- We have a shocking update on the Texas Oilman PAC trying to buy a Wise County election. Since January 1st, the PAC has contributed $280,000 to Stephen "Andy" Hopper in his attempt to unseat incumbent state representative Dr. Lynn Stucky. I'm speechless. We've never seen anything like this.
- The oilmen even threw $14,000 to the Wise County Conservatives (the ultra MAGA group who meet in a church) just for fun. It's circled above.
- Here's the same data as above but sorted by Hopper's largest contributors since 1/1/24.
- Just a reminder that one of the oilmen contributors is on the cover of Texas Monthly.
- The Panhandle was on fire yesterday afternoon and then the winds switched directions and kicked up when a cold front came in. I haven't seen a lot of great updates this morning other than this.
- Trump won big in Michigan last night. No real way to spin it otherwise.
- An 18-wheeler didn't make it across the tracks in Saginaw yesterday before the train had other plans for it.
- Problem solved.
- Goat jailbreak in Arlington!
- Monica Lewinsky at 50. Hey, now.
- The Business Second™. We are definitely in the end times.
- Lawyers doing bad things.
- Lawyer's doing embarrassing things. (This was in yesterday's Georgia DA disqualification hearing for having and affair with the special prosecutor.)
- Hey, there's no way I saw it live, but the Mavslost last night in a dramatic way. Two great videos here and here.
Back in the day, lawmakers were suckers. Ten years ago it was revealed that Paxton lost $100,000 and King lost $46,000.
- Oh, man.
- Wise County Judge J.D. Clark has posted on Facebook a series of great photographs showing the work at the top the courthouse. I'm feel like a kid watching those guys work whenever I'm outside and look up.
- If this story recounts all the evidence they've got, that case is beyond extremely weak.
- I think its a very bad look for the New York AG to tweet the daily interest that Trump is accruing after his fraud judgment.
- I'm also not a big fan of the optics of discussing a ceasefire in Gaza while holding an ice cream cone.
- For a man who takes bribes and has affairs, he sure does hate all vices.
- Missed this sentence last Friday.
- My favorite photojournalist, Fox4Terry, was on the job last night.
- Ken Paxton is waging a war against three Republican ultra-conservative judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals because they said what has always been the law: Elected D.A.'s have exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute voter fraud and not the AG. It was a no-brainer of a decision. But Paxton has gone after them with a Trump-like lie that he had his authority "stripped." Now even Trump himself is promoting the lie. (Hey, I can't stand all three of the judges because they never saw a prosecution case they didn't like and would not uphold. But they are being unfairly attacked.)
- If you want a deep dive on the guy who set himself on fire over the weekend, here's a gift link. (And whatever you do, don't search for the the video he shot of his final moments. Even the blurred out version with audio is nightmare material.)
- This Business Second™. I bet the two chains give up on the merger instead of fighting for it.
- Legal nerdy stuff: In the Supreme Court yesterday, the Texas Solicitor General tried to defend the unconstitutional Texas social media law and actually uttered the phrase, "Sir, this is a Wendy's." If the following makes no sense, that's a pretty good indication of how bad of a job he did.
- If you drive through Bridgeport on 380, you better take a lunch because of all the excessively long red lights.
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- We are headed to record territory today.
- Cam Newton got jumped. Video.
- Holy cow. "Prior to setting himself on fire, the man said he would 'no longer be complicit in genocide [by Israel in Gaza]' and that he was 'about to engage in an extreme act of protest.'" This gives me flashbacks to the Buddhist monk who famously set himself on fire in Vietnam in 1963.
- And another.
- I watched quite a bit of CPAC last week and it was as nuts as I thought it would be. But this was a scary thought . . .
- A filing by Trump's lawyer may indicate that the fiery DA in Atlanta might have lied in last the hearing two weeks ago. If this is true, it's bad. Very bad. They got the cellphone records with a simple subpoena.
- Trump won South Carolina easily on Saturday.
- Drudge has a different spin on it.
- As the graphic shows below, we are so doomed as a society. I've said it before: About 2/3rds of Republicans (who make up half all voters) are ultra-MAGA. That's 1/3 of all voters which is exactly the percentage that the Nazi party received in 1932 right before Hitler was appointed Chancellor. And Trump's propaganda machine is far better than that of Joseph Goebbels.
- Trump is sounds more and more authoritarian with each passing day. Highlights/Lowlights from this weekend:
- Black people will vote for him because he's been indicted? Video. Side note: Show me a black person who has been indicted on 90 counts who is walking around free before trial.
- Translated: The minorities are coming for the white women. Video.
- Immigrants are so dangerous they are even speaking mysterious unknown languages! Video.
- Good lord. Video.
- Legal political stuff: So what's unusual about Justice Clarence Thomas hiring this girl as a clerk? Quite a bit.
- Legal nerdy stuff: Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on a Texas law that is so blatantly unconstitutional that I can't believe it has gotten this far -- but it had to since the crazy Fifth Circuit ruled it was valid.
- The Business Second. Construction of high dollar property in Uptown is really amazing:
- Former Cowboys receiver Golden Richards has died. For old guys like me, he is right in our wheelhouse.
- Sportswriter Peter King announced this morning that he is retiring from writing his weekly column (which I used to dog relentlessly back in the day.) But I'll always remember him for odd tweets like this:
- The mistrial in Wise County's district court last week sounds pretty tense.
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