HD 52:  John “da Bomb” Gordon  732 (33%)   Larry “money bags” Gonzalez  1,498 (67%)

SBOE:  Marsha Farney 6,971 (63%)    Russell  4,016   (37%)

TX Supremes:   Green  68,078  (47%)   Lehrmann  76, 105  (53%)

If you didn’t bother to vote, you get what you deserve.  We don’t wanna hear none of your whinin’.

If the early voting results stay true, Perry just might shampoo that blonde right out of his hair without a rinse and repeat.  The teabagger found herself in some pretty hot water, but her tea leaves just weren’t strong enough to brew anything much more than a tint.   On the blue side it looks like the hair-challenged Bill White proved a little dab won’t do ya and foiled Shami.    

Here’s some top of the ballot early voting numbers for ya:

Statewide: 

Perry   279,535   (52.79%)     Hutchinson   161,438   (30.48%)     Medina   88,543   (16.72%)

White   176, 947   (75.95%)   Shami   28, 319   (12.15%)

Harris County:

Perry  378,771 (63.34%)    Hutchison   16,393   (26.78)     Medina   6,051   (9.88%)

White  35,535  (90.94%)    Shami   2,150   (5.50%)

Williamson County:

Perry   8,272   (57.72%)     Hutchison   3,564  (24.87%)     Medina   2,496  (17.42%)

White  2,700   (92.78%)     Shami   108   (3.71%)

Dallas County:

Perry    17,519   (50.30%)     Hutchison   11,588   (33.27%)     Medina   5,720   (16.42%)

White   15,818   (78.19%)     Shami   1,789   (8.84%)

Bexar County:

Perry   17,525   (52.71%)     Hutchison   11,446   (34.43%)     Medina   4,867   (12.86%)

White   16,826   (75.41%)     Shami   3,021   (13.54%)

The battle of the big haired rah rahs seems strangely subdued for these two master mudslingers.  Guess they don’t want to muss up their coifs.   Maybe they’re pulling their punches, holding back some for a runoff – if Wannabe Medina can round up enough teabagger votes to force a runoff.

We noted the Goobernator made a big noise early on of blowing off trying to garner any newspaper endorsements.  We wonder if that was because he knew he’d have trouble getting any or if he wanted Snorator Huchison to waste her campaign time making nice with the fourth estate.  So far, the print media has taken him at his word and has endorsed the Snorator.  Haven’t found any that have endorsed the Wannabe.   Our tea leaves haven’t revealed if the Goobernator will keep snubbing editorial boards after the red primary or not.  It may very well be a moot point for him when either March 3 or April 14 rolls around.

Private Note to Goobernator:  The absolutely worst kept secret in Texas - if not the whole entire universe - is your hankering for yet another rent-free residence… the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW up there in the D of C.  You might want to step back and take a look at the hubris that felled Baby Boy “I’m On My Way to the Texas Senate and Beyond” Gattis. 

Just sayin….

Without any further ado, here are the eleven propositions on the ballot and our two cents.  Hold on to your wallets folks, we haven’t seen this big of a money grab, legislation promoting special interests, and *revenue enhancement* since…well, since the last session….

Proposition One:  The constitutional amendment authorizing the financing, including through tax increment financing, of the acquisition by municipalities and counties of buffer areas or open spaces adjacent to a military installation for the prevention of encroachment or for the construction of roadways, utilities, or other infrastructure to protect or promote the mission of the military installation.   Just what we need, our cities and counties taking on MORE debt that, we believe, will only benefit a handful of developers and good old boys.  It does absolutely nothing to protect our service men and women or our military bases.

Proposition Two:  The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the ad valorem taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead.  Let’s get this straight, you want us to vote for yet another tax on ourselves? 

Proposition Three:  The constitutional amendment providing for uniform standards and procedures for the appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes.  Hmmm, uniform standards and procedures set by whom?  More hornswaggle by the good old boys trying to move money from our wallets to theirs.  Enough already!

Proposition Four:  The constitutional amendment establishing the national research university fund to enable emerging research universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major research universities and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the national research university fund.  Now this is downright interesting…. specially the “emerging” research universities.  Ever hear of robbing Peter to pay Paul?  A “National Research University Fund”??!! Really???  Pie in the sky for all them with their sticky fingers already in the higher education cookie jar.

Proposition Five:  The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to authorize a single board of equalization for two or more adjoining appraisal entities that elect to provide for consolidated equalizations.  Ditto from Proposition Three.

Proposition Six:  The constitutional amendment authorizing the Veterans’ Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized.  Finally, a proposed amendment that makes sense and serves a needed purpose.

Proposition Seven:  The constitutional amendment to allow an officer or enlisted member of the Texas State Guard or other state militia or military force to hold other civil offices.   Does the case of Lt. General Charles G. Rodriguez ring any bells for you?  He’s the guy the State paid $53K and change to to run the Texas National Guard.  Too bad, he was also deployed on federal orders and pocketed that paycheck, too.  He wasn’t the only one caught with his both hand in two cookie jars, two other Generals were caught double-dipping their gubmit paychecks.  If you want to allow gubmit workers to be able to work two gubmit jobs at the same time, do it for everybody.  Don’t insult our intelligence by trying to wrap garbage in the flag.

