1.13.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Texas hospitalizations: Back to setting new records. (And, by all accounts, our neighbor Tarrant County is getting crushed.)

  • Here is a new video with the best angle of the shooting of the lady in the Capitol while trying to make her way to a chamber of Congress. (Graphic.) They finally bashed that window out on the right and, the second she tried to go through it, they dropped her. 

  • Mitch McConnell is no longer on the Trump Train. This doesn't mean at all that the Senate will vote to impeach, but this is the official notification that the Republican Party wants nothing to do with the Donald Trump.  It's over. Or they split the Republican Party. Those are now the choices.


  • Republican Liz Chaney in the House, joined by a few other Republicans, minced no words as she announced she will vote to impeach. 

  • I think this is right:

  • The halls of the nation's Capitol this morning - the National Guard sleeping in the hallways and awakening in the adjacent underground visitors center:


  • Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol yesterday preventing law makers from carrying guns into the Chambers -- a Congressional rule. Republicans revolted.  The problem is that there are now admitted QAnon supporters serving in Congress that this country was dumb enough to elect -- they are capable of anything. 


  • Compare and contrast: Concealed license holders can even open carry in the Texas Capitol.  (Heck, anyone might be able to carry a long rifle in there just like you can walk down the street with one. I'm not sure if they've prohibited that. I should know, but I don't.)
  • Speaking of the Texas Capitol, here is Texas Republican Chairman Allen West posing with wannabe militia members yesterday.  And DPS Troopers brought a show of force. 


  • Add Walmart to the list of corporations (Marriott, Citibank, AT&T, Dow) now halting political donations to Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the election results.

  • Did you know that similar charges ("DEER FAIL TO KEEP IN EDIBLE CONDITION") are pending against someone in Wise County and that person is represented by the former leader and lawyer of the Proud Boys?  Twenty-two cases were filed on December 28, 2020 in Justice of the Peace #2. Just an observation. 

  • I'm no college football expert (well, I kind of am), but I'm not sure if I'd be firing off this edict on the first day on the job without talking to my players first -- players which have already proven they don't want to sing the song. 

  • \Messenger: Above the Fold 



at 8:31 AM

1.12.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Texas hospitalizations: An uptick from yesterday. 

  • Covid and Alabama. I wasn't sure this was real when I saw the crowd online, but then CBS posted it.  (There's a video in the link - the crowd is much larger.)

  • Regarding the end of college football season, AP voters had to send in their final ballots after last night's game. Nathan Baird of Cleveland.com accidentally voted for Texas Tech at #5 instead of the Aggies.  It apparently got fixed a couple of hours later. 

  • Yesterday, in the same day, Wise County got a new County Court at Law Judge and a new District Attorney. These are positions which change maybe once every couple of decades. Now you know why I did that multi-bullet point on Friday talking about a "24 hour window" just as a mental exercise? There was a lot going on behind the scenes. 
  • An amazing opening to this story: 


  • Boardroom backlash:  Many major corporations have announced they will no longer donate to the campaigns of those Republican Congressman who voted for treason by objecting to accepting the votes of electoral college after the MAGA mob tried to overthrow the government.



  • Example of a DFW Congressman running scared. You own it, buddy. Why are you deleting it?

  • For Wise County record-keeping: Kay Granger did not vote to overturn the election. (She literally did not cast a vote because of COVID issues.) Ronny Jackson, a Trump lap dog, voted for sedition.  But someone explain to me the vote of Texas freshman right-winger Beth Van Dunne out of Irving. She voted no on one objection but yes on the other -- the only person to split her votes. From listening to her in general, she might not be smart enough to understand that a "nay" vote meant she was voting against the objection. Maybe someone explained it to her before the second vote.

  • In case last Wednesday's riot wasn't telegraphed enough beforehand, the terrorists are at it again. I presume bringing your own zip ties is optional. 
    Source: Parler

  • I pointed out the guy with the "Sheriff" jacket yesterday, and now the feds are specifically looking for him. 

  • Oh, good lord. 

  • Let's lighten up the room a bit: Random car driving through wet cement in Southlake on Friday night. 

  • Random impressive snowman out of Stephenville from Sunday night. Seriously, that's top notch:

  • Ok, back to business: First the PGA cancels its Championship at Trump's Bedminster golf course,  Deutsche Bank announces it won't work with Trump in the future, Bill Belichick refuses to accept the Medal of Freedom from him, and now this news comes this morning.

  • There was big legal news which occurred under the radar on Friday. The Supreme Court agreed to hear one of the greatest Free Speech case of all time: Whether schools can punish a cheerleader for her F-Bombs on social media directed at the school but spoken outside of school hours and outside of school property. It seems to me that it is a no-brainer that the school can't, but I'm just a simple country lawyer. 


at 8:35 AM

1.11.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

 


  • Texas hospitalizations: There's a weird drop of over 800 yesterday which I can't explain. 

  • The videos and photos released over the weekend about The Trump Insurrection at the Capitol were far worse than we thought -- and we had already thought the situation was sickening. What a violent group of thugs.  Every day, as we learn more about thus, it metastasizes into a bigger, more horrific story.

  • Here's the video most are talking about as well as a photo of the beaten officer from a different angle. 


  • Let's find this guy. (That link has a good angle of him dragging the cop down the stairs.) I'm not sure what's up with the "SHERIFF" patch. 

  • A raging mob of Trump supporters, whipped into a frenzy behind the White House just moments earlier, killed a cop. And they were looking to hang Mike Pence.  Let that sink in. 

