Texas Blue Mailbag: Week of 4/29/07

Welcome back to our newest feature, the Texas Blue Mailbag! For those of you that missed the first-ever Mailbag last week, this is where we take the opportunity to answer the emails you, our readers, send us, your humble editors. Send your questions or comments to info@thetexasblue.com, and we'll put it in the next edition of the Mailbag along with some witty, yet insightful, commentary. (Or perhaps I'll reply instead — who knows?)

JM writes:

At lunch today the Iranian foreign minister greeted Mrs. Rice. She said "Your English is better than my Arabic." But in Iran they don't speak Arabic, they speak Farsi!

George answers:

Indeed, she did. But hey, you have to give it to her — ignorance is better than hubris. Earlier in the article I quote, it's mentioned that the Iranian foreign minister refused to attend dinner because a performer there was dressed too revealingly for Islamic custom. The reply from the U.S. State Department's spokesman? "I don't know which woman he was afraid of, the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state." From the mouthpiece of the department whose ostensible specialty is foreign diplomacy, we get schoolyard taunts. Small wonder that the Bush administration is looking for a military solution to Iraq.

R. Waits writes:

Who in the world is "Senator Watts?"

C.R. WAITS

Josh postulates:

As far as I know, right now, there is no Senator Watts. Are you considering running for Senate? The reference is likely to Mikal Watts, and our examination of him as a possible Senate candidate. We could mount an in-depth examination of you as a possible Senate candidate. Let me know. Unless there's a super-secret "Draft R. Waits" movement underway. We wouldn't want to let the cat out of the bag.

SW writes:

Check out www.walkerreport.net

I covered the fundraiser at Watts home when he raised that 1.1 million. (only photographer there) Check out my photos. Go to the blog and type in Watts name and see Sen. Schumer, Salazar, Menendez. See Congressmen Gonzalez, Rodriguez & Lamson and others. It was an event!

George answers:

If you guys are interested in some photo coverage of the Watts fundraiser, you should definitely check out that site. SW took tons of pictures of the event. Nice job!

SB writes:

Hi Josh,
If saying *I don't recall* over 75 times counts as testimony, I guess Gonzales was forthcoming!

Josh says:

I seriously can't get enough of the Gonzales humor, although the story seems to have died at the end of this news cycle. People keep talking about how he's going to resign, and Cornyn will replace him, and then a series of other things will happen, but I just don't see how Cornyn would give up Senate incumbency (no matter how fragile) for an Attorney General post in a sinking ship of an administration.

RG writes:

Don’t quit your job – Take Classes Online and Earn your Degree in 1 year. Start Today!

George answers:

Boy, does that make me wish I hadn't wasted all those years getting my first degree. Do you, perchance, offer a degree in copy editing? Because i Would like To learn How to Appropriately use Random capitalization Within sentences, And i Think you Guys have That down.

Linda Curtis writes:

Hi Mr. Berthume:

We were in opposing camps in the last Governor's race. I was supporting Strayhorn. That said, in this upcoming period, I think we might have some things in common. I just read your piece about the US Senate race. I think that money — although still a very big factor — is becoming less a factor due to an activist movement on the ground that is growing outside the parties.

This is a cross-partisan movement of activists inside both parties, along with many who are, like me, outside the two political parties. The Wall Street Journal poll last November indicated that 42% of Americans now "self-identify as independent."

Our Trans-Texas/Toll Moratorium bill (the largest corruption heist seen in recent memory) is now on Rick Perry's desk. We were aided by many fine D's and R's — but the base of this movement resides outside the parties. We will be looking for candidates to support in '08 in June. This issue can make Cornyn most vulnerable.

Anyone who wants to take on Cornyn should consider building an electoral coalition with independent voters.

Independently yours,

Linda Curtis
Independent Texans
http://indytexans.org

Josh replies:

I'm ever-conscious of the important swath of independent voters out there. Every election cycle, Russert or some other kindly, fact-checked gentleman will talk a great deal about "swing voters" and sometimes swing voter and independent are used interchangeably.

What I see in this letter, Linda, is a hinting that independents are starting to organize (presumably outside the bounds of the Independence or Reform Parties) around certain issues, like roads, or contract procedures. I think there can be a great deal of activism and agreement on ideas outside of a strictly confined, party-defined debate.

While I don't believe that everyone must be or is hardcore extreme left or right, I am also a die-hard Democrat, and a believer in party discipline. I think infrastructure is very important to any kind of movement, and it seems like organizing independents may be not unlike organizing anarchists — you are independents by nature, and thus not crazy about organizing into a unified constituency, even your own.

I will also say that activism is vital and important to politics, but even within major parties, pure activism rarely if ever succeeds in the absence or in lieu of money. So I'm not sure how independents can organize in large enough numbers to blunt the efficacy of money.

All that being said, I have learned to always respect any group that is motivated enough to organize, and I can't imagine you guys would support John Cornyn, so I'm sure whoever ends up running against him will be glad for the help.