Thursday Roundup

There is no bigger story in Texas politics today than the death of Molly Ivins. Although I did not know her beyond meeting her a time or two, I'm willing to bet she would agree that the news waits for no man, so we might as well talk about it.

Texas' state government is thinking about moving its primary election to February 5th, as opposed to the current date of Too Late To Matter. Florida's state legislature has a bill that would set its primary to February 5th or seven days after New Hampshire's, whichever comes earlier, and Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, and California are thinking about moving their date to February 5th. So, February 5th would be a a big day, and probably the one on which the presidential nominee for one or both parties would be decided. Playing the "who would benefit most from x" game is a mess at the moment, so I'll refrain from doing it (again). For now.

Speaking of primaries, Senator Joe Biden got into the presidential race and some trouble at the same time yesterday. He was talking about his opponents and dropped off a chestnut about how Barack Obama is "clean" and "articulate." Obama was gracious, saying that the structure of Biden's statement was "a little unfortunate." So welcome back to presidential politics, Mr. Biden.

President Bush was replaced by bizarro President Bush yesterday for his speech at Wall Street, when he uttered a thing or two about income equality and how maybe exorbitant CEO salaries weren't really the best thing. Frankly, I'm surprised the Washington Times is carrying the story, and also that their website didn't implode on itself the second it was published. Bush made up for it after that, as he continued to push for an extension of his fast-track authority for negotiating trade agreements, which expires in June. Democrats are pushing back a bit, so the trade fight might actually turn into Wonkathon '07 if they really get into it.

The state senate appears to be all in for the new "no retreat" measure in SB 378. As it stands now, if someone breaks into your place, you have to try to retreat before you are justified in using force against them. When I was growing up, my parents always seemed to think it meant that you couldn't use force if the intruder was retreating, so I'm glad we cleared all that up. The story cites Senator Wentworth as not being able to recall an incident in which a homeowner was prosecuted for not retreating before attacking an assailant, which sort of makes me wonder what the point of the bill is, but people like to codify accepted norms.

Tarrant County's courts are considering allowing defense attorneys to bypass security checkpoints and metal detectors. This is sort of a weird story - they say defense attorneys have complained about the long lines which they say makes them late for court, but wouldn't those same lines make plaintiff's attorneys late for court as well? Why is it only defense attorneys? One attorney is cited as saying that bringing in documents slows the process, and that "...even if you are on time, it might still take you half an hour to get into the courthouse." Seems to me that if you don't schedule enough time for something which you know will happen, you weren't on time. Why create a security risk where there doesn't need to be one?

The Politico has a story about Texas Congressman Gene Green. The Democrat is throwing his weight around in an attempt to get the Texas Department of Transportation to cancel contracts they currently have with GOP lobbyists. I believe the phrase "heavy-handed" was used to describe both this activity and the Republican tactics of earlier years. I say this is politics. People that aren't in direct civil service lose the jobs they've got when power changes hands.

Lastly today is Al Franken, who is apparently planning on running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Norm Coleman, a Republican finishing his first term. Coleman had trouble beating Wellstone replacement Walter Mondale, and state Democrats in Minnesota have been planning on a serious target for Coleman for a while. The implications of this race, which I don't think will be incredibly successful, are legion. If a comedian can win a Senate seat, there may be hope for my empire yet.