The Texas Observer

Well, I’m off.

In an effort to keep this good-bye from falling into sentimentality or preachiness, I’ll just leave with a recommendation. “Fifty Years of The Texas Observer” pretty much tells the tale of why everyone who works for this magazine does what they do. The anthology was compiled by Char Miller and published in 2004. I came across it by accident while packing up after a different part-time job cut my position. But from the book’s earliest pages, I found a testament to this magazine’s commitment across decades to simple, yet difficult, principles: freedom, equality, and justice. The titles of the very first editorials — “To Enlighten, and Not to Suppress” (Ronnie Dugger) and “Keep Facts Straight, Stand By Convictions” (Paul Holcomb) — tells a reader everything she needed to know about this rag-tag operation. And they do it without a single pun. The current crop of contributors is decidedly puzzled by that.

As frustrating as it can be covering politics, the book is an unexpected record of progress. The problems of fifty years ago seem horrific by today’s standards. Little quirks, like the public obsession with “bra-burning feminists,” covered so well by Kaye Northcott and Molly Ivins, seem pitiable now. And even our 2003 account of House Democrats’ escape to Ardmore, Okla., seems like a story about crises averted. (”If we can stop [the Republicans] now, then my six-year-old will have an opportunity to have a Democratic Congress in her lifetime,” said Rep. Jim Dunnam, who was shooting for optimism at the time.)

And, of course, here is the place for the caveat that these problems are never resolved, just alleviated. The struggle continues. So do the happy hours, hopefully.

I’m off to San Francisco, just because it’s time for this Texas boy to try something new. Please send margaritas.

Thanks for reading. I can’t wait to see how the next blogger only makes this space better.

It looks like President Bush, currently enjoying a “working vacation” on the wild preserves of Crawford Ranch, has caught a bit of the hunting bug. Pray this goes better than Dick Cheney’s last expedition. Rather than recklessly brandishing a shotgun, though, Bush seems to be indiscriminately wielding his executive-order pen. Today he released one titled “Facilitation of Hunting Heritage and Wildlife Conservation,” and it’s confusing because it’s so vague:

The purpose of this order is to direct Federal agencies that have programs and activities that have a measurable effect on public land management, outdoor recreation, and wildlife management, including the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, to facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities and the management of game species and their habitat.

The order then provides a list of equally non-specific actions federal agencies should take, such as, “Consider the economic and recreational values of hunting in agency actions, as appropriate.” The only concrete enactment is a conference sometime in the next year to guage whether the goals of the order are being met. That should be scintillating.

So what in the world prompted this bit of Bush craziness? It looks like it was pre-emptive political CYA.

Bob Ricker, executive director of the D.C.-based American Hunters & Shooters Association, said he hadn’t even heard of the order until the Observer’s call tipped him off. But after checking things out, he’s hearing that “it’s basically political cover for Bush when he vetoes the Farm Bill.”

The bill, Ricker says, is “the key piece of legislation for hunting conservation,” and Bush is hoping this paltry order can prevent a backlash from hunters and other sportsmen, who have become major advocates for habitat preservation. Bush, for his part, has said the Farm Bill is too expensive. And even though hunting conservation is only a small part of the mammoth legislation, sportsmen are a constituency that Republicans are already trying to make amends with — before they get even angrier.

Ricker doesn’t think today’s offering will do the trick. “I think most hunters and most people who are pro-conservation will see right through it,” he said.

It’s a sad day for point-of-order fans at the Texas Capitol. The man who made a reputation this session for shredding bills with well placed challenges to parliamentary rules is moving on. The Houston Chronicle reported today that Republican state Rep. Robert Talton, the Sage of Pasadena, will give up his seat to make a run at CD 22, better known as The District Formerly Represented by Tom DeLay.

He joins a crowded field of Republican primary contenders. “Among those eyeing the seat are former Houston City Councilwoman and two-month U.S. Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs; family court Judge James Squier and Pete Olson, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s former chief of staff. Former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek has formed an exploratory committee,” the Chron says. (Sekula-Gibbs is the gift that keeps on giving: you may recall she replaced DeLay for a month at the end of 2006, and within three days, seven members of DeLay’s staff had resigned in disgust.)