  • What if D.C. had had an open carry law? What if that mob was allowed to carry AR-15s like in Texas? What would have happened? 
  • Here's the ugly truth: There is still a large percentage of Trump supporters which actually approve of what happened on Wednesday. They are all around you. 
  • Trump may very well be impeached for the second time by Wednesday. How can he not be? 

  • Even Fox News knows that the tide is building for Trump's removal. 

  • Twitter permanently banned Trump on Friday as did a multitude of other services. Why? As I've told you for months, he is a literally a clear and present danger to the United States. And it wasn't the only one . . . 

    • And don't give me this crap that he has been "silenced". Right next door to the Oval Office is a press room which is the biggest bullhorn on the planet.
    • Speaking of private companies. ("Cumulus! The power of radio!")  Locally, this impacts WBAP the most. 

  • We now have fences around the Capitol and the Supreme Court. I'm glad I went to D.C. last year. It may never be the same again. 


  • Speaking of my trip to D.C., after my touristy tour of the Capitol, I actually posted last December about how Nancy Pelosi's office is right off the Rotunda on the first floor. We were moving at the time, but I took this photo as we were walking by. 

    • You've seen the photos of the guy sitting at Pelosi's desk, but I also found this one: 

  • People have sent me pictures of Wise County residents who attended the rally. I decided to cut them a break and not post them. If they had entered the Capitol, I'd be posting them every day. 
  • A pretty big newspaper in the East Texas woods, and from the land of Louie Gohmert, published this. Yep, it's real. (They later retracted the lie.)

  • Parler, the far right-wing replacement for Twitter,  is gone this morning after it was pulled from the servers hosted by Amazon killed it.  That will come as sad news to Fort Worth PD which decided to join a platform which supports the overthrow of the United States. 

  • I can't believe I missed this Idiocracy comparison last week. 

  • Regarding my "24 hour window" for an appointment of a new D.A. in Wise County which may will probably begin today, it sounds like Wise County Judge J.D. Clark took control of the situation on Friday. Give him credit for avoiding an under-the-radar huge political mess for Wise County. 

at 8:32 AM

1.08.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Texas hospitalizations: I skipped it yesterday, but it keeps getting uglier. I never thought it would get this high. 

  • We've got an incredibly interesting situation developing in the Wise County politics. Stay with me here.
    • Judge Melton Cude died November 29, 2020 creating an unfortunate opening for Wise County Court at Law #1. I say unfortunate, because we all loved Judge Cude. 
    • That position remains unfilled, and our current District Attorney, Greg Lowery, is the only applicant for the vacancy.
    • The Commissioner's Court, which is responsible for filling Judge Cude's vacancy because it is a county position, meets on Monday to presumably appoint Lowery. 
    • Here's where it gets wild. The moment that Lowery takes the oath of office as Judge Cude's replacement, Gov. Abbott has the power to appoint Lowery's successor as District Attorney. When the legislature is not in session, that appointment become effective immediately. 
    • Here's the kicker: The legislature goes into session at the strike of noon on Tuesday.  Why is that important?: A governor's appointment for district attorney which occurs during a session does not become effective immediately but instead requires a 2/3 consent of the Senate. Because of this headache and because 2/3 isn't a slam dunk for anyone, it is my understanding that the governor normally doesn't make an appointment during a session and will wait until it over. The 2021 legislative session ends May 31, 2021. 
    • So here's what we've got: If Lowery is appointed and if he takes the oath of office on Monday after the commissioner's meeting, there will be a window of 24 hours for Gov. Abbott to appoint his replacement before the legislative session begins.  If Lowery is appointed and takes the oath after noon on Tuesday (and after the legislative session begins), it's almost a certainty we won't have a D.A. successor appointed until after May 31, 2021.
    • Let me say this gingerly: I'm told that everyone involved from all sides in this process is keenly aware of how the 24 hour window would be created.
    • Depending on what's been going on behind the scenes, we could have a new D.A. on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. But that also requires Lowery to take the oath on Monday and not Tuesday in order to create the window.  See all the moving parts here?
    • I'm just watching all of this from the cheap seats. 
  • A Capitol police officer has died from Wednesday's storming of the Capitol building. 

  • Here.

  • Ashli Babbitt was a veteran and deep into QAnon. The Washington Post had an article one year ago which began: "The Trump administration has for nearly two years ignored mounting evidence that Russian operatives and other foreign actors were deliberately targeting U.S. troops and veterans with online disinformation amplified on a massive scale, a leading veterans group said." Here's a tweet by Babbitt:
    "The Storm" is QAnon's name for the ultimate violent purge
    of the government. 
  • Goosehead Insurance is based in Westlake. They fired Paul Davis yesterday. Don't be Paul. (University of Texas Law School, 2011.)

  • A Frisco real estate broker is getting some attention in the New York Post. 


  • Speaking of purge, there was quite the one yesterday: House Sergeant at Arms, Senate Sergeant at Arms and Chief of US Capitol Police all resigned.  Side note: I had completely forgot about this wild story from a few years ago. 

  • There's a video go around showing Trump Jr., his girlfriend, Trump himself, and others in a gleeful mood in a tent "as they watched" the rioting. This is false and not true. That video was taken before Trump spoke to soon-to-be-mob earlier that morning behind the White House.  It's just an example of misinformation that everyone accepts as true. 

  • Will we have snow on Sunday? Personally, I feel really good about it, but I can't make an official prediction because, during an angry rage last weekend, I fired every meteorologist on my staff. 
  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 553 days
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:35 AM
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