Proposition Eight:  The constitutional amendment authorizing the state to contribute money, property, and other resources for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of veterans hospitals in this state.  The way the US gubmit treats our veterans and runs our veterans hospitals is an absolute national disgrace.  We agree we could do it bigger and better in Texas.  Let’s build the first one in Taylor.

Proposition Nine:  The constitutional amendment to protect the right of the public, individually and collectively, to access and use the public beaches bordering the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico.  Hell yes!  If you want private beaches move somewhere else.  Are you listening State Representative Wayne Christian (R-Center)??

Proposition Ten:  The constitutional amendment to provide that elected members of the governing boards of emergency services districts may serve terms not to exceed four years.   Term limits sure has a really republican ring to it, don’t it?  some of us are old enough to remember the lamented “Contract with America” that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.  But four-year term limits for ESDs?  Rubbish.  If it called for a two-term limit, we’d be all over it.  It doesn’t.  We’re not.

Proposition Eleven:  The constitutional amendment to prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property for public use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the State, a political subdivision of the State, the public at large, or entities granted the power of eminent domain under law or for the elimination of urban blight on a particular parcel of property, but not for certain economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to limit the legislature’s authority to grant the power of eminent domain to an entity.  Saving the best for last??  We are absolutely certain the Supremes were smoking crack when they ruled in Kelo v the City of New London.  Texans need and deserve protection against the gubmit taking our property for private development, but this proposed amendment simply reeks of political pandering to special and personal interests. 

Get off your duffs, learn more about them, and go vote.

October 24, 2009.

We cry.

First, there’s North Carolinian John Edwards.  You remember him?  The former Senator and blue VEEP candidate and his media whore mistress - who’s bastard love child might have been fathered by either Edwards or his former BFF Andrew Young.  Or not.  We may never know because she don’t want no DNA done to find out who’s really her baby daddy.  At least Edward’s staff was pretty much able to keep their candidate’s between the sheets campaigning under the covers.  Well, at least until the National Enquirer caught on to his lyin’, cheatin’, two-timin’ womanizin’ ways.

Course, since Edward’s is a dimocrat, did you really expect him to act any different?

Now, we have South Carolina’s governor, Mark Sanford.  Seems he decided to go for a hike and wound up in Argentina.  Which just so happens to be where his mistress, Maria, lives.  What a coincidence.  She surely must be one of those hot-blooded Latina lovers that guys love to write songs about - you know, like Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, and Wes Farrell wrote back in the day… 

In a little cafe just the other side of the border, she was just sitting there giving me looks that made my mouth water.  So I started walking her way.  She belonged to that man, Jose, and I knew, yes,I knew I should leave when I heard her say yeah, “Come a little bit closer, you’re my kind of man.  So big and so strong.  Come a little bit closer, I’m all alone…..And the night is so long…..”

Talk about a long distance romance. 

Just how do you solve a problem like Maria?  Unlike the lyin’ cheatin’ Edwards, once he was caught, Sanford ‘fessed up his Argentinian firecracker, sayin’ she sure put the zing back in his zipper.  This, of course, was much to the chagrin of his wife, who apparently told the philandering fool to get lost.  At least for a while.  We sorta wish she’d gotten just a tiny bit madder and tossed his clothes and stuff out the windows and all over the yard of the governor’s mansion while he was working out his detente or whatever he was working out down in Argentina.  As it is, he’s resigned from the Republican Governor’s Association.  That put Mississippi Governor and presidential wannabe Haley Barbour in that cat bird seat.

Sanford’s refusing to resign as governor.  The sharks are smelling the blood in the water and are circling.  Make no mistake, there are some very hungry sharks over in the Carolinas.  However, most of them are dimocrats.  So we say, big whoop.  Let them starve.  If they won’t eat their own, why should we feed them one of ours?

Speaker Straus, or so rumor has it, doesn’t appear to be all ate up with vengence and spite, unlike the former, unlamented speaker Craddick.  But, make no mistake, this here beauty contest is still all about power - who has it, who won’t, and who wields it best.

Baby Boy Gattis should be stuck in the penalty box.  Heck, the penalty box is too good for him - he should be out and out shunned.  He was a Craddick supporter…until he filed for speaker his own self…until he supported Smithee…until he ditched Smithee and jumped back in the race.  He flipped and flopped more than a big mouth bass spitting your lure right back at you.  John Kerry, eat your heart out. 

As for the rest of the die-hard Craddick supporters, Warren Chisum (Pampa), Frank Corte (San Antonio), Will Hartnett (Dallas), Phil King (Weatherford), Ralph Sheffield (Temple), John Smithee (Amarillo),  and Larry Taylor (Friendswood) - it’s gonna be interesting to see where they land. 

Don’t ya just love it when it gets down to the nut cutting brass tacks?