Liberally Lean From The Land Of Dairy Queen

10.23.2024

An attack on the Canadian capitol was the big news. A video captured the police response with tons of gunfire heard down a hallway.

Wise County early voting: 3,559 voted on day one, and 3,526 voted yesterday. That brings the total to 7,085. Four years ago the numbers were 2,263 and 2,409 for a total of 4,672. So for every 2 people that voted last time, we've got 3 this year. (My Bridgeport math education is paying off for me, big time.)
Get out your jackets.
New this morning. Everything is fine. It's just buddies Putin and Kim Jong Un teaming up against Ukraine.
Trump:

Trump's former Chief of Staff comes out to do three recorded interviews with the New York Times to warn us about Trump. Gift link. Add him to the list of former Trump confidants, including his own former VP and AG, who are sounding the alarm.
The Atlantic had quite the article yesterday. And they didn't even put the "bury a . . . Mexican" comment in the headline.

One guy out of White Settlement, who seems to be very capable of pushing a wrong button, claimed that he voted for Trump but the machine switched it to Kamala Harris. He checked his paper ballot that was printed, saw the error, and the ballot was torn up and he voted again.
Then ultra-MAGA Tarrant Republican Chairman Bob French went into "They are trying to steal the election!" mode and lied about it having happened to multiple voters. (Get ready, you are about to hear this lie a lot -- especially nationwide.)
That prompted a retort from just plain MAGA Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare to slap everyone down by saying this is just one report out of 100,000 where someone has "claimed his vote was altered" (emphasis added.)

Incredible pictures by the AP of an Israeli missile strike on Beirut apartment building.
Oh, good lord.
Pretty bold move in a campaign down by Round Rock.
The FIU football stadium (officially Pitbull Stadium), as well as the team's uniforms, went with Miami Vice theme last night. Big thumbs up.
Legal stuff: The Texas Supreme Court doesn't impact my practice like the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals does, but at least one judge on the former is very suspect. This is just the latest eye-brow raising scandal of Judge John Devine:
The Wise County Sheriff's Office arrested a Chico man for "disrupting a meeting or procession" yesterday. (Book-in number 112960.) You don't see that very often.

The video is still up.

Early voting in Wise County totaled 3,559 yesterday destroying the previous record set four years ago of 2,263. That's a 57% increase. The numbers:
This is from the home page of the New York Times. As is, Kamala Harris wins. But if the only change were to be Pennsylvania switching from Harris to Trump, Trump wins. It's that close.
Condemned inmate Robert Roberson did not make it to the Texas legislative hearing yesterday, but the committee did managed to make it a show trial for the cameras.

Place your bets as to whether Dr. Phil has spent more than 15 minutes reading the transcript of this case: And he's an "expert"? Of what?
Fun fact: If a day after the verdict, every single juror came back to court and testified under oath that they wished they had voted not guilty, a judge could not overturn the verdict. That's even a Rule of Evidence that such testimony can't be considered. (Legal nerdy stuff: There was an appellate opinion out of Austin on this just last week.)

I bet that's big news in Southlake.
Twenty years ago, they had to cease publication of their racy catalog, A&F Quarterly. Now this:
Republican Liz Cheney joined Kamala Harris as they made three stops in swing states yesterday. She may say she is trying to save democracy by sounding the alarm about Trump, but a collateral message of Cheney is that she is trying to save the Republican Party from itself.
When will the learn? "WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A state district judge on Monday ruled the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office improperly withheld potentially favorable evidence from attorneys representing a former Robinson woman convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old boy during a raucous party at her home."
Trump:

He was sued by the Central Park Five after he said the men had "pled guilty" to killing a person. In fact, they never pled guilty, and no one was killed.
Trump went to Asheville yesterday and (1) Refused to condemn threats against FEMA workers. Video. “I think you have to let people know how they’re doing. If they’re not doing, if they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say it?" (2) In front of destroyed homes, flashed his "French Fry Certification Pin" from McDonald's. Video.
Tell me again how this election is even close.

Just when you thought there were too many people in the metroplex:
The Business Second™. One hundred jobs to the north.
Someone asked me yesterday if the $250,000 fine against Texas was the most ever in SEC history? Nope. That amount, which normally is the amount for a second offense for storming the field, has happened quite a bit. Most recent before this week:
Got a message there was a bad wreck on 380 in Wise County this morning, but I haven't heard a single siren out of Decatur.

And it still is worthy of a double-take. Side note: Sheriff Joe is still alive in case you were wondering.

The Star-Telegram has this story about high water bills from the Walnut Creek Special Utility District which serves Rhome.
Roberson update:

As we learned Friday, the reason he wasn't executed was because of a the very unusual subpoena issued by the legislative committee. Well, today at noon he will testify before that committee. AG Ken Paxton has stepped in and said that the hearing should be by Zoom. His lawyers want him there in person.
The hearing will be livestreamed here. Edit: Or here on YouTube
But I think I was wrong on Friday when I wrote that I believed he could be executed at anytime after he testifies. It may be that the district court will have to sign a new execution order and, if so, there is a statute which says there must be a waiting period of 91 days from the date of the order until the execution. The Dallas Morning News had this headline on Saturday, but I've noticed that the headline is gone on its site online.
Developments that didn't work: On Sunday, Paxton, probably the most despicable man in the state, tried to get the Texas Supreme Court to withdraw its stay of execution completely, but it refused.

Seven people died in Georgia.
Cuba has had two complete blackouts throughout the entire country. (Guantanamo Bay has its owner power supply.)
Despite killing the leader of Hamas, Israel continued the bombing of both Gaza and Lebanon.
Houston: A helicopter hit a radio tower last night killing four. Video captured it.
They didn't find her in the landfill:

Yep, this happened. Video.
He worked at McDonald's for a few minutes, and we learned why he never takes off his jacket.
He got mad at Mark Cuban.
Good lord. The lying never ends.
Fascism is funny to Elon Musk.
Trump "re-Truthed" a belief that January 6th was an inside job.
How is this election even close?

The Evil Empire was fined $250,000 when its fans revolted by throwing beer cans and water bottles onto the field in protest of a call. It worked. The officials got scared and changed the call.
The greatest paint job on college helmets ever occurred by the University of Illinois.
You can go vote beginning today.