The crowded primary could play to the advantage of Congressman Nick Lampson, the Democrat currently enjoying Hot Tub Tom’s seat, said Matt Angle, founder of the progressive Lone Star Project. “Talton can be divisive,” Angle said, and in such a hotly contested primary, it’s expected that he won’t shy away from pointing out his opponents’ deficiencies. That would only buoy Lampson, no matter who the GOP nominates.

Certainly Lampson could use all the help he can get. The district is solidly Republican, which makes Lampson one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress. Angle said the district is solidly working class, and hasn’t been well represented by the state leadership — a key reason, Angle notes, that Talton himself was such a thorn in the side of Speaker Tom Craddick. Others, though, like Michael Hurta at Burnt Orange Report, worry that Talton will cruise to the nomination and make things tough on Lampson.

Then there’s the state House race left in Talton’s wake, which could present an opportunity for Democrats to pick up another Texas House seat. In addition to the district’s frustration with GOP leadership, Angle said his organization is predicting Hispanics to make up 25 percent of the district’s votes in ‘o8.

Talton’s departure will leave a void at the Texas Capitol. The anti-gay and anti-abortion rhetoric may well drop a few decibels, and many lawmakers won’t miss the kind of ugliness Talton espoused in 2005, when he fought hard to bar gays and lesbians from serving as foster parents.

But Talton’s passion also made for lively debates. He turned against Craddick because he genuinely disagreed with the authoritarian way the speaker rules the House. That animosity, paired with his knowledge of parlaimentary procedure, made Talton a real nuisance for the speaker. Every time Talton appreared at the back micrphone on the House floor last session, you could be sure that some drama was about to go down.

A coalition of cranky Democrats and Talton formed an an ideologically odd couple last session, with the Democratic caucus providing a lot of the research that produced Talton’s technical take-downs. For a good recap of how the two sides, who couldn’t be more philosophically opposed, came together, see this article in the DMNfrom April:

“Whether you’re liberal or conservative, you’ve got the same goal – it’s just how you get there,” Mr. Talton said. “What most of us are trying to do is allow everybody to have a say. … You shouldn’t be told to vote against your district.”

In spite of their vast philosophical differences, Democrats say they’re glad to have his help.

“Talton is ideologically consistent and solid and has more integrity than most people I know,” said Fort Worth Democratic Rep. Lon Burnam, one of the House’s most liberal members. “He is a key outsider. … He’s fearless in the number of spears he will throw.”

The bill’s been in effect for a while, but Rick Perry ceremonially signed into law HB 3678, the so-called “Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act,” in Sugar Land yesterday. The governor’s press release contained this nugget: “The bill, authored by Rep. Charlie Howard, does not expand religious expression in schools, but rather reiterates a student’s existing right to expression.”

So … it’s redundant with existing law? Pretty much. The final version of the bill doesn’t do anything really except lay out step-by-step, Supreme Court-friendly instructions for folks who want to slip benedictions into morning announcements and football games. That’s not how it was intended, though, asthe Observer reported back in June. All the messy details after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

In the few hours since the Observer’s post yesterday detailing the shooting at KPFT 90.1, a progressive public radio station in Houston, the station’s blog has posted a number of new details:

– A donation page dedicated to paying for repairs is now up.

– A transcript of an interview that Democracy Now did with station manager Duane Bradley and DJ Mary Thomas, who was almost hit by the bullet, has lots of interesting info I didn’t know. The shell they recovered is for a 39 mm round commonly used in AK-47 assault rifles. The station thought the Plexiglas window the bullet blasted through was bullet-proof. And they’re going through the FCC to ask the FBI to get involved, since tampering with a public broadcast could constitute a federal offense (Ernesto mentioned this yesterday, but I forgot to include it).

The interview also has Thomas’s firsthand account of what must have been a terrifying few minutes:

Well, somebody — I could see somebody from the inside camera knocking on the door. So John, our — the person that was helping me, he went to the door to see who it was. And I told him — I said, “If you don’t know who it is, don’t let him in.” But anyway, when he got to the door, he found out that it was somebody that we knew that comes to the station. And while he was doing this, then a big boom came through the window right where I had just moved my chair from that window. And I fell to the floor, because I turned my head right quick, but then I saw the big hole, and I just fell to the floor and crawled into the next room in the next room and made a phone call to 911.

