8.09.2023

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




That was really bad. The lake is 10.83 feet low as of this morning. 

  • There was a huge house fire in Southlake yesterday afternoon on Enclave Court. That was one big house.  


  • Very red Ohio (Trump won 53%-45%) rejected abortion restrictions last night by a wide margin.  That Dobbs decision might end changing everything. 


    • This is what it was about: This Fall, there will be a referendum on the Ohio ballot as to whether to basically put the old Roe abortion rights into the Ohio state constitution. The Republicans in their state house feared that would pass so they tried to sneak in this obscure voting proposition yesterday which, if passed, would raise the requirement in the future to 60% on any vote to amend the constitution. Voters caught on to this trick, turned out in droves yesterday, and rejected the 60% threshold. So now Roe can become law again in Ohio this Fall with a 50% + 1 vote.  
  • So Greg Abbott's floating buoy barriers have the equivalent of buzz saws between them?


  • Oh, my.

  • The New York Times revealed last night that it had a copy, along with Special Counsel Jack Smith, of the actual memo which hatched the Fake Electors scheme to overthrow the election.

    • The author of the memo was not John Eastman but lawyer Kenneth Chesebro who is un-indicted co-conspirator #5.

    • The key takeaway is that the memo concedes the scheme was unconstitutional but hoped it could be used to stop the January 6th certification -- which is Counts 2 and 3 in the January 6th indictment, to-wit: Obstructing and impede a governmental proceeding. 
  • Sure it's hot and dry, but we haven't also had high winds. Until now. That's supposed to happen over the next few days which makes it a recipe for wild fires. 

  • This came out a couple of days ago, but the New York Post discovered the identify of the "That [person] is not real!" airplane ranter in the viral video. It's a lady from Lake Highlands in Dallas. I want to not like her, but she's slowly becoming one of my favorite people of all time.

  • Dude, you were inconvenienced for a few minutes. Cry me a river. 

  • The Ticket vs. Dan and Jake ramped up yesterday. I've never seen anything quite like this. 

  • Legal nerdy stuff: In a case that is weird in a number of ways, Dallas federal judge Brantley Starr has ordered three lawyers from Southwest Airlines to undergo "religious training" from the right wing group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).  And the judge quoted the book of Geneses in justifying his ruling.  This is where we are headed, folks. 



    • Tell me if this doesn't tell you all you need to know about the judge: Graduated from Abilene Christian, clerked for Judge Don Willett, is the nephew of Kenneth Starr, member of the Federalist Society, and appointed by Trump 

    • Here's a pretty good dive into the underlying case from a legal standpoint here. 
  • More legal nerdy stuff: The sweeping 2nd Amendment Bruen decision as now been used by the Ninth Circuit to legalize butterfly knives.

  • Private school Vanderbilt just hangs back and collects money in the SEC. Not a bad gig. They will start the season playing home game(s) in a high school stadium.  

  • SMU to the ACC? 



at 8:30 AM

8.08.2023

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




We had a unique funeral in Decatur.

  • We've got a Liberally Lean™ exclusive:
    • Remember back in the Spring during the Decatur ISD school board elections when a mass marketed text message followed by a flyer went out? Eyebrows were raised because the flyer was paid for by a mysterious PAC named Decatur ISD Parents Unite. It even was the main subject of a Messenger article. The text, which focused on "woke" being within Decatur schools, also upset the Superintendent.  And the whole thing became even a little more uncomfortable when . . . 
      Above, from the Update 
      The text message

      The flyer

    • Well, we have finally learned about who was the major funder of the PAC.  A required campaign filing with the Texas Ethics Commission for the PAC shows that "Printed Materials," "Direct Mail," and "Digital Communications" was paid for by Montgomery Bennett of Dallas. He commonly goes by Monty Bennett. 

    • So who is he and why is he contributing to a PAC involved in a couple of obscure school board races for Decatur ISD?  

    • Bennett is a very wealthy man who invests in hard right politicians and/or PACs. By doing so, he gets engaged in culture wars at the local level even though he may have no direct ties to the community. He's kind of like the West Texas Oil Men but on a smaller scale. 
    • Bennet has thrown money in other flashpoint school board races in North Texas as well. In the last election, in addition to donating in Decatur, he supported PACs or candidates in the following (larger) district school board races . . . 
      • Keller ISD ($20,000),
      • Plano ISD ($15,000),
      • Northwest ISD ($7,500),
      • Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD ($2,500),
      • McKinney ISD ($10,000), 
      • and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD ($5,000). 
    • Sidenote: He's not limited to school boards. He recently donated  $20,000 to Tim O'Hare, the new right wing Tarrant County judge. He's also donated $1.1 million to Trump.
    • He also was mentioned in a a recent Texas Monthly article 

    • He also can get a little testy. Described by D Magazine as "a wealthy hotelier named Monty Bennett who was near the steps of the Capitol on January 6 and has said the insurrection was overblown by the mainstream media," he sued a publication called the Dallas Weekly and lost.

