Texas Blue Mailbag: Week of 6/24/07 (no, really)

This week's mailbag is mixed, so to speak, and nationwide.

(and the "Week Of" date is fixed now — turns out we skipped a week there in early June. Oops! — GN ed.)

Jason from North Hollywood writes:

In regards to the Bush Administration rejecting the Congressional subpoenas for documents explaining the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Do you feel that this is an abuse of executive privilege?

Josh says:

You know, I do. I feel like there are some cases where executive privilege has a proper use, and that's why it is around. But in the warrantless wiretap stuff, where rebuke after rebuke has been delivered to the White House and it is essentially all over but the crying, well... it is pretty clear that the privilege was invoked for no other reason than they felt like they could say "We don't wanna" and get away with it. For now. Until the hearings.

Alex from San Francisco says:

[14:32] Have you heard about the healthcare in my city? San Francisco is starting the first public healthcare system in the next few weeks and hopes to have all uninsured people covered in 18 months. Look here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/28/MNGGIQNA701....

George replies:

No, I hadn't. And honestly, I'm a little bit speechless. That is really nothing short of remarkable. I could've imagined it on a state level, but for a city to take that on — that's amazing. I can only hope for the success of that experiment; if it's still around in a year, it won't be alone. Not that Texas is likely to see any of that, at least until we elect a Democrat to the presidency that makes good on their promise for nationwide universal health care. Man, I can't wait until we actually catch up to everyone else in the First World.

Katie from Madison, Wisconsin asks:

Why do you think Russ Feingold avoided running for president this time around? There is a lot of support for him to do it, and I believe that he would have a good chance. WHY GOD? WHY?

Josh sez:

I feel like Russ didn't run because he knew it wasn't his time. He's relatively young, and he is wildly popular among die-hard progressives, but the field was crowded from the beginning with some serious heavy hitters. I think if he waits another cycle or two, lets his politics mellow just a little, and lets America move a little farther to the left, the time will be more opportune for him than it would have been this time.

Josh from Denton says:

George, I know this is cheating, but I really want to point out this excellent parallel between Rick Perry and John Travolta.

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2007/06/gov_travolta.html

George says:

Well, can you blame a guy from taking fashion cues to John Travolta? I mean, if I'm meeting the head of state of a foreign country, the first thing I think to myself is "what would Vinnie Barbarino wear?"

And just so you know — you are in the office. You don't have to email me just to get my attention.