CDC #2). In each of those races last night, those Republicans all received around 99,000 votes. Their opponents who appeared on the Democratic ballot, in contract, got around 110,000 votes. As a specific example for the upcoming General Election preview, in CDC #2 Republican Wayne Salvant received 98,454 votes while his Democratic challenger, Karen Williams, received 112,654. 
    • The general election, and the Trump Turnout, might very well change the numbers, but I bet you will see the beginning of every judgeship in Tarrant County start to turn Democrat this fall. If not then, it absolutely will happen in 2022.
    • That's exactly what happened in Dallas and Harris Counties and now it will happen to Tarrant. The reverse, Democrat to Republican, happened in Tarrant County in the late 1980s, so it's not like this is uncharted territory. 
    • Now you know why the Republican controlled Texas legislature just got rid of straight-ticket voting.
  • By comparison, Wise County had 10,142 Republicans vote (85%) compared to 1,842 Democrats (15%). Ain't nothing changing her. 
  • And Texas still looks Red based upon the total votes: 1,990,012 (R) vs. 1,617,703 (D) by last count
  • Ticket Fans: Jan McDowell didn't make the runoff for the House District 24 after receiving only 10.2% of the vote. 
  • On obscure statewide races like the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, I've always wondered how many votes I'd get if I didn't spend a dime but still got my name on the ballot. Let's face it, no one knows who to vote for when you see those names come up on the ballot. People just pick a good looking name. And, let's face it, I've got a good looking name: "Barry Green." Five letters each. Repeating letters in the third and fourth positions.  Heck, it's the Brad Pitt of names. 
  • As seen below, why are there so many DWI cases being tried this week in Tarrant County with an alleged alcohol concentration greater than 0.15? I watch this trial board all the time and it's unusual to see even one. They should all be resolved by the plea process. My conspiracy theory is that misdemeanor prosecutors are cherry-picking to help their winning percentage, but that's just a wild guess.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:33 AM

3.03.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • Coronavirus American death toll: 6. People killed in tornadoes last night in Tennessee: 9. Edit: 22 dead.
  • Oh, come on. 
  • Wise County, here are your voting locations today. Side note: I'm not sure why the person in charge of the official Wise County website didn't want to type out "Early Voting" and "Election Day" instead of using "EV" and "ED." And we all know "LAT notice" means the notice of the "Location" of "Automatic Tabulating" equipment testing. Spoiler alert: It was back in January.
  • Spot the problems. (It's been deleted.)
  • Flashback to Texas Republican primary voting in 2016. (Voter turnout was 19.92% by the way.)
  • Wise County was pretty much in line with the state as Cruz received 5,514 votes to Trump's 3,488. But turnout was 30.05%. (All county results are broken down here.)
  • Brit Hume posted a screenshot off his laptop early this morning and forgot about an open browser tab. The tweet was up for about two hours before he deleted it.
    . . . which leads to . . . 

  • Dateline Austin. This is why we can't have nice things.
  • When the President of the United States wants to be petty early in the morning but can't spell.
  • AT＆T TV launched nationwide this week. It's really kind of confusing. It's a streaming package but you need a box instead of just a "Smart TV". And it comes with a long-term contract that jumps to $93 after the first year. And if it basically sounds like DirecTV without the dish, it is. The plan is for it to replace DirecTV. Here's the C|Net article. 
  • What are we going to do without those Bloomberg ads? Today is the last day.


at 8:30 AM

3.02.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • I think I've come down with the CoronaTiredHead virus.
  • Let's get an update from the mayor of San Antonio as of last night.
  • When the news broke Saturday morning that someone in Washington state had died from the coronavirus, Trump abruptly called a press conference to tell us all is well. "Unfortunately, one person passed away overnight. She was a wonderful woman, a medically high-risk patient in her late 50s." Then every other official who spoke expressed condolences to her family.  Uh, the person who died was a man.
  • It's only been three days, but this didn't age well. 
  • Although it is curious why this Administration thinks that not a single female has anything to offer during this crisis, Pence's wife will be happy to know he wasn't alone with a woman for lunch. 
  • If you turn the crank at any speed, it will pop out one penny every 4.97 seconds. You can use it eight hours a day if you wish. Would you do it? If so, you are willing to work for the current minimum wage. 
  • The Bridgeport Sissies lost to Argyle in playoff basketball yesterday, but in the third quarter they trailed only 23-22. Crazy stat: All of the 23 points by Argyle at that point had been scored by one girl. 
  • Oprah busted it this weekend. Video.
  • DPS announced last week that, because of money, its labs will not test misdemeanor amounts of alleged marijuana to determine if the substance submitted is legal hemp (with a THC content of 0.3% or less) or illegal marijuana (with a THC level of greater than 0.3%). There's no other way to say it: You can no longer be successfully prosecuted in Texas for the misdemeanor offense of possession of marijuana under 4 ounces. That's not to say you won't still be arrested and a prosecutor might try to bluff you into pleaing to something, but they can't win the case without a lab report. And the only lab they have which won't charge them for testing  is the labs run by DPS.
  • Everyone loves bits. 
  • The jury, not the judge, found him guilty. The jury, not the judge, sentenced him to death. The jury, not the judge, also pander for the media and try to make it "all about me." And the, "We'll give you a fair trial before we hang you" is not a good look. (Side note: I looked for the origin of that saying thinking it was a pretty famous quote, but couldn't find it.)
  • So Tony Romo is going to be paid $17 million a year to be a color commentator for CBS? Maybe Bernie Sanders is right about the distribution of wealth in the country. But you know who is hopping mad at his agent this morning? Troy Aikman who had been with Fox for 19 years and is paid $7.5 million a year. 
  • If you want to know why I make fun of Diamond and Silk all the time, please watch this one minute excerpt of them speaking at CPAC.
  • In case anyone needs to be reminded of who we are, the Update gives us these early voting numbers for Wise County: 5,136 votes in the Republican primary and 695 in the Democratic primary.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:34 AM

