Gov. Rick Perry's State of the State speech last week set the blogosphere ablaze with flames of indignation! Bloggers raced to their computers to be the first to file a rebuttal (assuming they had left their PCs at all), while some of the M$M folks sounded off about an unwelcome interloper. Bloggers also took issue with the company the mayor of Houston claims to keep, looking at political contests and peeking under the dome of the Other Capitol in DC. Finishing it off, a pasticcio of posts.
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Perry, Eh?
Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, had the briefest summary of Perry's speech: "Governor Rick Perry delivered his State of the State address this morning. He touched on freezing tuition rates for college students."
Trail Blazers, the Dallas Morning News' blog, live-blogged the speech from the House Chamber. The Houston Chronicle's Texas Politics made multiple entries about it. And Bay Area Houston lampooned it.
Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, webcasted a video response on Burnt Orange Report. And here's the response from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, via the houston conservative.
After hearing the speech, BurkaBlog went with, "I told you so," then clarified something written earlier about the state's unemployment tax. Another Burka blogger clicked in with why she thinks the ultrasounds-before-abortions idea is a bad one.
The New York Times's Green Inc. blog focused on Perry's dissing of the Environmental Protection Agency. And Texas Watchdog ran Perry's speech through some visualization software, gleaning that the word of the day was "Texas."
If the conventional wisdom is correct that free media is better than paid media, consultant-turned-new media broadcaster Chuck McDonald struck oil when his presence on the House floor during Perry's speech caught the attention (and raised the ire) of Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog.
The newsman's concern: "Whether other public relations and lobby firms would try to form news operations that might cover legislative news from their clients' point of view."
McDonald defends himself in the comments section, asking folks to put away their torches until they at least check out his website, TexasNewsPost.com . He's got a video defense posted there.
How did McDonald get press credentials in the first place? Well, Quorum Report paid for McDonald's team to film the State of the State address, expecting McDonald's partner, former reporter Rickey Dailey, to be doing the shooting. Dailey couldn't make it, so McDonald showed up instead, sparking the controversy.
Elsewhere, Perry hearted Brint Ryan , according to Trail Blazers, claiming that's news because the Dallas tax consultant backed Carole Keeton Strayhorn for Guv last time around. The same Texas Association of Business event inspired our editor to fire up the ol' Photoshop. (Great job, boss!)
From Texans for Rick Perry, pictures, audio and such of his talk at the anti-abortion Texas Rally for Life in front of the Pink Dome. RightWingSparkle made her own home movie of the event. Photos here.
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The White Stuff
The Insite, a FOX-Houston reporter's blog, has a story about a newspaper ad depicting a Martin Luther King Jr.-Bill White-Barack Obama sandwich with the Anglo, White, in the middle. The flak people for Houston Mayor White (who's running for U.S. Senate) say the rationale behind the ad, which they claim they didn't design, is chronological.
"No matter what happened, it didn't look good. In fact, it's one of those oh-so-preventable mistakes that will now float around in cyberspace for Mayor-white-nixon some time to come," says ABC13's Political Blog.
The incident sparked an impromptu game of "Let's Inappropriately Photoshop Bill White Into a Famous Photo," at Letters From Texas. Here are the entries. And Capitol Annex chips in the tidbit that White was "the only Democratic mayor of a major American city I'm aware of who didn't" endorse Obama.
In other news, White's also in very warm water for a letter written on city stationery — reported by the Houston Chronicle, here — touting a new development built by a donor. Annex says it's not the first time White has approached an ethical line.
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Put on Your Boogie Shoes
Tex Parte Blog looks at potential Attorney General candidates: former Republican solicitor general Ted Cruz, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, and Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas. If incumbent Greg Abbott wants to stay in office, though, those three will stay out of the race, they're saying. Add Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and former Rep. Steve Wolens, D-Dallas, to that list of maybe-so's, according to Postcards. Where in Texas would Abbott want to go, without running into a Dewhurst, Hutchison or Perry? wonders Blue Dot Blues.
The two nominees for State Bar of Texas president are Rhonda Hunter of Dallas and Terry Tottenham of Austin, Tex Parte reports. The election will take place in the spring. And Williamson Republic analyzes campaign donations to new Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock. Here's more of the same.
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D.C. Doings
While U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has been in the doghouse of the mainstream media for his challenges to Pres. Barack Obama's appointees, Pondering Penguin, for one, welcomes it. And Lone Star Times applauds Cornyn's moves as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
We've long maintained that the best part of the newspaper is the Comics Section. Catering to that sensibility, Potomac added Pulitzer-winning cartoonist David Horsey to their staff. Meanwhile, Rep. Aaron Peña's cousin Moises "Moe" Vela Jr. is the new director of administration for Vice Pres. Joe Biden , Peña, D-Edinburg, says on his Capitol Blog.
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Gallimaufry
For people keeping stats at home, then-House Speaker Tom Craddick announced committee assignments on the Day 25 of the 2007 session. This coming Friday, Feb. 26, is the 25th day of the '09 session, notes Postcards. And in case you were wondering what the heck a committee assignment preference card looks like anyway, Rep. Peña took a picture of (a blank) one for his A Capitol Blog.
Muckraker may have left Texas, but he still has a presence in the blogosphere, at his househouse blog, he informs readers back in the Lone Star State. And Texas Tech University law students have started an estate planning journal, the first of its kind in the U.S., says Tex Parte. It's not a BCS trophy, but it's something.
Letters marks the second anniversary of Molly Ivins' death Saturday with memories from her Big Bend hideout. Meanwhile, Texas Observer Blog has a tribute entry titled, "What Would Molly Think?" (winning our Headline of the Week award).
Rep. Guillen advertises the new Top Ten Percent Scholarship, arising from a bill he wrote in '07. Meanwhile, the Texas GOP's new digs at 1108 Lavaca St. has a sweet deck, says Postcards. The Republicans plan to relocate by early August, apparently. And a Houston Democrat argues in favor of the Fairness Doctrine on Potomac.
North Texas Conservative is incensed that a fellow GOPer, Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, proposed instituting a statewide smoking ban. Junkie has a database of Governor's Mansion restoration donors and gives a few observations on who's in it. More from Postcards here.
According to reputable flowers, Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, is "dramatic," says Newspaper Tree.com Blog. Meanwhile, freshman Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, got scoffed by Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, for the way he wields his gavel. And Annex was on Bill patrol this week. Read all about them here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Finally, Burnt Orange Report gets to the Main Topic in the Texas House, opening a Guess at the Committee Assignments contest that features actual prizes for the winner.
This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.