– A short documentary on the 1970 bombing of the station is now available online.

– For kicks, you can check out the many theories on the shooting from the fine folks at Free Republic, including the one that KPFT staged the shooting, assault rifle and all, as a publicity stunt. (Via KPFT’s Bald Heretic.)

Monday morning around 1 a.m. a single gunshot from a passing car nearly killed a DJ working at the radio station KPFT 90.1 in Houston. KPFT is a local public radio station, fueled mostly by volunteers, that prides itself on eclectic, progressive programming. (The station does a weekly segment with Observer editors and writers.) It’s a member of the Pacifica Radio Network, a nationwide collection of stations committed to creating “independent, noncommercial radio in the service of peace, social and racial justice, and the arts,” according to the site’s About page.

At the time of the drive-by shooting, Mary Thomas and John Orr were hosting the show “Zydeco Pas Sale.” Orr was letting visitors into the station (which is run out of a converted home) through the front door a few feet to the right of where the bullet entered the control room. The bullet went through two plates of glass and lodged in a door on the opposite wall. It missed Thomas, who was sitting at the controls, by less than two feet.

Program director Ernesto Aguilar’s station blog is the go-to source for the latest information. Initial coverage of the shooting begins with this post, and Aguilar has at least a dozen follow-ups. We talked to him this afternoon, and he said there are still no solid leads in the case. They have recovered the bullet and * shell casing. Witnesses say the shot came from a white, four-door car driving slowly by the station, which is located in the quiet Montrose neighborhood, leading authorities to suspect the station was targeted intentionally. Aguilar said KPFT and Crime Stoppers will likely work together to seek more information.

The station held an employee meeting today to discuss immediate changes in security policy. Aguilar said the security around the station had perhaps become a bit “laissez-faire” and there was a need to “reemphasize this is serious business.” Tomorrow KPFT will hold a press conference and kick off a fundraising drive to pay for repairs — expected to cost several thousand dollars — and to upgrade video surveillance equipment. Aguilar said he’s received several calls from people who told him they don’t agree with a single thing the station broadcasts, but they’re sickened by efforts to intimidate discussion and want to help out. For now, those who want to donate online can go here.

Sadly, the station is no stranger to violence. Shortly after it went on the air in 1970, its broadcast towers were bombed twice within the first year. A member of the Ku Klux Klan was eventually convicted of the bombings. Two years ago, a group of youngsters hurled bricks at the station’s windows. And last year a mentally troubled listener arrived at the station with a shotgun, accusing KPFT’s technology program of having been co-opted by Microsoft. Police* Witnesses arrived and diffused the situation without incident.

The gunshot represents an escalation, though, Aguilar said. It has left employees shaken, but reaffirmed “certainly a very deep commitment to what we do,” he said.

The lack of leads is due in part to the station’s variety of programming. Shows range from gay and lesbian programming each week, to Spanish-language broadcasts, to a show hosted by the Southwest Regional Rep. of the Nation of Islam, all of which could raise ire in conservative Houston. At the same time, Aguilar said, in recent years a small, dedicated group has vehemently criticized the station for not being far enough to the left. And there’s always the chance that this was simply a random act of violence with no political motive.

But Aguilar, who as program director handles all complaints from listeners, is concerned by a steady escalation toward violence. “We live in a very angry time,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Ernesto Aguilar.

* Two quick corrections, per Ernesto in comments: The bullet has not been recovered yet, and witnesses, not police, difused the situation last year.

Aw, Hecht, Texas Watch’s close eye on state Supreme Court justice Nathan Hecht has outlasted even our tireless capacity for titles with bad puns.

The latest update: TW has filed an additional, separate complaint against Hecht, once again stemming from his efforts to milk lawyers, lobbyists, and litigants with business before the court to pay for efforts to polish his reputation. To review: Hecht has now potentially racked up several ethical violations in order to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent to get another ethical admonishment overturned.

In the latest complaint, TW’s executive director Alex Winslow has dug up precedent for another Texas judge who raised funds similar in a way similar to Hecht’s and received an ethical reprimand. You can read TW’s full description of the latest complaint here, and a PDF of their filing is here.