2.28.2020

It's Friday. Let's Get Out of Here.








at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Well, since it's "All Coronavirus, All The Time", I'll just spend the weekend alone with my new friends. 
  • I suppose the stock market crash is due to the "fears of the coronavirus impact on the global economy", but I've been waiting for this mini-crash for five years. And it really needs to fall another 15% to get the entire needed "correction" out of its system. 
  • But let's check in on Trump during yesterday's steep stock market drop:
    Diamond and Silk spittin' pearls of wisdom.

    Hey, that's the new crazy Spiritual Advisor who is kinda hot. If I were
    Melania, I'd keep my eye on her. 
  • Let's randomly check in on Oklahoma State alum Garth Brooks performing in Detroit. I always knew he was a bleeding heart, snowflake commie. 

  • Can we put this photo in the Smithsonian to document how America went crazy during these years?
  • I've never seen the Netflix docuseries The Staircase, and I'm not sure why. I love crime documentaries. 
  • Prager University didn't like how it was being treated by YouTube so its lawyers, who apparently are about as smart as the fake University's founder, decided to argue that the First Amendment applied to a private entity like YouTube.  They were thrown out of court yesterday. You are basically being called a horrible lawyer when an appellate court says: "PragerU runs headfirst into two insurmountable barriers—the First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent."
  • Speaking of the First Amendment, who ya got in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick vs. Gun Violence Protester?  This is actually a fantastic legal question which was probably settled in Cohen vs. California (1971). Patrick posted this yesterday, but I'm having trouble finding where he got the photo. 
  • Very legal nerd stuff that makes my head spin because of some spare case out of Waco two days ago:
    • The State of Texas charged a guy with possessing prescription medication without a prescription. (Yep, that's a crime even though most of you have borrowed a hydrocodone from a friend or spouse from time to to time. It's a misdemeanor.) 
    • The State told the Defendant in the formal charge what the drug was that he illegal possessed:  Acetaminophen. (Remember that.)
    • The Defendant then entered into a plea bargain and agreed to do 180 days in the Hill County Jail. (Good lord. Is he being prosecuted by Hill County Nazis? And why is he agreeing to do 180 days?)
    • Despite the plea bargain, he was allowed to appeal because he had filed a Motion to Suppress claiming the search of his car was illegal.  (But this is weird in its own right. Yes, he has that right but normally the State requires you to waive any right to appeal in order to get the plea bargain. It's a, "Hey, we'll offer you x but only if you agree to give up your right to appeal on the Motion to Suppress." That didn't happen here.)
    • Then it gets weirder. The appellate lawyer actually reads the charge against the Defendant and found out that Acetaminophen is nothing other than Tylenol. Yep, the State screwed up. And the Defendant didn't catch it and agreed to do 180 days in jail for possessing simple Tylenol.
    • So now the Defendant, who planned on appealing the ruling on the Motion to Suppress, has a whole new ground to pursue on appeal: "They charged me with possessing over the counter medicine! That ain't right!"
    • Now the State's lawyer on appeal, who also discovers for the first time they had charged the guy with possessing Tylenol,  just gives up and "confesses error." They admit the screwed up, and tell the appellate court they should have charged him with possessing the prescription type of Tylenol which has codeine in it. But their falling on the sword comes with a catch: They are going to go after the Defendant again once the court of appeals reverses this case.
    • So the Court reverses but, with little fanfare, orders an out-right acquittal.  (They really didn't spend any time on denying the State's request to just reverse the case and let the re-plead it and prosecute the defendant again.)

    • (I'll admit, this case in the future now gets even more complicated. Is it double jeopardy? Can they prosecute him again with the corrected charge? If I wanted a day researching it, I'd give you and answer.)
    • But, wait! There's more! There is even a dissent in this case. It basically says, "Hey, State, why the heck are you confessing error? The law in this area is really complicated, and I can save your arse by ruling that the Defendant should have objected to being charged with just possessing Tylenol. And since he didn't catch that you screwed up the charge, he needs to spend that 180 days in jail he agreed to do!" Really. That's what the dissent really means. And just check out how crazy the dissent starts:
    • All this over allegedly possessing prescription Tylenol without a prescription.
    • Let me repeat again what I now want engraved on my tombstone: "Too many cops. Too many prosecutors."
  • So how do I know about a Waco appellate case that got reversed yesterday? You want to know what a legal nerd I am? I've got some computer programming skills* so I designed an online program that, once you enter a date, searches every appellate court in Texas and let's you know if a case was been reversed on appeal that day. (Once you enter the date and hit "Run", you've got to wait about 20 seconds until every court is searched and then the results appear.)  *Cue the Napoleon Dynamite voice.
  • A faithful reader tipped me off to this: A Pilot Point police officer was arrested yesterday on assault charges. That's not that big of a deal in itself, but the reader noticed this: The arrest was made by Denton PD and, once arrested, Denton PD released the guy's mugshot to the media.  But two years ago, Denton PD arrested one of their own for assault and refused to release the mug shot: "Denton police spokesman Bryan Cose said the department would not release Beckwith's jail booking photograph until an indictment was made by a grand jury. Unless Beckwith gives written consent, Cose said they're not allowed to release the photo under section Sec. 143.090 of the local government code." 


at 8:30 AM
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