    • He also became front and center in the controversy surrounding the PPP during COVID -- even getting mentioned by then candidate Joe Biden. 

    • So is there anything illegal or unethical about this guy getting involved in Decatur school board politics to help a couple of designated candidates? Of course not. It's not illegal to be rich or illegal to use that money in any campaign you choose.  But it's a wild development that as "culture wars envelop schools" in North Texas, they seem to have made inroads into Wise County by way of a big Dallas wallet. But the question remains: How in the world did Bennett end up getting connected to Decatur? 
  • Quick hits on other news:
    • We've got an an arrest of a Jacksboro teacher on an "improper relationship" charge. 
    • Lots of charges being dropped in Tarrant County based upon a couple of headlines in the last 24 hours. 


    • Last night, the judge in Trump's January 6th case ordered a hearing be held this week regarding what should have been a routine protective order. It will be the first time the actual federal judge in charge of the case will speak face to face with the lawyers. Trump's arraignment was handled by a magistrate. 

    • I wonder about this, too.

    • KERA has bought the Denton Record Chronicle. Seems like a big deal. 
  • The first USA Today/Coaches poll for college football has been released.

at 8:28 AM

8.07.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




Remember this? As his final year began, there was a massive controversy because Johnny Football had allegedly made money for signing his autograph. Sounds almost quaint today. Relevant: A new Netflix documentary on Manziel has just been released, and it sounds pretty insane. 

  • A Northside hangout of many a Wise County resident, the Cadillac bar, burned on Saturday night. There are a ton of photos out there, but this is one of the first ones which was taken. 

  • Horse carnage near and far:
  • After being warned at his Arraignment regarding his conduct, Trump spent the weekend defying the judge's order. It will be very interesting to see if a no nonsense federal judge will put up with this.  Trump might actually end up in jail on a bond condition revocation -- anyone else would.  Regardless, I'd come down hard on him right not and not let this get normalized in the January 6th case. 
    • Threatens everyone.

    • Attacks judge.

    • Attacks prosecutor.

    • Attacks witness.

  • And Trump still has random yet nutty posts. How the Republican Party has just embraced conduct like this is insane to me. Are they trying to lose? The man is not OK. 

  • Abbott will sign the transgendered sports bill (a bill to solve a problem which doesn't exist) at TWU today. Choosing TWU is an interesting choice  -- it's public so they can't refuse him. He's looking for a protest just to get some press. 

  • Local radio news: The Ticket has sued Dan and Jake, citing a six month non-compete clause, for starting a podcast after the station let them go last month. (PDF of lawsuit). I note that the filing misspelled the local VP's name but he signed the verification anyway.


  • Other local radio news: WBAP has parted ways with afternoon host Rick Roberts -- a guy who sounded like a Nazi most of the time and never rebuked his many blatantly racist callers. ("Good call!" he would always say.)  Interestingly, in their new job posting, they don't want "another political talk show." What else is there on AM radio these days? 

  • Random Drudge Report featured headline: "How Dallas-Fort Worth became America's boomtown . . . "

  • College football is basically the only sport I follow these days, and the implosion of the PAC 12 on Friday was one of the most bonkers things I've ever seen. In the blink of an eye, Oregon and Washington fled to the Big 10 while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah defected to the Big 12.
    The Big 12 in 2024.

    This is really mind-blowing
    The Big 10 is really spread out. 


    • Maybe one of the greatest hires of all time was the Big 12 hiring the very aggressive and very shrewd Brett Yormark last year. What he has done is nothing short of amazing. And the PAC 12 commissioner, George Kliavkoff never saw it coming: 

  • Legal stuff: A panel of the Fifth Circuit went all progressive on Friday and stuck down Mississippi's law which bans people convicted of a felony from ever voting again.  (Prediction: The rest of the court will overturn this en banc.)

  • The brawl on the riverfront in Montgomery, Alabama is wild.  But it's important to watch the clip that started it all for context. 
  • Just got a tip on Decatur ISD political candidate financial filing. I'll have it tomorrow. 


at 8:31 AM

8.04.2023

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

Bonus (but linked only because of language.)
at 2:30 PM
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